We're Back!

Hi Friends,

Well, we're back. It's taken a few days to get our heads around it - and to some degree that's not done yet.

Coming back is often hard. When you have spent time with people, who by our standards have nothing, yet who know joy and share it freely - it's hard to come back and listen to people here whine about the poor selection of corn flakes at the grocery store.

The team did an excellent job in all areas. Working with our masons we were able to provide enough assistance to finish the walls on the second floor of the residence portion of the training centre in Kokrobite, finish the new computer lab, and provide the materials and hire the workman to complete the windows and doors of the offices for YFC Ghana, now housed in Kokrobite. This is way ahead of what we expected.

We had our struggles - two or three of us got quite sick, some for just a day, some for longer.

Working as a team is always a challenge, and this team was no different. We had our smooth efficient moments and our rough times. But in the end, we got the job done.

I personally am very grateful for the talents of Dave and Ellen, who brought some valuable experience regarding working in the heat and being safe, as well as the ability to take over the running of the worksite when I was down for the count. Having run a number of missions, I am pleased when I can walk away from something like this having learned from others, skills which I can use next time.

I am impressed by everyone on the team. Everyone had moments where they really shone and where they encouraged others. It has been a privilege to serve with you.

My experiences in Liberia are also important. There was great pain and despair, mixed with hope and optimism. It will be a while sorting that out. I have never before been in such close contact with so many who have experienced such violence and destruction. My heart aches when I think about it....and yet I also saw the hand of God at work.

Below are a couple of comments from the team... there will likely be more for a while.

Blessings to all of you, thanks for your support.
Daryl

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello from Penny, back home in Canada!  Wow, it's hard to believe that the time flew by so quickly and we're back home already!  As Lawrence would say, "You have to hit the ground running!".  That's exactly what it has been like for us.  I went straight back to work Monday morning and let me tell you it was quite the struggle.  I could barely manage getting dressed and ready for work!  I don't know how Lawrence did it, but he headed for Ottawa to pick up the dog Monday.  I'm afraid that our minds and bodies haven't quite caught up with our feet. Everyday things keep triggering thoughts, emotions and memories from our time in Ghana.  I shared some photos from the web with the children at the daycare today.  It's so wonderful to share my stories while they look on with excitement!  Perhaps they will be inspired to want to help others too.  That's how change happens, one child, one person at a time!  Well, let me just say that I'm so proud of everyone on this team for going the
distance.  Literally and figuratively.  I'm sure you have all been an inspiration to those around you, including me!

That will have to do for now. I'm sure I'll have many more thoughts to express as the days go on, so I'll write soon.  Like I said, we've hit the ground running and I must run along!

Blessings all,
Penny

-------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you all for the support and love that you have shown us.
Ghana is a beautiful place inside and out. The people there were amazing and so passionate, they were willing to do anything for you to make you happy.

After being on this mission I have realized how much I
have grown into the person that I always wanted to be. I found myself while I was there and I am so grateful that you helped make that possible.

Truly GOD blesses each and everyone one of you,
Thank you again.

Darcie

Last Post from Ghana

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Hi Folks!!

Well, this is it….the last post from Ghana.We will update the website with pics in a few days, from home.God Bless you all…it’s time for the bus!
Love and Peace,Daryl

Hi to Everyone!

We are packing up to come home with very mixed feelings,satisfaction with what we have accomplished and some sense of sadness at leaving the new friends we have made. Last evening, we had a kind of a farewell party and we enjoyed each other’s company, the team and our Ghanaian team also. I never cease to marvel at the joy they take in life and how apparent it is in everything they do. Their welcome has been truly heartwarming, accepting and totally without judgement of any kind. By the way family, I did leave the key with Alma over the road at number12 for future reference. I am looking forward to seeing you all on the 1st. Be prepared not to get many words into the conversation as I imagine even after a week, I will still be bursting at the seams! Till then, lookafter yourself, drive carefully and I will phone you all when I get into the house. Eric was wonderful to get a message from you. I was not holding the scorpion but I was close by. Pat and Rog, great to hear from you too and I am appalled at the price of fuel! Talk to you soon. Debbie:I just love your updates and I am really sorry you could not come and Ik now that you would have enjoyed it as much as I did. Lots of Love,Mom/Donna

Greetings from Africa:
The ‘Bishop’ is returning home! Kate, everyone gota real chuckle out of that LOL. I am in the computer center room where Jake has spent all week building this up to now welcome students to learn! It has been amazing how much we have done to help build some more of this worthwhile center which will make a difference to the students of Ghana,West Africa, a job well done for our friends here! I am extremely proud of the team, we worked hard, we had time to enjoy each other’s company and I always enjoy meeting new people in my life and I got a double bonus gift of meeting the Ghanaian people here. The farewell party last night wasjust up ‘my alley’. The kitchen staff, Doreen, Price, Cynthia and Esmee with Samuel led the dancing and singing. They are so spontaneous and getright to it in a second, playing the drums, singing, fantastic and theirs ongs reflected the love of God which is everywhere here in Africa! Ibelieve they have learned good things from us and we have certainly learned valuable life lessons from them. I hope you will bear with me asI need to tell the story of Africa. To my awesome, amazing family and thevaluable fun loving friends I have, thank you from Africa and can’t wait to embrace you all! Cheers, Mary Monti /Mom/Grams

Hey The Dickster:
I can’t wait to hear about your trip to Hawaii with Carolyn. We will have definite different perspectives to what we did onour trips but all good! We are going to leave tonight at 7pm and won’t gethome until Sunday around 1:30 pm. I know we will both be on a long journey to Woodstock. I hope to connect to Kate and Care upon arrival and then will call Beth too. So hope to hear from you upon arrival at Carolyn’s,Kingsville. Love to all the family! Mary xo

Hi everyone, well we are leaving and find it very hard leaving our friends we have met. Especially; Kimberly who is 8 months and Joshua who is 2years, who we have been living with. Jake might have to check my suitcase.We are missing you lots and can’t wait to see you tomorrow. Jim drivecarefully when coming to the airport and remember to drive the bus we will have lots of luggage and people so we are told. Lots of Love Kelly(mom)
Hope there is still some SNOW left. Can’t wait to go for a roll in it.

