Update: 14 May 2011: I received a comment on the website from a Mr. Gabriel Amorocho (of ProExport) inviting questions – so I have sent him several.. Thank you for contacting me. I will update readers and let them know if I receive a reply..

Original Post

There’s nothing like a government agency to remind you of your own insignificance.  In this case, it’s Colombia’s ProExport..  ProExport is the government tourism division and one of its specific aims is to promote medical tourism to Colombia..  and here I am, writing a guide to medical tourism in Colombia…hmmm.

So as a writer on medical tourism in Colombia – I thought it would be nice to meet with someone over there, just to hear more about ProExport, what they do, what they are doing to further medical tourism, what they thought the future of medical tourism was in Colombia, etc..  It was a pretty important interview for me – because I thought I would be able to get a lot of questions answered for potential medical travelers, from an official source… yeah – it would have been nice.. But..

Nope, Nada, Never.  Not even after five months!  of calling, emailing and trying to get an appointment with someone, anyone, over at ProExport.  Everyone I’ve met here has tried to intercede, even my downstairs neighbor (who knows someone who knows someone etc..)  to get me just twenty minutes with someone from ProExport..  I’ve emailed several people at ProExport directly, from the information they provided..  I even managed to navigate the operators, with multiple transfers only to be transferred to an endlessly ringing phone.. and called again, and again, and again..  Never even got a form response to my emails..

It was easier – to get a reply from the President himself, (President Juan Manual Santos), and he was exceeding gracious about it..  (I sent him a copy of my first book – silly, but I was excited – my very first book, and just a week or so later, I received a very nice thank you note..)

So it’s the last weekday, of my last week here in Bogota, so I guess this humble writer, has been humbled again – and I will accept defeat.. There will be no ProExport interview for this unknown writer..