Paperwork: The politics of a fence
- Mark Garrison
- 3 hours ago
- 7 min read
They say good fences make good neighbors. For the most part I believe this is true. However, fences can be controversial just the same. This is what I know to be true: fences establish a barrier between two parties, some for protection, some for privacy even others for beauty and decoration. Fences by their very nature are divisive.
So, what do we do? How do you make a “good fence?”
What do you say when the fence itself becomes the issue? Not the just division it creates. I mean the actual logistics of building a fence: the materials, the labor and the approvals. This has been our trouble over the past few months. How do we get a fence? How do we get the approvals, the materials and start putting the posts into the ground?
The past few months we have experienced a wave of emotional and logistical challenges. When we first arrived to work on the project, we expected our roles would be different than they are today. We have been forced to become chameleons in our new environment, dropping the expectations we arrived with, and learning to adapt to our new home. Let me run down the line of what I mean.
When we arrived, we expected the team on the ground to be ready for us.
We expected the funds for the project to be at our disposal.
We expected the hospital to help us push and pass all the necessary barriers.
We expected to set the building standard.
What we expected has been far from our reality.
Exspectations can be dangerous if not communicated well.
The first task on the project was to remove the power lines that were running through the jobsite, the next step was to demolish two existing structures and relocate some shipping containers. Then there was the fence. I have been very adamant about the need for the fence both to secure the work itself and protect bystanders. The jobsite is adjacent to the maternity ward where many people sit all day and currently the site is used as a walkway. Before we started construction, I saw the value of having the jobsite safe and secure. I thought this was a reasonable request. Well, as we progressed in our plan and requests for supplies to build the fence the road began to get shifty. What the hospital team began to understand was how much was going to be involved, much more than what they expected.
Due to the newly elected president and governmental change in the fall of ‘25 (which has been a good thing for Malawi as a whole) we learned of new regulations required for construction. The reformation of the CIRA (Construction Industry Regulatory Authority of Malawi) has brought a new path forward for construction in Malawi. Being conservative by nature and a purist at heart, I feel less regulation is better, however my years of architectural and construction work has made me realize regulations are a good thing, when used in the right situations. However, over regulation can stunt opportunity and growth.
Materials are needed to build a fence, this in and of itself has been a frustrating challenge. The two main funding organizations for the entire project are:
African Mission Healthcare (AMH)
Medical Benevoulance Funds (MBF)
While there are other involved these are them main organizations involved. For good reasons both have strict and tedious rules to follow for requesting funds. Added to this, the hospital requires all financial requests to be processed through their own finance department despite all funding coming from the outside organizations (AMH and MBF). The process of requesting money could take anywhere from 4-8 weeks depending on who is in the office, what day the request is made and if people sign forms correctly. It has been a tireless process. For example, with one request for funds, I wrote down the process, and it revealed over 18 steps and who knows how many people’s involvement for approval. This was not what we were expecting when starting the project. It has causedn extra delays and inconvenience just to obtain materials and tools for a fence. My role has been consumed with more paperwork and administration than time on the job site teaching and training men. I find this position more difficult but also essential to the navigation of the project through the “system.” I have been told on many occasions how fast we have made progress. I am over here being negative about how slow we are moving! As we have noted in previous writings: it is all about perspective.
Africa rewards the patient and persistent.
Thus, the politics of a fence. From the initial request for construction funds until the material arrived was almost 4 months. It’s not wrong, it's just different. It is a process for us to work through, learn to respect and to follow the rules set before us. We didn’t make the rules, we are just choosing to work within the Malawian guidelines. This is the hardest part of service work in another culture; just because it's different (and not what I expected) doesn’t make it wrong. If we take the time to learn from it there is a lot, we can learn from the differences.
It does make me miss my work back with Gray AES and the realization of the efficacy in which we operated on many multimillion-dollar projects. Gray does so much work with extreme efficacy and accuracy, it is rather amazing. (Shout out to my Gray family!!)
Finally, we now sit with a fence completed and can start the sitework in a secured location. In the process we discovered that the jobsite was previously a hospital dumpsite for many years. It bears the scares of previous project, old buildings, and a heap of medical waste hidden under the dirt. Working with the water dept to identify where water and sanitary lines currently existed has proved difficult. We hit basically every water line that was on the site and even some that no one knew existed. Our biggest was a 3-inch water main that was not marked. For those who know, it wasn’t a fun weekend.
Fences by their very nature are divisive, whether physically or simply in the process of building one. We try to do our best to reduce the conflict between the project and life here. It is a line that is not clear at times and with a lot of bends and twists. We learn as we go and grow with each step. God faithfulness to us and His gentle reminders of why we are here and how best to serve.
Our life here is finally becoming routine, with almost 10 months behind us we feel like things are becoming routine. We have now been in our house for 6 months and are making it more of our own. We have been hiring people to do jobs around the house and others to assist with some larger projects. The kids enjoy the yard improvements and the various swings we have installed. Our house has been a joyful place for hosting events from Bible studies to game nights and even some large social gatherings like Wesley’s birthday. Mark even has "pet" turkeys. We want our house to be a welcome place for friends and visitors. We are here to be a blessing to others but many time end up being blessed by those we serve.
We cherish your support and communications. We love and miss you all!
Praise:
Bradley is sleeping better!
The 2 older kids were able to come home for their term break and we surprised them with trips to see friends over the summer (Greeley is going to the US for 2 weeks with his grandmother and Clara is going to South Africa to visit the Bradley family (Dr Bruce and Kelley), They are both so excited!!!
We have finally made some great progress with the project these past 3 weeks, we pray for continued progress and no more delays.
For so much support from our friends and family while here, we are blessed that we have over 300 people reading our blog posts. So many people send us messages and prayers and it is so encouraging.
We just finished reading The Chronicles of Narnia with Wesley and Emma. It sparked great conversations about life, battles over darkness, our need for God, and trusting in the future grace we can expect in heaven. We have been able to read all 7 books over the last 3 months, and it is such a beautiful story.
Pray:
For quality relationships to be made with contractors we are working with on the project.
For the funding organizations to recognize the necessary steps we need to keep the project running smoothly.
For the local Malawian church to become a good partnership on the project, we need them for both political and social support as they own the hospital.
For Marcela and I to use our house as a blessing for the short-term teams and medical staff.
For us to be a light in the community and to our friends who serve at the hospital.
For growth in our financial support team. Prices and inflation of the Malawian kwacha have hit us hard. We are in need of more monthly supporters. Currently fuel costs over $9.50 per gallon, and groceries have also taken a jump as everything here is imported so taxes and tariffs affect everything.
For Marcela and I to keep a joyful heart of serving central to our life.
Summer travel: Barbara, Luke-Greeley and Clara will be all over the world in July but we will all come back together as a family in August.
For Marcela and I to find time with each other for prayer and sharing, life here is tough.
For continued health and safety as we experience more and more of the struggles of village life. While Ebola and other infectious diseases are not here, if something like what is happening in the DRC happens here it would be catastrophic. We are in no way set up to handle anything like that here. Sanitation and waste management are essentially nonexistent in the village here.
For the Lord's hedge of protection over our family, house staff, the project and the hospital.
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