Sarah Fleming´s trip to post in Caracas and Guatemala City.
19-25 April 2008

Saturday 19 April

My name's Sarah Fleming, PA to James Bevan and Louise Boyle, and I'll be doing the first entry of the new Change Unit blog…no pressure then!

As an A2 new entrant who joined in September I didn't think I'd get the chance to travel any time soon, but here I am, all set to join Louise on a visit to posts in Caracas and Guatemala City – brilliant! We'll be spending a day and a half at each post as part of Change Unit on the Road, spreading the change message & more importantly listening to feedback. I've already been pre-warned by our Change Agent in Caracas that they have some “very strong views”…eek! Having arranged lots of visits for James and Louise since starting the job I'm really looking forward to seeing what it's like, particularly as the time will soon come for me to start applying for my first posting.

So my Saturday evening has consisted of packing in front of very bad Saturday night TV. I abandoned my small suitcase in favour of the next size up – I blame the More Foreign Less Office leaflets, cards & pens. Nothing to do with the three pairs of shoes, 2 handbags, hairdryer…I see a gap in the e-learning programme “Fundamentals of Packing”! Our flight is at midday tomorrow so not too much of an early start. Just enough time left tonight to read through the briefing again and make sure I haven't forgotten anything.

Sunday 20 April

View from the Residence terrace

We arrived in Caracas safe and sound but having consumed far too much plane food. The journey went smoothly – once we'd left Heathrow that is! We were delayed on the tarmac for an hour before setting off due to a huge great queue of planes waiting to take off – great! I started to panic. Would we make the connecting flight in Madrid? Would we have to catch an early morning flight to Caracas instead? What if there were no seats available?? Would the whole trip be cancelled??! Louise on the other hand remained calm and looked on the bright side pointing out that missing the flight would make good material for the blog! But we made it, panic over.

We arrived into Caracas at 9pm local time, 5½ hours behind the UK (last year Hugo Chavez decided to create a unique time zone for Venezuela by putting time back by half an hour.) The temperature outside was 28 degrees and within 5 seconds I had started to melt beneath my jumper and jacket! As it was dark outside we couldn't see much of the city but could make out lots of hills with houses clinging to them, piled one on top of the other. The main road from the airport was absolutely crazy! Our driver Ramon explained that the crowds were returning to the city after a weekend of partying at the beach. All along the hard shoulder were broken down cars, which couldn't quite manage the hills. They didn't seem to mind though and just carried on partying at the side of the road.

HMA Catherine Royle and her husband Marcelo welcomed us to the Residence with a nice cold G&T and a dinner on the terrace – I could definitely get used to this! Catherine told us a bit about the challenges of working in Caracas. Phones were never answered, calls were never returned, government officials used their hotmail accounts rather than work addresses, and meetings were cancelled at the drop of a hat. And in a country so politicised by Chavez' social revolution you also had to be careful what you said. I finally crawled into bed, shattered, but looking forward to the rest of the week.

Monday 21 April

PA/HMA Valerie McGuinn and Louise Boyle

Maths never was one of my strong points. Or perhaps it was jet lag. But last night I set my clock wrong and got up an entire hour too early this morning! Nevertheless I was wide awake and raring to go.

On the way into the Embassy our driver Jorge narrowly (and skilfully) avoided several potential collisions which I sensed was routine in Caracas. People don't stop and check at junctions but just drive out and hope for the best! Our morning began with a tour of the Embassy – highlight was the ambassadorial toilet, which had the most amazing view of the city and surrounding hills! We sat in on the weekly office meeting in which staff from different sections updated HMA and each other on their work.

Whilst Louise met with Catherine I held a focus group. There was a really good turn out – perhaps it was the lure of the change unit pens I had promised attendees! We talked about a range of issues including change, management, communications, training and ideas about how to improve their jobs. It was a great chance for everyone to speak up freely, perhaps easier to a junior officer like me, and all local staff contributed to the debate. I scribbled down lots of comments and ideas which I promised to follow up once back in London.

In the afternoon Louise and I gave a presentation on Change in the FCO to all staff followed by a Q&A. Several staff challenged parts of the change agenda and other corporate issues, constructively rather than negatively which was great. Amongst the points that emerged was a concern that a one size fits all approach was often applied from London and the local situation was often not understood; that posts budgets should be more flexible; and that they would welcome more opportunities to feed in their views. Again, we took down action points to follow up in London.

Adriana, Matthew, & Thais hard at work

All in all a busy but excellent day. A dip in the pool woke me up a bit before dinner at the Residence with all staff. Adriana did a fantastic job organising the evening (the chocolate brownies were the best!) and Louise and I were really grateful to everyone for giving up their evening to come. And I got chance to practice my Spanish over drinks. So tomorrow it's a morning in the Embassy and then off to Guatemala City.

Tuesday 22 April

Our last day in Caracas already!

