Mapanza is "governed" by Chief Mapanza. Every area in Zambia has a chief. The chief then appoints a "headman" over a certain area of land. There could be dozens of headmen in one chiefdom. (By the way, Zambia is a democracy--there is a president, but in the rural areas everyone knows that things are still run by a chief.)
So the way we got land was Blu went to the chief, explained what we wanted to do, and he said he would give us land. He then asked if any of his headmen were interested in having the white people come to their land and bring development. The headman where our land is volunteered, so he then went to all of his people and asked if anyone wanted to donate some of their land to this "project." The headman then appointed a "chairman" to oversee the building project, so he hires workers for us and takes care of payment. Sounds complicated, huh!
Anyway, today Blu was in Mapanza and he received a visit from the headman. We have a barbed wire fence around our 40 acres of land, but he wanted "beacons" placed at the four corners. (Rebar in a bucket of cement). Not sure why exactly, but he insisted that we do it now. He then informed Blu that he needed to pay his taxes. "What tax?" asked Blu. Apparently, the chief ordered that everyone that has land in this headman's area should pay the headman a tax of 8,000 kwacha so that he could buy a bicycle. If Blu did not pay, he would be taken before the chief and punished. So Blu willingly handed over the 8,000 kwacha ($1.58) and the headman went away a happy man :) Times like this remind us that we are NOT in America!
(Kelly Jo--to answer your question, there is no mortar in between the bricks. They are hydraform interlocking bricks so they don't need mortar. We lay the first line down with mortar and then level it as we go. Then when we get to the top of the door frames and window we pour a "ring beam.")
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