Hi there,
Yes I am still here and have been busy making a record of our combined activity. I just took my last video shots of Ellen and David running aworkshop for Ghanian leaders. Great stuff. To be honest I’d like to stick my head and hands in a snow bank (hope there is some snow left) and getcool. I had the privilege of working with the team on doing what they have been doing: hauling sand, water, and cement blocks. My trip to Liberia and Sierra Leone was awesome and I hope some of you get to see the video once Daryl and I have done some editing sense. Pray for us as we fly…Luke

David & Ellen here:
Well last day, we’re packed, teaching our class –then lunch, then rest then the trip to the airport, then to Milan, layoverfor 3 hours, then onto Toronto. We’re excited to return, yet sad to leave. It’s been a wonderful experience and we’ll have lots to tell andtry and explain. See you all soon, OK, maybe talk to you all soon.

Hello from Lawrence and Penny,

Let’s see; it’s our last day. What has it been like? Breakfast, followed by organizing and packing things to comehome or to stay; cleaning our room; playing ball hockey with Joshua and Theodosia; watching Kimberly; talking with George; and now saying good-bye from Ghana and preparing to say hello in Canada! We hope to enjoy a relaxing afternoon with perhaps a last visit to the village. We’ll be loading up the bus just before dinner, and then the crying is sure to begin! We are happy to be coming home, but sad to leave friends here. Wewon’t be the only ones crying! We are sure to arrive home weary after all our traveling and adjusting to life at home again is difficult after living here for a while. We will want to explain everything to all of you, but it will be a slow process as our thoughts and emotions are sometimes near impossible to put into words. Please be patient if you don’t hear much from us for the first little bit. That excludes those we’ve entrusted with our most prized possessions: our children and pets. You are sure to hear from us as soon as we are home to make arrangements. We can’t wait to hug everyone; be prepared for tears! We love you all and ask for prayers as we travel, in particular Lawrence has been fighting with an ear blockage and flying might may it painful. Thanks everyone at home for everything, this is us signing off from Ghana!

Hi Guys, it’s me, Janice. Suitcases are packed…just waiting until the last minute to get showered before heading to the airport. When I was getting ready to come to Africa, I did a countdown of how many sleeps ‘til departure, but I haven’t done so for my return home, nor have I been doingmy “happy dance”. As much as I’m ready to come home, I’m going to miss ithere. We’ve accomplished so much, but there is still so much to be done. As David Jr. so aptly said, we’ve completed a chapter in a book, and when the next mission comes, another chapter will be written…it will be awonderful book when completed. A few of us went to the beachmid-afternoon yesterday…we only needed to go out about 20’ to catch the waves…once again lots of fun & a great way to relax after work. David G.is going to give us a ‘final’ tally as to the number of blocks we moved while we where here. The “block sorters” did a great job of killing the scorpions, centipedes & spiders, and sparing the toads & lizards, so we didn’t have too many surprises while carrying the blocks. I’m not even going to try to count the number of headpans of sand we carried, nor the number of buckets of water hauled up to the construction zone. It’s been a great team (Canadian & Ghanaian) to work with! Steve, I’ll be wearing my sandals (have given the rest of my shoes & jacket away) so can youplease bring me some shoes and a jacket to wear home??? Can hardly waitto see you at the airport J Hugs & Kisses. Love Janice/Mom

Feb 21

Well the time is near to come home. We have been very busy trying to finish up everything we want to do. I still have a bunch of computer work to do. I just finish one thing and they give me 2 more to do. I still took some time today to built an Inukshuk. I’m still stirred up about the garbage burn. I’m now just putting it out myself. Regretfully they will restart once we leave. I have been told they are starting to develop a plan to deal with the waste, but it will be a long process. Thanks for all the updates I have really appreciated them. I’m going to do my laundry now. Scrubbing your cloths in buckets, it’s easier than I thought. Later Jake and Kelly

Just a quick note to everyone back home from Ghana: Lots of hard work again this week and though I am tired I am in good health and my spirits are up. I have a few blisters on my hands now though (ouch!). We are going to the beach again one last time to play in the waves (yay!) and I bought a lot more things at the market yesterday. I’m getting very good at bartering with the merchants there (I was going so hard they were giving me funny looks). Anyways, other people are itching to get on the computer now so I will wrap up. I miss you all very much and am looking forward to seeing you all very soon. From Ghana with Love (especially to Danielle), David.

Hello Care, wonderful post, thank you so much. Beth, sorry Dad was sick before Hawaii but I know he will have a good time for his trip. The electricity is out now, fans off, no lights so this computer is on battery so I don’t want to take up time for the rest. Jared, Brayden, Kieran, Ben and Megan, it is Thursday Feb. 21, Full Moon tonight, so make sure you see it and think of Gramma as she will be watching tonight for The Bella Luna Over Africa! Really exciting. Love to All. Mom/grams

Hey everybody! Hope all is well at home and you are ordering up warmer weather for our return. I’m having an emotionally fragile day today, so prayers would be appreciated. Going to find a cool place to nap….Can’t wait to see you all Love, Mom Hope.

Hi everyone, Janice here. Only one more workday before we head home…where has the time gone! A few of us were without power last night but we survived…Mary & I each showered in our jammies and went to bed wet…very refreshing…we were dry this morning when we woke up. Hopefully the power will be back on soon. We’re heading off to the beach for a bit this afternoon. We’re back from the beach…it was fabulous…had lots of fun playing in the big waves & the water was so clean this time!!! Still no power in our part of the buildingL…looks like another night of sleeping in wet jammies to stay cool…oh well, TIA. Take care. See you soon. Hugs & kisses. Love Janice/Mom


Hi Again! Mary here and time is flying now to be back home! Beth: tell Abbie that tonight is a Full Moon and I am watching it over Africa!
I can’t believe we are on the countdown. The electricity is now on! There is a lot of visitors happening now to the Centre as they know we will gone soon. This team has been amazing and the Ghanaians are so caring, grateful, smart and endearing people. It’s gonna be a tough goodbye! There is so much to be done here but young David put it well,that this is a chapter in a book and even tho we know we can’t accomplish everything, we know we have done our best to do as much as we can. I think Janice just ran into our room to turn on the fan! Yeah! Circling air tonight for sleep! Gotta go to dinner and by the way, I have not lost any weight but I have gained the most amazing awesome strength for the work we have done – it’s a bonus! Thanks Care for telling me about Oscar and as soon as I get home I will call you and Kate too. I miss you both like crazy!
Dick: I hope you are now better and enjoying the fabulous Hawaii and look forward to seeing you at home. Cheers, hugs to Grandkids, hugs to everyone! God Bless You from Africa!!

