This is part three of a three-part saga concerning a small republic in Siberia called Tuva. In the first episode you learned how Jerry Brenner (Lambertville Club) and John Green (Somerset Hills Club) went back to Tuva with your donations to help an orphanage for children suffering from psycho-neurological disorders. Very briefly, they provided a commercial grade freezer, 320 sets of bedding linen, 100 laying chickens and 10 cows. They also arranged for repair and repainting of playground equipment previously provided. When they had money left over, they provided the adult psychoneurological facility (across the river) with16 milk goats, 200 chickens, 200 pairs of rubber "all weather" boots and seeds for their vegetable garden. All of this assistance took about $22,000 that had been donated by friends, relatives and you!
Episode two told how our intrepid travelers launched a study to determine if animals fed iodine fortified salt blocks were more productive (more babies per eligible female), had better wool and had iodine enriched milk. You learned that the Ministry of Agriculture in Tuva was never able to control the dosage of iodine in the salt blocks and the problem was never resolved. Dosages of iodine in the salt blocks were three times the recommended levels so all of the study work was lost. However, the test farm involved in the study chose to continue feeding the heavily iodized salt and, in the end, results showed the farm using the iodized salt increased its animal productivity by 67% over the farm that used non-iodized salt. That's an incredible improvement and will cause further studies to be done.
The first two episodes told you what was accomplished but they weren't terribly exciting. This episode has a few tense and exciting moments.
When our adventurers finally left Tuva, they went to the university city of Tomsk because they had samples of wool from the two farms they wanted to analyze. They wanted to see if there were quality differences resulting from the iodine usage. In order to do that they had to have the wool samples sterilized before they could be brought into our country. (To satisfy the USDA our heroes filled out pages of paperwork and spent hundreds of dollars. When they triumphantly entered the Philadelphia International Airport Customs, they were told, "We can't find anything in the regulations about bringing in wool but it looks like you did your homework. Have a good day!").
It was the end of April when Brenner and Green reached Tomsk and spring was about to hit the city (remember this is Siberia). The ice on the river - 2 to 2 1/2 feet thick - broke up with a roar and temperatures climbed above 50° (F). It was spring!
Now the stage was set. With the advent of spring, temperatures were unpredictable. Furthermore, our Kiwanians walked everywhere. They walked because it was good exercise and they walked to absorb some of the Russian culture. On a walk to a university meeting about how the local republic had controlled its iodine deficiency problems, the inevitable occurred. Both our tourists were overdressed and the weather warmed. They had to remove clothing. We won't mention names but the Kiwanian from Lambertville had put his passport in his inside blazer pocket. When it got warm he removed his blazer and draped it over his arm. You already know what happened - he lost his passport!
Denial always sets in when something catastrophic happens and this event was no exception. Jerry Brenner called me late in the day and told me he had lost his passport. My response was, "You couldn't have lost your passport - it's just misplaced. I'll come help you look." When I got to my friend's room, he told me he had already had been through everything twice and there was no trace of his passport. I said, "Baloney" and we proceeded to go through everything in the hotel room two more times. Finally we had to admit that maybe the passport was missing. It was hard to admit because nobody wants to tell the world what a dumb thing they have done. It's even harder when it's a lost passport!
So there we are in Siberia and one of us doesn't have his passport. What do we do? We begin to make inquiries and that's when we learn about the Catch 22. In Russia you must show your passport to buy a ticket on an intercity bus, a train or an airline. We are in Siberia without a passport and we must get to the nearest U. S. Embassy in Moscow to straighten out the problem. Was that a concern? Even my traveling companion who is very laid back was nervous! He was so nervous he started making inquiries about what he should do at our hotel desk. He was directed to a Hotel employee that spoke some fairly good English and seemed to have a lot of confidence. That proved to be a waste of time.
