Green light

God bless the new US administration. As well as bringing billions of people the promise of greater sanity and stability, there are other positive moves afoot. We’ve had a funding proposal for one of the US government’s grant schemes in limbo since early 2019. We were told it had been accepted by the review panel but ever since it has been stuck due to lack of political approval. We had a positive message about it today, which I assume is because the new administration is both trying to clear its backlog and also not trying to deprioritise environmental funding. We should soon have confirmation of around USD 400,000 contribution for our elephant conservation work in Mozambique. Another bonus to the dumping of Trump and his motley gang of crooks.

However as is customary in life, whilst He giveth with one hand, the Lord taketh away with another. Various shenanigans ensued through the day regarding our NGO registration process in Mozambique. Part of this is receiving an endorsement from each local government in the provinces in which we intend to work. Thanks to the skill of our lawyers in Maputo, they averted a sticky situation.

Overall it was a relatively satisfying day by lockdown standards, which is a good feeling for a Friday. Even though the visa process remains convoluted, I feel closer to getting to Mozambique than I did yesterday thanks to another helpful email that I’ve been waiting for.

This wall of Pembroke College is always one of my favourite spots in the city centre. Imposing and Dickensian.