Refreshingly honest

I explained before about the issue of corruption here. It's very hard on a public official to be honest, because he has a lot of cultural pressure on him to take care of his friends and family. I heard it explained once, very accurately I think, that it isn't so much that Dominicans are dishonest, as that they are extremely loyal. And that means loyalty is first, and honesty second. So if it comes down to backing up your friend by telling a lie, or telling the truth, which causes problems for your friend, the lie usually prevails.

Recently I was near the Haitian border, visiting a family who lives there. As it happens, the husband is a public official. The first thing I noticed was that he was not living in an elegant house. Instead, he had built his own cement block house...or at least enough to live with. It still has a corrugated zinc roof, and is missing some essentials like inside doors and paint.

I mention the house, because immediately I thought of two possibities: either he is honest, and isn't accepting/demanding bribes, or his position isn't as important as I believed.

But then, we were driving around with the family, near the border, as they wanted to show me the road to Haiti. Suddenly, his alert eyes saw something amiss. He stopped to check it out. He dealt with the problem briefly. He made a couple of phone calls, but never did money come into the picture.

Then a second time, I saw him in action when he gave me a lift to the bus stop for my trip back home. A friend stopped him, and said, "You know, that was my land, yesterday..." the implication being, that if he had known, he would have overlooked the legal requirements. The official responded, "So because it just so happened that the land belonged to a friend of mine, I wasn't going to do my job?"

I have to tell you, the Dominican political sistem is overrun with corrupt officials. I've met them at every turn. But everyone is not corrupt. Now and then, you find an honest man or woman, just doing the job they are supposed to be doing, and not trying to get rich on bribes in the process. These refreshing people are also a part of this Dominican Life.