Zamgenuity

A post from David this time.

Zamgenuity-- A term describing the creative ways Zambians accomplish their everyday tasks without the resources and tools routinely available to Americans.

As I travel throughout Zambia watching my Zambian friends live life, I marvel at their ability to get things done. This creative genius or “zamgenuity” seems to be driven by the motto “Where there is a will, there is a way.”

Here is one example of “Zamgenuity.”

My friend, Daniel Mweemba, is a wiry, 55 year-old from a tiny village two hours north of Namwianga Mission. He is a gifted church planter who supports his family by gardening and operating a “lumber mill.” Sixty-feet tall hardwood trees called “moquas” grow on his land. Moqua wood is used to make furniture, so Daniel cuts the trunks into planks or boards and then sells them to carpenters. Since he lives in the bush where there is no electricity or other power source, he uses his zamgenuity to saw the wood.

In the sandy forest floor he digs a pit six feet deep, eight feet long, and four feet wide. He places two five-foot logs across each end of the pit. On these logs he lays the tree trunk. Then, with a two-handled saw, Daniel and his son, Day, cut the trunk in half. Next it is cut (trimmed) two more times to make the log flat on two sides. On the broadest side of the plank, Daniel takes a piece of charcoal and marks the cutting lines for the boards. Each of the boards is an inch and a half thick. To cut the log into boards, one of the saw handlers stands in the pit while the other stands on top of the log, guiding the saw along the lines. It’s not the easy way to mill logs, but it gets the job done in a place where there is no electricity and where not everyone can afford a chain saw. Zamgenuity at its best!