IT"S UP!!

Hi Folks at home,
I got the new page up. It's a big one - lots of pics and a link to video.

Here is the URL address:

http://www.nyfc.org/program/global/ghana08/ghana08b.html

Have fun!!

Daryl

Feb 19th

Hi, Donna here: Dear Douglas, yes I did get your message, and I’m proud of Piper. Looking forward to see his graduated performance on the 1st of March. I’m a little concerned about the loss of the key in the hydro meter, – but we’ll check that out when I get back, don’t loose your key between now and then! Continue to do well health wise, and I’m enjoying myself. Do not miss the cold, snow or freezing rain, but think about you in the cold, snow and freezing rain. I expect you to be kind to your little brother and refrain from casting aspersions. Have not heard from Jim hope all is well. Perhaps you could check on that for me. Glad Debbie went by the house, not sure what happened to the bookcase, and which one it was, and thanks for rescuing the plants, especially the peace lily. That’s all for now, take care – love Mom.
PS: we moved 300 building blocks yesterday – to the second story no less, great eh!!

Hi kids, family and friends it’s nice to hear from you we were getting worried. Glad you are having fun. Sam sounds like you are doing great at hockey. Maddy I hope you are doing good in skating and school. Does this mean that Zoey is toilet trained? We are having fun and learning lots. We are doing great health wise. Did a garbage pick up today in the town. That went good. Until we good back to the compound to find out they were burning it. I don’t think I would have even bother I knew that’s what was going to happen. We were told it was going to be disposed of properly. They burn everything here and don’t think anything is wrong with it. This is partly our fault. We showed them how to make plastic and how to use it. Do you think we could have told them they would need proper systems in place to handle the waste properly!!!! Oh no that would make to much sense. All we seem to see is dollars and cents. Other than this little rant all is good.

Hi everyone at home. We are doing great here in Ghana. The weather is hot, but I think we are getting acclimatized to it. Hey boys, mom and dad are missing you, and you to Chester. So what has happened since the last post… Well we worked our behinds off for the Lord yesterday. We carried sand, water and blocks, enough to lay 300 blocks. We have laid all the north and south walls on the second floor of the hostel, now we are starting the east and western walls. Yesterday we also took a walk into the local village and spent some time shopping for snacks and fabric, the off to see Comfort’s sewing shop, Comfort is the wife of Samuel the caretaker of the YFC compound and worship leader of a local church. The Bible studies we have started on the roof at night by flashlight have been great. Today we were all up early and did a clean up on the main road from the clinic to the road to the YFC compound. We picked up garbage along the street and made a very noticeable difference. This afternoon many of the team went to a local school to give out supplies and small gifts. The grades at this school range from preschool to grade 5 with about 120 students or so.
So at home, how’s the snow? And anyone out there that can get a hold of my boys, brother, sister and mother, tell them to post! Phone them email them – whatever it takes, (Lawrence Jr. – this means YOU, (David Green)) it would be nice to here from family. Also, is anybody from work reading-Hello-?
Comments would be nice too. Okay enough complaining.
I am going to sign off and go and watch the ocean from the second floor of the conference hall, there’s a nice breeze…
We love and miss you all,

Lawrence and Penny

David & Ellen wrote, thanks Jenn & Ted for the Nascar update – even though Chevy hasn’t made a run at Formula One – big block racing is still a Big 3 event!! Right Captain Kinobe?



Sarah wrote:

I got some clinic time this morning – moms and babies everywhere…
I helped with registrations for a short while, then handed that off to Ellen when she arrived. I sat in on prenatal visits with the midwife – Sister Marion – for a while, then later spelled Kelly off of blood pressures, weights, and temperatures, so she could go administer polio drops. Sister Esther, a student midwife I worked with last time, said that it was a VERY busy clinic day. She told me that most of the white people who come through the village (tourists) won’t even look them in the eye, and all they (the local women) want to do, is to smile at them (the tourists). So when word got out that there were 3 white women helping in the clinic for the well-baby day, women flocked over so they could have the opportunity to smile at us. All the clinic staff were ecstatic, because it meant they had the opportunity to check on the health of more pregnant women and small children than they would have normally. By noon we needed to head out though, as our small breakfast back at 5:30am had long since worn off, and most of the team was heading out to visit a local school (Joshua’s school to be precise) at 1pm. The clinic staff were also very excited by our team’s garbage clean-up, as the backed up plastic bags in the gutter cause the water to stagnate (and that’s the politest word I can think of to refer to the condition of the gutters). The stagnate water breeds mosquitoes, which carry malaria, which causes huge health problems for people of all ages. They had a one month old infant in today being treated for malaria! All in all, its been a good day so far.

Hi Everyone, Janice here. Today we worked on some “environmental clean-up”. The gunge in the gutters was awful…fortunately we only had to deal with the dry garbage. We filled at least 40 large garbage bags. The church group we worked along beside would like to continue with the clean-up program…you could really see a difference. After brunch we took gifts to a local school. When we arrived, the 2 & 3 year olds were having a nap, but they woke up and sang their little hearts out for us. Midge, thank you for your prayers…this is truly an amazing experience. Steve, I hope you took some pictures for me. I don’t think I took any pictures on the first of the 7 walkways of the Canopy Walk…I was holding on too tightly!!! but I did manage to relax enough at the first landing to start taking some pictures…I just hope they do the scenery justice. Greg, good luck at WOSSA! Who’s Steph & where did you meet her…your Godmother & I want to know. Brian, about bringing my Jeep back… Take care. Be good. Hugs & Kisses. Love, Janice/Mom

