Now for a more detailed description of my work in Haiti. For a background, check out my last lazy post, which describes the work in someone else's words. Thanks, Scott, for such a detailed exit report!

So, currently, I am bridging a gap between Scott's departure, and the anticipated hiring of a new project manager. Fortunately, I am aided in this task by the arrival of a new emergency coordinator, Alfred on Friday, to lead our team and be a focal point for national integration. Although we are down here post-earthquake, it is only in support of a commendable World Concern Haiti office, whose programs have been fostering community development for over 20 years. With that in mind, we constantly seek to build the capacity of our national team to handle not only this emergency, but also the next. In addition, we want the communities in which we work to be more resilient and better equipped, so transfer of technology and soft skills is essential. But on to the nitty gritty...

Labour Day Longings

Oh, Labour Day, when we celebrate the fact that any chance we had for a summer holiday is gone, and now it's back to working through the winter! Winter certainly sent it's message-bearing envoys to Vancouver this weekend, with temperatures dipping to 15 C highs, cloudy with rain. Actually, Alaska had better weather. Alaska.

Despite the gloom, we had a relaxing and full weekend of typical bad weather things to do: watching movies, the library, hours in a comfy cafe, the beach. Um, yeah, so we did go to the beach at Buntzen Lake for a quiet retreat yesterday, and the sun did peep out for 20 minutes as we read in our camp chairs on the desert strand. Then the clouds advanced, and we retreated. It was amusing, however, to think that the weather was still better than a typical June or August day at Wasaga or Sauble beaches in Ontario.

Weekend highlights:
1. Learning parking in Vancouver lots has a variable rate based on how much they think you can be milked for. Hence our advertised Sunday rate in an empty lot was not reflected at the pay station, because a hockey game (really, on Labour Day?) was taking place nearby. A gracious parking attendant explained that the lot on W Pender has the best rates in town.

2. We love shopping for fresh veg at the grocers on Commercial Drive. Going there first saves us money from the supermarket, and we can get a rainy stroll and a fresh coffee at the same time. Right now we prefer Norman's.

3. We got camping gear at a steal! Tent for $15 and cooler for $10, during RC Superstore's no tax clearance weekend. Now for some camping weather...

4. Fresh mussels at 1/2 price, so we whipped up a curry bouilleabaisse with porutguese buns Saturday night, and caught the CBC presentation of WTC (Nick Cage). Interesting for what it included, and for what it left out.

5. Thanks again to Anthony and Marlise for their thoughtful gift of Gary Smalley's books, which were an enjoyable shared read this weekend!