The journey begins. 

With the van riding heavy we started the long drive to Vancouver en route to UVic for Liam and then Zimbabwe (via the UK) for us. While Liam waits in the queue to get his key for residence we finally have time to jot some things down. 

We would like to acknowledge some people who have contributed to this venture. To the nurses in ER and the OR who kept an eye out for expiring supplies and held onto many things that would have otherwise been thrown out. To the clinic staff who also furnished us with  medical supplies. To Lori’s pharmacy which did likewise.  To Home Hardware who donated (thankfully deflated) soccer balls. To the Fort St John Strikers who donated (a lot of) soccer shirts. To the members of the Fort St John Community Choir (and the Zeunerts) who provided duffle bags to carry all this stuff and a whack load of pens (amongst other things) to fill them. To the Fort St John Division of Family Practice who made the donation to build a “house” in Bwindi, Uganda. (There will be more on that later in a future post). 

As a result we are loaded up with our one “personal” bag and each of us will also have a bag full of medical and other supplies. 

We are also very grateful for the various enjoyable good-bye parties and to those who helped us finish up, pack up and get out the door. It may take a village to raise a child but it has taken a community to get us to this point and we thank you all. 

Once we have Liam ensconced in residence it’s back to Vancouver to do a “re-pack” and re-weigh before we fly out on Thursday. We will have 6 days in the UK to visit some old friends and old haunts before heading to Zimbabwe. Stay tuned. 

Oh, and in case you really have time to fill here’s a link to a video which includes our traditional departure “track”.

We Rise at Daybreak