Leaving Camrose

Hard to believe today was the last time I will make the one hour journey from my mom's to my sweet little apartment here in Camrose. Today my mom joined me, as we pack the last of my things and clean my apartment up so that its ready for tomorrow's walk through. Tomorrow at 8:30am the team will meet at Messiah Lutheran Church one last time to say goodbye to their host families and the friends they have made here in Camrose. After we'll be off to Edmonton for a couple days and then Thursday we are airbound and off to Africa!

One Week to Go...

Hard to imagine but in one weeks' time I will be on my way to Africa to miss my third winter in a row. I feel though as I havent quite missed this one, as its been really cold here in Camrose; currently the temperature outside is -27 degrees with the wind chill. We were just at a rather rustic simple camp out at a lake just outside of town 20 minutes, and in the end decided to pack 'er up and head back into Camrose one day earlier. The camp was a large hall with a kitchen and stage. There was no running water, nor bathing facilties and an outdoor toliet!

Now its time to get the group ready for the next phase and our travel to Africa- Mozambique. I think its going to be an amazing experience, however I suspect for some it will be very challenging. I suspect different people in our group will be needing support that was the case here in Camrose.

In the next couple days I need to pack up my apartment and pack my suitcase for our trip- as one week passes by very quickly!

Group Photos

3 of our participants picking carrots at a local organic farm we visited in October.

Here is a photo of the team in Edmonton for CWY's 35th Anniversary!

Less than 3 weeks!

Hard to believe but in less than three weeks our team will travel to Mozambique.... WOW! The time has seriously flied by; we have been having such a great time. Sure we have had our troubles and have had some pretty intense moments as a group but on the whole the team is AMAZING and they have been a pleasure to work with. They have kept us on our toes and with barely a moment to rest at times, but all in all no major crisis or breakdowns as of yet to report. As always the week Monday through Friday has been pretty hectic and busy, but really not all that bad as there havent been too many late nighters. The only late nights I have had are when I push myself to get my expense reports and funding reports done and completed. In a way it feels like being back in school again working under the wire and of course somehow the best thoughts seems to come out when I am working under a deadline and somewhat under pressure. Go figure, eh?

I am little exhausted at the moment as I just got back from the mural paiting project our team is apart of here in Camrose. We are co-painting a mural in the commmunity centre with the local students at PACE Outreach High School. Its been a great project for the participants and our results have been getting better and better all week!Tomorrow the plan is to have it completed, once it is I will try to post some photos of it.