African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 184: Chapter 173 Village Site Selection

East African Colony.

East of Lake Malawi Region.

”Here, using the terrain of the riverbed, we can build a series of dams. This will allow the water to overflow here, blocking the river water, so the flow during the dry season won’t be wasted, and any excess rainwater during the rainy season can flow away from the top.” Rold pointed to a stretch of the riverbed with varying elevations, speaking to the villagers.

This is a small, unnamed river upstream of the Lufuma River. Although the river is small, it flows into the Lufuma River. The terrain on both sides is extremely flat, with fertile land suitable for farming.

Starting this year, immigrants in East Africa began moving north along the Lufuma River and set up outposts on its north bank.

Filling the gap between the Marine District and the east of Lake Malawi region, East Africa’s first residential belt along the river is slowly forming.

The southern port of East Africa, Mtwara, has also experienced a rare wave of immigration due to this, with ships docking at the port of Mtwara every day.

”Mr. Rold, if we build the village here, we shouldn’t face flooding, right?” Acting village chief Wassim asked Rold.

”I have surveyed the terrain here, and combined with the maps drawn by the East African government, there are no significantly higher areas nearby. It’s basically all plains, and if there is significant rain during the rainy season, it will evenly distribute across the entire area.

So as long as we handle drainage well, build additional drainage channels and sewers to divert the rainwater back into the river from the village construction site during the rainy season, there shouldn’t be any problems,” Rold answered.

”If we build the village near the riverbank, it would be easy to develop, but what if, during the rainy season, the river suddenly swells? Would the river channel be unable to withstand the increased water and flood the surrounding land?” Wassim expressed his concern.

”I have already considered this, Mr. Wassim. Look, here is the Lufuma River, and here is this small river. They converge here, and we are standing northwest of the confluence of the two rivers.

This area is about half a meter higher than the surrounding area, and through research on the surrounding soil and river channels, I found that even at its most severe in history, this river’s water doesn’t exceed ten meters from the riverbank.

So the main concern here shouldn’t be about too much rainwater, but rather too little rainwater. After all, having more water is good for agricultural development.

The reason I proposed building an arch dam in the middle of the river is to ensure a water source here during the dry season.

There are currently few people here, but the future is uncertain, so water consumption may increase, though I base this on the population density of European regions.

Moreover, this section of the river happens to form a high ground, and by using the terrain of the riverbed, the construction can be completed quickly during the dry season,” Rold analyzed the pros and cons in detail as a professional.

”Hmm, the project indeed doesn’t seem too difficult, given that this river is very small compared to the Lufuma River. However, we likely won’t have the extra energy to build this dam recently.

We now only have about a hundred people. We may have to wait until additional people arrive, and slaves are distributed before we can start construction.

Right now, just preparing housing and developing the surrounding land is keeping us extremely busy,” Wassim said.

Wassim is from Austria-Hungary, previously a villager near Ron Roda in the Marine District, and during this migration to the Lufuma River Basin, Wassim led the new immigrants in establishing the village as an old settler.

Therefore, Wassim is only an acting village chief, and previously was just an ordinary immigrant in the Ron Roda area.

This acting village leader position was an opportunity Wassim fought for himself. Right now, East Africa lacks educated people everywhere, so they had no choice but to select leaders from the available candidates.

An active person like Wassim faced no real competition and was selected, mainly because there weren’t many applicants.

Chinese immigrants have always been quite steady, cutting Wassim’s competition by about forty percent, while European immigrants weren’t willing to leave Ron Roda to develop a new area with a group of people, so there were very few applicants.

After all, the village chief is not a big official in East Africa and has no power, especially for a self-made village chief like Wassim.

The village chief is responsible for many specific tasks, carries heavy responsibilities, and only earns slightly more than an ordinary person each month. Thus, most immigrants are unwilling to compete to become a village chief in a new area.

Developing a new area is especially difficult in the initial stages because everything is lacking, to say nothing of the harsh conditions.

”Mr. Wassim, rest assured. I, too, have worked in East Africa for some time and am clear about its efficiency. I believe the East African government will send support soon, provided we quickly finalize the construction site of the village and report it,” Rold said to Wassim.

Rold is a geography student hired on a high salary by the East African colony and has worked in East Africa for nearly two years, having arrived six months earlier than Wassim.

However, East Africa certainly can’t retain such talent, just like those kept by high salaries, who came to East Africa to make quick money.

Especially someone as educated as Rold, who is definitely considered a talent in this era, came to East Africa because, upon graduating, he couldn’t resist the temptations of society, leading to gambling debts.

In fact, Rold’s family was financially decent, and the debt wasn’t much, but Rold’s father was strict. Rold feared his father finding out about his gambling, as he might break his legs.

So he temporarily hid it from his family, hoping to find a job to pay off the gambling debts, and then he encountered recruitment from the Heixinggen consortium.

The East African colony happily advanced his gambling debts, provided he worked in East Africa, offered a triple salary, and allowed him to return home annually on a Heixinggen ship.

Young Rold thought, is there such a good deal? Besides, being young and fearless, he boarded this ’pirate’ ship.

After working in East Africa, Rold found that East Africa’s terms were decent and indeed honored their promises.

But this place was just too austere! Moreover, Rold’s job was to scout in East Africa, helping find suitable places to live, often going to sparsely populated areas, completely bidding farewell to vibrant societies, which has a strangely similar charm with Ernst’s previous life experiences.

However, Rold did develop some feelings for the job; for instance, he completely quit his gambling habit here.

Moreover, after years of traveling across East Africa, he truly witnessed the geographical landscapes previously described by his teachers and textbooks, achieving a practical application of his learning, ensuring his father’s potential maneuver for him to teach at a university back in Europe would absolutely work.

In short, Rold felt he had grown during his time in East Africa. Of course, once his contract expires, he plans to return to Europe to further develop his career.