Money Talks

I have learned today money talks.  I have been working this whole week trying to get the Salvatorian medical supply container out of the holding area here in Dar Es Salaam. You go into these offices where they are camped and people are just sitting around flipping paper work trying to find the correct paper work. It is probably one of the most unorganized systems I have ever seen. They need to do things electronically in a database. Things seem so backwards here. It is amazing anything gets done. 

 We went to the TEC which is the Tanzania Episcopal Conference center. So a Catholic center who is helping us right! That is to do all the paper work correctly to get the container through all the appropriate checks. We give them the tax- exempt sheet and they say they need a letter from the Department officer of Tunduru district. I am pretty sure they already have this but I phone James Lazaro the clearing guy and tell him. This person in the office said this process can take awhile but if you have money it can speed up the process. I said , "How much they say 1.2 million shilling to clear everything and get it through TBS- Tanzania Bureau Standard which also works with the FDA and inspects the container , x-ray's the container what ever. But you have to have all the documentation for them to even inspect it. I don't believe this is all true because of this story today..... I ask Fr. patrick the treasurer here to borrow 1.2 million tsh which is $733 USD. Which SOFIA and Salvatorian Mission Warehouse are willing to cover. I go back to the TEC office with the envelope of money. Well things moved very fast. Next thing I know we get in a car and drive to down town Dar Es Salaam to the Tax Revenue office. We have to talk are way thorough security and then we get brought back to a lady in a cubicle desk. The TEC agent talks to her for 1 minute. Then she leaves and talks to two other people and comes back a minute later. She said everything is taken care of. 

Money talks. Out of all the hassle and bullshit. It only took one minute with someone high up on the food chain. Supposedly I will have the container by Friday or Monday. 

Money is the catalyst to everything. I realize if I hadn't given the money it would probably take months to get the container.

Always a learning lesson here. 

 Fr. Tesha learning how to play the steel drum. It reminds me of Jamaica or the Caribbean music

 This is the tax revenue building which we were in and out in  less than 10 minutes

 This is Fr. Africanus, Merten, Fr. Patrick , and Andreas. Two of them work for SOFIA- foreign aid

 Br. Sylvester turned this container into a shop for seeing things

 School children in Uganda

This is older picture playing in the pool with the children at St. Nicholas Center