Signs and Directions

Since I wrote last, we've been north, south, east, and west, either by air, by rail or moving sidewalk (ok, just in airports but that counts too), but mostly by car, guided impeccably--at least most of the time--by GPS.

The pace has been hurried and time has been limited, which means there has been little time to write. So allow me barrage you with some of my favorite (albe-they rather odd) photos take over the past month.

A sign on a restaurant door en route from Colorado to Kansas.
It was very windy that day. Apparently it's often very windy there.

A sign in a parking lot in small town Alberta.
Apparently I'm not the only one who backs into things occasionally.

I discovered Banff in Phoenix, Arizona. 

No mountains, little water, lots of heat.

While on a walk in Atwood, Kansas, we came across this little fella.

There was no sign saying "Do Not Touch The Snakes"

and my husband, as usual, couldn't resist the urge to pick him up.

There was also no sign saying "Do Not Break Into Vault" at our friends' bank either.

Not that we could have, even if my mom, sister and I had actually been trying.

Interesting mailbox at a home in Phoenix, Arizona. 

All the yards have a desert theme (since Arizona is mostly desert), 

so I thought this fishing-from-a-(dry)-riverbed theme was very creative.

The print here says Bear Spray (or something to that effect).

It also probably says "Make sure you are upwind before spraying."

But who reads directions?

The bear spray was for our forest walk in Fort McMurray

with Pastor Glen and Lois Forsburg (foreground),

Janette Stone, Amanda Lagore, Dwight Lagore (left to right in background)

Beautiful trees.

And no sign of bears.

Heading back to Edmonton on the notorious highway 63.

Traffic is busy, and heavy, and the highway isn't much wider than our main highways in Mozambique (which are equally dangerous).

Then it was back to Edmonton to prepare for SAM Ministries' 10th annual banquet (held mid-May).

On display on the tables were crafts made by women in Mozambique plus child sponsorship cards.

Busy with preparations in the SAM office.

Patti Green, Ruth Trekofski (my mom), and Amanda (our daughter)

It was a great evening with just under 120 people in attendance.

Then it was west, and south, into the U.S.

Sumas Border Post

As we neared the B.C./Washington border post last weekend I gathered our passports and car documents in hand ready to hop out and go line up as we do in Africa. But then I remembered, that's not how it's done here. Here, we have drive-through border posts. Oh, if only.

Ruth and Royden took us to visit a Japanese Garden while we were in Seattle. It was very pretty, and we got to feed the Koi in the pond. Here, a duck jostles for position amid unashamed gluttons.

And last but not least, a photo of Dwight and my parents as we prepare to hit the road for B.C. for our last stint before we head back to Moz.

Despite the fact that I was born in B.C., my parents are B.C. residents, and we've made the trip countless times, they consult the GPS for directions. *smiles* Yes, we do know the way, really. But checking directions is probably good too. At least most of the time.

Until next time, most probably from Africa.

PS: Lots has been happening so be sure to check the website for the latest news updates too.

Huh, Eh?

For those of you who thought Americans and Canadians are one in the same, well, we're not. I admit that we're not vastly different since (by my definition) we're from the same basic tribe. But still, we do have our differences.

For one thing, Canadians say "eh" and Americans say "huh". That's one sure-fire way of telling us apart. Another difference is that Americans generally enjoy a warmer climate than we do so they serve their cold drinks with LOTS of ice.

We have lots of wonderful friends, family and supporters in the U.S. so we were quite excited when we left Edmonton for our Minnesota-Wisconsin-Arizona-Kansas stint a few weeks ago.

The U.S. is more populated than Canada is which means there is more of just about everything. That's always one of the first things that hits me when we cross the border...more people, bigger buildings, heavier traffic.

 

Our first destination was Minneapolis and once we managed to navigate our way through the airport, we had to find our rental car in the sea of rental cars in the large parkade. "You'll find your car in stall #10, row G," (or something to that effect) the rental agent instructed us.

After a bit of traipsing, sure enough, we found it where he said. We were a bit jet-lagged and in a bit of a time/culture/whatever else warp and I was still musing at the differences between Canada and the U.S. when I noticed the license plate on the vehicle assigned to us:

To help remove all doubt, eh? :)

And as we expected, we discovered wonderfully warmer weather further south!

(Me with long-time friend, Nancy)

Until the next day, that is. For some reason, on night #2, there was a snow storm. "Sideways snow" as the news put it. This was the view from the window in our room.

Huh.

"Well, at least it's beautiful."
(Seems the Americans use the self same-comforting technique
Canadians do when they get huge snow dumps in the spring.)

