14. That's week 1 of the 3 weeks to process the visa!

Well it didn't happen this week.  Sorry everyone.  I think we can assume that the African Dinner planned for next Saturday night is not going to happen.
Little news from Africa and really nothing to report.  Watch this blog - as soon as we know something I'll publish it here.

13. Thanks to the Gazette

My thanks to Brenda at the Blue Mountains Gazette for the Mountains Murmurs mention.  At the moment we are just waiting and hoping that the visas will be approved this week and we can get them on a plane but if not we will not know till the 1st March.  Sorry for the bad news.  But it could turn good in the next 24 hours so we just wait ... Ise-somo in Butembo,DRCongo, Timon in Kampala, Uganda and the rest of us here in Australia waiting patiently for some good news.

12. They head home ...

Ise-somo wrote this text at 5.32pm (i.e. 9.32am):
I am in the bus from Kampala back to Butembo since 5 o'clock this morning.
God willing I will get home around 8 or 9pm.
I need prayers from my brothers and sisters over there (in Australia).

When I assured him of all the people who are thinking of him and Timon and all who are praying, I asked if he was still willing to make the long journey back to Kampala when a visa is approved (assuming it should be in 3 weeks - 15 working days) ?
He wrote back:
I have to wait for God's time.  All depends on him.  If he says  YES  I will come.

11. 7pm The new plan for Ise-somo and Grodya

Having phoned Nairobi and shared our ideas and discussed the options, Bishop Ise-somo and Timon Grodya  will tonight be flying back to Uganda and then tomorrow Ise will catch a bus to travel across Uganda and into the DRCongo arriving back home in Butembo at night or perhaps the next day.

Timon may take this opportunity to travel into northeastern DRCongo to visit Aru to discuss the dental training course which we hope to begin in October.

Two or Three Options are available to us:
1. If by any chance, the visas are approved prematurely then Ise will travel back to Uganda and he and Timon will fly next Friday or the weekend and our program will be rearranged a little but largely remain unchanged - perhaps the first week will become the last week.

2. If the visas are approved in 15 working days (three weeks)  then Bishop Ise-somo will arrive here in Australia in early March.  Timon Grodya will most likely visit Australia but later in the year perhaps May or June.

3. The option that we hope doesn't eventuate is that visas won't be approved.

10. 9.30am - CDS members: Working on Plan B

Despite the sadness at the delayed approval the committee of the Congo Dental Support met this morning to reassess our plans given the news from yesterday that the visas would take another 15 working days to approve.
After an hour and a half the mood had elevated and the plans were taking shape for delayed visits.  Now it only remained to waiting till Ise-somo and Grodya woke up on the other side of the world and we would discuss our next move.

9. Friday 8th February - all our efforts in vain

Yesterday was a very hard day in the attempt at obtaining the visa on time and getting them on the plane.  The flight was due at 17.50 Kenyan Time (1.50am Sydney time) and it was becoming increasingly obvious that they would not make it.  The afternoon here saw a flurry of emails back and forwards to Nairobi with no joy.  The Qatar Airways jet took off at the required time without our 2 Congolese friends.  Feeling very flat at the moment. 

8. Thursday 11.45pm - 26 hours to flight, still no visa

It is starting to get tense.  Bishop Ise-somo arrived yesterday in Uganda and today at 6.15 both he and Timon flew to Kenya and arrived at the Australian High Commission with the extra $150 USD each, lodged the newly filled out papers and were told that they had to pay in Kenyan shillings.  So Timon had to find a place to change the money and then without any indication that a visa will or will not be granted, left to find a place to stay.   They are now in the Anglican Guesthouse and really only have an hour left of the normal working day on Thursday and then tomorrow morning because they still have to contact Fred in Kampala (Uganda) to pay for the tickets and then get to the airport by 3pm.
26 hours till the flight.
I have experienced last minute things in the past but not like this.
Are they likely to make it for the Welcome at 3pm Sunday?
Your guess is as good as mine.

