Greetings:
The justice system here is swift.
Large sums of money disappeared from the Education Echelon. An
investigation was launched. The investigators were killed. The
killers were caught, sentenced to 25 years imprisonment and are currently
incarcerated serving their sentence - all this within 6 weeks. Back home the
beginning - end of something like this could stretch over 5 years before the
equivalent action would be imposed. Justice here is lightning quick in most cases - a most
commendable system.
Interesting banking system here.
Each time you deposit money in a bank you are charged a fee. Today
I got money from an ATM machine and deposited it in a local bank. I was
charged the equivalent of $2.80 for making the deposit. So if I make 10
separate deposits during a week, that's $2.80 x 10 = $28. I can see how
this can be helpful to a banking system in a country where generating cash is
most needful. Unlike New Zealand when I was charged $800 just to submit a
teaching application plus they wanted an extra $320 just to evaluate my
transcript of college credits. Then I would be placed on a waiting list for
consideration. I paid the $800 but balked when they informed me I needed to pay
another $320. Interesting, when I returned home, NZ sent me a letter a
month later informing me if I didn't pay the $320 within the next month my
entire application would be negated and I would have to start over and pay
another $800 to re-initiate the process. Hence, I have no desire to ever
return to NZ again.
I like it here. They call it
the friendly city and I have found it to be so. The job calls for a certain
amount of driving around which I enjoy. Self motivation is the name of the job. The same
for the young elders. You've got to find people. In our case,
finding RM's desirous of further education and involvement in the program.
The ward we visited last Sunday had 50/150 active and no RM's or
prospective missionaries of eligible age. The booming branches are in the
outlying areas.
The gated compound we live in has 39
houses, is surrounded by a brick wall varying from 7-8' tall with 5 strands of
electric wire circling on top at least 8 inches apart. Anyone trying to climb
over is naturally electrocuted. One of the senior couples brought an African
bishop and his family to visit us in the compound. He said "You
people live in a prison!" It's his ward we are going to visit tomorrow.
He's a good man with a nice family. A woman came with her rental agent to inspect our flat. The first question she asked was about security in our compound.
The Africans walk all over the
place. For many, walking is their main means of transportation.
Those who can afford taxis ride in taxis - vans. Some travel by bus
but a good number walk and literally walk miles. As in other countries in the
world there are those hawking their wares at intersections; young boys, men and
women with tin cans begging for money. Then at
shopping centers in the parking lot, even though it is not necessary, along
each aisle is an African signalling you to an empty spot. When you leave
he is there guiding you as you back out. Some people give them 1 or 2
rand some give them nothing. There are 8 rand to a dollar so one rand equals 12
and 1/2 cents. These "parking lot attendants" have to pay the
shopping center a fee in order to do this. So it becomes their full time
job, 8 hours per day.
The pepperoni pizza tastes pretty
good. We are getting tired of fish and chips. But there is lots of other interesting food. We went to a restaurant for lunch and on
the menu was monkey kidneys. That's twice now I've seen that on menus.
It must be a delicacy, a specialty in demand or else it wouldn't be on
the menu. MacDonalds hamburgers taste ok. This is an interesting country
and we are becoming more acquainted with things each day. This is it from
the African connection.
Elder S
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