We had our annual senior staff strategic planning meeting at Inhaca Island off the coast of Maputo in Southern Mozambique. We highly recommend tropical islands for all staff retreats! Seriously, despite the beautiful surrounds (because of?), we had a very productive five days of 
meetings to discuss many of the "big picture" issues facing the Gorongosa Restoration Project that are difficult to find time and space to discuss when people are in the midst of their day-to-day work at the Park. It was also a terrific opportunity to get to know four incoming staff: Pedro, 
who will head tourism at Chitengo (hospitality, including restaurant, housekeeping, etc.); Francisco, who will head the staff training program; Patricia, who will head the health outreach program, and Monica, who will head the conservation education program.Francisco, Patricia, and Monica will all be heavily involved in implementing our Family Goals Program in which junior Park staff (from the
communities adjacent to the Park, where housing, health, and education standards are extremely low) will set a series of goals they wish to achieve for their families and comunities (e.g., use of mosquito nets in homes, investment in better housing, improved educational opportunities, etc.) and monitor themselves in achieving those goals with Park support.
