Bit-by-bit

We scored a big success yesterday getting the oil expeller and the rice polishing machines up to the site. We reckon them as big success as we have nothing like a forklift, a floor-jack, a come-along, a pulley, or the billion other mechanical tools we take for granted in our garages back home. Nope. Like the pyramids, we move things using ramps, levers, and quantities of bodies. Our only assistance is in the form of one of the two tractors whose sole purpose is hauling heavy stuff through sand that can't be negotiated in other vehicles.

Have I mentioned it's sandy here?

Anyway, I dismantled the oil expeller as best I could the day before; it is a piece of Chinese engineering that appears to be made entirely out of cast iron. Removed the big three-phase electric motor (about 75kgs); then removed the only piece of steel in the whole outfit, the auger ... it had to weigh over 100kgs; Munalula and I nearly dropped it once it cleared the shaft. It still weighed a great deal, but was less problematic than before.

The rice mill, however, remained untouched with the exception of removing the motor from the mounts; I was leery of taking out the polishing mechanism, as it's a bit touch-and-go in there and the machine's worth a couple grand (or multiple million kwacha). Therefore, it weighed literally a ton. There is nothing like having a metal box that weighs over a ton sliding down a plank with 20 hands and a strap acting as brakes.

It took the better part of the hour, but they are now in their respective sheds sitting on mukwa pallets; if we can get them mounted and electrified, we will be in good shape for next week for the as yet unscheduled state visit to open the site.

Electricity is also nearly a reality ... after K69,000,000 ($13,000), we have a line to our site. Once we pass inspection, we can turn the proverbial lights on and run the engines. Again, there is a lot of distance remaining (we have to hack out the water line, a meter-deep trench that runs for 2.5 km), but it's simply a question of time and labour.

I think what is the hardest to articulate about this whole process of raising a food production site essentially out of the ground is that you can't take your eyes off of anything for a single minute. I regularly have to remind our builders to stick to the contract, make straight walls, level floors, use enough cement, dig power lines deeper, keep an eye on how many bags of cement are used, etc. It's a bit frustrating ... check that, it's incredibly frustrating to have to deal with guys who are constantly cutting corners and take very little pride in their work (or have a much different definition of what they can be proud of). I remarked to my boss that once this production site was finished, agri-business development and I were through.

Joking of course (?) but not many readers don't know what it's like to build a business entirely from scratch. I'd imagine fewer still have done it in a country like Zambia, where despite the desire for development, you struggle with an arcane and conflicting government regulatory system, the endemic graft, the constant system of pulling favors, poor material or communication infrastructure, and a limited choice in work quality. It is not fun, sexy, rewarding, etc., etc.; it is a process wrought with headaches and the taxing of one's patience to it's ultimate limits. Something you might later say, "yeah, I worked on that ... learned a lot, great project, but glad it's over with."

We'll see.