The hotel employee took our hero to a location with a great show of bravado and confidence. When they reached their destination they encountered big crowds but, fortunately, the crowds weren't waiting for the same government representative. They went to an office on the third floor. When they entered the office and sat down, the enormity of the problem started to sink in. The representative they met was a "lady" and she spent several minutes in what appeared to be loud criticism of the hotel employee and why they were there. The hotel employee groveled. What he didn't do was tell our hero where he had just been, why he had been attacked, what had been said and what he should do. Welcome to Siberia.
When Jerry got back to the hotel we arranged for ads on three different TV stations for the next three days. Then we got our interpreter involved. After a few inquiries she told us we must visit a KGB office and apply for a "certificate" to allow Jerry to travel from Tomsk to Moscow. About the same time, Jerry remembered something very important. When we had planned our trip we asked a friend in Krasnoyarsk to buy airline tickets for our trip between Krasnoyarsk and Kyzyl. She had agreed but said she needed copies of our passports to buy the tickets. Jerry had scanned the front pages of both our passports and e-mailed them to her. She probably still had a copy of Jerry's passport! He called her immediately and the passport copy was forwarded to the hotel by e-mail. It isn't the same as a passport but it's better than nothing.
The next morning we went to the KGB office and it turned out to be the same building Jerry had visited before We went to the third floor and - you guessed - the same office with the same "lady". This time she saw Jerry coming and started "railing" before we even sat down. She held all the high cards and she wanted us to know it. Fortunately, our interpreter was magnificent and, before long, all of us were speaking again in normal tones. Besides, the scanned copy of Jerry's passport proved to be a real boon. Our "lady" quickly scooped it up and told us to return in three or four days while her people conducted a thorough investigation. We were glad to get away.
While we waited for time to pass, we recognized our return tickets from Moscow were in about a week. Any additional delays and we were in for some heavy financial losses. Certainly we would be charged to change our tickets and maybe have to buy new ones. That just gave us something to worry about because it was out of our hands.
Three days later we again visited the "lady" in the third floor office at the KGB. This time, she still didn't smile but she didn't shout at us either. After signing a couple of forms Jerry got his document and we were free to go to Moscow and deal with the US Embassy. We knew we weren't home yet but we breathed a lot easier. We had just beat Catch 22!
The next morning we took a plane from Tomsk to Moscow and immediately visited the US Embassy. They were great! Jerry had to fill out a couple of forms and hand them in at a window but he was assured his temporary passport would be waiting for him on the next day. We were elated. I think we even bought a couple of beers to drink in our hotel room in celebration. We were so naïve.
Sure enough the passport was waiting the next afternoon when we came for it. But we were told there was one other thing necessary before we could leave. We needed an exit visa before they would let us go. We asked where we could get one and were told to get it where we got the entry visa - that was Washington D.C.! By the way, our air tickets were for a flight leaving the next morning. We had no idea what to do but decided to play dumb and see if we could bluff our way onto the plane.
The next morning we got to the airport very early in case we might need some extra time. We checked in for our flight, checked our luggage and then began the security and passport checks. I sailed through with no problem but Jerry was taken to an office and "interrogated." Unfortunately he didn't speak Russian and they didn't speak English. I didn't know any of that at the time because I just saw him led away. It occurred to me I might never see him again and I didn't for about two hours. Just before our boarding call he stumbled into the waiting area. We were finally free to leave Moscow!
When I asked what had happened he said he just kept pointing to his temporary passport, the KGB document and his airline ticket. Finally the security people relented and managed to make him understand $300 would buy a waiver of the exit visa requirement. Jerry paid. He may have been acting "dumb" but he's not stupid! We made our flight.
As we were flying home Jerry remarked that he would never go to Russia again. I wouldn't have blamed him but I knew he would change his mind. You see, we saw an orphanage full of "throw away" children who need some clothing. We saw a school for deaf/mute children needing a playground and we saw a rehabilitation facility for young children needing two pieces of equipment to help speed the process of learning to walk again. So we will go back - just as soon as some of our supporters give us more of their money. There are some pitiful youngsters in Tuva who need us and we don't have the heart to let them down.
Editor's note: They're back in Russia at this time. Thanks you two!
