Stealing Gas

One of the things that is killing me here is the abundance of problems. This is a function, I think, of two things:

1) A large project (8 expats, 18 National medical, 25 National general, and 58 incentive staff, 1 hospital, 4 clinics, 1 outreach (reaching over 100 villages), new TB, HIV/AIDS and SGBV programs online, 5 trucks....)

2) and the fact that we are no longer in an emergency situation.

(the third thing may be that the Log is the focal person for ALL the problems; staff, construction, plumbing, leaks, broken vehicles yada yada)

All this leads to folks being bored and well.... having opportunity to scam the system and take more than their share. This is something I loathe - but have accepted limited scamming attributable to African culture. This is too much.

Last night, while finishing up a new drug consumption tracking sheet for our next 3 month medical order, it was after midnight (remember I often start work 0630) when a guard walked into my office and asked for a ear. Here I was thinking I was done from a very long day and at peace that i had such a long duration of uninterrupted time to accomplish things and a guard wants to speak to me. I was agitated. This is what he said: One of the drivers has taken 36 l of fuel from one of the trucks and sold it on the market. This is not a new problem, we know it sometimes happens (we have a phrase here we use all the time "acceptable losses" where we chart up known losses and perceived losses and hope that they fall within the standard and usual threshold). We have set up checks and balances to control this type of thing, but clearly these have failed. Everyone knows about it, and even some of the other drivers are pressuring the security guards to 'replace' the fuel so it is untraceable. Now we pay these jokers way more than they are worth as THEM is proud of its above average salary structure. Now they are stealing too.

This particular driver has been recognized as doing this before. Last month I was checking the fuel consumption and I noted ...guess what ...36 l difference. I asked him about it and well…he said...it was a simple mistake. I left it at that (no corroborating evidence) hoping that he had the feeling that I was watching him.

I'd like to fire his ass. I don't like him. He is a sketchy guy. Withdrawn, furtive, hat-low-over-the-eyes sort. Bastard. He gave me the bird -stealing again- knowing I was watching. The worst part is I should give the security guards (all of them) and the drivers (all of them) warning letters too. What a joke.

The thing is in these cultures, if you remember Humber’s discussions, that sometimes folks are so used to (or predisposed to) autocratic instruction that they are incapable of initiative. So even for simple things I am asked endlessly what to do - like children - and it is tiring and disruptive to my day. I think that if i need to answer all these questions I should just do it myself, same difference in energy. So I battle with this because we want to develop capacity and ability and sustainability - but where is the line? And the truth is, sometimes the only way to get attention of the child is a spanking. Being hard (from our white western perspective) on someone like a warning letter or a firing is NOT considered hard from this perspective. It engenders respect and clarity. So while I tend to be a coacher-boss I am going to have to step out of my comfort range and become imperialist/colonialist.

Every fucking day it is something. And more than one.

Like the same morning, I got a call from a driver on the radio asking for assistance. Seems that his truck fell thru a bridge. Yup, I went and helped him dig it out. Everyone is safe. So is the truck. This while fielding complaints regarding vacation scheduling and overtime pay as I try to close the month-end books with a cash disparity of 100 bucks.

Stink