TIA (This is Africa)

TIA (This is Africa)
Originally uploaded by yo_paully.

Today was the first day at the job site. There is a saying that we learned since arriving in Africa: TIA - This is Africa. When we arrived at the job site, there was no steel (TIA), when we went to pick up the steel, there were no nuts and bolts (TIA), when we got the nuts and bolts, we also had to get the steel workers to the site because they had no transportation (TIA) This is Africa. Despite these obstacles, we managed to finish the steel work - our frame is complete. The picture above is a milestone, it is the first steel beam to have gone up on our home.

The job site was not what you'd expect to see in Canada. As Ann noted, this would be a safety managers worst nightmare: no scaffolding, no ladders and some guys didn't even have shoes, but these guys were so dedicated and worked so hard to get job done, it was inspiring. Pat's observation was that it a heartwarming experience to have been accepted into their workplace and work with them was bang on.

We finished the day with a "Walking Safari". No elephants or zebras or rhinos, but we did see a couple of hyenas, a leopard, some monkeys and a crocodile - which we could have seen at the Toronto Zoo, but hey we're in Africa! TIA