Hello from Zimbabwe
Firstly a big apology for the long delay in writing. More than a month ago I changed my email for the new broadband but seem to be having endless problems with it.
Well life goes on here. On one hand I can say things are better and on the other no. As far as food in the shop and petrol in the service station yes you can buy any amount of food and you can now go to a petrol pump and get some fuel most of the time. The problem is that since the US dollar is being used it is harder to earn that dollar to afford the things. The first priority is rent and an average house in Harare costs between $500 and $800 which is quite expensive.
After that is food and school fees. Private schools are very expensive. People are not spending money on repairs for pipes when there is no or poorw ater pressure from the council. Most houses have tanks and buy their water from people with boreholes. They only spend money on emergencies, burst pipes, tap washers, leaking geysers but half the time, because the pressure is poor, they close the valve to the mains supply and wait a day or two while getting quotations and until they have some spare cash. Because of this we are now using quite a lot of fuel so we can try to get work although we pick and choose because we cannot spend the day using up our petrol and time on quotations we will not get. We are still waiting for the Construction Industry to notify us ofthe salary increase that was due in July. They are still negotiating but in the meantime the staff need their increase to survive. We still hold our monthly meetings to discuss what a room costs and what a family spends on food and workout amongst ourselves a salary at least double to the current wage but putting something aside incase we run out of work on one or two days.
Then there is the hardware shop which we have opened. We have finally got our papers and are now registered. We had a good laugh because we thought we were calling ourselves Mardon Hardware nice and simply because it is related to the plumbing but the registrar has registered us as Mardon City Hardware and couldn't explain why. We are still trying to correct the error.
We don't have enough stock as we are concentrating firstly on the plumbers so we have enoughmaterial for our jobs but are proud to say we have sold a few things and people are beginning to know that there is a hardware nearby. We hope this will help us to get some work and help to increase our income. For now that is all I have time to say. I trust that you are all well and enjoying your work. We are all well and thank you for always thinking about us. We have a new member of staff who we hope will ease the work load in the officeand keep you updated of our progress. Thank you, God bless you.
Love from
All at Mardon Plumbers
Saturday, 17 October 2009
Friday, 20 March 2009
Spring in Zim
Hello Christoph and everyone.
Yes it has been a long time but I have so much to do and just cannot get enough time to sit down and email. It would help if my phone at home worked for the internet but somehow as I did explain before, it hangs and then I end up with nophone at all so I gave up connecting the internet at home.
Well as you can see I am trying to get some pictures to you but it is a struggle. Anyway that was Tamlyn who sent them to you. She is the daughter of the new partner (and family relative) so I hope we will be able to do it more often. Unfortunately she had to do it from her job because my cheap email couldn't do it but hopefully we will be able to upgrade to a better program soon. We are all well but you were so right. We are all still waiting for things tohappen. Zimbabweans are such lovely patient people it is unbelievable. So far not much is happening but I do believe you are now allowed and actually beinge ncouraged to open an FCA account and can draw your money any wherever in the world. I think everyone is treading very cautiously with that one. I don't have one yet hahahaha. Businesses are struggling through lack of confidence and the recession I guess. I am afraid to say we are as well although God is great we still do six or so jobs a day. That has not at all made me feel down. In fact we are preparing ourselves for a boom even if it is only a little onebecause the City Council has now started doing their job. They are going aroundto the companies and inspecting for shop licences and before they give you want to see the toilet facilites, hot water boilers and leaking taps all repaired. We have had to put in two urinals and a door at a little extension before we get our licence. The hardware store has not been given permission to trade until the 9th when we have to first find out whether final fees have been agreed upon. The wages are all in US dollars and the plumbers were awarded 50c an hourwhich comes to 22 dollars and 18 after deductions a week. This is certainly not enough so I have doubled it plus I pay for all their contributions to Social security, pension, trade union etc.
What a contrast the wages are in relation to the waterbills and shop licences. They want $530 for a shop licence and charges such as $200 for water bills and electricity bills. It was so out of hand that the council were stopped from charging until they fix the price of water and electricity. Everything is in place in our hardware store and today I have finally put our first bits of stock in. We sold our first element and a thermostat and even a two plate stove. We are setting up the computer with a point of sale programme so have had someone giving us lesson for two hours.
O how can I forget to tell you. We had no water in Harare for two days. Can you imagine what that does to everyone's lives, to businesses and to hospitals?????? What about the simplest things in life like going to the toilet and washing your hands after so that you don't get cholera!!!!!! The water has just come back today so I hope it will stay. We all have these buckets in our houses for cases like this.
I am still happy here and still trying hard for the staff and thankful for people like you out there that we can rely on for support and an ear to listen and a kind word. Christopher and I are going through everything and I will leave all the vehicles and tools etc etc so that he will continue without any problems. The staff are all well and all still finding their way to work amidst the cholera, poverty and transport problems. Up there God watches and every day we are blessed with something.
