young hearts run free.

love arrives safely, suitcase in tow,

carrying with her the good things we know:

a reason to live and a reason to grow,

to trust, to hold, to care.

Welcome to St. John's: standing on the coast by Signal Hill.

I must apologize for the delay with this entry because I realize that it is long overdue, but my very hectic schedule has kept me from updating you about my travels.

I embarked on this adventure on September 8th, 2010, saying difficult goodbyes to my brother, my mom, my dad and my best friend Joshua at the airport. (For those of you that are interested in following his travels, Joshua is also heading to Africa on a similar program for the year, starting his work in Winnipeg. You can follow his incredible journey and watch him touch many lives around the world at http://www.joshua-journey.blogspot.com/).

Upon meeting the Ghanaians at the Halifax airport, I was immediately entranced by their infectious spirit of joy. After spending 32 hours on planes and in airport layovers, they arrived in Nova Scotia singing and dancing, playing the drums and hugging their new friends like they were old friends. This energy continued as we bussed from Halifax to the small town of Tatamagouche to begin our orientation and cultural integration at the United Training and Retreat Centre.

In the five days we spent at the retreat centre learning about cultural integration, the most profound moments of connection and unity were not mapped in diagrams or explained by guest speaking sociologists. We overcame language barriers with dance parties in the lounge and taste differences by smothering our food in shito (hot pepper sauce). Of course, we couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that all the Ghanaians wore scarves, mitts, hats and socks with their sandals when the temperature was 20 degrees.

Of the entire week, one moment stood out the most. As two young men on my team are of First Nations ancestry, one is from the Sioux nation in Calgary and the other is from Nunavut, they noticed that there was an eagle continually circling our camp. This is seen an an ancient Native blessing as being beneath the eagle's wing is a sign of safety and sanctuary, I feel that this year will be a test of spiritual, emotional and physical endurance and I am more than ready to face the challenge. I can honestly say that I felt so safe and welcome in Tatamagouche and it was difficult to say goodbye to the loving hospitable people in that community even after a mere five days.

In a fishing boat in Tatamagouche with Lucy... and her apple.

Having been set up with a couunterpart and a host family during my time in Tatamagouche, I was thrilled to finally have somewhere to call home. I was welcomed with my counterpart Esene at the St. John's airport by the Parsons family who quickly made us feel at home.

My counterpart, Esene, is from Accra, the capital of Ghana and she came to Canada as a youth amabassador with SYTO Ghana. Like me, she is passionate about bettering the lives of children in Ghana through providing education to some of the most impovrished regions in Ghana. She is a lovely 19 year old who enjoys music, is very genuine and honest.

I cannot even explain to you how blessed I am with my host family. My host mothers, Charlene and Tammy and host sisters, Lisa, Justine and Alyssa live in central St. John's, about a five minute drive to the coast in one direction and five minute drive downtown in the other direction. They are an incredibly loving and welcoming family. Despite feeling slightly overwhelmed with the thought of not returning home until April, they put my mind completely at ease and made me feel like family right away. We have so many adventures in store for our stay on the Rock: from trapeze school to whale-watching and watching the sunrise from the east coast. I am so grateful for the times we will be sharing the next two months.

Standing at the look out overlooking the city along the Cabot Trail.

St. John's can be summed up in one word: beautiful. Beautiful people; people who go out of their way to make complete strangers feel like family. Beautiful scenery; scenery that literally takes your breath away and cannot possibly be captured by a camera.

Over the course of my time here, I have climbed Cabot Trail to Signal Hill, marveling at the beauty of God's creation every step of the way. I had coffee with the mayor of St. John's, meeting a man who genuinely cares about the direction his city is going. I had the privledge of meeting Stephen Lewis, a notable politician and reknowned activist for AIDS awareness and research in Africa, and was honoured to have met him and spoken with him about our health care development work in Ghana. I have let the freezing cold, eight foot ocean waves sweep me off my feet, not regretting a single second of the wet drive home from the cove. I have stood on the cliffs of Newfoundland, looking out across the Atlantic Ocean to where my life is headed this coming year. I am so excited for what the rest of this adventure has in store and I know that this is just the beginning of an incredible journey.

Letting the waves tickle my toes at Middle Cove Beach.

I will sum up my experience with a favourite memory from my trip so far: Tatamagouche is filled with apple trees and they were ripe for the picking during our time there. Most mornings, we would just walk by, sometimes we would grab an apple of the tree, shine it on our shirts and eat it, but we never made a big fuss. One morning, the Ghanaians were walking through a patch of apple trees and noticed the apples on the trees. They began to stuff their coat pockets, jean pockets, shirts and bags with the fruit and eating two or three at a time. When I asked why they were so excited about the apples, they told me that back home they cost one cidie, or about one dollar and fourty cents for an apple, whereas here they are so plentiful that we can walk out the door and pick one from the tree. I hope that this moment is indicative of the entire adventure: may we never take these precious apple moments for granted and pass them by without a second thought but rather reach out for as many as we can carry, keep them safe in our hearts and cherish their flavour for as long as we can.

Picking fresh blueberries along the trail in Pouch Cove.

All my love to everyone back home. You mean the world to me and I am so blessed to have your continued love and support. You are in my heart every second of this expereince. May this year be as wonderful for you as it will be for me.

Pure Ghanaian Joy: Dancing on the Bus

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"I see my path, but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it." - Rosalia de Castro