It's all about paperwork.
It seems that the process of Mark getting the correct licences in order to maintain aircraft here has been a long one.
Recently Mark sat two oral exams that, if passed, would enable him to sign off maintenance work done on the Cessna 206 engine and air frame.
On the day, Mark did not feel that one of the exams went particularly well.
Three weeks later he was thrilled to receive the news that he had passed both exams!
Mark is now able to sign off maintenance work done on any of the MAF Uganda aircraft. This is great news but also a big responsibility. Pray for Mark to have wisdom as he carries out and oversees maintenance and releases planes back to service in the air.
On another note, we are in the process of applying for renewal of our work permit here in Uganda.
The paperwork required for this has also grown in our 8 years here.
Immigration now require a current Interpol check among other things.
So, last week I headed off to the Interpol offices, bracing myself on the way for what I thought could be a long morning of standing in lines.
Having stood in 2 lines and received 2 slips for which I needed to make payments, I then headed into town on a boda boda (motorcycle taxi) to make payments at the bank. Having done this I completed my application form and the fingerprint process (yes, it'd done with lovely black ink!) and then joined two more lines where I had to pay small sums of money and collect a receipt. At the end of the morning I came away with six receipts which I now need to hold on to in order to collect the certificate in a weeks time.
It seems that here in Africa you can never have enough slips of paper or stages to a process, but I guess I still need to keep learning the lesson of patience.
On a serious not, we would value your prayers that our work permit application goes through smoothly and quickly.
