It's a miracle!
The saga of getting the oven out of customs and on it's way to Kiritimati (xmas) Island continues:
So we were waiting for the email from the Ministry of Finance. It never came. So we went back down there. They were very apologetic but still didn't have what we needed, so they gave us our paperwork back along with the letter they sent to customs. We then drove to the customs office where we just walked in. They don't use computers yet, so they had to find the ledger book for 2023. 2 hours later, they found it and we got the necessary paperwork from them. Now we need to go to the hospital (on the opposite side of the island) to get their broker to input it into the system. Finally, something that is computerized. They said they would email us when it was done. 2 days later and no email - are we seeing a pattern? During those 2 days we decided to go to the shipping dock to see when the next ship was leaving for Xmas island. There's one leaving in in 2 days! But the captain said he would take it if we could get it to him before they leave. Now we have a deadline. Back to the hospital we go. They said it was done but they gave it to rehabilitation instead of us. Rehabilitation had already sent it on to the port authorities. Mootii, the Rehab assistant is a very sharp and impressive woman. So back to the other side of the island to the port authorities accounting office we go. She said she could give us how much the storage fees are going to be, but she will have to email us the invoice when it is ready. Who thinks we will actually get an email? We did get it! but not with an invoice instead they changed the the fee. They almost doubled the fee. Keith politely corrected their error and they were again very apologetic for their mistake. The lady at Moroni High School who will cut us the check for the fee was very understanding and gave us a check with our promise that when we get the invoice we would bring it in. All of this happened within a 2 week period. And please remember that we don't speak Kiribati and some of the people we are working with are doing the best they can to speak English.
Now starts our day of miracles. We are standing in line at the port authorities trying to get a different lady to understand what it is we need so we can pay the fee. When a gentleman who was in line after us steps up and asks if this was for a humanitarian project? We say yes and he introduces himself as the stake president of the West Stake but also his job is to do all the shipping for Moroni High School. He knows exactly what we need and who we need to talk to and pulls out his phone. A few minutes later, the very helpful young man who we met at his home shows up. He just happened to be there for a meeting. Together they get us what we need plus their phone numbers in case we need any other help. Wow. We go back to the accounting office where the Port Logistic Manager personally walks us to see everyone we need to see.. They again have the wrong fee on the invoice. Keith, again is able to point out their mistake. They print off the correct invoice. She walks us to the cashier and waits with us because they are closed for lunch. We pay the bill and off to the warehouse we go. They know the oven is in the warehouse, but where inside the warehouse, they don't know. So we walk around trying to find it. About an hour later - We found it! They loaded it up on a forklift and drove it to the old dock where they loaded it onto the ship. We didn't have a check to pay for the shipping. But they are trusting us to pay for it. It leaves tomorrow. And we are both exhausted. Can I say how impressed I am with Keith's abilities. He has this gentle, calm tenacity about him. He never got upset, but he never took no for an answer.
Love hearing about your adventures and miracles!
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