the date, African style

Since we're in Africa, better start using the African dates...
3-12-08
Finished the ceiling in the main room today and half the ceiling In the other bathroom. The plan is to finish the 2nd bathroom so we have a place to bath. From there move into one of the bedrooms. I’m also supposed to have some oxen and a plow come by to work up some ground for me since the tractor is not running and the plow is in pieces. I have also planted about 200 seeds in pots and bags so far. Most of my moringa trees are about 3 inches tall already. Even got a little grass started around the house to try and keep the mud down once the rains really start. Had Zimba wash my vehicle today, actually he suggested it. It must have looked bad. I don’t have my brother (Tim) here to do it for me. I don’t think Zimba is quite as thorugh as Tim but he did pretty good. Zimba works for a lot less than Tim does too.
4-12-08
Got the ceiling, floor, toilet, and tub in the master bath today. No water hooked to the tub yet, that is going to take a little African engineering on my part to get that done.
Had a rather long staff meeting yesterday. I laid out a few things for the guys.
1. If you are operating a peace of equipment and something breaks or is damaged, I WANT TO KNOW IMMEDIATELY! One of the other guys used the gator the other day and had driven over a thorn bush. Wreaked all 4 tires. Tried to use glue to plug some of the holes and acted to me like everything was fine. I was a little upset J you might say. I talked to them about what it is going to take for this college to succeed. I had told them that they will need to work 6 days a week. They disagreed; I told them GOD only took one day off and so are we. These guys do not understand what it is going to take for this collage to succeed. I think I do; being satisfied with just surviving is not good enough. I know that is all some of these guys know but there needs to be change, a paradigm shift. They are content and that is not a bad thing, but when your contentedness breeds idleness it becomes a curse and not a blessing. I shared with them what I have experienced, what it took and the sacrifices required. All they told me about was all the Zambian holidays that they don’t work on, they also don’t work on Saturday or Sunday. With the proper motivation, guidance, and supervision the work can and will get done but I know I will need to be there to stay on top of it. I learned that lesson several times so far the hard way.