African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 864: Chapter 168: Heading to Mozambique

Twenty days later, the ship finally docked at Dar es Salaam City, and Wang Defeng led his brother’s family to the Dar es Salaam City Immigration Office to inquire about the details.

”Of course, Mr. Dave Wang, because the country does not explicitly prohibit this behavior, but this matter is not easy. After all, it takes time for your relatives to obtain East African nationality. Do you have time to accompany them for so long? You know, they are very likely to be assigned to remote areas.” asked the staff at the Dar es Salaam City Immigration Office.

Wang Defeng nodded and said, ”How many days approximately will it take to complete the procedures?”

”Under normal circumstances, it takes at least five or six days, and sometimes as long as twenty to thirty days. After all, every region is in need of people, and the relationships are very complex. But now the procedure time has been shortened a lot because most immigrants are inclined to Angola, Mozambique, and Orange, so the review is more relaxed. If things go fast, nationality could be completed within a day.”

After listening to the staff’s explanation, Wang Defeng finally breathed a sigh of relief. His vacation still had more than ten days left; if the household registration and other procedures for his brother’s family could be completed quickly, the time would hopefully be just enough.

...

Two days later.

The identification and household registration for his brother’s family had already been finalized, which allowed Wang Defeng to relax. He sent a telegram from Dar es Salaam City to his wife, informing her that he would first send his brother to Mozambique and asked her to hold down the fort at home.

Then he took his brother’s family to a photo studio in Dar es Salaam City to take a family portrait. He borrowed a pen from the studio and wrote his name and home address on the back of the photo.

After handing it to his brother, he said, ”Keep this photo well; don’t let it get damp. The back is written with a pen—my home address and my name in East Africa. You probably can’t understand it, but when the time comes, just show this to the local post office staff when you write back to me. I estimate that there must be a German teacher where you are, and he will definitely speak Chinese, so let him write the letter on your behalf.”

Saying this, Wang Defeng patted his nephew’s small head and said, ”When Shuanzai goes to school later, he can also write letters to the family. Your cousins certainly want to see you all.”

Shuanzai nodded and said, ”Uncle, when I learn to write, I will certainly write letters to you and my brothers.”

Shuanzai liked his uncle’s family quite a bit. Although he hadn’t met his uncle’s family members, his uncle had been good to him in the Far East, bringing lots of delicious food and fun things.

After preparing for a few days, Wang Defeng followed his brother’s family to the port of Bela. Indeed, this time his brother’s family was allocated to the inland west of Bela, mainly the future area along the railway.

The transportation here was quite convenient, which made Wang Defeng delighted. He said to Wang Desen, ”I am currently living in Harare, and before I left East Africa, I heard that a railway is going to be built directly from Bela to Harare. If that’s the case, it will be easier for our two families to keep in touch. If the railway opens, it will take just one day to reach by direct train, and I can bring your sister-in-law and nephew to visit you during holidays.”

Shuanzai asked beside him, ”Uncle, what is a railway?”

Wang Defeng laughed and said, ”It’s a kind of road made of steel, and it looks quite magnificent. I can’t really describe it well; you’ll have the chance to see it in the future.”

Soon, Wang Defeng’s words came true because at that time, the Habei Railway had already begun construction and part of the route was completed.

When boarding a ship at Bela Port, Wang Defeng immediately saw the construction site of the Habei Railway. At that time, the railway construction within Bela City was practically completed, and the railway was being built inland. Harare City was also constructing this railway towards the east, with East Africa simultaneously starting work on both ends. If all goes well, the Habei Railway will be finished by the end of the year.

After briefly resting overnight at Bela Port, Wang Defeng led his brother’s family inland, this time they traveled by horse-drawn carriage.

Even so, it gave his brother’s family a new understanding of East Africa. Because in East Africa, horses and cattle were very common. In Dar es Salaam City, there were many citizens riding bicycles, and even self-running trams, which opened the eyes of his brother’s family.

To these, Wang Defeng was accustomed, as he had previously served in the army, and thus even railways were not very novel to him; he had ridden them countless times during his military service.

Most of the journey was along the railway line, of course, after a certain distance, it turned into grassland.

The number of people was not small. Besides Wang Defeng and his brother Wang Desen’s family, there were hundreds of immigrants, along with Defense Army soldiers responsible for escorting them to their destination.

Now Mozambique was under military management, so immigration work was mainly handled by the army, and as someone who had recently retired, Wang Defeng could converse with them.

”Young man, which year did you enlist?”

The young soldier looked like he had only recently joined the military, with a hint of naivete on his face.

”Uncle, you can speak German!” the soldier exclaimed in surprise.

”Haha, I am originally an East African, naturally I can speak German. Not only do I speak German, but I used to be a Defense Army soldier like you.”

”Really, Uncle? I thought you were an immigrant, given that most of the people in this group are from other places.”

Wang Defeng shook his head and said, ”My family mainly comes from the Far East. This time they are immigrating to East Africa, unfamiliar with the place, so I am accompanying them. Once they are settled, I will go back to work.”

”Uncle, weren’t you in the Defense Army?” the young soldier asked.

”Yes, but that was before. I just retired last year, and the government arranged for me to work in a factory. Taking advantage of the break in between, I applied for a long vacation and brought my relatives from my old home in the Far East.”

”Uncle, where is your family from?”

”Harare.”

”Harare is a good place; I hear it’s considered a big city nationally. It seems the railway was previously heading towards Harare.”

Wang Defeng nodded and said, ”That’s right. But all parts of East Africa are actually similar. Although Harare is considered a big city, life there...”

Wang Defeng chatted with the soldiers escorting the immigrants and got quite a bit of information. For instance, the place his brother’s family was headed was about a hundred kilometers from Bela City. It wasn’t entirely barren land but rather a former colonial stronghold left by the Portuguese.

There was a small garrison stationed there, so safety was not an issue. The living facilities were relatively sound, with Portuguese plantations, and the overall living environment was not bad, which reassured Wang Defeng a lot.

His brother’s family, however, could only listen as if hearing a heavenly book, as Wang Defeng chatted with the East African Defense Army soldiers, which was the common perception among the other immigrants. Most of the accompanying immigrants were from the Far East region, and the few white faces were not Germans but rather from the Bosnia region of the Austria-Hungary Empire.

Germans were now hard to recruit, so East Africa focused its efforts on other ethnicities, and Bosnia, which is the southern mountainous region of the Austria-Hungary Empire, had very poor economic conditions.

In less than three days, the group reached their destination. After settling his brother’s family, Wang Defeng, who had built good relations with the local garrison, bid farewell to his brother’s family and embarked on the road back to Harare.