6/11/84

19 days! And things are going smoothly with a couple of surprises. Karl, my replacement has arrived on the island. Young and inexperienced he has a lot of anxiety about being able to do the work. In fact he reminds me of myself as I faced setting up the M.I.U 10 months ago. With him coming in, I realize how flexible I am now. I keep changing as the situation changes. I'm ready to head in any of six different directions as the situation changes and I guess Karl is unnerved and confused by that. I'm in a dilemma between being so directive as to be oppressive or being so non-committal as to appear disinterested. He keeps talking about my credentials, education and experience. Fact is that I'm not credentialed for this kind of work and my success has been through luck and any lack of success due to my ignorance. I remember feeling vague and overwhelmed by the whole thing. and I guess I should expect Karl to feel the same way. Strange how the circle has come around.

To complicate matters, most of the U.S.A.I.D project and the government's push for marketing will come to a head in January. There is equipment to procure and staff to allocate. Goals objectives and plans to be made. At this point, frankly, I don't think Karl is in a position to make decisions of that caliber yet. He's competent but it will take him some time to learn the subtleties of this government's operation and grasp the whole picture. Hugh seems to think so too and visibly perked up when I mentioned I'd accept a short-term contract (3 months) to sort things out. So now there is a possibility that I would come back in late January to finish the project. Even if we don't work it out we'll talk to U.S.A.I.D tomorrow. It was a nice to hear that the GSVG would actually pay to keep me here. A nice compliment at the end of a long road.

Yes we're reaching the end. Our medical records are on their way to Barbados so we should have medical clearance by next week. Our checks should come the week after. We still have a lot of packing to do and some X-mas gifts to buy. Deb will be finishing up her work soon. The final days are coming.