7. Wednesday - Ise-somo arrives in Uganda

Yes!
Stage one of the journey is completed - I have talked to Fred at 9.30pm Sydney time and he has heard from Ise-somo that he has landed safely at Entebbe Airport.

He will stay in Kampala tonight and then tomorrow morning verrrry early he and Timon will head back to Entebbe for the 6.15am flight to Nairobi arriving 7.30ish.  From there straight to the Australian High Commission and hopefully not too long a wait.

I said to Fred "Are you used to this kind of complicated arrangement for travel?"
"Yes, it happens all the time.  No problem." he replied nonchalantly.

Are you getting the sneaking feeling that this may all happen and in the time frame?  It will be amazing if it does and within 24 hours we will know.
At the French proverb says 'Petit a petit, l'oiseau fait son nid' (Little by little, the bird makes it's nest.'
Till tomorrow night .... bon soir!

6. Tuesday night - the meeting round the phone.

Hi all.
Some of you will know, and some won't, that there have been major problems with the visa application for Ise-somo and Grodya of which we were unaware until Kerry Bartlett, the treasurer for Congo Dental Support Inc. rang Louise Markus' office (our local Federal Member of Parliament and one of the guests lined up to welcome our Congolese friends this Sunday).  

After her office enquired, not for the first time, an email came from the Australian High Commission in Kenya saying that the tourist visa had been rejected because of what Ise and Tim are doing here and they needed to submit a  Form 456 for a Business (short stay) visa and it looked like it would take another 15 days plus another $150 each to reapply and this had to be done  within the next 5 days or the whole thing would fall over.

The meeting round the phone ...So during a Congo Dental Support committee meeting we all watched as Kerry  and Wendy Toulmin  made one call after another and we received a contact in the High Commission. 
Then followed a series of phone calls and emails  back and forwards to Canberra to Louise  and  to Nairobi to the Australian representative there, by Louise's office and Louise herself working after hours on our behalf.  

Louise and her staff have been wonderful. Having Kerry on the committee has made a huge difference as he knows all these people plus having Wendy alongside who is familiar with all these visa problems having to deal with the home countries of her Langham scholars from Tonga, Uganda, Burma and Pakistan has been invaluable.  

Slowly, ever so slowly, we were able to start sorting things out and we think we have a game plan that might still land them in Springwood on Sunday afternoon.  But for a good time last night while Kerry or  Wendy were on the phone we were on the side saying the whole thing may fall over or be postponed but to when?? and so on.  So if they are here this Sunday we have close to a miracle.

So we have rung and talked with Ise-somo, Timon and Fred (our Anglican representative in Kampala, Uganda, who is doing all the plane bookings and admin). 

This is what will happen today (remember they are 8 hours behind in Uganda and Kenya and Ise is 9 hours behind in DRC).
Both Ise and Tim will submit Form 456 today which will be at High Commission when they start work round 5pm our time today.
Ise will fly from Congo today on Cetraca - 17 seater commuter plane.
He arrives in Entebbe and he and Timon will fly tomorrow morning at 6.15 to Nairobi.
They will visit the High Commission on Thursday morning first thing and pay the $150 extra each.   When the visas are approved (and we really hope it will be sometime Thursday)
Fred will pay for  the air tickets which are being held ....but he can't do so until the visas are approved so.
Exciting isn't it?
Must go ... will keep you informed.

5. 7pm Monday - no news yet

At Springwood in the Blue Mountains just outside Sydney the time is 7pm.  In Kenya and Uganda, it is only 11am.  Has anything happened?  Are the visas any closer?   Not that I know of.
Our treasurer, Kerry Bartlett, the local Federal parliamentary member from 1996 till 2007 and the former Chief Whip of the Howard Liberal government,  has been in touch with government contacts to try and find out why nothing has happened and whether anything is going to happen.
Our contact with the local Rotary Club, John Lambert, has also been on the phone wanting to know if there has been any movement as our local club is sponsoring the visit of Timon Grodya.
It's all a bit frustrating isn't it?
Will they get the visas?
And then I got an email from Frederick Ngadjole which wasn't that encouraging saying he is having a hard time holding the tickets with Qatar Airlines and that the tickets may be way more expensive than if we had bought them weeks ago.
But this is not unusual in the African context.
We continue to wait expecting good news some time soon.
I'll keep you informed.

