Tom Cushman, colored gemstone expert for Allerton Cushman & Co., Sun Valley, Idaho, and a longtime advocate for the people of Madagascar, is helping to launch the first African Institute de Gemology de Madagascar (IGM). The IGM is a project of the PGRM (Project de Gouverance sur les Resources Minerales), which is working closely with the Ministry of Energy and Mines as well as with the World Bank. The project includes renovating the building, defining corporate structure, creating an organizational chart, and purchasing gemological equipment as well as selecting candidates to be trained in gemology overseas. These gemologists will serve as instructors for the new institute. Thanks in part to Cushman, the Gemological Institute of America will teach a one-week gem identification class in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, Dec. 2-6, 2003. He also has helped arrange with GIA for