It’s 8am on Thursday morning and I am sitting in a taxi. The inside temperature of the car is somewhere around 30 degrees Celsius and today I have decided to forego my customary tie. While the taxi driver winds his way through to the centre of Lima, I use the time to make appointments using my cell phone. After each of my calls the driver hands me a pen to write down the appointment details – very attentive of him to notice that I had misplaced my own pen.
The first stop for the day is at the Immigration office where I give my presentation about Diospi Suyana with the aim of obtaining Peruvian citizenship for myself and Tina. The list of necessary documents for this process is long, but not impossible.
Shortly after 10 o’clock I ring the bell at the door of Monica Belling. She is the manager of a magazine that last heard of the work of Diospi Suyana 2 and a half years ago. My second presentation for the day is aimed to bring this lady up to date on the latest news. She would like to write articles about the hospital for 2 magazines, but first she wants to visit the hospital herself.
A change of pace is in order and I knock on the door of the “Braco” company whose owner, Roberto Martinez supplies the hospital with our Laboratory needs. He, along with 4 other personnel, see the presentation on my laptop and understand why hospital has been built. As a result, he promises to lower the cost of our future orders by 10%. In addition, Mr Martinez drives me 30 minutes to Santa Anita where the “Diarqsa” company is situated. They sell the roofing material needed for the hospital’s Emergency entrance (a cost of $5400USD), but we are hoping for a donation. Two representatives of the company see my 4th presentation of the day and become very interested in the project. One lady is so engrossed in the presentation that she fails to notice her cell phone ringing.
Today I am also hoping to hear good news from our Customs Agency, Prosoi. Our confiscated defibrillator is still being refused release. This time an official is insisting on sighting a document that is completely irrelevant to the equipment. Thus the saga continues on. Furthermore, with the Customs’ computer program not functioning correctly, the 19th shipping container cannot be released either. I am given yet another meaningless promise – “We will resolve the situation in the next couple of days!”
My last stop for the day is to buy a suitcase for my upcoming trip to the USA on Sunday. KDJ
