Big Trouble in Big China

It appears Amanda's recruitment to the Trace Foundation has been under false pretenses. Late in September we made our way to Sertar in the far north west of Sichuan Province China to begin work with the Tibetan community there. Upon meeting with the Director of Education of the Sertar County he was unaware a project had been designed and was at the stage of implimentation. He has also never heard of the Trace Foundation. Alarm bells started to ring.
Amanda was assured her employment with Trace was secure by her manager. On Friday her contract was terminated leaving us high and dry without employment in China. Things got worse when our belongings we brought from Australia, mainly heavy clothing will be difficult to ship back home because Trace issued us with business visas not working visas. In effect we are in China illegally.

We are making our way to Laos in the next week or so.

Jurgen
of no fixed abode

Did I miss something? What are you talking about, why are you in China? What does this have to do with photography?

Your Pbase gallery is beautiful, great work.

He told us he'd be going to China/Tibet a while back, Tyson.....maybe you missed it.

Damn, Yogestee...that sucks big time. I googled Trace Foundation and it seems to be legit http://www.trace.org/ Perhaps its the Chinese government that doesn't like it. Can you contact The Trace Foundation? Something sure does smell fishy and I hope you run into no more trouble.
Thoughts and prayers are with you and Amanada.

Tyson, check HERE and HERE for the background story.

That's messed up Jurgen. Sorry to hear about your troubles. Are you 2 going to be able to make it home safely? Have you contacted your Embassy yet? Keep us updated if possible and I hope your travels are safe and without incident.

Aaron

My thoughts and prayers are with you both in this appalling situation. Above all, be safe.

Mike

Jurgen,

My thoughts are with you and hope you can resolve the situation quickly and safely.

Roger

Jurgen, If you need help just let us know. We will do all we can.

That doesn't sound good at all Jurgen. :s I hope everything works out for the two of you. Keep us posted if you can and the best of luck to you both.

Can't image being in a country like China and having the troubles your having. Good luck making your way out of the country. All of us here at PR will be thinking about you and praying for your safe and speedy exit from the country.

This is just crazy - wishing the best for you two, and be safe! I really can't offer any advice but I think contacting the Australian Embassy (there is one, I assume/hope) is a good step. Please check back in with us when you have a minute, but of course we understand that it isn't priority #1 and web access may not be available everywhere. I hope this gets resolved very soon...

Thanks everyone for your well wishes..As I am writing this we are sitting in a really nice hotel room in Bangkok,,,arrived tonight the 4th November..A few days of R&R in Bangkok will do us good..We are making our way back to Laos which we treat as a second home..Amanda has a few irons in the fire here and a second job interview for a gig with Australian Volunteers International for Hanoi..Keep everything crossed for her..We managed to get out of China without any real difficulties but the passport control guys looked at our passports/visas real closely,,lucky..Our only regret is we didn't get a chance to work with the Tibetan community although we did make a few close friends with the Tibetans in Chengdu..

We will be using Laos as a base for the meantime..People here who know me, understand I have fallen in love with the country..

I'll keep you all posted as things progress..

Last Saturday we did the tourist thing a spent the morning at the Chengdu Panda Research Institute...Awesome!!

Jurgen

Good to hear from you Jurgen and glad you made it okay. I'll keep my fingers crossed for Amanda and the job in Hanoi. Enjoy your R&R while you can :)

Aaron

At least you got some great photos while there. I love the panda shots. I certainly hope things work out for you and you have no more complications. Good luck.

Being the hubby of a development aid professional ain't always easy!!! :rolleyes:

Jurgen

Quote:

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Originally Posted by yogestee

Being the hubby of a development aid professional ain't always easy!!! :rolleyes:

Jurgen

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At least it'll make for lots of stories to tell the grandkids :D

Sorry to hear about the problems. Had friends stationed in China for four years with CNN and they had a great experience, too bad yours didn't work out. Glad to see you semi-caught up and back on your feet again.

Glad to hear you're safe!

Glad your safe and love the panda shots.

Best of luck with the job hunting.

Roger

Oh Jurgen I am so sorry!
I wish there was something I could do. Good luck with EVERYTHING!
Take care.
x

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alison

Oh Jurgen I am so sorry!
I wish there was something I could do. Good luck with EVERYTHING!
Take care.
x

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Thanx Ali :)

Sorry to hear of the troubles that you encountered. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Fingers are crossed with the new job.

James

It must be a nice feeling now being back "home" where you can gather your thoughts and go forward from there.. Good luck with everything. Nice to see the pandas!
Tom

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Frog

He told us he'd be going to China/Tibet a while back, Tyson.....maybe you missed it.

Damn, Yogestee...that sucks big time. I googled Trace Foundation and it seems to be legit http://www.trace.org/ Perhaps its the Chinese government that doesn't like it. Can you contact The Trace Foundation? Something sure does smell fishy and I hope you run into no more trouble.
Thoughts and prayers are with you and Amanada.

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Thanks Frog,,,,Trace is legit in the States but not in China,,they are not a registered in China as a business..Which is bad as their sphere of influence is the Tibetan Autonomous Regions in China with the Tibetan community..When establishing a business in Asia the first thing one needs to do is find a local partner,,Trace have failed to do that hence they can not be registered in China..

The alarm bells really began to ring when Amanda was asked to open up a personal bank account with the Bank of China for the project..Trace can not operate finacially in China and can not open a bank account..20,000USD was deposited into "her" account for operating the project..In China foreigners can not exceed 50,000USD in bank transactions..Where she had a problem was drawing the funds out to return them to Trace..The branch we went to didn't have 18,000USD (the balance of the account) and electronic transfer was difficult..Trace wanted the funds returned BEFORE Amanda was compensated and payed out..It took 3 days to organise the funds to be returned..

The CEO of Trace is Andrea Soros Columbel,,she is the founder and benefactor pumping 5 million USD into Trace yearly..Does the name Soros ring a bell??Google Soros and you will understand why we can not fight this..In effect Trace has bent us over a table and sodomised us!!

Jurgen

Quote:

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Originally Posted by yogestee

Thanks Frog,,,,Trace is legit in the States but not in China,,they are not a registered in China as a business..Which is bad as their sphere of influence is the Tibetan Autonomous Regions in China with the Tibetan community..When establishing a business in Asia the first thing one needs to do is find a local partner,,Trace have failed to do that hence they can not be registered in China..

The alarm bells really began to ring when Amanda was asked to open up a personal bank account with the Bank of China for the project..Trace can not operate finacially in China and can not open a bank account..20,000USD was deposited into "her" account for operating the project..In China foreigners can not exceed 50,000USD in bank transactions..Where she had a problem was drawing the funds out to return them to Trace..The branch we went to didn't have 18,000USD (the balance of the account) and electronic transfer was difficult..Trace wanted the funds returned BEFORE Amanda was compensated and payed out..It took 3 days to organise the funds to be returned..

The CEO of Trace is Andrea Soros Columbel,,she is the founder and benefactor pumping 5 million USD into Trace yearly..Does the name Soros ring a bell??Google Soros and you will understand why we can not fight this..In effect Trace has bent us over a table and sodomised us!!

Jurgen

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Jurgen,

Can you withold part of the money owing as compensation? Is this legal or what other legal avenues can you use?

Roger