Speed Bumps

When we arrived yesterday we proceeded to the office of the official we had to meet with to give us the letter that will allow us to proceed forward with obtaining the passports for the kids. Unfortunately, the official has taken "leave" and is not officially working. He was in his office but would not help us because he was on "leave." He assured us, however, that a woman was coming that afternoon that we could wait for and she would be able to assist us with what we needed because she was filling in for him while he was on leave. We waited. The official's secretary told us that the woman was not coming that day and when she did come would not have the authority to give us what we need. After much convincing, we obtained the phone number for that woman and called her. She said she would review our file and would call us the next evening because she would not be in virtually the entire day. Now we wait.

On a lighter side. I had to pay a fee to register one of our documents. How that works in Uganda is for you to travel to a bank, pay the fee, and wait for a receipt. After I paid, I was told to sit down and wait to hear my name called. The person that was calling people's names was behind bulletproof glass, speaking quietly, and surrounded by about 25 Ugandans crammed up to the window waiting to hear their name called. I had previously been told that if you are not standing by the window you will not hear your name called. Oh how true. I stood by the window and waited. After a little while of not being able to understand a single thing that was being said, I heard my attorney's name called. I responded that he had sent me down and the woman asked for my paperwork. I handed it to her, she did something on the computer, and stated something in Lugandan. I obviously responded that I had no idea what she was saying and one of the men told me I had 20 more minutes to wait. I responded with, "5 minutes?" And was again told 20 minutes. So I stated, "Okay, 10 minutes." After waiting about 10 minutes, I handed the lady my paper again. With a frown she gruffly asked, "Have you heard your name called." I responded, "I can't really understand anything that you are saying or that is going on here. My name could have been a called a long time ago and I would have had no idea." She took my paper, handed it behind her and announced, "Find Mr. Timothy Danningah's paperwork so that he can leave." That, my friends, is the way to get your paperwork expedited in Uganda.