Inward Renewal

Luke Whitfield and I have been scanning the country-side looking for alternative building materials to treated wood.  Prices of any steel scrap or composite materials turn out to be quite expensive.  We are in the process of pouring slabs of concrete for five chalets that will be available for camping out at Ciyanjano.  Because termite action here in Zambia is so bad, we were looking for a material for the chalet uprights that would be termite proof.

After getting a few leads from locals involved in the construction business, I visited TAP Zambia Limited which is based in Chilanga.  They manufacture asbestos roofing sheets as well as other concrete based composite products like drainage pipes, culverts.  The plant is massive and has been around for years, serving the infrastructure needs of Zambia.

What I discovered was that the plant has a lot of discarded product in their sewer-main piping division.  Because each pipe needs to be coupled with another pipe, each segment has a male and female end.  When one end is deffective then the product is discarded as scrap.  It turns out they were willing to sell these otherwise intact products at a significantly reduced rate.  Being 6 inches in diameter, and manufactured out of reinforced concrete, these  4 meter long pipes are used by construction crews for carport, chalet and porch uprights. Getting the material was an absolute fiasco, requiring several trips back and forth – not to mention many hours of waiting.

When we first navigated our way through the maze of access roads to the rear scrap yard we could see that much of the product was covered with vegetation.  Within two minutes of getting out of our lorry (truck) a security guard who was shadowing us killed a black mamba who was emerging out of the stacked product just meters from us.  As we loaded the product onto the flat bed, we encountered a second snake.  The Lord was definitely protecting us in that snake infested area.

All in all, it took us close to three days to secure these 30 pieces of material.  We’re very grateful however for the savings…  as well as a quality product that should last more than 60 years in a termite environment.  I look forward to posting pictures of these uprights installed.  A team from Illinois will be coming in a month’s time to mount header boards onto these as well as trusses for a roof.  Please pray that all goes according to plan.

This morning I traveled out to Ciyanjano, Action Zambia’s campground, retreat center and income generation property.  It’s about a 30 minute drive for me, but I love getting outside of urban Lusaka.  I took a couple of pastors with me early to show them the leadership retreat center facilities.  As we were peering inside each chalet we opened up the door of one chalet, only to find a massive snake slithering across the concrete floor.  We quickly exited the chalet and slammed the door shut.  Jailos Sakala was with us and reopened the door carefully and stealthily crept around until venturing into the bathroom.  Looking up into the rafters he found the snake curled up.  He quickly called for backup and several more of our Zambian workers came running with hoes and slashers.  After a quick consultation, the workers decided that this snake was very dangerous and would have to be killed using a catapult (slingshot).  Within ten minutes, the snake had been hit in the head and dragged down from its perch.  A few slashes and it was dead.  The workers believed quite strongly that it was a green mamba.  At the time I believed them.  Any green snake surpassing a meter was surely a mamba I thought.  But after further investigation, I am certain this was a male Boomslang snake.  Boomslangs are found around these parts of Southern Africa.  They primarily live in trees and shrubs in savanna areas.  Green mambas have a more slender head than a Boomslang and have front fangs.  Boomslang are often mis-identified as green mambas.  Unlike mambas they have rear fangs, enormous eyes and short stubby heads.  What’s really interesting is that they can open their mouths 170 degrees.  Males like this one, are bright green, sometimes with black-edged scales.  We were extremely cautious handling the snake as it is “potently haemotoxic, causing severe bleeding internally and from the mucous surfaces.  May result in fatal haemorhage if untreated.”  Source: A Complete Guide to the Snakes of Southern Africa by Johan Marais    Check out the following pictures: