€ 623 deposited, but visa more expensive than estimated

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Dear donors,

Today I transferred another 623 euros (710.57 USD) via MoneyGram to teacher Lesly Pierre Paul of the New Vision Art School. It seems that we are almost there, but unfortunately the costs of the visa are much higher than expected.

Lesly Pierre Paul has made the following calculation of the costs:

  • $760 apartment for 15 days in Santo Domingo.
  • $900 round trip to Santo Domingo for the whole group (9 people)
  • $2560 for the visa
  • $4220 total.

This does not include food and entrance fees. I will therefore increase the crowdfunding to € 5000 ($ 5882) .

Lesly told me that if necessary he will pay some of his last savings. But I hope that won’t be necessary, because like most Haitians, he does not have much money. And surely there will be enough people in the rich west, who have a small amount left over, to help pay all costs together?

I did some research because I wasn’t sure why the cost of visa is so high and I want to explain this to you, dear donors. I asked the consulate of the Dominican Republic in the Netherlands how this is possible, because if you are traveling from Europe you do not need a visa to travel to the Dominican Republic for two weeks. (As a Dutch person I can book a last minute in the Dominican Republic today and travel there today without any problems.)

The lady from the Consulate told me that the admission procedures differ per country. As the political situation in Haiti is quite turbulent, visa costs are likely to be higher. I inquire at the consulate of Port-au-Prince about the exact reason for the high costs. So far I have not received any response from Port-au_Prince. I hope they will respond to the mail soon so I can message you about it.

Warmest wishes, Anne Marie