Hi Everyone! Kate C: so happy to hear from you, Ben and Megan. It does sound familiar about skiing with you and Care! Love you Ben and Megan, can’t wait to see you! Sunday at Church was fantastic, I love the music and the joy, they dance up to the collection plate and I’m right behind them! Care: I know you are busy busy with school, the boys and I think of you often and how wonderful it would be to have you here too. Both you and Kate would do great work here too! The team is so great and today we went into the village of Kokrobite and helped clean up garbage. We worked alongside the Church group, it was a real partnership with the Ghanaians to deal with picking up garbage that isn’t the most pleasant job I gotta tell you! I am hearing about the weather! Yikes. But I can’t imagine it here believe me! Dealing with the amazing heat is all consuming but don’t get me wrong, I am thoroughly enjoying the blasts of heat but with it comes the most incredible wind and at night, we go to the top of the 2nd floor and we all sit up there with the laundry flapping in the background and it is so peaceful and breezy, it makes you sleep like a log! Wow, it is a grand sight to see me carrying pans of sand on my head to the building to help the Masonry people do their work of building walls up there. Hauling water is fun because we form a ‘congo’ line and the boys devised a pulley system to take it up to the 2nd floor and it moves real quick. Hauling the blocks of cement in the building is hot work and I am so glad the our ‘boys’, Jake, Lawrence, Daryl and David G. help get them out of the pile by looking for bugs, I mean scorpions, really nasty ones but the little lizards are cute! The ants are everywhere, you can’t escape so you live with them. You soon learn you can’t kill them, there are zillions of them. The people in the kitchen are marvelous women so eager to please us Canadians with food we can tolerate but the hot stuff is really exciting! Jared, Brayden, Kieran,Ben & Megan and Abbie: you gotta see the chickens, the goats and the sheep roam the streets in the village free of anyone harming them even the cars and taxis! We see little, little ones and they are part of the homes of everyone here. All the villagers look after one another, it is truly a community family. To all my friends (family too), I miss you and I thank you for sending me on this mission. Your gifts are put to good use with this team. I have a ton of stories to tell so bear with me, I need to unload them! I pray for my sister and really want to see Mary before February 28th, operation day. If any of my family/friends are on here, let me know. It is so encouraging to hear from everyone because it is sometimes isolating to be here without contact however, we are committed to working hard for the people of Ghana and Youth for Christ team and this is the first time really I have had some down time so here I am. I love you all and now in love with Africa and its people, I can handle it! I must close off now. God Bless you and keep those prayers coming for a safe and successful trip. Cheers, Love, Mom/Gramma/Friend





Hey there everyone, so today was a great day, helped the locals clean up the streets. And to see the improvement was awesome. We also got to go to a school and handed out gifts to all of the kids. It was awesome to see there smiling faces. Still falling even more in love with this place as the days go on and I did not think that would be possible. So hope you are all doing good back home. Love Darcie

Feb 19th, Tuesday PM

Well,

that previous post....you know the one bout posting new pics, etc..... Well the webpage is built, and ready to upload, but alas, this is Africa!!

So - I will try again tomorrow.
Love you all.

Daryl

Feb 19th, Tuesday AM

Dear friends,

This is Daryl writing from Ghana with a short update. More will be posted tomorrow.

First – if you get a chance to check our website again soon – I expect to have more photos and things posted. Go to the first page for the mission http://www.nyfc.org/program/global/ghana08/ghana08a.html and scroll to the link on the bottom to next page. Hopefully it will be up within the next 24hours.

It is 9:55 am, Ghana time, and we are back from an outreach project in the village. Working with the Assemblies of God Church, we joined them in an environmental cleanup of the main street. It was amazing, and far more successful then we anticipated. People from the village said that they would have helped if they had known, and asked to be informed next time. This was exactly what the church wanted.

Sarah, Kelly and Ellen are volunteering at the Medical Clinic today – it is free clinic day and there are hundreds of women children and babies for them to assist.

On the clinic front, we had an article about our gift to the clinic in the Daily Graphic, the most widely read national paper here. We will bring home a copy or two. (16 actually!) and we were interviewed on one of the large radio stations here.

The construction continues tomorrow – and we are pleased, as we seem to have surpassed expectations already. We have had 4 work days on the site so far, laying 110 blocks on day 1, 168 on day 2, 180 on day three, 180 on day 4, and 204 yesterday. We moved most of these blocks to the second level of the building, as well as sand, cement and water, then “fed” them to the masons and assisted them in laying them down. Yesterday we moved 300 blocks….but there are only a few sore muscles! We have already done as much as a previous team (39 member) accomplished in their full two weeks! Our goal is to get the east west walls completed and a good start on the secondary walls inside the structure. Pictures will be posted on the website in the next update.

That’s all for now!
Blessings and peace to you at home.
Daryl

Sunday Feb 17th, after church

Hi Everyone! We’re just heading off to church. Had a fabulous (& exhausting) day yesterday…successfully crossed the “Kakum National Park Canopy Walk”…Mary let me go in front of her so I could set the pace (didn’t like anyone else being on at the same time…wobbled too much)…absolutely incredible scenery…didn’t see any wildlife though…then on to Cape Coast to tour Cape Coast Castle…lots of history about slavery. Hard to believe we’re now on the last stretch before heading home. Miss you guys. Looking forward to hearing from you again. Love to you all. Hugs & Kisses. Janice/Mom

Hi Kate, Care, Kate D, Karen, and everyone that is thinking of us. Couldn’t wait to go to Church here. It is such a joyous occasion, I can’t tell you without choking up! It is evident that of course the Ghanaians live in unbelieveable conditions to me but their spirit, their joy, their smiles washes all around away. I may get another chance to swim in the ocean today! Then back to work tomorrow to really put our hearts into the last week. The Gold Coast was amazing, Kate and Care would love the waves there! The Walkway was so excitng thru the most beautiful jungle, the trees were massive! Elephants and others come out at night too - bad! The Castle we toured was where slaves were kept to send over to the Americas was very disturbing. How cruel humanity can be, we want to remember all persons in our lives are precious. So happy to hear from you all and the good news and the weather news LOL and my thoughts and prayers are with you today as we celebrate life. Kate: ciao xo Care. you make my heart laugh! I miss my boys, my Ben and Megan a lot! I wish they could be here too. Hug to Otterville Bill,xo.Hug to Carissa xo Cheers, Love Mom, Grams, Friend xoxo Darcie doing great here!

