DUMB Visa Rules!!!

My people, I just got one of the DUMBEST visa rules emailed to me this morning by my sister Missy who was looking to visit me in Haiti for the summer. “I checked the embassy’s website (I’ve cut & pasted it below), but it seems they want you to BUY the ticket first AND THEN TRAVEL TO HAITI, to get the visa at THEIR AIRPORT. That is the WEIRDEST thing I’ve EVER heard. So if they reject you, you’ll have made the trip for nothing. They probably don’t reject too many, but you can never be sure”.

In order to get a visa to come to Haiti, one would need to have already purchased a plane ticket and made the trip to Haiti where the visa would then be issued at the airport in Port au Prince after the payment of a $25 visa fee? This means that if you were rejected on arrival, you would be sent back to your original destination after you would have wasted money buying a plane ticket, time flying to Haiti and then paying the $25 application fee? What kind of a DUMB rule is that? Wasting time flying and then hoping that you would get a visa at the airport on arrival! Whoever wrote that rule into law needs to be severely flogged or B**** slapped like 85 times for creating such a DUMB rule because time IS $$$! Shouldn’t a visa be given first or denied so that one would know how to plan or unplan a trip?

I have been told several times that Africans from any country in Africa do not need visas in order to come to Haiti but what about Africans coming from other places besides Africa who are not citizens of the countries they are coming from? I think it would make more sense to get the visas from the embassies or consulates so that if one were rejected, then there would be no need paying for a ticket and wasting time flying to Haiti. Well, I told her that if she got rejected at the airport, she would at least have had the opportunity to step on Haitian soil, breathe the air and meet some Haitians speaking creole at the airport before being sent back! Then she could tell me that she too has been to Haiti. lol

Just in case you were wondering, below is the most up to date visa rules:

The visas of visitor from now on are emitted at the airport of Port-au-Prince, except for nationals of four countries whose list is shown hereafter.
These countries are:

1. China
2. Colombia
3. Dominican Republic
4. Panama

Citizens of all the other countries will obtain if necessary their visa of entry at the airport of Port-au-Prince.
Documents required for obtaining the visa
The applicant must provide the following documents:
# two photographs of identity (bearing dates and seal from the photographer)

# form establishing status (e.g.: permit of residency or document of immigration, student visa…)

# plane ticket (round trip ticket)

# pay expenses of twenty-five American dollars ($ 25.00)

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Passions for Haïti Chérie

Passions for Haïti Chérie

Saturday May 10, 2008

Embassy of Haïti

Opening drum ceremony at 6pm sharp on Saturday May 10, 2008 officially marks the beginning of Passions for Haïti Chérie. The Embassy of Haïti in Washington DC will open its doors to the international community to come learn about Haïti Chérie. With a plethora of activities to chose from, you will be able to learn about Haitian realities from members of Diaspora. Every hour on the hour between 6 and 9pm, we have short presentations sharing a piece of Haiti. Come see a play, participate in a discussion about Dirt Cookies, and enjoy the sounds of world famous Haitian pianist Eddy Prophete. Throughout the evening, enjoy Haitian artwork, shop in the marketplace, and engage in conversations with over 14 organizations that are actively and passionately making a difference in the everyday lives of Haitians. Come enjoy a variety of Haitian Pâté, Haitian Tropical Fruit Punch with Barbancourt Rum. Also see our interview with Holly Morris on Fox 5 Thursday May 8, 2008 at 8:30am. Please share this information with everyone. We hope to see you all on Saturday!!

Location:
Embassy of Haiti
2311 Massachusetts Ave, NW
Washington DC, 20008

Dr. Paul Farmer on 60 minutes

Here is a link of an interview on CBS 60 minutes of Dr. Paul Farmer and his work in Haiti that aired on Sunday May 4, 2008. http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=4069409n

My Haitian friend Kat made sure that I stayed until the end of the program to watch the show even though I knew I was going to get a ticket for parking in a spot in front of her building. “You have to watch the whole thing Rhemy since you have an interest in Haiti and Haitians” she said. Of course I could not forget to post the link here because I just saw the ticket in my purse…lol

I am NOT currently in Haiti. I am in New York…

Thank you to all the wonderful people who have called and/or emailed me inquiring about my safety amidst the current situation in Haiti.

I just wanted to inform you that I am doing fine and that I am NOT in Haiti. I have been back in New York since December so NO I am NOT currently in Haiti and I am out of arms way. I sincerely appreciate all the care and support. It is good to know that there so are many people out there from friends and family to even people that read this blog that I never met, who sincerely care to know about my wellbeing.

