An intern, a visionary, and a landscape consultant walk into a bar...

Hey friends, colleagues, and countrymen, or however that saying that I'm failing to remember goes. Today, Matt and I had a meeting with Helen and the rest of the Ikamva management, with Simon, Michelle, and Tony from Sibane Consulting. Overall, I think the meeting went pretty well, with some good ideas and potential for future endeavors coming from it. Specifically to us and our project, however, I think we were able to see where our project is going in the future.

Over the past few weeks, Matt and I have realized that we won't finish documenting the entire Ikamva property portfolio during our time here, nor will we try to finish all of it (there are nearly 1,000 sites that Ikamva has a vested interest of some form in). What Matt and I see now, however, is that we must make sure that the interns or employees who replace us are able to get to work as soon as possible. We're now looking back at everything we had to do the hard way, everything that we had to learn and find out on our own, things that slowed us down, and are now creating a system that will save our replacements the time that these cost us. Our hope is that by better preparing them, they can get to work right away, unlike us who had to feel our way around and try and ascertain the proper way to get things done.

Matt and I are also giving a final presentation to all the members of the Ikamva management, as well as a representative or two from the board of trustees, next Thursday. We realize how important this meeting is, as this is our way to show Ikamva just how special this project can be. We know they are open to the idea, as they have been attempting this procedure in the past, but now that we have put down this foundation, I think they understand that it is doable, if you are willing to get your hands dirty and just devote yourself to doing it everyday.

As such, we may have found that person. Tomorrow, Matt and I are interviewing a young man who may replace us. He has a background in surveying land, so he should understand some of the property regulations that Matt and I still don't. We think that if he can come in and attack this like we have, then the project has a great chance of staying alive, and, as this is Matt's and my "baby" this summer, we want it to live, damnit! So, that said, we are eagerly anticipating our interview with him tomorrow, with the hopes that he can fulfill what we want, and be trained by us. Everyone keep your fingers crossed!!!