Dear Beth, thank you so much for you messages. Please give my lovey (Abbie) a big hug for me. I wish you could be with me here, you would fit in just great. Your prayers and thoughts have been inspirational to me and the team. Thanks for the word from Dad. It would be nice to hear more from him and I know he is excited to go to Hawaii and wish him a great trip!Love to The Dickster from me. Hugs to Eric & twins too. You are special.


Haven’t heard much from you guy’s. I guess you are very busy, we are very busy as well. Just got back from church. What a wonderful experience and a welcome change from the stiff ritual we call church. They have so much energy. Full of dancing and singing. Singing as loud as they can. We could learn a thing or two from the passion they show for our creator. Yesterday was a blast, walking above the trees from a bridge suspended by 1000 year old trees. Kelly made it. White faced and Shaking all the way. Canadians help built this I suspected this since our screws right away and I was later confirmed. Red Robertsons #2 all over the place. The Slave castle was an extremely different experience. The things our human race has done. On a lighter note. I’m still dreaming of snow. Meeting lots of people. I think I drove a couple people crazy on our 3 hour van ride. I got a little stir crazy, maybe a bit more than a little. Well I had fun anyways. They tell me I’m seeing things because I see Dill pickle chips and tootsie rolls at some of the stores. Hope to hear from you soon. Love Jake and Kelly.From Donna: Great to hear from you Joel and Debbie. Sorry about all the snow but I hope you enjoyed Jesus Christ Superstar! And that Taylor will enjoy reading week at home. Needless to say, he is still doing well. We are making wonderful progress, actually can see the walls closing in on the 2nd level of the residence. Good way to measure our progress. I am really enjoying the people I met and of course the team and find everyone to be most supportive. We went to the Canopy Walk in the National Forest, immensely huge area, 360 sq. miles. Quite beautiful. Although the walk was a bit daunting, I did DO IT! And there is pictures to prove it. Keep well, look after yourselves, and I will see you next week. Continue your prayers. Lots of Love, Donna/Mom


Hey there everyone. So glad to hear from you again Heather. I miss work and our conversations, but I really don’t miss the guys conversations lol. You must be just loving it. Today has been a very emotional day for me! I was in tears and actually balling my eyes out which I am starting to do right now. We had to share what we have accomplished and stuff you still wanted to do and disappointments. I have accomplished so much and everything that I wanted to. I have no disappointments, I am much more confident now, today in church I was the first person to get up and to start to dance around the room. The people here are amazing. Not just the Ghanaian’s but also the group of us, we have all became a family; David G is my father figure, Hope and Ellen our my mothers, Jake, Lawerance, David F, are my brothers, Kelly is my best friend. Penny and Sarah are my sisters, and Janice and Mary are my crazy aunts lol. Donna is my sweet grandmother, and my roomie, and then Daryl is our wise man leading us to something remarkable. So grateful to be here. Love you all here and back home. Hope you are all loving the snow I know I am loving the hot weather lol. PS how is my baby bear doing? Darcie


Hello, again from Penny! It’s so nice to hear from people at home, keep up the good work! By the way, if any of you see or hear from Lawrence Jr. or Benjamin, tell them I’m still here waiting for a comment or two! Christopher, I knew I could count on a terrific comment about how much you weren’t missing me as much as your brothers. Guess what? You only have another week until I’m back! I miss you all! Amber, thank you so much for blogging! I hope things aren’t too bad with everyone away. Hugs and kisses to you and the boys. Things here are coming along, there seems a lot to pack into the short time we have here. Next time will definitely have to be longer!!!! It seems that we will be able to finish most of the walls on the second floor of the hostel before we go, or at least get all the bricks up the stairs for them to continue after we leave. Clean up day should be an adventure on Tuesday. Pray for all to go well and that it will have some lasting effect for the people here. Lord knows that we are not always the best example for them in the West, we would like to change that in any way possible. We are being fed well, almost too well! I’m afraid we may come back heavier than we left at this rate! Yes we are working hard, though! Nadia: just to let you know, I passed out hugs for you! They were very well received, and thanks for the chance to pass them along, although I wish you could be here to give them out yourself! I guess that’s about it for me. Hug each other for me, Yes even you Chester. Lori you may have to help out there! Thanks for all your love and care at home. God bless!

From David & Ellen: We’re here and starting the end of an amazing adventure. Church today, a little shorter than last week, only 2hrs & 45 minutes. Weather still hot – no really hot – 38c (95+f) today, hotter yesterday. Just an fyi to all our family and friends – this internet thing works both ways – you can both receive and send – missing words from home as we’re the only ones not able to share names of loved ones and family members who write.
Take care, love you all.
PS: anyone know who won the Daytona 500 on Sunday?



Hi from Hope!

Everything is great here. We spent the afternoon with Emma and Elizabeth at a beach resort just talking. No firm wedding date yet, but sometime in the next year. Yesterday I spent the day with Joseph and Theo while everyone else went to be tourists. We had a nice quiet day together chatting and touring Salt Pond and the college campus. Haven’t seen Lois yet, but she is waiting to hear from universities. Pray that Trent gives her the best scholarship!!!!!!! Lots of stories to tell, but were about to go do bible study in the dark on the roof in the cool ocean breeze. Not looking forward to all that snow we’ve been hearing about. Wish you were all here with us instead. Hugs and Kisses, Hope

Just sending a quick hello to everyone at home – there’s so much going on and so many stories to tell you that I feel compelled to do it face-to-face as opposed to over the computer. We start work on the site again tomorrow so please pray for my strength there. Only seven days left until I see you folks again! Lots of love to you all, especially Danielle.
-David


Um…. What to say? I had a great play with Joshua this afternoon. He did a nose dive out of the empty chicken coop but I got him laughing with my funny white lady faces. Church was fabulous this morning. A few of our team members were up and dancing even! This afternoon I visited for a while with Comfort – she is so shy, but she comes alive when there is only one of you to talk with! Tomorrow we head back onto the worksite. Tuesday is clinic day. Feeling the ocean breeze waft up just a little to temporarily relieve the hot stickiness as I type. I’m not complaining though - - I’m trying to soak it all up before returning to all the cold and snow we’ve been hearing about. I think that’s it for now. Sarah

HI gang,

Daryl here….. We have had a full weekend. At our team meeting today we had some discussions about what we want to accomplish this week and have set some good goals. Every one is well – I hope to send up some pics on the website soon.

