Friday 25th September 2015

Today was actually somewhat productive.

• -          I let go half the team who was being paid yet not doing anything. Literally, not doing anything. (When you ask an employee who has been working on a project for 4 months already, what will you be working on today, and his answer is “I don’t know.” It says it all.
• -          Communicated that starting Monday I will personally start finally implementing financial sanctions if expenses procedures are not followed and completed.
• -          Managed to get a VERY old laptop sort of fixed.
• -          Managed to get a tension regulator and modulator fixed and put to some use.
• -          Manage to enforce that all machines MUST be plugged into regulators and no more directly into wall plugs.
• -          Got a fan fixed.
• -          Got them to understand that a Canon ink cartridge is not supposed to be used for a HP printer, and that when a printer does not turn on; it is not by shaking the ink cartridge that you will turn it on, but by plugging it into the right power plug.
• -          And a few other things.

I got quite upset when the driver pressed me to drive me home before 4pm, and all the employees affirming that their work hours always end at 4pm, which makes for a 7 hour work day. I have been told that the labour laws impose a 8 hour work day. The staff insist on justifying this by the fact that they all live far and that past 6pm, it is very hard for them to find transportation. You must know that all of the public buses but 1 or 2 I think got stolen during the high of the conflict. Most of the cab drivers before were Muslims, and thus fled the city during the conflict thus leaving the city with only few cabs.

In any case, what frustrated me was more the fact that I didn’t know if the staff was playing me because I am new or if they were being honest and sincere. Honesty seems to be something foreign in this country. At least so I was told. And well, Sister Flora left the office like a thief early afternoon without even saying good bye. I would so love to know how this project was being run when I was not here.

Every single day I try to reinforce to the staff that we (this project and all the other NGOs and IGOs in town) are not here to simply give out money and goods, but rather to use these resources to help of course, but in a fair way and to Impact as many people as possible. They just don’t seem to care.

For dinner, Philippe (the country head of Cordaid) went for a bite at Ali Baba (please don’t yell at me nor laugh for going to a pseudo Lebanese restaurant to eat a beef shawarma that was prepared like Mexican beef fajitas, I really wish I had the choice. ). Just like most other developing country capital city, it seems that the Lebanese have taken over. They are the business kings…though honestly, staying here just because you run a thriving business…I would personally not do it.

And so during dinner, to celebrate my very first Friday in this country, I ordered a beer. They called it an imported foreign beer…brewed in Cameroun. With the heat and all, it made me a bit dizzy and chatty quite fast. Lol

Bonne nuit!