As we headed south from Minnesota to Madison, Wisconsin, things greened up a bit. Had to get this picture of a truck passing a tractor passing a train.

Being friendly is very American. 

Here I get a friendly wave from the train's conductor as they pass by.

On our agenda this trip was visiting churches and meeting with people who share a passion for the needs in Mozambique.

Meeting with some of the board members from partnering organization Mission X International.

Our departing flight out of Madison was booked for 5:04 a.m. and we had to be at the airport about 1 1/2 hours before departure. We gave ourselves about an hour from wake up time to the airport, so you do the math to figure out what time we had to be up. ...ok, I'll just tell you. We had to be up at 2:30 a.m.! Sort of begged the question "why go to bed at all?"

We arrive 3 minutes before the counter opened and the airport was otherwise essentially empty.

Huh.

We're now in Phoenix, Arizona attending the International FCA conference. We set up our booth in the display area. The only spot to put our pull-up banners was on top of our table. The idea struck me as being a bit audacious initially, but turns out they didn't look all that overwhelming in the huge ballroom.

And anyway, the faces on the banners represent needs, both big and many, on the ground far away--so it seemed rather fitting.

Tomorrow, we head for Kansas and thankfully our flight is only at noon. We will be meeting up with my parents and sister (who will also just be arriving from Canada), as well as more great friends and supporters for the weekend.

And thus we will wrap up this trip to the U.S. On Monday, we return to Canadian soil and culture...eh?

PS: For the latest news, check out our website's blog at samministries.org/blog/

Old Hat, New Sights

It seems time, and lots of it, got away on me since my last post. So let me catch up up on what's new.

First, Dwight returned from Moz safe and sound. Shortly thereafter came down with the prescribed bout of malaria but we treated right away, so he recovered quickly.

Second, we've been doing lots of traveling. But that's not news since we always seem to be coming or going on some or other trip regardless of where we are in the world. One day I'm going to add up all those miles!

So anyway, this is what I've seen a lot of this past month...

Lots of the dashboard, windscreen and highway.

Three weekends ago, we headed out on a trip about 5 hours north to the Grande Prairie/Sexsmith area of Alberta. When the weekend was over, we came back to Edmonton then turned right around and did the same thing the following weekend to visit another church in the same area.

Two round trips at 10 hours each = 20 hours (give or take) in a 10 or so day period. Some people here refer to this as a lot of traveling, but since we're used to 36+ hour round trips, it didn't seem bad at all. Besides, there are divided highways with no pot holes and you can get decent coffee (or whatever) at every stop. Aside from the mild monotony of mile after mile after mile of smooth asphalt, the trip isn't too bad at all.

It snowed the first weekend so that added a bit of excitement along the way. For one thing, poor visibility keeps you more attentive. And for another thing, it makes me dig out my camera because it's pretty and I can't NOT take pictures of snow.

On our way to a rural church in Canada to tell them about the exciting things
that are happening in rural Mozambique right now.

On our way home from our first trip, Dwight thought he spotted horses running in a field. Turns out they were moose so we had to pull over and watch them for awhile. And yes, out came the camera again.

At home we were greeted as we always are by our family and by Mom and Dad Lagore's little dog, Sasha. Even though we come in and go out the front door A LOT, she always greets us excitedly as if it's been years!

While we were home midweek (sometime mid-March), it decided to snow even though the season is already officially Spring. It snowed for about 24 hours.

We had even planned to have a family "braai" (South African term for B-B-Q) which is usually done outside with everyone sitting around in lawn chairs...

Oh well.
Our consistent family theme seems to be "If there's a will, there's a way".

This is on our 2nd trip north. I had to take this photo in a hotel where we overnighted because I was amused by the fact that all the pick-ups back into their parking spots.

So we did too (smaller vehicle far left of photo).

I later learned that these are oil company trucks and it has something to do with company policy. I guess that would explain it.

More interesting things along the highways...

I love noisy, rumbling trains that shake you to the core as they pass by :)
This one's a double decker.

Just about everything is photo-worthy to me.

This week the SAM Ministries board got together for a business meeting and to get an update from Bill and Dwight on their trip.

Dad and Mom Lagore come early to set up every single time.

And everyone enjoys the chicken and her fresh baked buns every time too.

Even though I have a new camera, I found the timer button on it.
Here we all are.
(Left to right: Dwight Lagore, Bill Cairns, Janette Stone, me, Gunnar Myrholm, Patti Green, Mom and Dad Lagore, Steve Lagore, Bill Green, Bob Guzak, Chris and Gary Peckham.)

