Sunday-Nov 27/05

Grey Cup Day - but the Americans were not too excited about it!

We went to the high country today to church and visited a plantation after where we had lunch. It rained most of the day which is very unusual for this part of the island. In fact it started raining last night around eight o'clock and yesterday was our day to work/be on call. This happens about every six weeks and if there is an emergency you are expected to deal with it. Well one emergency is rain since you need to close the roof over the two atriums in the facility. By the time we found out it was raining, it was pouring and we got drenched getting the roof closed.

One of our perks is the use of four vehicles, three Ford vans and a Toyota truck with an extended cab. We can use these for shopping, sightseeing, church and other trips. The stipulation is that it is on a first comebasis, and you must post a sheet and extend an invitation for others to join you. I am not a big fan of Ford, but theyare better than walking. The two in the picture is older, but the third is realitively new and the truck is the newest, and probably the most dependable.

We had another convocation on Thursday and the picture of Marlene and me is from this evening. The valedictorian from this group was from Nigeria. He gave an excellent speech on behalf of his classmates. It is very hard to describe the quality of these participants. This fellow runs a Christian TV network in Nigeria which covers the African continent. For him to be chosen by his peers, gives some idea of the quality of the people coming out of Africa to be trained here.

I mentioned in a previous message about a former CIBC colleague and his wife being here for the Thanksgiving holiday. The couple in the picture are Henry and Eleonore Esau who now live in Winnipeg, where he grew up. Henry spent five years in Frankfurt, Germany, but otherwise the furthest east he came in his 38 years with the Bank was Thunder Bay. Henry is on the Board of Haggai in Canada.

We are starting week #9 of our stay to-morrow and we will say goodbye to nine volunteers this week, four couples and a single young lady. There will be four new couples arriving, then only departures9including us) up until Christmas. There will be about 10 couples remaing here over the Christmas break, and we understand the paint store will be getting plenty of business. There are two more weeks of classes, then a three week break until early January.