We returned from Tanzania and Kenya the evening before Thanksgiving after packing in a marathon of mines, only to wake up Thanksgiving morning for Rachel and Ginger to run the Turkey Trot in Downtown Detroit with 21,000 of their closest friends! (Roger slept in!)
Our mining marathon included 9 individual mines across a 3 day period in Southern Kenya. 7 of the 9 mines were new to us and included Tsavorite Garnet, Ruby, Spinel, and Green Tourmaline. I’d like to share a few insights…some are fresh lessons about gemstone mining in East Africa and some are conclusions rediscovered.
To explore the mines and Gem Legacy initiatives we visited individually, travel over to Instagram and Facebook for recaps. We’ve also been sharing some exclusive views on National Jeweler’s Instagram yesterday and today!
(Risk requires a lot of) GUTS
We visited a Tsavorite Garnet mine and a Ruby mine that have barely begun their mining journey. Both are fledgling, unseasoned, and green. Watching the miners and hearing them talk about their work reminded me that they are going off a single indicator in the ground. They are gambling that there may be something deep underground because they believe in the power of gemstones to change lives for the better. That takes guts.
(It takes more than) GRIT
As a Tsavorite Garnet miner shared with us the challenges of continuing to mine this year when they aren’t finding saleable rough, I realized a human’s determination to “stick it out” eventually fails. Miners need more than grit to withstand the physical and mental demands of mining. The passion for beauty, success, and worth is what sends miners underground day after day in search of elusive gemstones. The drive is deeply planted in their souls: it is innate to their nature and it is the backbone of their purpose.
(All for the sake of) GLORY
Africans are effervescent with thanksgiving – a cultural collision as we visited with them the week before Thanksgiving in the US. They attribute all good things to God and the absence of all good things as “not yet, but it will come.” They say waiting is the price they pay for glory. When miners show us samples from their recent production, they are quick to note that they are merely the hands that brought already-beautiful gems from the ground.
