The Board, Induction and My Favorite Picture So Far

Bonjour mes amis!

The post with all of the pictures the other day received a lot of good attention. So I decided to make this post a long one. In return, feel free to write a comment on my blog or FB page, as the weekends are actually quite boring here, that is, until I can find some people to go hiking/canoeing and all around adventuring with.

To begin, today was great! The Executives and the Board were in town to look at the mine, have a meeting, and give their quarterly report. Both the CEO and the head of my department talked to me independently and could not have been nicer. They were very supportive of my trying to come up with solutions for extreme poverty (which has been my goal since shortly after going to college), and implied that this could be a very good place for me to be long term if I wanted. Every single person I work for is intelligent, nice, and works really hard. I’m incredibly lucky, and hope to add value as soon as possible.

Also, a very good friend of mine was able to send me Rosetta Stone French levels 1,2 & 3, which will prove to be a lifesaver as my cousin’s we’re able to get me 1 and 2, but I was an idiot and forgot 2 at home. So, between having some amazing friends, and amazing family, I should be speaking French by Christmas, if not sooner (let’s hope).

Okay now on to the pictures:

Today was induction for one of the villages. We were taking them in busses from their old village ‘Gatanga’, to their new one in Kokiza.

Yes, I finally made it into a couple of pictures. One of the camera men was nice enough to take a couple candid shots for me. I’m getting a bit scruffy, but I’m not famished like some of you were afraid of.

This is their old school

The buses picking them up

Yes, that is correct. That is an ice cooler balanced on top of someone’s head! This is the kind of stuff I see every day and I was finally able to catch it on camera without being too obvious. So awesome, easily my favorite picture.

The new Gatanga community

A new kitchen

And yes, for the Nix family, African versions of those ‘squat and shoots’ that we were oh so fond of in Europe.

I know that is a strange picture to end on, but we left for camp after this. I know it doesn’t seem like much, but these homes are so much nicer and better than what they were in before (the huts on the previous pages), and even having stalls for bathrooms is a huge improvement. They were all very gracious about it, and loved to practice their English on me. I said ‘hello’ in Lingala,’ my name is Preston’ in French, and ‘nice to meet you’ in English, haha.

I’ll try to do a food post in a couple days, as I have gotten a few questions about what I have been eating. This is easily my longest post so far, hope that is okay with you all!

Au revoir!

Preston