Val and Rochie got married!

December 28, 2018.

Val and I have known each other for a very long time. In the beginning, our paths never crossed except for brief greetings along a random corridor at IRRI until Sam Mohanty directed him in November 2012 to discuss grain quality with me and see how I could lend my expertise to a project Val was working on. See, Sam was his boss at the time and was my mentor in IRRI's mentoring program. Back then, Sam told me that what I got myself into was not just a mentor-mentee relationship; he was expecting it to turn into a working relationship between me and his staff. Well, he's not entirely correct... 

A little over six years since Val sent me that email invite to meet with him, we got married! It's a civil ceremony in Cotonou late on a Friday afternoon. It was a simple event, followed by a reception in a riverside restaurant.


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