Here is how the story goes about Jingle and Rudolf. They are among those several expatriates in TL who are working in the development sector to contribute to the so-called ‘making a difference in the lives of Timorese’. Like most organizations in this country, expatriates enter TL on a tourist visa and arrange work visa/permits while in country. Common practice and also allowed by the immigration, tourist visa can be extended for 2 months while the work permit is being sorted out.
In preparation for arranging work visa, Jingle and Rudolf started gathering the documents required by the immigration; one of these is the medical certificate from a public hospital. To get this, one has to undergo laboratory tests and chest x-ray. Jingle and Rudolf sorted this out without the help of the admin staff from their organization, which ideally should not be the case. Since both of them are new-comers, a staff from their organization should have accompanied them. Nonetheless, both of them went to the hospital on their own. Rudolf is confident because he can speak one of the languages which are commonly spoken in this country. Jingle on the other hand, only knows English, so she left the transaction to Rudolf and she was just waiting for feedback from him. After filling-in the hospital form and submitting the required documents, Rudolf asked the guy at the receiving area called Mr. Blue (in blue hospital uniform) how much they need to pay for the medical procedures. He was given the price of USD100 each, which makes USD200 for the two of them. Short in cash, Jingle and Rudolf asked the driver to collect money from the office so that both of them could pay. After a few minutes, the driver returned with the cash and Rudolf gave it to Mr. Blue. Then, Rudolf told Jingle that they can already leave. Jingle was surprised of the speed of transaction, so she asked Rudolf why it was so fast and also reminded him of the official receipt since it would be liquidated at the office. Rudolf told Jingle that receipt will be collected the next day when both of them have to come back for the laboratory tests and chest x-ray.
The next day, Rudolf and Jingle went back to the hospital. Instead of being taken to the laboratory, they were ushered to a small conference room where Mr. Blue signed the medical certificate written in local language, and issued the official receipt for the payment. With a wide grin on Rudolf’s face, they left the hospital. Out of earshot, Rudolf explained to Jingle that they don’t need to undergo all the tests and the medical certificate was already issued. Jingle was speechless, Rudolf did all the transactions and in good faith, Jingle trusted him.
On the way back to the office, Jingle was still speechless, she felt guilty for being an accomplice to corruption. They paid four times the real amount for the price of a medical certificate without going through all the tests. Jingle was put in the middle of choosing between doing good and thinking of the embarrassment Rudolf would face if she didn’t leave him to transact with Mr. Blue. In the mind of Jingle, it was really wrong but to emancipate her from guilt, Jingle said to her friends as she was narrating the story, ‘was she the only person who did it? Or were there other more and probably many times did it for the same purpose?’ It’s a question which is difficult to answer. It was also difficult to judge Rudolf for being trapped in that situation. But this gives us, development workers here to think and ask, is capacity development and assistance really helping this country and more specifically, is it worth our effort? It could be yes or no, but in the end there are innocent people, the most deprived and vulnerable that needs us most, not those who are in the mighty confines of the huge public offices in the city and roaming around in their ‘kareta estado’.
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