And so and so said so and so.....

Let me share a little with you about working here in St. Kitts; more specifically about working in the Department of Blank.  In a word, 'frustrating', in another word often 'infuriating', and in yet two more words, 'defys logic'.


I thought things were on track for the upcoming 25 Most Remarkable Teens in St. Kitts award presentation scheduled for November 10th, and felt that months of hard work had finally come together.  The person who must approve the request for a special sitting of Parliament, gave his approval.  The Honorable Curtis Martin, Speaker of the National Assembly, who is the person who has to approve logistics and any requested changes to regular Parliamentary procedure, reviewed the plans and gave his approval.  Profiles of each recipient were completed, each telling the story of the honoree with information gleaned from hours of interviews, phone calls, additional contacts and some good old fashioned creative license.  The program design was well on its way to completion, with my friend and fellow Peace Corps Volunteer, Chris Nelson once again taking charge with his special genius for this specialized task.


A list of guests had been compiled - 170 including the 25 teens and their 25 SKYNPA presenters plus the Government Ministers and Parliament Representatives;  standing room only and quite a wide reach within these small chambers. The presentation was to be aired Live on ZIZ for an even broader national audience, and plans for several radio interviews promoting the event had been scheduled.  Quite an opportunity for these 25 Remarkable Teens to have their individual stories of courage, determination, compassion, commitment, talent and just plain hard work heard around the nation.


So what's the problem?  I can't get a group photo of the Government Minsters and Federal Parliamentarians for the official program because so and so said so and so will get it, and so and so said they're too busy and it's not their job, and so and so said so and so would create a montage and get it to me by Tuesday latest, but that so and so said it was the first he/she had heard of this request and in a word "it couldn't be done." (This back and forth went on for a full two weeks before I decided to leave those photos out of the final printed program.)  


Recipient interviews for the one hour television program to be aired throughout the month of November were a logistical nightmare to schedule, but the job got done and the interviews were all taped. However, now there doesn't seem to be anyone willing to edit the raw footage or add the graphics to the film because so and so has problems with so and so, who has territorial issues with so and so, and so and so said everyone expects them to do everything and to ask so and so to do it, but so and so doesn't have the time, and besides "it's not my job."  Yesterday, I went to the information office and asked for the tapes back.  I will try to find someone outside of the asylum willing to volunteer to do what needs to be done to finalize the program, and if I can't find anyone, then there will be no television program.  It is a shame though, that these difficult people can't seem to put aside their petty differences to focus on celebrating the kids and the power of their collective human spirit.


Then there is the ink.  In order to get the programs printed, I needed to get approval from the  for color ink to give to the print shop.  Both Mr. Blank and the person appointed to oversee Blank said "no problem, you can count on whatever you need."  Three weeks later, nose to nose with the deadline, I am told that an invoice signed by the Overseer in my presence, hasn't actually been approved by 'in the system' because there is no balance in the account to which he assigned the expenditure.  A couple of days later, money was found (or so I was told) and assigned to the correct account and the required process began again.  The Overseer signed off on the release of funds 'in the system" when a new glitch glared; the woman at CPU, the office distributing supplies, would not release nor expedite the order, insisting that protocol calls for a three day waiting period once approved payment has been received, and insisting that the money has yet to be moved from Peter to pay Paul. So, I am still waiting.


And by the way, I am not making any new friends during this insanity.  I've become the pushy American, someone who does not follow rules; a person insensitive to protocol, ignorant of process and procedure, a 'rocking the boat' kind of woman; one of THEM.   Where have I experienced this brick wall of unbending stiff necked obstinacy before? Hmmmm.

So while I can't wait for you to meet the kids and plan to post their profiles and pictures on future blog entries, I first wanted to share my story of broken machines and squeaky wheels and I wanted someone to commiserate with. 

And so it goes.