Listening Project

Hi everyone,

I was away from Colombo for the past week working as a facilitator for the "Listening Project". The basic idea behind the project was to send teams to various parts of the country to have discussions with people about their experiences with international assistance, whether it be humanitarian, livelihood, emergency, and so on.

I led a team to Anuradhapura district which sits in the north central part of the country and is one of the original buddhist kingdoms dating back 2300 years. The cultural aspects were interesting, but I was more taken by the stories people told us about what is happening in the area in terms of assistance and development. Two of the days were spent on the northern defence line which separates the LTTE (Tamil Tigers) and government areas. It was amazing hearing the perspectives of people constantly displaced, sent to internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, and then starting over. Many of the people we spoke to had lost family members in bombings and attacks, were living in temporary shelters, and had very little money (if any), but they were some of the kindest and warmest people I've ever met in my life.

It was an opportunity for me to get into the field, leave my desk in Colombo, and gain a new experience in Sri Lanka. AMAZING!!!

Baby Ethan

Hi everyone,

yes, my "baby sister" had a baby of her own. Lori "Lou Lou" Spurway gave birth to Ethan Cole Spurway on September 9th, 2007 after only 4 hours in labour. I heard that Lori even drove herself to the hospital. Considering she's from good Ukraininian farmer stock, I'm surprised she didn't have him at home and continue making breakfast.

I have officially nicknamed my new nephew "Rutiger" for no other reason than to use a Simpson's reference. Mom and dad both seem pretty tired and there have been a few little panic moments of the first time parents "wondering what to do next." Everything is fine now, uncle Terry is definitely not happy to be so far away at the moment, but updates come regularly, so that has to do at the moment. T

Uncles Terry and Geoff (again)

Hi All

Well Terry's little sister Lori just had her first baby at 8:45 this morning...Terry is still asleep in Sri Lanka and will get all the news once he wakes up. I will let him fill you out on all the details.....Mom, Dad and baby boy all doing well.

Love
G