Everyone is in shock about Tsvangirai and his latewife.
Regards to everyone.
Sammy xxx
Yes it has been a long time but I have so much to do and just cannot get enough time to sit down and email. It would help if my phone at home worked for the internet but somehow as I did explain before, it hangs and then I end up with nophone at all so I gave up connecting the internet at home.
Well as you can see I am trying to get some pictures to you but it is a struggle. Anyway that was Tamlyn who sent them to you. She is the daughter of the new partner (and family relative) so I hope we will be able to do it more often. Unfortunately she had to do it from her job because my cheap email couldn't do it but hopefully we will be able to upgrade to a better program soon. We are all well but you were so right. We are all still waiting for things tohappen. Zimbabweans are such lovely patient people it is unbelievable. So far not much is happening but I do believe you are now allowed and actually beinge ncouraged to open an FCA account and can draw your money any wherever in the world. I think everyone is treading very cautiously with that one. I don't have one yet hahahaha. Businesses are struggling through lack of confidence and the recession I guess. I am afraid to say we are as well although God is great we still do six or so jobs a day. That has not at all made me feel down. In fact we are preparing ourselves for a boom even if it is only a little onebecause the City Council has now started doing their job. They are going aroundto the companies and inspecting for shop licences and before they give you want to see the toilet facilites, hot water boilers and leaking taps all repaired. We have had to put in two urinals and a door at a little extension before we get our licence. The hardware store has not been given permission to trade until the 9th when we have to first find out whether final fees have been agreed upon. The wages are all in US dollars and the plumbers were awarded 50c an hourwhich comes to 22 dollars and 18 after deductions a week. This is certainly not enough so I have doubled it plus I pay for all their contributions to Social security, pension, trade union etc.
What a contrast the wages are in relation to the waterbills and shop licences. They want $530 for a shop licence and charges such as $200 for water bills and electricity bills. It was so out of hand that the council were stopped from charging until they fix the price of water and electricity. Everything is in place in our hardware store and today I have finally put our first bits of stock in. We sold our first element and a thermostat and even a two plate stove. We are setting up the computer with a point of sale programme so have had someone giving us lesson for two hours.
O how can I forget to tell you. We had no water in Harare for two days. Can you imagine what that does to everyone's lives, to businesses and to hospitals?????? What about the simplest things in life like going to the toilet and washing your hands after so that you don't get cholera!!!!!! The water has just come back today so I hope it will stay. We all have these buckets in our houses for cases like this.
I am still happy here and still trying hard for the staff and thankful for people like you out there that we can rely on for support and an ear to listen and a kind word. Christopher and I are going through everything and I will leave all the vehicles and tools etc etc so that he will continue without any problems. The staff are all well and all still finding their way to work amidst the cholera, poverty and transport problems. Up there God watches and every day we are blessed with something.
Everyone is in shock about Tsvangirai and his latewife.
Regards to everyone.
Sammy xxx
Thursday, 12 February 2009
Finally: Joint Government formed!
Breaking News from Zimbawe:
Sammy just texted that people are on the streets, excited, waving flags and cheering - Morgan Tsvangirai has finally agreed to be sworn in as Prime Minister and his party MDC to form a joint government together with Robert Mugabe's ZanuPF.
More on:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7882703.stm
This month's fuel vouchers have also gone on their way: 200 litres worth!
Cheers to everyone and lets hope it all gets better soon.
Christoph
Sammy just texted that people are on the streets, excited, waving flags and cheering - Morgan Tsvangirai has finally agreed to be sworn in as Prime Minister and his party MDC to form a joint government together with Robert Mugabe's ZanuPF.
More on:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7882703.stm
This month's fuel vouchers have also gone on their way: 200 litres worth!
Cheers to everyone and lets hope it all gets better soon.
Christoph
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
Into the New Year
Greetings to Everyone
And all the best for this coming new year. Thank you once again for your verykind donation to get us going. All the plumbers have returned safely from theirrural homes and so far we have all managed to keep free of cholera! Sadly allour problems are still with us and I understand that once again our talks havefailed. Besides that we are all well and happy?@%* and are very proud to saythat we are now able to do normal shopping but of course you must have the rightmoney. Yes there are those products which remain in short supply for examplefresh milk and bread and continuous flow of fresh vegetables and fruit. We areable to get some water either through municipal sometimes or boreholes which webuy. If we were able to get some tablets for the water I think it would be agood idea and have spoken to Christoph about it but am looking into which is thebest and cheapest method. Electricity is still a problem and people have towork around these problems somehow. Recently I was advised by my agent (wholooks after our family home I live in a flat) that the trees on the main roadoutside my yard were about to fall all over the gate and wall and could I pleasecut one down and trim the other two myself. The municipality who are supposedto be responsible could not undertake the work as they have no fuel tools oranything. The tree cutter that had given a quotation wanted US200?@%*. I hadno choice but to pay and then shared all the wood with the plumbers so now theyhave some means of cooking and boiling their water for a few weeks.
