Labor Disputes II: Over the Fence!

Well, I know you've all been waiting a long while for the next chapter in our sordid saga. Sorry to have kept you so long, but it's just so hard to write about an uncomfortable situation (crisis is much too strong a word) while in the middle of it. It's hard to direct a story arc when I don't know where it ends, you know?

Also, I've been turned off from using the internet a lot, as we supposedly have high-speed internet being installed, and I'm really tired of the slow speed and the stream being cut off. So I've been trying to hold off on our high(er) speed installation, but keep getting stymied with that as well. I paid for the installation on Wednesday, by going to a bank and depositing cash directly into the account of Rwandatel, the internet service provider. Then I went to the Rwandatel office with the deposit receipt. The sales agent told me the service crew would be out the next morning. They showed up at 4:00 without any equipment, to check out the site, supposedly. They took down my phone number (already on the contract), and said they'd be out first thing next morning, as it took 2 hours and it was already 4:00. So I rearranged my few appointments, and spent the day at home (aside from a quick run), waiting for the truck or a phone call. No show, no call. So tomorrow, Rwandatel and I are going to tango. Did I mention that the installation charge is $350? and the monthly fee is about $200? So the four days (and counting) of no service is worth more than $25! We are so going to have a little talk. But I digress. The point is, I've not been too keen on using blogger. But here I am, so let's go.

As I started explaining this to all of you, I told briefly of our little vacation (working for Andrea) to Gisenyi. [see here] It was really great to be out of the home, and away from the stress of seeing the workers, and dealing with Senora for a few days. Then, on our last afternoon there, Andrea got a call from Irene, saying there had been another incident of worker unrest. As the story unfolded for us, we discovered that the workers had again contacted Senora, demanding some pay as they had worked for two months without any and were even hungrier than a few weeks earlier. Once again, she stupidly told them that Andrea's work had not paid her yet, and that they should talk to us or Irene to get paid. Then they showed up angry at the gate. This time the guard was smart enough to not open it, so they jumped over our property wall. Now we do have a security wall, but this is not meant to be a seige-worthy fortress. So it's not shocking that they could collectively pull it off, but it is unnerving, and I'm glad we weren't there for it. Apparently they stayed for awhile to show their anger, before some other security types from work showed up, called the cops, and gave them the boot. The police informed them that if they did this again, they would be arrested. And the told the cobblestone mason that if he didn't show up for work on Monday, he would have a warrant for his arrest. While this was going on, Irene called Senora and told her what was going on, and that she'd better get her fanny down to talk the fellows off the property (or pay them!). The response from Senora was a simple "Just call the police and have them thrown out." Not her problem.

On the drive home the next day Andrea's cell phone rang: it was Senora. She started out a little conciliatory, saying she was sorry it happened. But it very quickly turned to how Andrea's work should have paid her earlier and how she's so worried about her son in Madrid who was in the hospital after knee surgery, and she needed to be paid right away so she could go be by his side. Andrea was very good: measured and calm, but very assertive. She reminded Senora that she would have been home a month earlier if she had finished the work and paid her workers, and that was completely Senora's responsibility, and not anyone else's. Senora was completely delusional, and seems that she thinks she's really being ripped off, and didn't have enough money to do any real work. Andrea reminded her that she has received 9 months' rent in advance already (we're told this is enough money in Rwanda to build a house from the ground up) and that the work is still incomplete. Several times she had to interrupt Senora's delusional protestations to get a word in edgewise, but did not lose her cool. Very impressive.

So the timing of this couldn't have been planned worse. Work was getting ready to give her a big fat check for the completed work, minus the estimated amount to finish the work, supervised/subcontracted by Irene. But a small angry mob jumping over the fence? That put a different spin on things. And the landlady not caring a whit? Well, that did too.

A second security guard was placed on premises at all times, a sort of rent-a-guard from a real professional outfit, with 2-way radios and serious predawn training sessions and roving trucks full of uniformed guys ready to respond at a moment's notice. And Andrea's boss insisted that the whole f***in' deal was off, if we are at the point where we have to worry about personal security. She even suggested we sleep somewhere else for the weekend. The plan was to call the lawyers the following Monday to let them know that we'd like to cash in on the insurance policy we took out with Senora when she was advanced the huge sums. In essence, these policies insure that the work will be done by a certain deadline or they get all their money back.

Andrea and I were heartsick, and really conflicted at this point. On the one hand, we were sick of all this drama and the level of energy it took to keep dealing with it. And of course a little worried about the guys doing it again. Though I must admit that I was not that worried we'd be targeted; they had no reason to hurt us. If they hurt parts of the house before the security squad showed up, it could be repaired. But on the other hand, we had been fighting for this house, and hoping for it for months now. Not to mention that we had just moved nearly all our possessions in, and unpacked more than half. And we just like the place. It's got a good layout for us, a nice garden/yard (though needs a lot of gardening/landscaping yet), and we love the neighborhood. And Zoe's best friend lives just around the block. So for the next several days or so we just felt so ambivalent that we no longer knew what we wanted. I decided that whatever the lawyer worked out or recommended, I would be happy with it. We resolved that Friday night to contact a realtor and go look at properties over the weekend, but we just didn't have the heart. To hedge our bets, we told Zoe that we might not be able to stay in the house.

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