GUMRUK!
The name Gumruk is feared. It makes even the most seasoned missionary tremble and sweat. Gumruk is worse than the purgatory. Gumruk is the Ethiopian costumes authority.
Getting through the airport costums is not very different from playing Russian roulette – with 5 bullets in the revolver.
It is usually an advantage to send controversial items with a large group of visitors. Often they will be treated nice and not scrutinized that much. However this time a second hand pulse oxymeter donated by a hospital in Sweden and brought by a large group of visitors from Sweden got stuck at the airport costums.
We started the procedure to get it cleared and released 3 months ago. As we cannot spend too much time in Addis Abeba at the time, it is done in stages. Gradually all requested documents are collected from different offices with stamps and everything. Whenever you think that it is completed there will be another request for an additional document, a supporting letter from some authority or something else.
Finally all papers are ready and approval is given to have it inspected by the health authority. When that is accomplished you are entitled to go and clear the equipment from the Gumruk.
At the Gumruk you are told to go to a counter and have the equipment evaluated. There is a small crowd of people waiting for he same purpose. The staff at the counter is chatting, laughing and joking but not working. The computer is out of order. One person is trying to push buttons and draw in the cables to make it work.
One “ferenji” in front of the counter is very upset. He has been waiting for 7 hours without having lunch. Suddenly the computer starts working and he is able to pay and get a receipt. He is smiling all over the face, showing thumbs up, thinking his troubles are over and walks away to collect his item only to return after a short while as upset as before.
The computer is already out of order again. For some hours it is working sporadically. Finally it is my turn. I am asked for an invoice. But this is a donation and there is a gift certificate among the many documents. I am told to approach the head of the department. He mumbles that I have to pay tax and scribbles something on the documents. Back to the counter the computer is down again. After a while it starts working again and I can pay the tax. My good luck is that even the printer is working so that we can get a receipt.
With the receipt I can go and take out the equipment at the store. Alas! The item cannot be found at first. Only after some tense waiting the donated pulse oxymeter is located. I only have to pay for storage and then the item is mine. But the name on my ID card doesn’t correspond to the name of the visitor who brought the equipment from Sweden and therefore it cannot be delivered to me. I need a letter of authorization written by the person who brought the equipment. That person is already back in Sweden since 3 months. What to do?
The head of the department solves the problem with typical Ethiopian flexibility by writing a permission to handle the item in my name. His name is actually “Terusew” which means “Good Man” and he certainly lives up to that name.
After only 3 days work the equipment is in my hands. The joy is great on both sides. I exclaim “Thanks to the Lord” and the staff replays “Amen”. The final step is to show the item and receipt to the staff at the accountant department. With a lot of smiles and congratulations I can leave Gumruk with the pulse oxymeter.
The staff is very kind, polite and helpful. They only want your best, but are bound by the bureaucratic system. So don’t blame the staff – blame Gumruk!