Back in Ecuador...

Possibility of work with the local water company...

Before going to Kenya for 3 months, I had been talking with the local company here in Santo Domingo about a job as a water engineer. When I came back, I went to visit them again and found out that they had been trying to contact me, but of course couldn’t get through on my Ecuadorian number. The company has recently signed a large contract to provide potable water to all of Santo Domingo and I am hoping to get a job with them.
It has been interesting to see here how a CV goes a long way and there is little opportunity to discuss the specifics of the job before entering or even have the aspect of an interview where you see whether they are the people you want to work with. There are also lots of pieces of paper that you have to collect from various agencies and ministries, and this is not just for me as a foreigner, but for everyone, especially for those wanting to enter work in the public sector.
However, as a foreigner, I have come up against a hitch in that I am supposed to have been resident here for a certain period, and the manager is now trying to see how to get round this issue. I also need to get my work visa sorted. In addition, the leave quota here is very low and I have visits from friends and family scheduled for Christmas/New year week (not holiday here) and late January. With this in mind, I have spoken to the manager and am hoping that we can get paperwork sorted to start work in early February after my visits. I am really hoping that this will still happen as notice periods here don’t really exist and people always want you to start NOW or it is like you are not interested.


In the meantime, I have a few other things...
Cafe project...
As most of you know, I have been wanting to open a cafe here in Santo Domingo, that can be a funky and comfortable place for people to meet and especially for youth to be able to hang out with their friends and make new friends as an alternative to the drinking scene. It is hoped that this place will also be a place to meet together to develop community style projects together, taking on a bit of the style of the funky travellers’ scene. Although it will not be overtly Christian, it is hoped that this place will provide an atmosphere where people can meet together and support each other in living a life that is full and healthy and full of God. I have been working on the vision of this project, and developing costings and trying to figure out how to raise money to start and what legal aspects need to be put in place. A lot of work has been done, but much more work is needed and I shall be continuing to work on this. If you want to help with the set up, then do let me know!

Other work...
I have also been helping in developing a proposal for a new project with Edwin and one of his friends, but there is still a lot of research and discussion to be had...

Driving license and insurance...
I have bought a car with Edwin and so I have been in the process of getting my driving license here. This basically means following a driving course and taking tests again. I did my practical and my theory test yesterday and now have to wait until mid December to get my license.
I have also started looking into insurance issues as I need insurance for driving here (not covered by Latin Link) and also hoping to get medical insurance so that I can leave Latin Link and not be paying a lot of money, and also as I hope to have a work visa rather than a missionary visa.
So my life continues to be about paperwork it seems!!! But also spending the time developing projects, and of course it gives me lots of time to spend with Edwin and develop our relationship which is all very lovely! 

Birthday snaps...