Part I

Now that I am home I feel like it’s ok to tell you about one of my biggest challenges in Malawi.

The story begins back in January when I first arrived. A visitor to Malawi is given a 30-day visa. This visa can be renewed for two more 30-day periods. Each renewal costs about $40. As a foreigner (ex-pat) I was not permitted to work in Malawi without a work permit (TEP). As a visitor I was not allowed to work. My employers at Mount Sinai were responsible for applying and paying for this permit. Most NGOs and International Schools apply for these permits on behalf of employees before the employee arrives in the host country.

About a week after I began teaching I was asked to fill out the application for the TEP. I had to get a passport photo and fingerprint taken. I completed the application and returned it to the directors of the school who promised to deliver it to the officials at the immigration department. Three weeks later I as asked to fill out the application a second time. No explanation was given for this second copy.

The end of March came quickly and I had exhausted all visitor visa renewals. My employers sought the advice of senior officials at the office of immigration. They were advised to take me across the border for an afternoon. Upon returning they were told my visa would be extended for another 30 days. The officials apparently told my employers that the TEP had been approved but the document needed to be signed by someone who was currently not in the country.

On March 26 we traveled by car to Zambia. We spent an afternoon looking around in the small city about 20 km from the border. We spent about 4 hours there before returning t Malawi.

At the Malawi border the guards gave us a very hard time. They told me I must go back to Zambia because I had exhausted all visa renewals and suspected I was only trying to extend my stay. My bosses called their advisor at immigration. He reprimanded the border guard on the phone and after a few hours I was allowed to return to Malawi. The man on the phone had been one of the most senior immigration officials.

Late in April the TEP still had not been approved. My bosses were able once more to get the visa extended. The immigration officials were now very familiar with my case although they’d never actually met me.

In April I was advised by TDSB that my application to extend the leave of absence had been denied. I was expected to return to Toronto to begin the new school year in September.

Finally in mid-May I received a letter indicating that the TEP had been approved. All that was needed was for the equivalent of $1000 to be paid within 30 days. I had been working illegally for 4 ½ months by this time. I told the directors of my school that I’d be leaving at the end of the school year because I was expected to work again in Toronto in September.

Telling them of my intention to leave was my biggest mistake. I did it out of a sense of guilt. The TEP cost $120 000k, the exact amount of my gross salary. I’d hoped they would use my July salary to pay for the permit. I should have known that logic eludes many Malawians.

Read Part Two.

Tags: malawi, Mount Sinai Internationl School

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