We punctured our gas tank on the road back from Juma. Got to Kayelekera, emptied fuel into my wash basin, and fixed the hole with superglue. Voila, fixed for less than $2! Tomorrow I head back down to Lilongwe, where there is internet, running water and tarmac.

This afternoon I’m giving an interview on Malawian national radio. Regrettably, I don’t really know the topic of the interview (“Re: Nomogaia” I’m told).

Of note: as we predicted, arson happened at Green Resources, and HIV rates are now estimated at above ‘epidemic’ rates in Kayelekera.

What’s more interesting in Kayelekera is the link between the mythical and the real. Last month a rumor started that a man and his wife met a talking snake who told them that the Kayelekera mine would bring harm and death to the people. Our translator heard it first in Songwe , the border town, when he was waiting to pick me up. He heard it again in Karonga at the resthouse. I wonder who started it… speaking of witchcraft, it appears that the man charged with procuring day laborers has adopted such an arbitrary (some say nepotistic) approach that word has spreadthat witchcraft is helping people get employed. You know you have a flawed hiring system when it looks so arbitrary it’s magical.

One more thing: the squatter village at the foot of the mine? That’s not just full of farmers from border towns. It’s also populated by English-speaking, highly specialized IT technicians, forestry experts, trained electricians and the like. Getting day labor at the mine offers a better chance of procuring capital to start a shop than anything else in the country. This effect is visible all over — most of the shop owners are mine workers or spouses. UK’s foreign aid agency only pays 200 MK/day for labor, compared to Paladin’s 500. This company single-handedly boosts the regional economy.