Shopping Day

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On the way to the build site we stopped at a local market along the street. I spent a good portion of my kwacha (local currency) on two items for myself: a carved Noah's Ark and a carved nativity scene. The nativity scene has Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, an angel, a hut, a tree and a couple lambs. The Noah's Ark is a wooden ark that has a top that can be removed. Inside were lots of carved animals (in pairs) and Noah. Very happy with my purchases as I collect nativity scenes from around the world and love Noah's Ark.

While not a fan of it because I am always afraid of not insulting the vendor, I did haggle on the price. Trying to secure a lower price is part of the culture so was trying to abide by the practice. My struggle is knowing that I have the funds to go with the asking price.

During the evening I joined in a conversation with my some of my teammates about our views on haggling. By offering an initial lower price, we as customers are giving an indication of what the value of the item might be for us. The vendor is never going to sell something for less than its cost to make the item. The haggling is finding a balance between what the customer wants to pay and how much of a profit the vendor can receive. While as an American I might have more disposable income, if I do not engage in haggling, I disrespect the culture and set up an expectation that the vendor can charge outrageous prices to take advantage of outsiders or those afraid to haggle. Michelle suggested the book, Helping Without Hurting, to Sondra to share with her son Justin as he and I both had a hard time with the haggling concept. Looking forward to reading the book, which Kevin introduced to Michelle as part of her work on the Board of Directors for Habitat for Humanity Wake County where Kevin is the Executive Director.

After our time at the build site, we stopped by another market to purchase fabric. One shop which had some beautiful imported fabric would not lower their price at all, even when we tried a large bulk purchase. We decided to walk away from that shop and try another one that only had fabric from Malawi, which was cheaper. A small group of us purchased from the second store while others went back to the first one. For me, I wanted all my purchases to be from the countries I visited. I also liked some the designs at the second shop better than the ones I would have chosen at the other one. This was not a store that required haggling, which made me happy!

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