Isabel attending conferences, taking notes, and being inspired

Josh and I always seem to find ourselves out of the office.  After a very laid back Monday morning, followed by multiple meetings, we were assigned to attend the Alternative Mining Indaba just up the road.  Rebecca was kind enough to get us both into the conference and that’s where we started on Tuesday.  Not only does the conference have endless supplies of coffee and good treats, but a wide selection of academia, church leaders, and accredited people in the mining industry from all around the world. 

Our job at the conference is to take notes during the breakaway sections.  I sat in a very interesting one in the morning titled, “Litigation and Mining”.  The panelists in this session talked about a number of things, but what I found most impactful wad the everyday schedule of a miner.  Their workday ranges from eleven to fourteen hours per day.  Once they arrive at a mining site, it takes anywhere from sixty to ninety minutes to get down into the blast zone where they clock in and if they work overtime (which almost all do) they only get paid by productivity and not by time.  Considering all of that and then take into account that they are bent over a tight space for this whole period of time.  The list goes on and on.  There was a panelist from Australia who I got the opportunity to talk to afterwards and she was very inspirational.  You could tell she had great experience and intelligence in this sector.

Today we are supposed to be marching our demands over to parliament once we have convened for a bit in the morning.  I am excited to see the energy because yesterday’s energy did not disappoint.  During the opening presentation yesterday, there was a section between announcements and scheduling where the audience broke into song.  One person would start the opening lines and the rest of the room would merge in.  It reminded me of the church we visited during orientation.  Once one song would die down even slightly, another opener would come in full force with another well-known verse.  It was pretty comical to imagine that same situation happening during a business conference in the states.  Our idea of convening over a serious topic remains serious at all times, but the attitude at this conference is to get perspective and meet people.   Wish the three of us luck today, hopefully