Opening New Doors

GIA Instructor Marisa Zachovay travels to Madagascar and teaches Gem Identification there for the first time

By Tara J. McKenna

When you love your work, it shows. And if you ever have a chance to speak one-on-one with GIA Instructor Marisa Zachovay, G.G., you’ll see why the saying can often be so true.

It’s not hard to figure out that gemology excites her. Every time she mentions the subject, or talks about teaching and traveling, the cadence of her voice speeds up and her smile grows. With so much enthusiasm, you can imagine how excited she felt when she was asked to teach GIA’s Gem Identification Extension class in Madagascar, a part of the world where GIA Education had never ventured. 

“It’s so exciting to be able to bring GIA’s course material to a new country,” Zachovay said. “I can only hope that what I teach will help the Malagasy help themselves and give them a chance to benefit from their own gemstone resources.”

Zachovay was chosen to teach the first class ever in Madagascar because she is fluent in French, a language spoken in Madagascar in addition to Malagasy. She is also fluent in four other languages – English, German, Spanish and Italian.

“When I came to GIA, I hoped for the chance to do a lot of international teaching so I could travel and use my language skills,” Zachovay said. “I’m so happy I was able to accomplish this goal. It was a great experience.”

Her visit was part of the Mineral Resources Governance Project, a new initiative of the Madagascar Ministry of Energy and Mines intended to professionalize the nation’s gemstone industry. The five-year program is being funded, in part, by a $32 million loan from the World Bank.

“There is a lot of gem mining being done in Madagascar, and the Malagasy government is trying to develop a cutting center and a laboratory facility there, but their tradespeople need to know how to identify and grade gemstones first,” said Brook Ellis, GIA Education vice president. “We are happy to help train the Malagasy workforce since it is a way to secure confidence and add value to the entire gem trade.”

Several people from the Madagascar Ministry of Energy and Mines, a few gemstone dealers and even a baker, were among the 17 students who signed up for the five-day Gem Identification Extension class. All were ready and eager to learn, but when Zachovay arrived in Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo, she was faced with one setback – the location where the class was going to take place was no longer available.

A decision was made to hold the class in the only available space – a tiny chapel, complete with pulpit and cross. It might not have been the most ideal setting, but it had to suffice even though the room had only one electrical outlet.

“Somehow, we were supposed to operate 17 microscopes, 17 polariscopes, plus all the other instruments and audio visual media we had, off of one outlet,” Zachovay said. “So we got creative and ran an extension cord in from another room. Then we just prayed that there wouldn’t be any problems.”

There weren’t, and for five hot, humid days during the Malagasy rainy season, Zachovay and the students spent their time looking through the microscopes and furiously scribbling notes on gem identification.

“These people are absolutely thirsting for knowledge. It’s like they’ve been in the desert for weeks with no water,” Zachovay said. “They were so eager and enthusiastic that even the tremendous heat didn’t dampen their interest in learning as much as they could. It was just amazing.”

It wasn’t long before they were putting what they had learned to use. Malagasy retailer Andrianaivoson Maminirina Gilbert was amazed at all the information he managed to absorb from the five-day class.

“Even with 14 years of experience I wasn’t able to make a definite identification. Now I can confidently identify gemstones,” Gilbert said. “I’ve gained credibility with my clients. Now they trust me and rely on my expertise.”

The class concluded with the Five-Stone Challenge, a test in which students must successfully identify the species and variety of five gemstones using the skills they’d learned. Their success encouraged many in Madagascar to begin working toward their Graduate Gemologist (G.G.) diplomas through Distance Education.

Voahangy R’Arinala Josiane, a Malagasy gem dealer who has sold gemstones to foreigners for 10 years, doesn’t expect the Gem Identification Extension class she took to be her last.

“Each day was a day of new discoveries. The ability to use, to have in your own hands, the instruments themselves … it was a dream before, and now it has come true,” Josiane said.

“But the most wonderful thing was having an instructor in front of us. I was able to ask any question and get an answer. There were things I heard for the first time and I won’t forget them. I really hope it was just the beginning with GIA and that we’ll have more things to do together.”