Whilst Louise held some one to one meetings I spent time with consular and visa staff. Consular Assistant Beatriz showed me what her job involved day to day, which now also included recording consular Management Information. She told me that on the whole few British tourists come to Venezuela because of the ever-worsening security situation, which is really sad when you consider what the country has to offer. ECO Gisela let me sit in on 3 visa interviews which was really interesting and made me realise how much important service delivery is – it effects the lives of real people here and in the UK.

Last task of the day before a wash up session was a quick chat with A2 Mark, whose job seemed to involve everything and anything! As well as Systems Administrator & registrar he is PA/DHM, ECO cover, Vice Consul cover, he draws up the Post Emergency Plan/Earthquake Plan/Civil Contingency Plan, and since the closure of the Defence section he is also responsible for getting clearance from the Venezuelans for military flights. He said the biggest challenge however was keeping the system going – roll on F3G!

What struck me most about Caracas overall was how much the situation with the Venezuelan government made everyone's jobs infinitely more difficult. Access was tricky to say the least and the systems just didn't work. Despite that there was a really good atmosphere and sense of team spirit at post – I actually felt quite sad to be leaving. And Venezuela is definitely on my list of places to come back to and explore…safely of course.

So, onwards to Guatemala…not before a bit of airport shopping in Caracas. I resisted the temptation to buy a set of mugs with a photo of Chavez on them and instead opted for classics – Venezuelan coffee, chocolates and rum! As we transited in Costa Rica I also picked up a souvenir from the airport in San Jose – now I can claim I have been to Costa Rica too! HMA Ian Hughes was on our flight after having been at a Climate Change event in Costa Rica so took the opportunity to tell us a bit about working and living in Guatemala. Really looking forward to seeing a new country and a new post!

Wednesday 23 April

Typical – I'm finally getting used to the time difference and it's almost time to come home! I slept so well in the hotel last night and was scarily excited at the breakfast of scrambled egg, refried beans and spicy green salsa (I used to live in Mexico)!

The morning began with a meeting with HMA Ian Hughes and DHM Karen Miller. They explained to us that the post had been through a period of huge change over the last year, with the closure of the defence and commercial sections leaving almost an entire floor empty, the cutting of UK based slots, and an LE Staff Review and subsequent shake-up. As a result I feared that Louise and I would be boo-ed off stage at our Change Presentation but luckily that didn't happen. It was clear that staff were still feeling the effects of recent changes, however they did all agree that the vision Louise presented for the future FCO was a positive one and that they could understand the benefits that it would bring.

Lunch was in a delicious steak restaurant (I'm going to have to go on a serious diet when I get home) and we sat on an outside terrace in the sunshine. How am I going to get used to freezing cold London again?! In the afternoon I spent time with Sigrid (PA and HR Coordinator), Lourdes (Consular Assistant) and Valeria (DMO) finding out what their jobs involved – thank you ladies! What struck me most was how they were all multi-hatted and provided cover for different roles during absences, which they viewed as something which made their jobs more interesting and allowed them to learn new skills despite increasing their workload. Sigrid also told me how they regularly hold events such as cake bakes and raffles to raise money for local charities which is great. At the moment she is working on a project to provide stationery and equipment to a local school. She said that this sometimes helps people to put their own problems into perspective and forget for a moment the stresses of work.

So, another day over. Louise and I are being let loose in Guatemala City this evening. We've been briefed on security issues and have a few restaurant recommendations. I'm sure we'll be fine!

Thursday 24 April

So we survived our evening out in Guatemala City…although admittedly we only ventured across the road from our hotel to a Mexican bar for drinks followed by a nearby restaurant for dinner! We did try some typical Guatemalan food though which was delicious. Louise made me have my photo taken with a waiter dressed in typical Guatemalan dress but it's far too embarrassing to post here, sorry!

Our last day at the Embassy began with some more one to one meetings. Security Manager Jose Luis didn't feel confident speaking in English so I interpreted between him and Louise which was tricky at first but I soon got into the swing of it. Finally whilst Louise had a wash up session with HMA I held 2 focus groups with local staff. During these meetings staff were very frank about a range of issues covering the changes that had taken place as well as how they felt about future change, job security, communications, management, and training/development. Again, it was clear that recent changes at the Embassy still weighed on their minds but they were all proud to work for the Embassy and were very dedicated to their jobs. In fact one of the main things that has struck me about both posts we have visited is the dedication of local staff, which is crucial in small and medium embassies like these. I promised to write up the main points that came out of the focus groups and follow up on them once back in London.

Now it's off to the airport. Our flight leaves at 5pm today and we will finally touch down in London at 6pm tomorrow after changes in both Panama City and Madrid…I fear there's yet more airport shopping on the horizon!

All in all it's been a brilliant week…I'm now dying to go on my first posting! Thank you very much to HMAs Catherine Royle and Ian Hughes for having us, and thanks to staff at both posts - everyone made me feel really welcome. And a great big thanks to Valerie and Sigrid for organising a great trip! Now it's back to the real world.

PA and HR Coordinator Sigrid