Part II (Part One is here if you missed it.)
Having told the directors of my school of my intention to leave I was asked to write a resignation letter. They took this letter to immigration and told officials there that I’d no longer need the TEP. The officials apparently became angry because I should never have been working in Malawi. They demanded that I leave immediately.
I wasn’t ready to leave. As a teacher I wanted to finish the school year. I had many plans and duties still to carry out for the orphans in Ntcheu. I had no source of income in Canada and living in Malawi is much less expensive. I agreed to stay at Mount Sinai, working half days. No one was told of my reason for leaving each day at the break. We feared the government.
The arrangement was working as well as could be expected. The children asked a lot of questions and I felt guilty for leaving early each day. My colleagues avoided speaking to me because they knew something was not right and didn’t want to make things worse. One colleague showed great interest and concern.
After two weeks of this part time work I received a phone call at home. I was told not to return to school at all, ever. I was told I could come in on Saturday to collect my personal items. Apparently immigration had called the school to investigate whether or not I’d left the country as promised. This call from immigration came on the same day that my colleague stayed home from school. She had been told the day before that her contract was not being renewed.
By this time it was early June. I diligently completed the report cards and visited the day care as often as I could. One day in mid-June the directors showed up at my house to tell me I must vacate by the end of the month. The rent had been paid until the end of July but they claimed they were afraid that immigration officials would find me there. They had earlier told me immigration had no right to ask for my home address.
When I asked where I should go to live the director replied, “Don’t you have some friends you can stay with?” She was fixated on this idea that I was in Malawi to adopt a baby. Apparently she had heard that news from the same colleague whose contract hadn’t been renewed. She wouldn’t believe me when I told her that I had no intention of adopting a baby. She did assure me that I’d be paid, by a personal cheque, for the month of June.
At the end of June I moved out. No one from the school came to assist or to say goodbye. The landlady, a friend of that same colleague, stayed inside her house and didn’t acknowledge my departure.
The story doesn’t end here. The worst was yet to come.
Read Part Three.
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
