African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 580 - 258 Electrician Technical School

Mbeya City.

A brand new building was completed in the city center, a three-story red brick building, comparable in grandeur to the city government building. Today, many have come to witness the ceremony, including people from the Central Ministry of Industry and several prominent figures from the Mbeya city government.

With the sound of firecrackers and thunderous applause, the completion ceremony concluded perfectly. Only after that did the crowd of about a hundred people stop, beginning to guide today’s guests on a tour of the site.

Leading the group was the architect of this building, Kars, who enthusiastically introduced his proud creation: "The entire building has over a hundred rooms, more than eighty of which are classrooms, capable of accommodating thousands of students at once."

As he spoke, he came to the wall of a classroom and knocked on it a few times: "The bricks we used were all top-quality red bricks fired at Mbeya City’s No. 1 Brick Kiln. The entire building looks predominantly reddish-brown from the outside. In the morning, if you stand at the front gate of the school, you can see the magnificent sight of the sun rising over the red building, which is truly pleasing to the eye. This was my unique design after personal measurement and extensive calculation."

"Mbeya City is near the equator, have you heard of the equator?" Seeing the blank faces of the crowd, Kars realized he had asked in vain, silently cursing their ignorance, he continued: "Never mind the equator, let me simplify it."

"In Europe, North America, and countries in the Far East, they are on the other side of the earth, and the sunlight shines from south to north. You should be very clear about this, so these areas are called the Northern Hemisphere."

"Mr. Kars, do you mean we originally lived in the northern part of the earth, which is the upper part of the globe, right?"

"Yes, that’s the idea. Let me demonstrate to you. My left hand, assumed to be the globe, and my right hand is the sun. Now, if I hold them side by side, you tell me where the sunlight would shine on the globe, meaning, which part of my left hand?"

"It must be the center point of your left hand."

If Ernst heard this answer, he would be very pleased, as this seemingly insignificant answer reflects a huge societal issue in the later generations.

It may sound laughable to say it out loud, but it’s that ordinary people in East Africa can distinguish left from right. Do not underestimate this question, even in the twenty-first century, people make jokes about left and right issues.

These are all personal experiences of Ernst, such as during his university days, during military training, there would always be one or two confused individuals who couldn’t distinguish left from right, causing jokes.

Left and right are conceptual issues, rarely considered in an agricultural society since you mostly wouldn’t need them; as for direction, just adding four points can solve all issues.

This is evident in rural Far East; take farming, for instance, the government of the Far East empires has encouraged agriculture throughout generations. Encouraging agriculture is a broad concept, simply teaching people to farm.

Take Ernst, a university student; tell him to farm, he really wouldn’t know how to, even though he’s from the countryside, he’s been studying all along, not having received systematic family inheritance.

Ernst engaged in farming in East Africa relies heavily on professional agricultural talent, supplemented by some future knowledge, just that.

Back to the topic of distinguishing left from right, this is a simple logic problem, easy to learn if intended, nothing too significant, after all, there are only two options: left or right.

East Africans’ sensitivity to left and right is attributed to years of national military education in East Africa, forcibly corrected, leading to greater discipline among citizens and widespread knowledge related to the military.

Kars nodded and said, "Exactly, you see, the sunlight radiates directly to the center point, so the sunlight on the upper and lower sides naturally shines obliquely on the northern and southern hemispheres. This is also the reason most houses in the Northern Hemisphere face south. It’s a matter of lighting.

Imagine the sunlight shines directly at the center of my left hand, drawing a circle with that center, it’s the equator, and the sunlight near the equator shines directly down.

So, equatorial regions’ houses, as long as they have roofs, are not easy to light. Of course, this has its pros and cons, lighting is a flaw, but the equatorial region has high temperatures, making shaded areas cool.

Hence when I constructed the main building of the electrician technical school, I considered this issue, improved the internal materials of the teaching building, and selected bright materials to make the entire classroom appear very transparent.

Additionally, I enlarged the windows and used hollow designs more, allowing more light to come in easily, ensuring good ventilation."

Kars spoke eloquently, though most of his audience didn’t understand what he was talking about, they felt greatly satisfied inside.

Indeed, Kars’s words seemed sophisticated to the crowd, with direct radiation, the equator, hollow technology, and others they didn’t understand, merely feeling that Kars was knowledgeable.

Subsequently, Kars led everyone on a detailed tour of the entire school, including the main building, dormitories, laboratories, playgrounds, etc.

Although everyone’s cultural level wasn’t high, their basic aesthetic sense remained. They were quite satisfied with the construction status of Mbeya City’s electrician technical school. After all, with such a beautiful and comfortable campus, studying here must be an enjoyment. Indeed, education is beneficial.

After Kars, the architect, introduced the campus, people from the Ministry of Industry began discussing the significance of Mbeya City’s electrician technical school with the leadership.

"Mayor Enle, let me tell you in advance, a project placed in Mbeya City is generally highly valued by the nation. Now that the central government has situated this electrician technical school here, you must put great emphasis on it. The power industry is the nation’s most valued emerging industry; these teachers are all specialized talents transferred from Europe’s Heixinggen Electric Company, a rarity even in Europe. You must pay special attention, treat them as treasures, and if something goes wrong, you’d be failing the nation’s investment."

"Rest assured, Director Heern, we know how much the nation supports the power industry, and since this is an industry personally addressed by the royal family, Mbeya City also welcomes and highly values it. We will surely give these talents from Europe the highest level of courtesy."

"That would be best. The current task of the electrician technical school is to cultivate qualified electrical talents for East Africa, to maintain and develop East Africa’s power industry. Your Mbeya City is a pioneer in East African industry, so you must not lag behind in this regard."

"Director Heern, rest assured, we absolutely support the central decision in this emerging field of electricity. Last year, we expanded the copper smelter and cable factory, using inland copper mines and rubber resources, as well as our own city’s coal and iron resources, to invest in this new track of the power industry."

"Yes, this is also an important reason why the central government placed the electrician technical school in Mbeya City. Mbeya City has an advantage over coastal cities like Dar es Salaam and Mombasa in distance to critical resource sites, and can radiate in both east and west directions.

Also, let me mention, do not underestimate the importance of this industry to your city. Currently, your city is the most important heavy industrial base in East Africa, but the future is uncertain. In terms of resource advantages, Matebel Province (Zimbabwe) is stronger than you, as we have found richer coal and iron resources in various regions of Matebel Province through our industry."

"Thank you for the tips, Director Heern."

East Africa’s future heavy industry policy will definitely lean towards Matebel Province, which is certain. Currently, industry mainly relies on the raw material sites; factories are built wherever the mines are located.