CARE: Discriminating

Prior to the preparation of the technical proposal for an integrated area development and conservation project in Central Sulawesi, as the Terms of Reference suggested, short-listed consulting firms sought to acquire the necessary and relevant statistics and other information from two non-governmental organizations already involved in the project since its early phases of planning and initial program implementation. This included obtaining data from the CARE International Office.

In response to an earlier telephone conversation, I sent my Secretary to fetch brochures and whatever project-related information CARE had at hand. She returned empty-handed and told me that I'd better go there myself.

Hence, I went to the CARE International Jakarta Office on April 11, 1996 to meet with local staff. After a lengthy explanation of our intention, I was informed that I should send a representative from our international associate, as CARE will only disseminate information to foreigners and prefers not to share it with Indonesians. As a result, I also returned to the office empty-handed. But pleasant news was awaiting me: Mr. David Adriance, one of the (foreign) directors at the CARE Office planned to grant me an appointment on April 12, at 10 a.m..

The following morning, I arrived at 9:55. The office secretary asked me to wait for Mr. Adriance, who was in a meeting. At 10:00 sharp, I asked the secretary to inform Mr. Adriance of my presence. After receiving no response from Mr. Adriance because he was engaged in a phone conversation, I again asked the secretary at 10:10 to contact him, but met with the same result. I finally gave up and was on the point of leaving CARE's office at 10:15 for other scheduled meetings when Mr. Adriance's personal secretary met me to confirm the appointment and asked me to wait in Mr. Adriance's office.

Without rising from his chair, Mr. Adriance told me bluntly that if I couldn't wait until he had finished his telephone conversation, I'd better leave his office. And in case I was willing to wait, I had to do so outside his cubicle.

I preferred to leave his office. In the car, I started to struggle with questions of whether I had unconsciously offended him during the time I was waiting for him (and failed to identify the unethical act from my side), or whether Mr. Adriance would do the same to me if I were a Westerner. I wondered what would happen in a reversed situation, where I as an Indonesian host granted him an appointment at 10:00, but could (or would) not keep my word.

I doubt very much if CARE maintains such a racial policy.

FERRY L. DHARMA

Managing Director

PT. Bahana Mitra Buana, Jakarta