In Praise of Neighbors

When Tracy and I arrived home last evening we were greeted by a large backhoe chewing up the entrance to Makeni Center. For several weeks now flooding in the area caused the Zambia Natural Services to pump water into the streets. To accomodate the drainage, the city began digging canals alongside the road to carry the water. Unfortunately, as they did this they also tore up people's driveways, not caring whether they disrupted businesses or created havoc in daily lives. We thought ours was safe, but, alas, it went the way of the rest of the entrances. How were we to get inside? Even with our Pajero we wouldn't have made it. 

Because the south wall of Makeni is shared with a neighbor we drove around the corner hoping he would let us park our car within his plot. We had never met Mr. Doudi before so we didn't know what to expect. He not only agreed to let us park our car at his house but assisted us with a ladder. While Tracy scaled the wall and went to get another ladder, Mr. Doudi and I had a friendly chat on his veranda. During our conversation I found out that the Makeni area had the same problem in 1978 and that the city did the exact same thing without a view to the future. History repeats itself!

After about 15 minutes Tracy returned with a second ladder and with Mrs. Dil's and Mr. Doudi's help, two 58 year-old azungu (white people) overcame the obstacle of the day. I'm just glad that I hadn't bought any more groceries than I had! Here's a picture of where we crossed~I know it's more dramatic with the ladders leaning against the wall, but they had to be taken down for the night. A huge "thanks" to our neighbors!