Treasure Hunts

I’ve started using treasure hunts or scavenger hunts as an analogy for much of my work in Lusaka. Some of you may remember scavenger hunts set up for kids at camp and birthday parties. The kids are given a clue, which once solved takes them to another clue or object to collect, then on to another one, etc. Usually much hilarity and running around is involved, and various important details are withheld until late in the game. Recently I also saw on the satellite TV the cheesy movie “National Treasure” which is full of clues and objects (maps, keys, message decoders, etc) to collect to lead to more such clues and objects. Eventually, despite various disappointments and the objections of more jaded individuals, a fantastic treasure is found!

In my work, the treasure (which sometimes is found and sometimes not), is typically information needed or some desired outcome to getting development work done. Below are two examples of recent treasure hunts that I have been working on.

In about November, my sponsor asked me to change accounting firms for our organization, because we had been frequently disappointed by the quality of the work from our current firm. So, I met with a recommended firm, and when they agreed to take on our business, I began the steps to make it happen. My first instructions were to write and email an official letter requesting the change. Having done so, I was then told I needed the sponsor’s signature, so I should get him to sign and scan it. After that step, I was given a list of things to collect from the old accounting firm – income and expense reports, payroll information, and official documents. I deliver these to the new firm, though, and then am told to go back for more information – receipts, tax payment booklet, pension file (for employees) and bank statements. Again I am successful, except in that few receipts were located, the bank statements don’t match the expense report, and the ownership of the pension file was hotly contested. I’m sure there will be more work to do on these items in the future. In parallel to this scavenging, I was also working on changing signatories for the bank account. Currently there are only two signatories, one of whom is a manager at the old accounting firm. I go to the bank to determine the procedure for changing this, which involves passport photos, official letters, and other items to collect. While trying to begin this collection, however, another important fact was revealed: the manager at the old accounting firm was also listed (along with my sponsor) as a director and guarantor (whatever that is…) of our organization. Apparently two directors/guarantors are needed, and he had been conveniently located when the organization was being formed. Before we can change signatories, we have to change directors and guarantors. A new person to fill that role has been located, and I know that some more official documents are going to be involved. I await my next instructions….

Another treasure hunt I have been working on recently is on behalf of the school computer projects that we support. At these schools, skill in touch typing is in short supply amongst both students and teachers. Teachers are increasingly being asked to type up tests and other documents, but it is a painfully slow process for them. I thought I would encourage development of touch typing skill by helping the schools organize typing speed tests. Those who reach a certain speed would receive a certificate of touch typing proficiency. Certificates of achievement and training are very much appreciated here as ways to improve someone’s resume. As I was sharing ideas on touch typing last December, however, someone asked “Would these certificates be approved by the vocational training authority, TEVETA?” I didn’t know the answer, so I started another treasure hunt to find out if TEVETA offered a touch typing curriculum or certificate criteria. It started with some emails to TEVETA, with staffers there who thought that touch typing was included in a clerk typist curriculum, then a trip to the TEVETA stores officer to pick up that curriculum. The stores officer, however, said that curriculum didn’t exist, but that another one that might include touch typing was being prepared, and I should come back in January. So I headed off and returned (after unanswered emails, but then answered calls) in February to the same stores officer. He gives me a copy of a secretarial curriculum, prepared in 2005, that includes typing. We discover that it describes how to use a typewriter and how to format a page, but it doesn’t say anything about posture, finger placement, or typing speed. I express my disappointment and so he sends me over to a planning officer at TEVETA. She and I have a lovely conversation which leads to the discovery that the curriculum I am interested in doesn’t exist! So the treasure was no treasure at all in this case.

I have discovered that I am not alone in having these “treasure hunts” in Zambia. Many other volunteers and development workers that I know are involved in similar pursuits and find them frustrating and time wasting. Treasures to hunt include work permits, visas, tax exemption for imported goods, and information about various policies and procedures. It often feels like poor information sharing and other government and business inefficiencies are the main causes of these struggles. I wonder also, however, how many bureaucratic delays we would find if we were trying to do similar work in the US?