Saturday July 20

I slept a little later this morning, and then around 11 we went to the President's office. We saw her briefly before she went in to do a radio interview, and then we waited till she was done. From there we spent the afternoon going to the dedication of a new science building at Brownley Mission School. This is a school for girls, and because of the President's strong push  to educate young women, they were ecstatic to have her there. There was a formal dedication with ribbon cutting, the speeches, and then a walk through the new facility.I had the opportunity to meet the US Ambassador, Deborah Malik, who told me that her husband grew up in Southington, CT which is not far from Waterbury. The school appeared quite nice, a bit surprising for being out in the middle of nowhere. After leaving the school, on the dirt road, there would be collections of people, and frequently the President would stop to listen to them singing or whatever. One place we stopped was an open air market where there were lots of people making joyful noise. She got out, bought some of the fruits and what looked like biscuits, and then gave it all to the kids. She really is a remarkable woman.

Tonight we went to the Golden Image Awards dinner, for which the President is the inspiration and original award winner. They give out awards to people who foster cooperation and peace. The ceremony was pleasant enough, but it dragged on for 2 hours, and they weren't serving dinner till the awarding was over. The President decided it was time to go after the speeches, so off we went back home. Dinners like that are one reason I wouldn't want to be a politician, but I guess if you can leave when u want the being President would be ok !