Snails pace

This should be the national symbol for how things move in Zambia. we had a really good day  until the heat decided to return today was pretty miserable for a few hours. all is well in Zambia .

Teaser

Tomarrow I will be doing a post that Rod wrote on the Zambias that are living on one dollar US a day that will breack your heart if I can't get cut and paste to work will have to paraphrase as best I can . I would like everyone tonight to pray for Sussana's mother Grace I couldn't understand exactly what she needs but God knows what she needs . Thanks

Emmanuel

Concrete mix master sometimes you ask the locals  what works and save alot of headache he loves mixing mud

Supper

I know what's for supper tonight really tasty fish Sussana cooked supper tonight rvery good

Kid in a candy store

boy am I happy camper I finally have some kind of concrete tool. while the boys were mixing up concrete for the pad. I made a bull float slash Fresno it even looks like it might work after 3 hrs

Water level

This is the way to get things leveled upin solwezi fill a small tube with water and hold both ends up the level the water is at on both ends is your level spot.the quality of the tools here is pathetic, they cost as much is in the US but are not near the quality.

Wash day 2

Susanna doing our wash check out the three buckets that she is useing ,also check out our new clothes line .I asked susanna if she had a clothsline like that,she said that she hadn't seen a clothsline like that since at her grandparents place. It was a little cloudy today which helped keep the heat down a little we had agood day today ,its starting to come together. Our thunder throne as he british gent called our toilet is with a couple latches from being done. it feels like I'm back in my younger days with an outdoor toilet and a clothesline in the backyard.

Rain

We collected as much rain water as we could best water I'v tasted in two weeks

Supper

I have no idea what I'v been eating here this is some kind of ribs,the triangle things were a spicy meat it was ok the sausage was nasty ,if this was chicken wings they came from a very small chicken, second picture is of a russian dog.

New shoes

Rod took everybody down to get new shoes the mine wouldn't let them in with out protective shoes

Eric

Eric is building the forms for the corner posts

Dejected

When it rains in solwazi it flat gets with the program. I love this picture with rod we were having a good day then the clouds opened up on us and just poured on us. we must have had 2 to 3 inches in half hour ,45 minutes it's a good thing that our trailer was parked on the highest spot of the lot.  I found out the waterproof pants in Sam's Club are not waterproof . I've never heard so much thunder and lightning so close in all my life. thankful to be back in the motel and away from the metal container and all the metal on the job site.

Flowers

Some beatiful flowers have shown up at the motel the last few days and no I don't know what they are.

Generator

The generator that we were renting was leaking a lot of fuel,so they came to pick it up and try to fix it. One of the men who came to pick it up asked us where we we from when we told him we were from the US he gave us afunny look and asked us why we would leave the states and come to Zambia. He wanted to know what we thought of Zambia and said we should check out something other than solwezi.

Finally pouring concrete

I don't care what I look like its blazing hot  here.

Filtering water

this will be a daily tasks filtering our water the only water that is safe to drink here for the USA citizens is the bottled water. when it's this hot its amazing how much water we go through. I don't know how the Zambians can drink this water it's just looks disgusting. there are very few Zambians who have electricity or running water. it's going to be amazing when I get home I can turn the tap on and I can drink the water that comes out of the tap. the blue overalls this girl is wearing is the uniform of the mine, they are very proud of uniform because it shows other people that they are working and have a job.

Banana tree

This banana tree is behind our motel . I have seen banana trees before but never seen the flower that you can see if you look hard in the back.

Toilet day two

Our crew was so happy when we got the walls out .I think 4 or 5 days and we will be done. Today was hot and humid again ,you just can't drink enough I hope it cools of at least its not raining during the day. We are finally getting panels put together and poured some test pads today .

Cooking fuel

This is how the africans cook with charcoal did they make.

Fast food

Susannaz brother this goat some to be a tasty treat

Our crew

Getting something to eat

Shots of the day

we have to provide our own toilet on the job site I can now add toilet construction to my resume. some general shots of the constructionthat was going on including toilet and Eric and I sitting on our lovely new toilet. we are starting to get our panels cut and hope to be pouring panels and posts tomorrow. it's really sad there must have been 150 people that have asked this for work so far but there's only so much that you can do. Suzanna came out and cooked lunch today that was the most amazing meal that we've had in Africa this far.

Concrete tools

This is all the concrete tools that we have been able to find one steel,one wood float,a plastic darby for stuco and a water lazer. A 2x4 is actually 1and 1 half to 2and 1half by something within a inch of four inches and a16' board weights about 50lbs.the sap just flys when you cut them.

One of those days

This is what 6 Zambian and what one pale guy can do in one day. They want to learn but have never seen any tools at . You think that they understand you untill you turn your back. Heat and humidity were rough today.
Our new toilet

It's not my fault it's Africa

this is our new favorite saying in Africa. finally ready to go into the concrete business in Africa I have my cement truck and my batch plant. we finally have a generator and welder so it are finally in business. it was laundry day at the job site today, Suzanna did are wash in 3 galvanized buckets and a wheelborrow. the other pictures are from the sites where we will be building houses. they were flooded so we had to dig trenches to get them dry .

This is life in africa

They move at a different pace in Africa. things that should take a half hour in the US can easily take 4 to 6 hours in Africa.

Termite hill

Wanted to send this to give a sense of the size of some of these hills.rod is on the left eric on the right

Setting up the site

we need to furnish your own water so we set it on top of the container so that we would have some gravity feed on the water. also seen is a truck delivering lumber rebar plywood and cement. and just a general shot of the site being prepared.

The Zambian crew

Hopefully they will will continue to do as well as a they did today. communication is a little tough but we have a couple that understand English pretty well. spent most of the day preparing the site getting water delivered, gravel delivered and spread. In Zambian culture the women are the bread winners of the family. so we have 4 men and 2 women on our crew. the people assigned to us were picked out by the local chief.

Termite hill

This is on Sussane's land

Solwize general store

This man has just about every thing . For the concrete guys out check out the red pump it is counterbalanced and is moved by hand

African lanscapes about a half mile from the mine