Conditions were pretty messy at the job site due to the rain. It has rained hard at night. It’s actually quite a surprise that it drains as well as it does. Still, mud is not an inviting condition. The trencher was not able to work today due to the muddy conditions. I and my New York friend Barry were sent out to help with procuring cement blocks for the perimeter wall. In Zambia everything is up for bargaining and negotiation so you never take the first price. I have no idea why these places are owned and run by Turks and Lebanese but that seems to be the norm. I have no idea why some of them use “Investments” in their name. This was the first place we stopped:
Their price was not good. Go figure!
At another place we were quoted a good price but they didn’t have the 750 blocks that we required. They will not go into production for a small batch. We finally found a place with sufficient quantity and a good price. Persistence!
In our travels around the city we saw the U.S. Embassy. It is one of the most formidable buildings in the city. We were told it was opened about 2 years ago. I have no idea why the U.S. needs such a large embassy in such a scarcely populated (about 15 million) poor country.
The U.S. Embassy in Lusaka, Zambia
A picture of me with former First Lady Maureen Mwanawasa.
There was a lot of good will all around. Ms. Mwanawasa is a member of the church we were working with that is building the school.