Limbo

Our contract with the IFC has been delayed nearly a month now due to the same administrative runaround that seems to plague every single international organization working here in Mozambique. I don't know why I thought it might be different with the IFC, what being part of the World Bank and all, but I was wrong. The IFC is mercy to the same bureaucratic insanity as everyone else...

First our contract was delayed because the office here was waiting for the head honchos in Washington to approve our proposal, sign off on our budget, and assign each of us unique identifying numbers as consultants for payments and tax purposes.

Then our contract was delayed because the project manager we are working with here had to get a signature from his supervisor, who was out of the office.

Last week, we were assured that the contract would be signed, so B. and Monty went ahead and bought their plane tickets and flew down here to Maputo from Chimoio. We were all raring to go with our work, our clients were ready and waiting...and yet no contract signing. "Just a couple more days, we're just working out the last administrative details," the IFC assured us.

Then the project manager announced that he had to travel to South Africa for 4 days to take a course and renew some certification required for his job. The contract signing would have to wait for his return.

In the meantime, Monty flew back to Chimoio and Ricardo, B. and I have been hanging out here at the flat just cooling our heels and trying to get caught up on random tasks. Since we don't know when our projects with the IFC will start, we can't dedicate ourselves to any of our other clients. So we're trying to be patient, trying to enjoy this dead-time inbetween one job and the next.

We got word today that the contract should be signed either tomorrow or Friday and that our work will kick off on Monday. Great news. Monty will fly in on Sunday and we will prepare our work plan for the next 6 weeks.

The only problem is that Ricardo and I are leaving on Sunday to go on safari in Botswana with my uncle and his family. We will be gone one week, returning to Mozambique the following Saturday. Had everything with the IFC gone according to the original schedule, our trip would not be a problem at all. While on safari Ricardo and I would be able to brainstorm together about the challenges of each project, read draft reports and market information, formulate strategies, etc. But now that we are set to travel the very same week our projects are supposed to start, we will not be able to get any work done while in Botswana.

Perhaps this is the silver lining in all the delays with the IFC: we will be forced to take a real vacation!!