Peace to all of you at home – looking forward to hearing from you.

Till next time…..signing off.

Daryl

UPDATES WITH VIDEO1!

Hi Everyone - I finally had to have Patrick drive me to the city and find a high speed internet cafe. I have a bit of power left.....so here goes.

The link below is to some updates with pics and videos!! Hope you like them - keep the comments coming the team is encouraged that you write. Cut and past it into your browser, then bookmark it. I hope to update it on Monday at the latest.

http://www.nyfc.org/program/global/ghana08/ghana08a.html

Love and peace to all.

Daryl

Valentines day from Ghana

Happy Valentines day to all....

and remember this is public space!! (to all you lovebirds from home)

Good evening everyone. Well, it took us an hour online, but we finally managed to download all your comments and enjoyed reading them aloud after supper this evening. Kelly and I went to the clinic after work yesterday, but they told us that the afternoons are quiet and we should come in the morning. Of course, we do construction work in the morning so we haven’t been over yet, but tomorrow they are going to make do without us on the worksite. Comfort, who lives here at the YFC site asked me tonight why I hadn’t been to the clinic yet, so I thought I better get over there soon. Especially since tomorrow will mark the half-way point in our mission. Half way!! This morning we were at the market, and this afternoon we took the team to the ocean for a swim… or to be more accurate…. To play in the ocean as the waves are much to big for swimming. I’d tell you more, but there is a lineup for the computer, and Kelly and I need to be out to door by 7am to go to the clinic…… I’m off to help some team members figure out “
intestinal issues” now

Hi from Hope!
As I wrote in my journal today, “just” another perfect day in Ghana. Lots of fun buying gifts at the market and fun playing at the beach. Don’t worry, we’re doing a long day at the worksite tomorrow. ODK, Atta, and Samuel can lay blocks as fast as we can haul them upstairs. How is my family doing? I’d love to hear about the animals and Mikaela’s speech and how you are all enjoying Heather. Love to all at St. Paul’s. Hope

Happy Valentine’s to my guys! Thank you for my cardJ Greg, congratulations to you and your team on the big win…you must be very proud!!! Can’t believe how quickly the time is going. We’ve used approx. 450 blocks so far (and we had to move all of them up to the second floor first…talk about a workout). Have done some shopping and we went to the ocean this afternoon “to play”. My 6+ month streak ended Tuesday, but I was well taken care of. Before I forget, I checked out the prices of the Romeo & Juliets at the Milan airport…118 Euros for 25…let me know. Hope you are all keeping well. Miss you all. Hugs & Kisses. Love you guys bunches. Janice/Mom

Hi Kate:
I was so thrilled to hear from you and yes, I sure do miss my laptop and our talks on MSN! (especially our ending). I hope to hear from Care and kids, and any friends/relatives but I am thinking I might have given the wrong blogspot. Could you please check on that for me! The team is working hard to help the masonry workers put up walls on the second floor of the Centre. I have done work right out of my element, carrying blocks, sand pails on top of my head! And water buckets. The people here at this centre are really special and the Cook, Esmeralda is a fantastic person with multiple talents of cooking food I have never tried before and really enjoying the fish, of course! I want to hear about Mary for sure! I miss you all and hearing about the weather and I can’t tell you how different the heat is here in Africa. Lots of stories to relay and love to all. The children are so special here. Love you, Cheers, Mom/Grams/Mary Monti xo
Hi Dick: I presume you are checking with Beth on the blog, Happy Valentine’s Day!
Hope all is well with everyone and look forward to hearing from you. Love,Cheers, Mary.



Great to hear from you, Cassie, Joan. Sorry your surgery has been postponed, but I’ll be home in March and perhaps I can take you. Super news about Taylor and Kristen and I’m glad Eric is being Eric! We continue to do well, have been meeting lots of wonderful people. Learning lots about Ghana and its people by talking with them. Went to the beach today, wonderfully warm, I’m sure you’re all jealous. Thank you for all your prayers as they must be working because I have been so well. Take care, look after yourselves and each other, Lots of love, Mom /Donna

Hi everyone – David & Ellen here. You people on Ontario will be pleased to know that it was 36c today – a no work day, some time at the market and some time in the sea. Now regarding the sea – well more exactly the trash in the sea. We’ve never seen so many empty trash bags – even a WalMart bag, floating in the sea, coming ashore, breaking the fishing nets and causing general havoc. It’s an item brought in by the Western culture – we have to do better – even though we’re teaching the locals how to make satchels out of plastic bags by crocheting them together – even we can’t make a dint in the trash bag population. Ok stay well and keep warm and remember use a cotton bag.
David & Ellen

Jake and Kelly. Too much to say not enough space. Love hearing about the snow. I can’t wait to go for a roll in it. It is hot, very hot. I’m managing but not always the best. It has been a nice balance of work and site seeing/cultural experiences. Miss you kids. Thinking about you. Hope you are getting outside and playing in the snow. Food has been more than great here. We get to try all kinds of Ghanaian dishes, they love their spice. Have to bee carefully with how much you eat. They eat several things that look like dough balls, but they have a much, much, much different taste and texture. I’m trying everything, Kelly she is being a quite conservative with her eating. Hope everything is running smooth. I will have to say one thing the waste and garbage from plastic’s here is wild, it is everywhere. Much love.


Hello everyone, glad to see you are responding to the blog. Things over here are going well and it is very hot. Today we had a dip in the ocean, and despite the large volume of garbage floating around, it was quite enjoyable (the waves are huge!). Gonna keep this short for now as it’s coming up on 10 pm and I need some sleep, as we have a long day of construction on the site ahead of us. I miss you all very much and hope you all keep well until I return. Lots of love to the whole family and TONS of hugs and kisses to Danielle as it is Valentine’s Day (I’m so sorry I’m not there! L) Hope to blog to you all again soon,
David.