4. Hey time is not waiting ... 6 days to go!

Saturday 2nd Feb - From Timon Grodya when asked about the visas not coming through although he and Bp Ise-somo applied on Monday 21st Feb ...

"Hey, this is really unusual, I'm wondering what is taking place as time is not waiting. Let's believe God for Monday to get the confirmation.

Remain blessed."

Tim 

On the same day, Ise-somo wrote ...

"I am wondering if the Australian language which says NO NEWS=GOOD NEWS will be true or not, Anyway we are still praying hoping that God will answer us in the 3 remaining days:monday-wednesday." Bp Isesomo

3. 8 Days to go and still no visa.

It is not an easy thing to get into Australia.  Especially if you live in the Congo.
The reputation of the Congo goes before it.  It is rated Level 5 by our government as a place similar to Iraq and Afghanistan.  Visas are very hard to come by as our authorities are suspicious of people from countries in turmoil, worried that they may make the journey but not want to  return.

Add to this the geographical difficulty of getting a visa.   Ise-somo lives in the Eastern part of DRC (the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and the nearest place to get a visa into Australia is in Kenya, a couple of thousand kms away and about $1000 or more in travel and accommodation costs for him.   That means that Ise-somo has to fly on a commuter airline from Butembo to Bunia in DRC, change planes fly to Entebbe Airport in Uganda, travel in to Kampala, the capital of Uganda and stay overnight, then catch a bus for a difficult  10-12 hour journey from Uganda to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, submit the documents to the Australian High Commission and then return to Congo in the same manner - this all takes a minimum of a week to coordinate.

Timon lives in Kampala so he links up with Ise-somo and they travelled together.  This all involves loss of work and thus loss of income.  It is not easy to come to Australia.  And it is not cheap.  For Timon at least $500.

So that is what happened ...
Ise-somo flew out of DRC on Saturday 19th January and met up with Timon in Kampala.
On Sunday they took a bus to Nairobi.  The roads are dangerous and bus crashes are frequent and if one does crash it is not uncommon to have more than twenty deaths.
On Monday 21st January they submitted their papers to the Aust. HC.
On the Wednesday they returned to Kampala and then Ise on to DRC.
On our side the treasurer of our newly formed organisation called CONGO DENTAL SUPPORT(CDS), Kerry Bartlett, a former Federal politician, contacted Louise Markus, our present Federal Member of Parliament, who then contacted the Aust. HC to vouch for the 'bona fides' of Ise and Tim.
But it all takes time. and here we are 10 days later and still waiting for the visas to be emailed to our representative in Kampala, Frederick Ngadjole.
When Fred gets the visas he can buy the air tickets.  But time is running out.

Yesterday Fred emailed urgently that CDS needed to send the money so that the banks can clear it because it is next Wednesday that Ise must leave the Congo and fly to Uganda.  There are only two flights a week out of Butembo and only 17 seats available.

So at midnight last night the money was transferred with the hope that the visas will be approved today or early next week and that the airline tickets are still available and that the flight is not now full.
Fred has been renewing the booking of the tickets every 4 days or so but couldn't pay until visas are approved.  Oh it has been a fun time....

Anyway that is the way it goes and usually it all works out at the last minute and I hope to report to you as you follow this blog that the news is good next week and that next Friday at 6pm they board the Qatar Airlines flight out of Entebbe, via Doha, and are landing in Melbourne next Saturday the 9th February at 10.55pm to be met by me.  An exciting and stimulating month awaits us.   Check out the program.

Yours in anticipation and hope for a successful outcome,
Graham Toulmin