….or rather The Weeks! The last few weeks have been busy and that explains the fact that I have not posted any news. Not for a lack of news though. The schools closed on Friday and we had our concert in the afternoon. I’ll do a special post about that.
So what have we been doing you might ask. Dries had a couple of demanding weeks. He got a lot done on the boat. Amidst that, the Land Rover decided to give trouble and that meant that he spent a week to get the starter fixed, together with some other problems waiting to happen.
What I thought was going to be a routine visa renewal, turned out to be anything but. Foreigners are obliged to use an agent for this process and Mr Einstein impressed me with his professional attitude. I am sure that he also thought that this was going to be simple, but never underestimate the government offices in Madagascar. They are masters at the art of digging and finding something they could use against you. My previous visa had been obtained in the ‘good old days’ when corruption was not so rampant yet. It was also at the time when the biometric system was introduced with the result that I had paid for my residency card, but never actually got it. So to cut a long story short, even though I was able to produce proof of payment, this was of course seen as an opportunity and I have now been told that I would have to pay a fine of which the amount seems to change by the week. We are now at R15 000. On Friday, Einstein accompanied me to the ‘prefecture’ where photo’s and fingerprints are taken for the new residency card. Imagine my despair when I was told that it would be better to start a new application with a transformable visa, which means leaving the country, basically what Dries had to do. I decided to say nothing and to Einstein’s credit, he handled it very well by phoning the ministry in Antananarivo directly. We were told that that would not be necessary. We ask for prayer please. Apart from the financial implication, it is just all so wicked.
Bruno, the owner of the boat yard where Gabriel is parked, asked me if I could give English classes to a young girl who just finished her studies and who he was supporting to do an internship in France. This position also requires English and we have until October to get her ready. That means three to four hour sessions twice a week which requires a lot of preparation. I always enjoy teaching and Martine is also asking questions about our faith, so I find that very encouraging. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will show her the way to Jesus.
We have two months before school starts in September. The main focus will be Gabriel, but we need to build a classroom at JoshGen school. Euphrasie will have to take care of the organisation of the building as Dries will not be able to be there full time.
Alice is home for the holidays. She has one more year of school. Dries and Alice are biltong lovers and that was the first thing they had done after she arrived.
Have a blessed week.