P.S. Danielle, what did you mean by “interesting words from my sweet little fingertips”? I’m sweating enough here as it is and that statement isn’t making it any better… (remember, sarcasm doesn’t translate well [insert finger biting here])

Hello everyone, so glad to here from you heather, whitney, and aunt Kathy and uncle ivan. Work is going very smoothly here we are getting a lot done!! Today was an amazing day, we went to the market for the second time. That is where you buy your stuff to bring home, but you have to bargen to get the good and decent price. Well the first time I went with a man from YFC and today I did it all by myself and I did amazingliy great. Then to top the day off I got to swim in the ocean. First time for everything here. Then I watched the sunset over the village below us as I listen to there music. What a wonderful and passionate group of people they are here. Strong and hard working, everything that you want to be. It is an inspiration to be here. SO how are you all doing?






Penny and Lawrence said,
What a couple of days we had! Working hard in extreme heat is tricky, but thanks to Dave and Ellen, work is possible and do-able. Work is gratifying and when it’s done we are glad… I mean proud of what our God can do! Our trip out to the proposed school site in a very rugged place was interesting. But our God is Good! I saw pictures of this site from last years mission. You could only get to it by walking a path, now there are roads! Dusty rugged roads though…
Today we were tourists! We tried our parts at bargaining at the culture market, and got some really cool things! I can’t say because these cool things are coming home to you people as gifts… only if you been good! In the afternoon we went to the ocean for a swim. Refreshing. This was the first time for Lawrence! And the most favorite thing to do is sit and chat with our new friends, and friends we already know.
Thanks for the posts it means a lot to hear the news and well wishes from home. Keep those comments coming! Our Love goes out to all the people praying for us! Keep it coming! Hugs to Lawrence, Benjamin, Christopher, Nana, Nanny, Amy, Evan, Noah, and Chester! We love you all! Continue to take care of each other.
God bless!


FROM DARYL,

Dear friends,

My apologies for not being more consistent in communication, but this time around we just can’t seem to get the internet stability that we would like. It’s not like home. The closest internet café is an hour away (in good driving)….so we will keep trying and tweaking, as so on.

We have spent most of our construction time helping to lay block, the first day 110, the second 168 and the third 180. Of course, this is all on the second floor, and they are all carried up by hand, etc….

We visited the site of a proposed school on the 13th – it was a daunting ride….the dust is very thick. Our friends in LA have a dream of a new school and faith that God will provide what it needs to see the dream a reality, and they are patient. Most of us would give up if we looked at the obstacles they must overcome – but they will not. I hope we can help them.

Personally, I find myself still haunted a bit by the conversations I had in Liberia. These young men, so wounded by years of fighting a war as children….the stories of brutality committed against them, and by them, and their struggle to be free to grow and heal. It only takes a few seconds of recalling their stories to feel the tears begin. I have come to the conclusion that diamonds are not a best friend to the majority of the world.

On a happy note – our son in Africa, Emma (Ee-maw) has come to see us each evening and we have had a terrific time with him.. Hope and I will go to meet the rest of his family and see where he lives on Monday evening. We are excited by this.

My health is still not perfect – I have gone from a flu that I think I brought with me, to a bout of heat exhaustion (brought on by my weakened state to begin with) to a cold….but I seem to be OK when I need to be. It has been frustration though, as I cannot eat much of the food I love to eat here. Your prayers have been welcomed and I look forward to being fully well very soon – each day is better.

Well – I need to try and get this posted – then get to construction. I will try again later today to get pictures up.

Blessings to you all

Love from Ghana,
Daryl

pics...

Hi folks,

Daryl here....things will be a bit slow, but they will pick up we hope as time goes on.

We presented a gift of medicine to the local clinic today - much ceremony, lots of smiles. More meds than they have seen in years.

Here we are working on the second floor of the residence in Kokrobite. Our job got changed to laying blocks...long story - after all, this is Africa. :)

First words from Ghana!!

Dear friends and family at St. Paul’s and St. Andrew’s, and family in general,
I remember many asking us why we had to go on this adventure, why couldn’t Africans help Africans?
Well, I can answer you now. If a Ghanaian gets some money the first thing to do is build a home from some corrugated tin and some scavenged lumber. If he gets some more money he could build a concrete block home, if he gets some more money he could put a roof on the home, if he gets some more money he could try to secure a reliable source of water for his family, then more would provide uniforms so that his children would be able to attend a basic elementary school, do you see now?
Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we do work that nobody here could do without our help.
Love to all,
David & Ellen

Hi. This is Donna here in Africa where it is very hot and humid. So far it has been a most positive experience and I am soaking up all kinds of new knowledge. The church service Sunday morning was the most joyous gathering of Christians praising the Lord using singing, dancing, clapping. So welcoming and Philmore the little boy I made the quilt for last year came and sat on my lap. Our first work day went well. We are building cement block walls on the second floor of the centre where we are staying. Hauled blocks, sand and water up the stairs and I managed to do my share. Mind you never been so dirty but it all washed off. Looking forward to the rest of our stay. I am well, and yes Anne it is the experience of a lifetime.
Hello Dick, Care, Kate, Beth,Bev,Doris and all the friends and family. This is the first time we are able to get in touch with you. Please tell everyone that we arrived safely and can’t wait to tell you numerous stories about Africa! It is amazing, hot, humid, wonderful people, hard work, wow, we are building a brick building right here at the compound! Amazing! I love you all and miss you too. It is an amazing journey here too! Can’t wait to write again. Cheers, Love Mary, Gramma, Mother

Hi Guys, Janice here. We had a fabulous trip over…waved to all my friends in Brussels, saw the sunrise over the Alps, and flew over the Sahara. Ghana is incredible…everyone is so friendly & welcoming and the food is fabulous. Although it is hot hot hot, there is a nice breeze coming off the ocean. First day on the worksite, what a sense of accomplishment to look up at the building and see new walls…yes, we are learning masonry, and so much more. Miss you! Chat with you soon. Cheers, Love Janice/Mom


