Speeches
Remarks by USAID/Angola Mission Director Diana Swain at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between USAID/Angola and Lazare Kaplan International for community development work in Luanda Norte
When Lazare Kaplan International first raised the possibility of collaborating on a program in Luanda Norte, I thought I should try to learn as much as I could, as quickly as I could, about diamonds. So I went to the internet to see what I could find. And I discovered that the subject of diamonds probably has more facets than the Centenary Diamond, which, by the way, has 247 facets.
It was interesting to read about how diamonds are formed, how diamonds have driven exploration, how successful the industry has been in marketing its product, and how diamonds are important for everything from expressing feelings to driving technology. And I could go on. But most of all I enjoyed reading about the symbolism around diamonds.
As you all know, diamonds can stand for lots of things but there are certain things they especially stand for, including success, durability, and peerless quality. These are the kind of adjectives I hope people will be using to describe our relationship with LKI and the Government of Luanda Norte in the future; and the kind of standards I hope we'll achieve as we work with LKI and the Government over the next year to design the community development program, and over the years ahead to implement the program.
But there's perhaps an even more important word associated with diamonds that would be good to have associated with our joint program --and that's "dreams." Through our joint efforts, the U.S. Government, LKI and the Government of Luanda Norte will be seeking to help communities, families, and people in Luanda Norte not only dream big dreams but achieve those big dreams, fulfill large hopes and satisfy ambitious aspirations.
I would like to thank LKI for this initiative and express my appreciation for the collegial and flexible way in which LKI has approached our relationship. I'd also like to say that I think it's great to be working with someone who cares as much about Africa, and particularly Angola, as Mr. Tempelsman does. It's clear that he and his staff are going to be active partners and, for me, that's to our benefit.
The LKI partnership allows USAID to provide support to a province in which we have not been active. I'm looking forward to the opportunity that offers for us to get to know the people, and work with the Government, of Luanda Norte.
During my internet search about diamonds, I saw a quote from Thomas Carlyle that I thought was good: "No pressure; no diamonds." In closing, I'd like to encourage LKI, and the Government and people of Luanda Norte, to keep the pressure on us. And let's all do our best to make dreams come true.
