I haven't written for a while, partly because I have been busy and partly because I wasn't sure about writing about what I have been experiencing. I need to emphasize that the following are my experiences and my thoughts about them. As I mentioned earlier, our own cultural biases affect our perceptions of the outside world.
I have a motor-scooter that I use to get around Port au Prince. It's a great time-saver because I can weave around the tap-taps and SUVs that clog the city streets. I have a US motorcycle drivers license. I have registered the bike, gotten insurance and applied for a license plate. For unknown reasons, the actual plates aren't available now, so I carry around all the paper work under the seat.
A few weeks ago, riding back from the Orphanage, I was signaled over by a group of policemen that were stopping a number of other cyclists. I pulled out the papers and tried to explain to a cop who seemed to understand English that I had all the paperwork but licenses were available yet. He said "They wouldn't let you drive without a license plate in your country!" I said "Actually, they do, if you have the paperwork with you." He would hear none of it. He took my papers and drivers license and handed them to another policeman who went into a building. The policeman then said "You'll have to leave the bike here."
Well I wasn't about to do that. So I stood by the bike and called my friend Jonathan. He asked to speak with the policeman, but the policeman waved me off. Jonathan said He would come to where I was.
I happen (grace??) to have a good friend, that I work with with GracePeople, who is also a policeman. I called him and he said "I'll be right over." In the meantime Jonathan arrived and called two of his friends who also were policewomen. They arrived first, spoke to the people inside, and after an hour or so, I got my papers back and my license. But the cop said "I'll stop you again if I get the chance." (I found an alternate route home.)
It turns out that this is a common practice. Groups of police set up arbitrary check-points. Supposedly, these are to make sure people have the proper papers. There is nothing illegal about driving without a plate if you have the application paper work. The real purpose, I am told, is to get pay-offs from the cyclists who are stopped. Another Haitian guy who was stopped, who spoke English well, told me this has happened to him several times and he has everything, including the plate, but the police find "something wrong" with the bike. And there is nothing you can do.
There are at least 2 levels of Police. My friend, Bernard, and presumably the other two who came to help are well trained and don't take their power as license (pardon the pun) to extort money from people. But many policemen (all men that I see) seem not to have much of an idea of what they are supposed to do but rather waste time or use their time needlessly to stop cars and bikers - to look busy or to make some money on the side. Granted, they are very poorly paid. That is one of the major problems all over. But it is also part of the corruption we all have to deal with here.
Now another story. In order to track contributions and expenditures for "The Haiti Project" at Trinity+St.Peter's which funds the work with GracePeople here in Haiti, we were asked to set up a bank account to receive wire-transferred funds. We went to the bank and found that we needed a letter from the Ministry of Social Affairs which oversees (to a degree) the huge number of NGO's here.
So we went to the Ministries office, and found out that we needed official papers of our "founding", a complete record of our income and expenses since the beginning, and the names of the members. Fortunately the founder has kept copious and meticulous records (She is a marvel and a blessing). We presented all this. After some discussion, mostly, it seemed, about what the name "GracePeople" would be in French, we were told that the letter would be ready April 21st. (This was February 24th).
I should mention here that when we arrived, the office consisted of a number of desks and computers and file cabinets and a TV that was showing a popular Haitian soap-opera.
Bernard (of previous mention) who came with us, in uniform, managed to get permission to see the Minister himself, after he removed his gun. Some minutes later, he returned and said the letter would be ready on Friday and that we should call before, to be sure. So Thursday we called and found that the Minisiter had left for the US on Wednesday and wouldn't be back for a week. We called back a week later on Thursday and found out that he had returned to Haiti but hadn't come in to work. The following weekend was major Karnival (which ran from Friday through Ash Wednesday) and hardly anyone came to work then. After that we were told that the letter was on his desk but he hadn't signed it yet. Finally, another week or so later we got the letter.
Then we had to go and get the documents for the bank account notarized. On our way to the Notary, we stopped at a lawyer's office - she was a friend of GracePeople. I asked why we needed a lawyer and was told that that would speed up the process. So we all went to the notary's office. We walked up a very dark and steep set of stairs (after we squeezed passed one of those large transformers you see on power poles that was sitting in the hallway) and entered a cramped office where the notary was. Again, after long discussion (all in Kreyol, so I didn't get most of it) we were told that the paperwork would be ready in an hour or so. So we went and had lunch. When we came back, we looked at the paperwork, and there were several mistakes. So we waited in another room where the secretaries were while corrections were made. The two women didn't seem to know how to type. It took over an hour for them to make the corrections. I asked if this was normal. The reality, I was told, was that they stretch work out for as long as they can to make sure they work a full day. Again they don't make very much even then.
The following day, we went to the bank. After they looked at the documents including my passport, they asked "Where is his permit?" Apparently, to be a signer on the bank account I needed to have a resident permit. So we drove across town to the Immigration office. (Driving across town took more than an hour!) There, again because Bernard was in uniform, we were able to by-pass the long lines and crowds and went up to find out what was needed for the permit. Among other things, they required: A copy of my Birth Certificate, a Medical letter from my Physician, a letter from my Employer, my Passport, and a sample of my DNA (kidding about the last one). I was told that they ask for all these things so they can charge fees for each one.
Hearing this, we decided that I would not be one of the signers. And the next day they went back to the Notary with amended papers with another member of GracePeople as the third signer. We still haven't gotten the bank account, so the check for $1650 that I brought with me in January is still not cashed.
This is Haiti. Everything takes longer. It took 2 days of standing in line to get the papers for my cycle. I think partly this is due to poor training, and partly, it seems, due to the stretching out of work. I asked "What if the President of Haiti was to give a speech telling Haitians that Haiti could work a whole lot better if they were more efficient in the bureaucratic processes?" The answer "He would be shot!"
The adventure continues.
