By Lori Perez
Armandine Matondo was the guest speaker at the March meeting of the Carbon County Historical Society. She and her children, Prince and Miriam, are from the Democratic Republic of Congo. She came to Price to attend Utah State University Eastern.
There are 242 different languages spoken in Congo. French is the national language. Armandine speaks four languages and is now learning English.
After arriving in Price and being on her own for a couple of weeks without a car and not knowing how the furnace worked in her home, she met Jill Emerson who along with her family, helped Armandine with child care, rides, adjusting to the American culture and learning English. While Armandine attends school here, her husband is working in the Democratic Republic of Congo and flies to Utah twice a year to see his family.
The Carbon County Historical Society appreciates Armandine’s willingness to speak to them and to learn about a different culture. The April Historical Society meeting will be held on April 26 at 6 p.m. at the Carbon CountySenior Citizen Center. The guest speaker will be Ron Watt, whose topic will be Carbon County in the 1950s.