While I do not have first hand news or accounts regarding the situation in Haiti, I have learned from the many news outlets on the Internet, as well as from former colleagues and friends currently working/vacationing in Haiti that the crisis appears to have calmed down. I have also heard that almost everyone and most businesses are moving up and about already in the capital city of Port au Prince so, that is some good news.

Thank you once again for all the calls, messages and emails. I will inform you if and when I decide on going back to Haiti.

In the meantime, please continue to pray for all my friends that are still working / vacationing in Haiti. Pray for the country of Haiti itself and for the leaders running it. Most importantly, pray for the people of Haiti especially those that have been affected severely by this recent crises.

Peace…

Service delivery and efficiency in developing countries

This post is still in progress…please excuse the grammar and typos as usual, English is not my language

I FINALLY received my bank statements from SOGEBANK yesterday! Yeap, after THREE months of leaving Haiti!!! I understand today is April first but no, this is not an April fool’s joke!

Mind you, the whole time that I was in Haiti, not once did I get a copy of my supposedly “month-to- month bank statement”. I remember after setting up the account in August, I was told that my check book and ATM card would be sent to my residence. Every week when I asked the Administrators at the house, it was always the same story: “sorry Rhemy, we haven’t seen anything but we will slip the mails under your room door once they get here”. After about a month of disturbing my wonderful house hosts, I decided that it would be best to just go directly to the bank armed with my limited use of Creole at the time to seek the whereabouts of my highly expected checkbooks and ATM card. (Unfortunately I lost the continuation of my post in this section due to server failure so I will have to retype and complete it later-I will learn to “save” while typing next time-lol).

It is not only in Haiti…

It is not as if Nigeria of all places is better than Haiti in terms of service delivery and efficiency either! I remember some years ago when I had sent my mother letters with pictures of me to Nigeria. What should have been an ordinary transit time of about two weeks became a whole year!

Me: did you get the letter with pictures of me that I sent to you?

My mother responding in her natural “Nigerian /Yoruba English” tone (adding “O” to end of every sentence ): Nooo, I have not seen anything yet o!

Me: Ah! But I sent the letter since one month ago now.

Mummy: I say noooo, I have not seen it yet o.

Me: ok, keep checking the mailbox; I am sure it will arrive by next week or ask one of the neighbors if any of their children mistakenly collected our mail from the mailman.

Mummy: Okay o, I will keep checking o and I will let you know when come o.

Well, one more week became a month, and then two, three, six, nine and finally a whole year had passed before the letter finally arrived. YES, after ONE year!!! Some may be wondering that it took a whole year then. Talk about inefficiency of service delivery at that time right? One year then was actually a good time - at least they got the letter a year later. It is better than now where the average service delivery time of mail is: NEVER!!! DHL, FedEx and other private services have now dominated the forefront of the Nigerian mail service delivery. A shame that people are willing to pay much more for services that could have been delivered for free if managed properly.

For Haiti, it is no wonder why many people and most (if not all) organizations working in there have their mails sent through private services rerouting all their documents through Florida in order to have mail delivered to and from Haiti to the US and other places. I understand that Haiti by flight is three to four hours from NY and Nigeria is well, let us say 24 hrs counting the wasted time spent in waiting in transit in Europe but still, no excuse in both countries for the inefficiency of services especially in this day and age of globalisation where the whole world is going flat!

In terms of not getting my check books and ATM card from the bank while in Haiti, it shows the lack of knowledge of the bank workers who assured me on many of the times when I went to the bank that “my documents were on their way to my house and should be there within a few days.” Well, I left Haiti December 2007, today is April 1 of 2008 and still, I have only received my banks statements. No ATM card…yet! May be it will be here in NY by summer time when I get back to Haiti!

So, what EXACTLY do they do the WHOLE time they are at work?

I was just wondering: what exactly do people in post offices and other service delivery agencies do if services are not efficient? I mean, the workers obviously wake up everyday and go to work right? They are there from 8am - 4pm or 9am - 5pm depending on the country. At the end of the month, they collect a salary right? So what happens to the work that should have been done while they were at “work” the whole day?

Are checks and balances available to ensure effective service delivery?

I know that this problem goes deep beyond the workers at government or private agencies. It has everything to do with the unqualified managers and leaders in each of the agencies that are designated to provide efficient service. Most importantly, many developing countries like Haiti and unfortunately Nigeria do not have a system of checks and balances even though they claim on paper that they do. No one checks to see if anything or everything is being done properly or done at all. Where qualified and well trained upper management is available, one might see some little streaks of efficient service delivery but not efficient enough for this strict management consultant!

Get with the program people!!!