Today we met with the Ministry of Finance to discuss reporting procedures and accounting systems within Zambia for international NGO’s such as ours. The gentlemen we met with is an old friend of Luhana’s who holds a high seat within the organization. A mob of people surrounded the guard post when we arrived, and we had to be fetched and escorted inside. They were people in search of money owed to them by the government, clearly impoverished and desperate, and sadly never likely to see a dime. We walked out happy that we would be able to account for finances in a manner that complied with both U.S. and Zambian standards. Given how small we are, we will hire a consultant from the Zambian Institute of Chartered Accountants to come in biannually and “do the books” as they say here.
From there we made what has become a typical route through the bank, the mechanic, and the internet café. Logistics here are painfully slow, from navigating the roads to the internet crashing every five minutes. Surprisingly, the vehicle was almost ready when we arrived complete with a new windshield, washed interior and best of all an engine that ran. We thanked Mr. Gray and promptly drove it to John (trusted mechanic) to polish off before we head into the field. The journey was my first driving experience within Zambia and the combination of Lusaka roads, driving on the “wrong” side of the road, and an old stick shift vehicle made me nervous and left me exhausted, but other than a few “watch out you almost hit that person” squeals from Margaret and losing Luhana in the traffic, things went pretty smoothly. It took John all of 7 minutes to identify that the bushels needed to be replaced and so rather than driving off with the car, we left it with him to tend to and shifted our planned departure for Itezhi Tezhi from Saturday to Sunday.
Luhana really has been amazing, spending every day running around town with us straightening out odds and ends, updating us on the programs, and ensuring us that whatever it takes, he is committed to seeing this succeed. With all Luhana’s kindness and “western” thought and treatment of Annie and I, there are inevitably cultural barriers. Zambians do not like to talk about money, making it difficult for us to openly discuss salary payments, the cost of our rental house in Itezhi Tezhi, and other expenses with Luhana. Whenever we confront Luhana with a pointed question he would deem inappropriate or uncomfortable he often giggles in his own way and says “ohhh Annie and Maggie, that is funny, I will remember that but we must not worry, as we are together and all will be fine.” Regardless of the occasional bump along the way, Luhana remains “honored” by our visiting and interest in his country and in perfect “African hospitality” is more concerned with our comfort than his own. You can see that he carries a great amount of pride for his people and his country and is eager to share that. Regardless of time or schedule, if we are passing through an area where he has family, Luhana stops to introduce Annie and I. He treats us as family, a rare and different gift that I have not encountered often in the states.
This will, fingers crossed, be our last post from Lusaka before we return to pick-up Sarah and Katie from the airport in two weeks.
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