Hello - Goodbye

Sipwell has been absent from these pages for a number of weeks. Fellow Marx Brothers were begging for him to post something, as “all of his postings were from a quality not to be found anywhere on the internet, let alone the world”. All of this had a good reason. He was very busy at work but more importantly, in secret and close negotiations with both the Belgian and the Flemish government… As negotiations have ended and a decision is taken, he can now tell, first of all, the devoted readers and contributors of this blog what he was up to.

As a part of their development aid program, both Flemish and Belgian governments (don’t ask me to explain the division of power) have decided to stimulate academia in their former colony Democratic Republic of Congo by sending a number of Belgian academics and scholars to Lubumbashi (Katanga province). Their task will be to help develop the education system and to train scholars and students. As they will work in close collaboration with both governments, they will be able to request further funding from European and international organizations. Sipwell was asked to participate and was, for the last three weeks, negotiating the conditions with the government(s). Sipwell has, in close discussion with his girlfriend, decided to accept the offer and to leave for Lubumbashi next September for a period of three years. In fact, he signed his contract this morning, April 1, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Lubumbashi is in an underdeveloped region of the world… internet is not that powerful. The chances he will be able to play this game are extremely slim… As a result, next August, exact four months from today, he will lay down all his function in the game and resign from the Marx Brotherhood.

Both sad and happy: more details will follow soon.