Drew's African Odyssey - Mwange Refugee Camp, Zambia

After reviewing the submitted applications for hiring our new driver, we knew we were in trouble. The applicants had little to no driving experience, though we managed choose four of the guys for interviews. We think that our lack of quality applicants was because of the remoteness of Mporokoso. A lot of people living in the city have never been outside of Lusaka and don’t want to leave it.

The first guy we interviewed was miserable. After he admitted to us that he had just received his license some 6 months before and had been driving illegally without a license before that time, we said our thank yous and quickly ended the interview. The second guy was almost as bad as he had absolutely no knowledge of engines and the mechanics certificate that he presented us with looked forged. He was dismissed quite quickly as well. The third guy was a lot better, quite personable with an excellent knowledge of engines and superb English. The only thing we didn’t like was that he was a bit cocky and had a bit of an attitude, but we plan to give him a chance to show us his driving skills. The 4th guy, who was a lecturer at the automotive college, was older and a little cold, but he had driving experience and he came recommended from one of our contacts at the UN. So it is between those two guys – we’ll decide after we give them a road test…

Posted by: Drew Gardiner / 9:20 AM