Bribe

To Mbale again today. Bobby and Rachel need to renew their visas so we offered to drive them and just spend the day. And we hopped to get internet… success!! I’m pretty excited about being able to be more in touch again. Success also with their visas… though it could have gone differently. Getting into the country a visa costs $50.00 (200,000 shillings for both of them.) The man stamping their passports now in Mbale mentioned they would need to pay again to renew for 3 more months. Then he told them that they actually expired a month ago. So he could back date it but they would lose a month. When we asked he said he could stamp it again so that they still would have until July to renew but he would need something extra. And they needed to pay for both stamps. They were willing to pay the $50.00, thought the past ITeams missionaries didn’t pay so they were hoping they wouldn’t either. And they really didn’t want to pay extra for a month they had already paid for as they should have gotten 3 months at the airport though this man said they had only gotten 2 months. We were trying to sort it out when Rachel asked for a receipt. He couldn’t give one. What?! $100 + and no receipt? Ummm… so with further clarification (his words) “These monies will not go to the government. They will go to me and others so there is no receipt.” “So what you are asking for is a bribe?” Yup- that is what he was asking for. When that wasn’t going well he asked for a wedding gift- seems he was married in January. Well, long conversation short, as they were already stamped we just left. Beckie and I have to go back in two months for ours so we’ll see how that goes…