Africa Blog Posts, Blog Posts

Weeks 61 & 62: Trouble in Paradise

The school finally reopened after Ramadhan but I am not teaching there yet. This is because of the visa problem I mentioned in my last post. After speaking with the people in Immigration it seemed clear that I just needed to get a letter from the Ministry of Education confirming that I am helping in the school.

Well I started that process last week by sending my application, along with the new Zanzigap applications, to the Ministry of Education. I thought that my problem would soon be resolved. Unfortunately that is not the case. Today I thought I should check on the progress of my application and was told that it had been cancelled. Obviously I was surprised by this and asked why, it turns out that the Ministry of Education called Mr Kinole, the head teacher of Makunduchi school, to confirm that I am helping at the school. Mr Kinole refused to confirm this.

I called him to ask why that was and he said that until I have my visa he will not confirm that I am helping in the school. The problem being that the Immigration people want the confirmation in order to process my visa. So today I have been rather worried, talking to a few experienced people to ask for advice. It turns out that Mr Kinole had let a previous Zanzigap volunteer stay in the school house and work in the school, without informing the Ministry of Education. He was then told off about this and given a strong warning. Now I am here and I have been staying in the school house and helping kids from the school. So now Mr Kinole is afraid that he will be punished if they find out the truth.

My plan is to go into town tomorrow and see the Immigration people and the Ministry of Education, to see whether I can solve the problem. If not, I may be getting arrested and deported.

2 thoughts on “Weeks 61 & 62: Trouble in Paradise”

  1. Richard Meek says:

    Good luck with the visa mate…Hope it all turns out well… Enjoyed the uploaded pictures on Facebook too

  2. Pierre Monette says:

    As I heard, In Africa, every thing is possible but nothing is certain… Let’s hope for the first option.

Leave a Reply to Pierre MonetteCancel reply