In Moz, things are full steam ahead as per usual. Work on the airstrip is underway again, new orphans have been added to the program, school is back in full swing, building projects are making progress, people are busy studying, moving, being fitted with reading glasses, and health visits are being done. (Catch up with news here. Also, check out Heather's blog, and Francois' too.)

Oh, and a short term team of 2 (Rick Cogbill and John Topham) are due to arrive in a few days. They will be busy with vocational training, woodshop work, and maintenance facility construction.

And we, here, will be traveling some more. That's old hat, but that's ok since there is lots of good stuff to share about and there always seems to be something interesting or new along the way.

Yesterday's photo: Hats placed on fence posts surrounding a farmer's field.
Company policy?

PS: On Facebook? Check out SAM's new Timeline layout.

Snow and Whiteness

While Dwight, Bill and my dad enjoyed warmer climes last week in Mozambique and Brazil, we in Edmonton got dumped with about 20 centimeters of snow.

Snow presents a few challenges. Unlike rain, it stays where it lands.

And if it's cold out, things can go on like this for quite awhile.

Snow is cold, sticky, and slippery, and in order to carry on with life it has to be shoveled, scraped, and or swept away.

It just so happened that when we got the great snow dump, I had to be at Missions Fest in downtown Edmonton for several days in a row. That meant dressing up for the cold in a heavy winter coat, gloves, scarf, and boots, scraping and sweeping what seemed like a ton of snow off the car, warming the car up so I could drive, then slip sliding my way to the city center along the snowy streets.

Yes, I'm a wimp in winter. But I do agree that snow's whiteness makes it really beautiful... mostly from the warm, dry side of our home's window pane.

Janette Stone (right) in front of the SAM Ministries booth.
She, Patti Green, Carole Argo and I "manned" the booth over the weekend.

When the weekend was over, I left Edmonton for a week in BC with my family.

Leaving Alberta

Arriving in BC

There was some work to attend to as always, but there were good mom-daughter-sister times as well. And of course the view is always so beautiful, even with less white.

It's getting late so I should wrap this post up. Official news updates are on the SAMMinistries website, but I couldn't resist posting a few photos that Heather and others took recently at the annual general meeting in Mozambique.

Since I wasn't able to be there this year, Celestino gave the Health Department report.
What a blessing it is to have capable and hard working co-workers.

At the end of the day, it was group photo time. Judging from this photo, a bit of comic relief was in order after the long day of reports and business discussions. I like it :)

And last but not least, I have to show you the photos I took in the pet store we were in the other day. I love pet stores and always head to the back to admire the puppies and kittens. But this particular store didn't have puppies or kittens. It had fish, lizards, a Ball Python, frogs, tarantulas, and this...

A rat.

I don't get it. They're ugly, plentiful, and one of the greatest pests known to man. Why would I want to buy a rat??

Even the whiteness isn't working right now...


But it definitely helps that he's on the other side of a window pane.


PS: And yes, it is kind of cute how he's all curled up and snuggled in the shavings. But still, ugh.

Farewells and Family Days

Although tomorrow is Alberta's official "Family Day", many people are celebrating it today already. My own family (husband and kids) are all off in different locations, so it's a good thing we had some family celebrations last week already.

One of the celebrations, the main one, was Dad Lagore's birthday. Now, his birthday fell on the same day that Dwight was scheduled to leave for Moz (Monday), so the birthday dinner was slated for a few days earlier so we could all be together for it.

His mystery age is in the candles, if you can see them from there.

Saturday and Sunday were a flurry of packing suitcases and getting things in place for Dwight's trip to Mozambique. The main purpose of this trip is to attend the annual general meeting, however it is also a good opportunity for him to follow up on a number of things on the field that need his attention.

But back to the story. By Sunday bedtime he was pretty well packed and ready to go. Between his personal items and a wealth of donated reading glasses for leaders and gifts for orphans, his suitcases were pushing the maximum weight limit of 50lb each.

On Monday morning, we headed to the Edmonton International Airport to say goodbye to him and to Bill Green. Bill Green is SAM Ministries' executive director and this is his first trip to Mozambique, so it was quite the occasion.

Amanda (our daughter), Dad Lagore, Dwight, Mom Lagore in the airport parking lot.

Once we got them checked in, we had a bit of time for coffee before their 12:40 flight.

Discussing something either very interesting or very important.

When the time came for them to go, we said farewell and they headed for the departure lounge as we headed back home. Two hours later, I received a call from Dwight saying their flight had been delayed. We hoped it wouldn't be delayed too much since there were 4 legs to their journey, 3 connecting flights yet, and much more than an hour or two would mean missed flights.

