Abe’s Repair

I have been visiting the panel-beater daily to oversee the repair of Abraham (our vehicle). Since Abe arrived in Lusaka, it has been at the panel-beater’s workshop. I am a bit nervous about the Zambian-style work environment because it doesn’t look professional. It hurts just to see Abraham surrounded by all those other smashed up vehicles all lined up for repair of some sort. For instance, the yard is dusty, other vehicles are being spray-painted right next to Abraham, and the shelter is completely open. Can any good work come from this yard?

A record of good repair

Rossi (SIM-Zambia’s operation manager) convinced me that good work does come from this yard. He showed me his own vehicle that had come here for repair. He also showed me other SIM-Zambia vehicles that this panel beater repaired. I could hardly tell that these vehicles had been spray-painted. The workmanship was very good. This gave me some confidence that Abraham is in good hands.

Cost covered by Kasoka

I am grateful that Kasoka is covering the cost of the repairs. Kasoka is the owner of the transit company who were responsible for the safe delivery of Abraham. Rossi put Kasoka in touch with the panel-beater and they made arrangements directly with each other. In other words, I am overseeing work that I am not paying for. This means that I don’t have too much leverage to dictate how things should be done. However, I trust Rossi because he knows Zambia way better than I do.

In conclusion, it seems I didn’t need to worry at all because the finished product is starting to look good. The last time I saw the vehicle, it had just been spray-painted. And it looks like they have done a pretty decent job. So, I can’t wait to see it when it has been polished and delivered into our hands.

Pictures of the progress of repair

More pictures

In the pictures above, I tried to show you the progress made each day on the side that got the most damage. Here below are some more pictures from different angles. Notice the surroundings too