Siemen Po

At an interview this week we got the name of a man named Mr. Dang that worked for Siemen Po. We did not think the name sounded very Chinese, but we looked it up and found the name of a different company, Xiamen Po Wings Ceramic Company and decided that must be it. We called Mr. Dang and told him we got his number from Jimmy, our friend at COVEC. He seemed really confused and did not recognize the name, but we moved forward and asked if it was Siemen Po. He responded “Yes, Yes, Siemen Po, Siemen Po.” Great! We'd found the right place. We asked for an appointment and he said we could come by the office at 3pm and meet with his assistant, Mr. Kataya. After more discussion, including with Mr. Dang's driver, we figured out the office was located next to the Chinese Embassy at a black gate.

So, we drove down the street that the Chinese Embassy is located on (conveniently across from the Department of Defense) and found a black gate at the compound next door. We told the guard we were there to meet with Mr. Dang from Siemen Po and he said there were no Chinese people or companies in the compound. Confused, since there were no other gates along the entire street, we slowly drove back to see if maybe we missed it on the other side of the Embassy.

Opposite the Embassy on the other side was a narrow driveway with a multicolored gate. We asked the guard there and he said there was a Chinese company in the compound but he'd never heard of Siemen Po. Regardless he let us in. As we drove around the compound we came across Holley-Cotec, a Chinese pharmaceutical company we'd been trying to get into contact with for weeks. Score! We thought maybe Siemen Po was a random brand of pharmaceuticals this company manufactured. As we got out of the car, we met a Chinese man coming out of the office and we flagged him down. He started laughing and said Mr. Dang did not work there but was located on the other side of the wall, INSIDE the Chinese Embassy. Ok.

After scheduling a meeting with the man from Holley-Cotec, we got back in the car and went next door. The gate was black with gold trim and was clearly part of the Chinese Embassy, red wall and all. The sign on the guard house said “Economic and Commercial Counselor's Office of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China.” We knocked on the gate and told the guard we were there to see Mr. Dang or his assistant, Mr. Kataya, from Siemen Po or Xiamen Po. They looked at us like we were looney. We kept repeating Mr. Kataya, Siemen Po, and eventually another Kenyan man came out and questioned us again. We explained that we'd talked to Mr. Dang and had an appointment at 3pm with Mr. Kataya. He skeptically let us in the compound and we took a seat in the reception room.

Ten minutes later a man asks us what we are doing there and we explain yet again. He says that Mr. Dang is currently out of the country but he is Mr. Ndaya and is Mr. Dang's assistant. Ndaya, Kataya...almost the same thing. We begin to explain what we are doing and he explains that their company manufactures cement poles. Siemen Po...cement poles! No wonder people looked at us like we were crazy. We started laughing right in the middle of the interview. How could both of us have misunderstood several people to the point where where we thought the company name was Siemen Po??

Though we were halfway through the interview, we then had to ask what the company was actually called, since we'd assumed to this point that the company name was Siemen Po. For future reference, they are actually called BETT Company (K) Ltd.. Why did no one tell us this before? No one had ever said BETT! We also realized after the interview that the friend who gave us their contact in the first place was not in fact Jimmy, but a different friend. It is a wonder we even found this place AND that they let us in!