Hello everyone from Ghana! I am here safely as I hope you all know already. The flight here was boring as anything is life ever is but boy was it ever worth it. Everything here is so… different from life in North America… it is quite the experience. The first few days we spent getting accustomed to everything here but we started construction on the second floor of the hostel today. Hard work to say the least and the heat really gets to you after a while, but we did a lot today so it’s all good. The breeze coming off the ocean (we are right on the coast) is nice and the people here are very friendly. Anyways, that’s all I’m going to write for now. Hopefully the next blog post will be closer to this one, as we have had internet problems the last few days. Looking forward to seeing you all soon. I miss you all very much and I send my love to all of you, especially Danielle.
-David

Hello to everyone at home from Lawrence and Penny! Of course a special hello to Benjamin, Lawrence and Christopher! We are enjoying our time here meeting new friends and Mom is having a great time reuniting with people here. Dad has been fighting a headache from working so hard in the sun today. Lawrence, you’d be very proud of your Dad! Mom has been enjoying every minute of work, market, church and visiting in the village. Dad is starting to come out of his shell and had a hand in another one of our great Canadian inventions on the worksite! We are also very pleased that Comfort has opened a store down the road from us and has already begun taking orders from the team! Joshua and Kimberly are growing and beautiful, so is Theodosia. Andrews is a new friend this year, he is the prayer coordinator and he has been a great tour guide. It is quite a bit hotter than the trip in 2006 and our first day proved to be a little challenging because of it. Everyone did wonderful though! Everyone seems to be enjoying the food; all the ladies are back to cook for us! Yeah! George is driving us again and is still amazing. Lawrence is convinced that if you don’t live in Ghana, you don’t drive in Ghana! He’s probably right! We are also learning the cardinal rules of travel from Ellen! We must keep this short. Hopefully, you were all not too worried by the delay. We are praying that all is well at home with everyone, especially our boys (all four of them)! Wednesday is Lawrence’s 17th birthday and a special Happy Birthday if we don’t get to contact you, Lawrence! We love you all at home!

Hello to my family we have finally arrived safely. Jake had a couple of rough days, but he coming around Me I’m handling food pretty well still can’t eat things that are looking at me. This is been a great mission trip so far we have started to work on the second floor laying bricks. We went to the market and had fun bargining with the people, but it takes a lot of effort and takes so long. We have been having networking problem so we are sorry for not getting to your response. Hope to have the network issues figure out shortly. I have been told TIA. This Is Africa. Things just take more time here. Hope you are behaving for Grandma. We miss you kids very very much. Kelly and Jake

Hello people out there, Ghana is amazing oh wow!!! I think that I am in love with the people and this country. i have only been here for 4 days and I already don’t want to go home!!! But I know that I must L. I miss you all. The food is going okay, I am trying everything but the fish! I have had a great time so far, I have been to the market and went down to the villages, I have put my feet into the ocean for the first time. The work is going so well we got two walls build to the hostel where we are staying. It is very hot here but I am getting use to it not sweating as much. Have been doing great and the people here are so special and unique and love them all. See you all later. Darcie

Hi from Hope!!!
First of all…June, Karen, and Josh and Sarah your prayer has been great> I made it through the airports without a hitch!!! And all the other things I wished I could ask for your prayers for have gone well, so I know you must be praying. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!
The rest of my message is mostly for those of you who have been here before. Comfort has her own shop about half way down “holy road”. We have been some of her very first cououustomers. Joshua is adorable of course and is sharing big hugs with all us white people, who he calls “Diane”. Kimmy ( yes Kim that’s what they call her.)is as beautiful as all African babies. I had a one hour cuddle with her while Comfort dyed cloth yesterday. Beulah and Philmore are great too. Beulah wants to come home to Canada with me, even if there is snow. Juanita is pregnant!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She looks more beautiful than ever. AND Emma has his own car!!! (It’s a 1998 Toyota corolla, Nathan and Jason)Emma looks great, just like the successful young businessman that he is.
Back to everybody. Please pray for us. It is “hot-hot”. We are having to learn new coping skills to work in this weather. Also pray for Daryl, Sarah, and Janice, who are suffering from the effects of too much sun and heat on the first work day. They will be okay, but they hated sitting and watching us work today. We are also doing much harder work than we expected, moving sand, water and blocks to the second floor of the hostel to build walls. Otherwise, Ghana is just as wonderful as ever. God is good!
God bless you all, Hope


You know when your Gatorade tastes like kool-aid, that perhaps you need more fluids. Our first day on the worksite went well all things considered. Penny and I moved a large volume of sand in headpans up the stairs. By last night though my body was having trouble getting rid of excess heat and so I spent virtually all day today sitting in the shade where the breeze was. Tonight I’m feeling better though, and looking forward to my first afternoon at the clinic after we’ve worked on construction in the morning. It was great to walk into the clinic today and have the doctor and midwife recognize me – and be glad to see me back. I asked the doctor (Madame Beatrice) about making arrangements to come help in the clinic, and she said “This is your home. You may come anytime.” Another woman whom I met in 2006, Augustina, was expecting a baby in January. She told me that she had wanted me to be there and knew I was coming in February so tried to ‘hold out’, but her baby came before I did. Only one of the midwives I worked with is still there, Sister Esther; she assured me that the new head midwife would be good to work with. Kelly and I will both be going down to the clinic tomorrow. We are excited to work in the clinic, and with each other too. While we consult each other frequently in Canada on doula ‘stuff’, we have yet to work together to support a labouring woman. I could write more, but we need to get all these messages loaded up for you to see….. let me wrap up by saying “it’s good to be back”

Feb 11, Ghana update.

I Know you were all hoping to hear from the team, but instead you get me! I thought I was receiving a very early morning telemarketer call which turned out to be Daryl.
They are having a lot of trouble with computer/modem stuff and they may not be able to get it sorted out for a while ... be patient they are on Ghana Time.
The team is Well, if a little hot (Hotter than any team has yet experienced, I told him I could not relate as it is freeze your nose-hair cold here). They are currently laying blocks for the second floor of the residence. The team had a wonderful time at Daniel and Betty's church in Laa on Sunday. Luke left this morning for Sierra Leone. Please continue to pray for Daryl's health as he is over the bug he had in Liberia but feeling a bit weak (but don't worry Mom he sounds Great!). I am sorry to say that is the end of the news he gave me... keep up the Prayers and Jason and I will update you whenever we have something new.
Peace and Love,
Kim