Somehow, I’m guessing that the board members for DeWalt Tool Manufacturers are not pushing hard for the opening of distribution centers in Chad, but maybe they should.  With the whole town of Iriba buzzing in preparation for the coronation of the new Sultan and eager to show the president and others that our town was growing and worthy of future investment, I drove by a group of men with the Société Nationale d’Electricité (SNE).

They were hard at work sawing a long pole with a simple handsaw.  I got out of the vehicle and asked them what they were up to and they informed me that they were putting up new light poles and electric poles in town to expand the city’s electricity delivery.  I looked over and saw about 30 poles laying in the street and asked how long it took to saw one pole.  They reported that one cutting took 20-30 minutes.  Feeling pity at the task before them, but not sure what I might be getting myself into, I asked them if they would like me to bring a tool that could cut that wood much faster.  I drove home and returned shortly after that with the DeWalt Reciprocating Saw or as I’ve always heard my Dad call it, The Sawzall.

Sure enough, it cut through that telephone pole in 30 seconds.  All the guys were laughing saying this machine was amazing and asking me how much it costs and where they could get one from.  One guy even offered to trade me his vehicle for it :-)  I cut about 8 poles before the first battery ran out.  I then showed one of the guys how to operate it and he successfully cut many more.

Over the past 3 days, this DeWalt Sawzall has cut 40-50 telephone poles that are all over town.  It has turned into an unexpected way that we’ve been able to make friends and be a blessing to people here.  It has also become a source of one of the most preposterous ideas of the year, as the guys say, “Jacob, he’s really good with machines!”  Go ahead, laugh away Dad.