off topic12 Sep 2021 15:24
Mansur Geiger said: "In a sense, it all started with me going up river in a canoe and establishing strong relationships with the local Dayak people. Living and working closely with them created a special connection from the very beginning, and this all evolved into the need to support them in preparation for the future impact of a possible mining operation. Apart from the community development work, we trained the locals in all areas rather than bringing in outsiders, which also created an onΒgoing responsibility towards them. The first landmark (up to that point, our community efforts had been rather informal) was when Murray Clapham (Kalimantan Gold CEO) and I set up the Kalimantan Kids Club (KKC) in 1992 to help kids with their education. It started with a young girl who was a gold panner. She was an orphan who wanted to be a sports teacher, so we took her and the son of my original Dayak guide, Pak Sumbin, and put them into Palangkaraya University. Murray and I jointly funded the club, then others joined in. Within a couple of years we were sponsoring over a dozen kids."
This eventually led to the opening of a school in Palankaraya by Mansur'wife Utami.
Now I ( do not have any involvement with this institution ) respectfully bring out that topic because I learned that the economic hardship created by the pandemic ,as felt in many places, is also impacting the school.
If anyone wish to follow it up I will post the website. I also wish to apologise to you and accept your criticism if you find this post inappropriate.