Here I am, back in Mozambique. Despite repeated
transportation issues, we finally made it. As I reflected on the trouble we’ve
encountered the last few weeks, I thought it might be educational to summarize
how our original drive to Moz. became a three week stay in JoBerg and an extra
$3000
[i]
in repair expenses. I hope this will help people in the west understand some of
the issues you can run into when working in a foreign country on a limited
budget.
Back in 2010, we were looking for transportation to get us
around Mozambique. Given the states of many of the roads in the country, we
knew we would need a 4-wheel drive truck with a good suspension system (some
roads have potholes over a foot deep). We also knew this would be an expensive
proposition, if we wanted a vehicle that would last. The difficulty in Moz. is
that, while you can find vehicles that are relatively inexpensive, none of them
really have any durability—that is, cheap cars are cheaply made. After looking
around, we found we could get a decent 4-wheel drive vehicle for around $20,000-40,000
dollars, or an extremely cheap 4-wheel drive vehicle for around $4000 dollars.
Given the terrain we would be dealing with, the choice was clear: we needed
around $40,000 for a solid truck that could handle the environment with a
minimum of long-term maintenance. A well-cared for Land Cruiser, for example,
would be able to last for hundreds of thousands of kilometers without needing
much more than routine maintenance. Unfortunately, this was difficult to communicate
to our supporters, who, like many people in the west, suffered from two common
misconceptions about Africa: 1) Africa is poor, so things are cheaper, and 2)
all you need to handle rough terrain is a 4-wheel drive truck. Sadly, neither idea
is true.
The result of these preconceptions, we were encouraged
to buy the cheaper option – a 4-wheel drive car that was available for $4000.
The car seemed to be in reasonable condition, although the suspension on the
vehicle was not really up to what we needed for the roads. It was cheap,
however, and that should save us money for other things, right? Plus, the
economy back home was doing poorly, and a more economical vehicle should be a
good buy, given the limited ability of our supporters to provide donations. We
were running out of time—we needed transportation soon, so we made the decision
to purchase the $4000 car ( I will refer to it as “Little T” from now on) in
December of 2010.
As it turned out, however, saving money on the front end is
not always a good savings for the long-term.
The difficulties with Little T turned out to be considerable:
- The car was a Japanese import, with no local
production facilities. This means that every part used to fix the car either
had to be scrounged up (for a fee), or imported (for a significant fee).
- Little T had some suspension issues initially.
The Mozambican roads did not help substantially. While Moz. is working hard to
improve their infrastructure, the current condition of many the roads ranges
from poor to outright dangerous. Within a few months, our suspension system was
completely shot, requiring us to replace the shock absorbers and struts—we only
had money for the shocks, initially.
- By the time we were able to repair the struts,
the shocks had gone out again – about a month or two later.
- After repairing the entire suspension, the car
lasted another couple of months on the Mozambican roads until the entire system
went out again.
- We took Little T to an off-road specialist shop
in South Africa (CRD), and they were able to fix the suspension—by rebuilding
part of the frame of the car to accommodate the degree of suspension necessary
to survive the Mozambican roads.
- We haven’t been able to test the new suspension,
however, since shortly after getting Little T out of the shop, the transmission
went out. This was the most recent issue, and the reason we were stranded in
JoBerg for three weeks.
While this list is not exhaustive, I believe it gives a good
overview of the kinds of difficulties we have had with this vehicle. About the
time we fix one thing, something else breaks.
Given the mileage on the car, it is likely the fuel injector will go
next. Altogether, the repairs to the car (this most recent breakdown included)
amount to over $20,000. Moreover, the car has spent months in the shop, hampering our efforts in Moz. and South Africa.
To summarize: the last 1.5 years, the car has ended up costing over $24000, and has disrupted months of work in Mozambique and South Africa.
I am not relating this to blame anyone or to relate a sob
story about how much trouble the car has caused. I relate this so that people
can understand that road conditions and economic factors in African countries
frequently require higher-cost, higher-quality vehicles to overcome. Had we
initially invested $20,000-$40,000 in a vehicle, we would have substantially
fewer repairs and, more importantly, far fewer delays in our work. The fact is,
the weaker the infrastructure of a country, the more expensive everything is. I
hope that by relaying this people can better understand this truth. I love what
we are doing, and I want to be able to do it as effectively and efficiently as
possible, but the simple truth is that good work requires good money, and this
vehicle has not turned out to be a good use of money.
When the car is repaired this time, we will be taking it
back to Moz. There, we will either relegate the car to local use, or simply
sell the car to raise funds for a better vehicle. We cannot afford to
let Little T’s breakdowns continue to interfere with our work.
[i]
All prices are in U.S. dollars
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