keep in mind that missions organized from a distance cannot foresee logistics or check the veracity of information. So difficulties come less from language than from details that cause dramatic problems when you cannot extend your stay.
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•"A woman coming from New Delhi for tests and to see a doctor had to begin at the Georges Pompidou Hospital...
where the Information Desk is at the end of an enormous hall. She had trouble walking - in fact, she fell down as we went over there. Then the person at the desk gave the wrong directions. There was more walking and more falling down. We finally got to the right place when a doctor took us there personally. But the tests were made late and the visitor almost missed her appointment with the specialist she had come to France to see. I called several times, to say where we were and to beg him to remain, which he did. Staying on would have been extremely difficult for this patient, yet she could have been obliged to do so." |
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•"An insurance broker from Cairo had a request for a $50-million life insurance policy from a Saudi billionnaire, who lived in Paris...
To make sure that the medical tests the insurance company required went smoothly, he made the personal investment of coming to Paris for 36 hours. The arrangements, which had been made from Cairo, were with a doctor who had not been told that special equipment was required and did not have it, and with a lab that charged 2500€ for tests that eventually came to 267€ ('It's an insurance company and it can pay,' I was told by phone when I questioned that sum.) At the last minute I was able to arrange with the American Hospital that everything take place there. Later, a paperwork snag and then the need to clarify examination results led me to return to the hospital twice."
had the visitors realized the importance of local preparation. Thinking that the sole difficulty was language, they asked a hotel concierge or an agency for an "interpreter" on the night of their arrival.
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- Our interpreters know the city...
and are either of foreign origin or are French who have lived abroad and have experienced the difficulty of getting things done in a new place. They invest themselves in the visitor's mission because they understand its importance. They also tie up loose ends, as the second example shows. |
- Please tell us before you come, so we can do the groundwork!