It took a month to cross the ocean and another 2 months to clear customs, but our second shipment of musical gear to Abidjan has finally arrived safe-and-sound into the hands of Laurent and Narcisse. Once again, all praises to our good friend Cherif for donating space in his container and for dealing with the incredibly amorphous and frustrating systems by which one gets their goods out of Abidjan’s port. None of this is possible without Cherif’s generosity and steady hand.
Heartfelt thanks as well to the wonderful musicians and supporters in the DC area who donated gear or money for these shipments. To the drums, guitars, sub-mixer and monitors shipped in late 2011, we have now added a 16-channel (Mackie) mixer & snake, power amp, speakers, mics, stands, cables & keyboard. With that, the Zieti crew are fully equipped to provide live sound for a party or small cafe in Abidjan.
Our next shipment later this year will raise the power level a notch or two, with bass and guitar amplifiers, a stronger power amp and PA speakers to match, along with some lovely bits like a new bass, a nice old stereo, a trombone, etc.
In the meantime, Narcisse is in the the process of getting their new laptop linked to the internet. This will mean constant email access without having to pay at a kiosk, and hopefully many more images and clips flowing over the pond (new digital camera as well). Can video Skype be far behind?
Stay tuned…
ZIETI 
May 9th, 2012 at 5:39 pm
Wait a second … that’s the same ship from the earlier transport! Oh, well. Congratulations, anyway. Have you thought about asking Fender or some other manufacturer to donate equipment? They could even do a campaign: “Fender … changing the world one piece of sound equipment at a time.”