Wamba and Beyond

Here are some email exerpts posted by Carol for Kirsty:

21.09

Mbote,

I thought I would send you a quick message before I leave Kinshasa. I fly out tomorrow morning at 6am.

I have had a wonderful time thus far, and will be in touch whenever I have internet access in Wamba. I am so excited to be in the field. At dinner tonight, Dr Bomba was talking about his experiences in the forest. He is an evolutionary biologist, but talked about his experience with animals as protectors. Another researcher sitting next to him said "Look at her, she is radiant and smiling whenever we talk of the forest. Of course she will have protectors". Bomba told me that now that Africa has welcomed me, I will always have help.

Take care of yourselves.

Nalinga yo,

Kirsty

20.09

Ngunza took me to the Grand Marchee this morning - so many beautiful fabrics, and random other stalls. I would have liked to buy some, and will definitely have to visit it again on my way back. Then we went to Kinshasa University. Furuichi is awesome. He's setting up all of these connections between universities across central Africa, and flying professors out to Kyoto University for specialty training and conferences. It was neat to talk to Congolese biologists, who want to encourage other Congolese students to take charge of research and conservation in their own country. I think I need to buy a really fat notebook to write down all of my thoughts, because I am fair exploding with experiences and feelings.