Adventures In Africa
Our presentation will be by Barbara Kolater. Barbara is a former Collections Curator at The Gemological Association of Great Britain. She is based in England so she will be join-ing us via Zoom only.
Please Note: This meeting will start at 6:00pm not 7:00pm to better accommodate our UK presenter
Zoom Sign In:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84573747428
Call-in: +1 647 558 0588
Meeting ID: 845 7374 7428
BRANTFORD LAPIDARY AND MINERAL SOCIETY Meeting:
I would like to tell you about a trip to Africa which I took with Gem Legacy and a group of Gem-A members to the mines in Kenya and Tanzania.
These were remote places which some of us had heard of but never imagined actually visiting let alone going down their mines. The trip was organised by Gem Legacy a US non-profit working to support artisanal miners and their families in Kenya and Tanzania.
Gem Legacy organises trips to the mines for some of their customers and other interested people to show them where their gems come from, who mines them and the conditions under which they live and work.
Gem Legacy additionally help with funding a lapidary school, some primary schools and a children’s home as well as helping miners directly with supplies of food staples and basic equipment.
We felt very privileged to experience these conditions first hand and to meet the miners and their families and find out more about them and their way of life.