Christopherour main person kindly transported the wood to each person's house thats to yourgenerosity with the fuel coupons. I am disappointed to tell you though that ourfuel coupons are dropping in price though. For instance I see that you pay 67pfor a litre which is equivalent to about 94c but here they are redeemed at 60c alitre. I don't understand why I can only think it is about politics and alsothat the fuel coupons have flooded the market because we were using them as ameans to purchase anything. This brings me to another topic which is that theftseems to be on the increase. Thieves are using bolt cutters and crow bars tocut through metal screen doors and force doors open to steal. We are now havingto rethink our security and are interested in purchasing a security screen doorfrom trellidor. Their webside is www.trellidor.co.za. If it meets with yourapproval I was wondering if we could receive the cash instead and put it tobetter use such as the gate instead of loosing your hard earned donation throughdevaluation. We could also improve the staff wages and give them hard currencywhich seems to be the only means of survival when we have enough fuel.But all is not bad. With your donations and our hard work we have managed tosave some money and are now opening a small hardware. This will help us withour stock as well as keep our prices competitive. We have three new membersjoining the team in February and March which is about the time we hope to openthe hardware. I hope to send some photos soon as we are in the middle ofdecorating our offices and new shop. I will tell you more about it as time goeson. I think it is a good thing and will boost our company by creating more workas clients come and look for competitive prices and a good plumber or visaversa.We pray that this year will bring a lot of happiness for us all and that a badbeginning makes a good ending. (Recession and wars) We are thinking of you alland appreciate all your help as you continue to carry heavy burdens yourself.God bless and keep you all safe.
From all of us at Mardon plumbers.
And all the best for this coming new year. Thank you once again for your verykind donation to get us going. All the plumbers have returned safely from theirrural homes and so far we have all managed to keep free of cholera! Sadly allour problems are still with us and I understand that once again our talks havefailed. Besides that we are all well and happy?@%* and are very proud to saythat we are now able to do normal shopping but of course you must have the rightmoney. Yes there are those products which remain in short supply for examplefresh milk and bread and continuous flow of fresh vegetables and fruit. We areable to get some water either through municipal sometimes or boreholes which webuy. If we were able to get some tablets for the water I think it would be agood idea and have spoken to Christoph about it but am looking into which is thebest and cheapest method. Electricity is still a problem and people have towork around these problems somehow. Recently I was advised by my agent (wholooks after our family home I live in a flat) that the trees on the main roadoutside my yard were about to fall all over the gate and wall and could I pleasecut one down and trim the other two myself. The municipality who are supposedto be responsible could not undertake the work as they have no fuel tools oranything. The tree cutter that had given a quotation wanted US200?@%*. I hadno choice but to pay and then shared all the wood with the plumbers so now theyhave some means of cooking and boiling their water for a few weeks.
Christopherour main person kindly transported the wood to each person's house thats to yourgenerosity with the fuel coupons. I am disappointed to tell you though that ourfuel coupons are dropping in price though. For instance I see that you pay 67pfor a litre which is equivalent to about 94c but here they are redeemed at 60c alitre. I don't understand why I can only think it is about politics and alsothat the fuel coupons have flooded the market because we were using them as ameans to purchase anything. This brings me to another topic which is that theftseems to be on the increase. Thieves are using bolt cutters and crow bars tocut through metal screen doors and force doors open to steal. We are now havingto rethink our security and are interested in purchasing a security screen doorfrom trellidor. Their webside is www.trellidor.co.za. If it meets with yourapproval I was wondering if we could receive the cash instead and put it tobetter use such as the gate instead of loosing your hard earned donation throughdevaluation. We could also improve the staff wages and give them hard currencywhich seems to be the only means of survival when we have enough fuel.But all is not bad. With your donations and our hard work we have managed tosave some money and are now opening a small hardware. This will help us withour stock as well as keep our prices competitive. We have three new membersjoining the team in February and March which is about the time we hope to openthe hardware. I hope to send some photos soon as we are in the middle ofdecorating our offices and new shop. I will tell you more about it as time goeson. I think it is a good thing and will boost our company by creating more workas clients come and look for competitive prices and a good plumber or visaversa.We pray that this year will bring a lot of happiness for us all and that a badbeginning makes a good ending. (Recession and wars) We are thinking of you alland appreciate all your help as you continue to carry heavy burdens yourself.God bless and keep you all safe.
From all of us at Mardon plumbers.
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