At 5:00 p.m. I got a call from Dwight asking if I could come pick them up because their flight got cancelled outright. Thankfully, they were able to rebook the same flights for the following day. So on Tuesday, we got to repeat all of Monday's activities...more or less. That was a rather tiring and stressful day. And funny enough (although not funny in the really funny sense), as it turned out we could have had Dad's birthday dinner on his real birthday date after all.

So that sort of brings me to today. Today I accompanied Mom and Dad Lagore to attend church at Heimdahl. This is the small country church that conducts the Global Care A Thon that raises funds to assist needs in several different countries...SAM Ministries' school child feeding program in Mozambique being one of them.

It was snowing and cold outside, but warm and friendly inside!

After the service, we got to enjoy each others' company around a good pancake brunch in the church's basement. I also got to meet some of the youngest "walkers" from last year's walk a thon. All these girls, and yes even this littlest one, participated in raising funds to feed hungry children far away.

What a privileged position I'm in. Not only can I watch the school children in Moz enjoy their platefuls of good food (and see their bodies become the stronger and healthier for it), I also get to see the smiles and eagerness of those who play a part in helping to make it all possible.

Thank you, Father.

And Happy Family Day everyone, wherever you are.

PS: Any recent news I missed can be found here, on the website's blog.

Time and connections

Edmonton night shot (from Chateau Lacombe)

We've been in Canada for over a month already and although things are feeling more familiar, it seems like we're in a type of time warp. It's not like jet lag since we've long since been sleeping and waking on Canadian time. (Though it is extremely difficult to shut things down for the night when there's no generator force-quitting work at 9 pm!)

The time warp we've been experiencing is getting used to the changes that have taken place while we've been otherwise occupied in Africa over most of the past 24 years. Yes, we've been back here on other trips before. And I'm sure we felt like this those times too, but each subsequent trip home presents a few more years' change heaped on previous ones so there's a cumulative effect.

The top photo was taken a week or so ago from the La Ronde (restaurant) at the top of the Chateau Lacombe. A friend of ours treated us to supper there and it was a great time to get reconnected. La Ronde used to be a favorite dining spot of ours when we were dating, though we've hardly been back since. So it was a very special experience. The view is still beautiful, though there are more lights and highrises. And apparently there are more major changes to downtown Edmonton yet to come.

Otherwise, life has just been plain busy for us. Weekends we visit churches and share our hearts and recent developments in Moz. Midweek it's work interspersed with getting together with family, friends, supporters, contacts, etc. Wow. So many people we want to see and our time seems so little!

Suzanne, Dwight, Andrew, and baby Emmitt.
(thankfully I remembered to dig out my camera for this one!)

It was so great to see Suzanne (who has led several teams of student nurses to do their practicum in our neck of the bush in Moz), her husband Andrew (who's also done a volunteer term in Moz), and the new bundle of joy in their lives, baby Emmitt.

This past Sunday we were in both Westerose and Calgary. They're about a 3 hours drive apart, so it was a bit of a marathon.

Yes...some things don't change.
The highways still look the same. But that's ok. I like that there are no pot holes.

I remembered to dig out my camera again at last night's meeting. This is with the Mercy Tech group (Todd Green pictured above) sharing the vision for Vocational Training and construction of a Maintenance Facility in Moz. Good people. Good times!

And last but not least in last week's activities was the D.I.Y. cupboard Dwight put up in our "bedroom" (curtained off section of the front room/dining room). Our quarters are pretty tight down here, and improved storage seemed a wise investment in our (my) sanity :) You can see a bit of the chaos as Dwight and Amanda figure out which panel goes where.

And yes, that's our gigantic Christmas wreath behind Amanda on the couch. Once we re-arrange things a bit, I may just find an empty space to put it. If not, well, everyday is Christmas right?

Next week today, Dwight will be boarding a flight back to Moz to attend the annual general meeting and to get some important things tended to. We're excited that Bill Green, SAM Ministries' E.D., will be accompanying him on this trip. On their way home, they'll stop in Brazil to attend the annual general meeting and to connect with the mission there as well.

One of the things I'll be busy with while he's gone is attending Missions Fest 2012. We'll have a display table set up for SAM Ministries (location: K-9), so look us up if you'll be attending.

Anyway, I'd better run along for now. It's 10 pm and I'm slowly learning the discipline of force-quitting myself--even though 24 hour power and high-speed internet invite me to do otherwise.

ttyl

PS: If you're interested in more news from Moz, check out the SAM Ministries news blog.