Instant gratification

The first time I visited Africa, a good friend warned me that I might come back a Conservative. He meant that in many ways African countries can seem to be very inefficient, and that in some ways it is no mystery why the economic and social structure seems so chaotic. A few days in the Gambia in 2002 didn't really give me chance to explore the idea, but as I get to learn about Zambian culture I've been thinking about it more.

In many ways things do seem very inefficient here. My colleagues seem to spend a lot of time talking on the mobile phones, which is very expensive (impoverished volunteers always text, which is very cheap) and then don't have credit to communicate important information like their absence from the office. The 'short-cut' that they insist on taking when we walk from the office into town is in fact a windy and much longer route, albeit a more pleasant walk. Generally as we're working it's clear that we think very differently and have different ideas about how to achieve our goals.

On the other hand, it is often easier to get quick results here than at home. This week we decided that we needed to do some market research among schools in Livingstone before submitting a funding bid. With 2 days til the deadline, I couldn't believe that any school would spend the time filling in our survey about their student populations, much less distribute a questionnaire to whole year groups asking detailed questions about students' sexual behaviour. I was completely wrong though, and all the schools we asked were happy to meet our requests in line with the deadline. This instant response also applies to my domestic life – I can't imagine getting a plumber to come out in London on same-day notice, especially not when I used my best bargaining techniques and negotiated him down to a labour charge of 25,000kw (about £3.50), which is only slightly above market-rate.

So perhaps Africa, or Zambia at least, isn't inefficient, just differently efficient. The walk that my colleagues favour is more shady and thus easier, and texting doesn't work if the recipient doesn't have talk time to call you back! I'm certainly having to adjust my London sense of planning, and to get used to not knowing what the next day will hold. But it's liberating and relaxing in some ways not to have planned my weekend until friday. It's turned out perfectly, swimming at one of the posh hotels with a new Zambian friend and indulging in some much-needed girly gossip, and making a very English Sunday lunch for some other VSOs. I'm sure things will still be frustrating at times, but it's been a really encouraging week at work and I'm definitely in a positive frame of mind!