Week 2 - Still trying to figure it all out

As to be predicted, the discovery period of this project has extended well into week 2 when we should be getting into strategy and execution. There is just so much to learn about this place. One issue that keeps coming up is that since so many volunteer hands have touched so many aspects of this place, with limited handover between them, we're sifting through different styles of documents, written by people with very different skills over several years. I think it's doing Janet's head in a bit trying to figure out budgets and expenses, and I'm doing my best to help her with that as well. 

 

The one point of consistency through all of this is Binka, who is a font knowledge and contacts and stories. Janet and I typically have 2 or 3 meeting with her a week which start with a laid out agenda and end 3 hours later with more information than we know what to do with. This has been the trouble with this week - there is so much to do, and so much that's interconnected here that it's very difficult not to try to tackle it all. But after a good chat with Philippa on Tuesday, I realized that I couldn't take it all on or else I'd likely get nowhere by the end of my placement here. 

There are smaller initiatives I am trying to do outside of my focus on the Iracambi Strong education program. Simple things like making a big calendar for the Center so we can see the comings and goings of people here and designate certain days for group tasks. I'm also working with Janet and Imran to get a more consistent number of volunteers coming here by getting some smaller initiatives up and running again, like water monitoring, recording animal sightings and nursery programs. And I've set an agenda for a meeting we're having on Friday to talk through the realities of the new Forest Restoration project, so hopefully we can keep the meeting short, sweet and productive (but this is Brazil).

On the animal sighting front, it was an exciting week at Iracambi. We spotted what we think were two Macaco Prego monkeys, a type of Capuchin monkey, on a tall tree between two of our cabins. This is apparently a very uncommon sighting especially so close to Iracambi. Following that, the cleaning lady found the possum that lives in the ceiling of the Center in the stove in a very perturbed state since it was hissing at everyone. 

Wednesday night was the big dinner meeting with Leandro (aka the Muriqui Monkey man). He is one of the leading experts down here on the Muriqui Monkey and he also is the main point-person for the Iracambi Strong program - helping to organize the course and bring in the professors. Over dinner we nailed down the course structure, the overall teaching philosophy and how we can get the course in place for January. Binka is heading to Rio with a pamphlet Janet and I worked on with her to try to sell the January course to students of the International Schools of South America. Know her, she'll probably get to many people to sign on than we can handle.

Yesterday, Janet and I decided to take the hike to Binka's house for meeting twice in the same day. I think it's around a 2 mile hike and it was probably in the 90s yesterday. But it's just nice to get out and get some exercise and look at the beautiful countryside even if we end up completely drenched in sweat.  We also have some great talks on our walks about absolutely everything. It's very nice to have here her to help with the work, to bounce ideas off of her and just to have her as a good friend.

Following our meetings with Binka, she took us to the waterfall by her house to go swimming, since it was unbearably hot in the afternoon. These pictures don't do the place justice at all. If only all 3 hours meetings could end this way, with you and the client relaxing in a cold pool beneath a waterfall. The last meeting itself was a really good one too - just the project reset we all needed, to realign on the project objective and finally define what I should leave this place with when I go. Now I just need to get to work and focus.