Sheila and I got back from Prague late on Thursday evening and after getting our family and domestic bits and pieces cleared were getting organised to go off on Saturday morning with friends to Portstewart to stay overnight

With Prague still vivid in my mind and the thought of writing something more meaningful about it I got a call from our Portstewart host to say it had to be postponed this weekend

Later in the day we had a call from Jeanette – wife of my business partner – to say that a couple they we to go out with that evening had cried off and invited us to join them for a casual dinner, which of course we accepted readily

However when we were collected there was a very plausible story as to why we should go back to the home of one of their daughters, where, very quickly the plot was revealed – it was a surprise post retirement family party for Wilson and I and I then realised the conspiracy that had been going on to get us there.....two major surprises in one week and I hadn’t an inkling about either, that of course made everyone’s day

As I write this update I’m still in a state of shock mixed with delight and gratitude for the thoughtfulness which prompted these two special events and to Sheila for keeping all this to herself – in fact she's told so many lies over the past couple of weeks that she went to confession this morning!

Thinking back to Prague, we arrived in time for a welcome dinner in a restaurant close to the apartment and on Tuesday had a full day which included a stroll through the Old Town Square, Charles Bridge and Prague Castle where we saw the changing of the guard, an interesting if not as formal a spectacle as we are used to in the British tradition

A highlight in the afternoon was to attend a recital in the Church of St Martin in the Wall close to Old Town Square

It was a Chamber Ensemble which played a lovely selection of classical music pieces most of which were known to us

Dinner at a Czech restaurant gave us a chance to reflect and prepare our thinking for the next day

 

   

   

 

This exciting adventure took us on an old Russian style train to Karlstejn to see one of the most visited and beautiful Castles in the Czech Republic. The walk through the local village was interesting although we were surprised that it was rather quiet......perhaps this was because the Castle was closed!. Undeterred we continued and from the grounds got a flavour of this 14^th century building

The Argentinean restaurant we used that evening was an excellent base in which to discuss what we had seen – and hadn’t seen – during the day

It was an interesting establishment and the live music and dancing combined with the noise from a packed house and excellent food contributed to the warm and relaxing atmosphere

 

   

   

   

After two action packed days we were ready for a more low key approach to Thursday and we enjoyed some retail therapy - Czech style

I of course thought that was the end of my surprises but as you can see there was more to come

All Tosh & Millar family members were there to meet us at the surprise party and I think the great moment for everyone was when they saw the looks of amazement which Wilson and I were displaying

   

     

 

It was a great evening of fun and chat and Sheila had produced our office ‘two Ronnie’s’ farewell speech which the families hadn’t heard before and we did it for the audience who I must say were less respectful than the previous one – it was family of course

Children, parents, in laws, special friends, champagne and retirement cake were all the ingredients of a memorable occasion

Thanks for the memories!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

 

Our time in Dubai has been special and its been great to see life here. The hotel is excellent and the staff attentive to our every need

 

We have made friends with a few people especially a youing couple form Birmingham who are in our Villa area. They have two samll children and we've lots to chat about when we meet for a pre dinner reception each evening

 

The beach is a major attraction and seems to take most of our day time hours although I tore myself away yesterday afternoon for a spa treatment which was well worth the effort

 

Today is our last full day here so it's off to the beach now for the final roasting

 

Tomorrow we move to a desert resort for two days before returning home on Saturday with lots of pictures and great memories

 

Sheila is now one game up in the holiday scrabble competition

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sheila and I have just moved on after a full 4 days in Bangkok where we experienced our first ever taste of Eastern culture. The thing that struck me most was the size of the city and I don't think I'd realised its population was well in excess of the Island of Ireland

 

With limited time to explore, choices had to be made, so with the help of our local tour guide we set about the task

 

A trip to the Royal Palace. the Temples of the reclining and emerald Buddas, the floating market, a cultural dancing show, River City and the Paragon Plaze all got on to the Agenda

  

 

 

Each had their own charm and points of interest and helped us appreciate the environmnet

 

Our base for the trip was the Oriental Hotel on the Chao Phrya river and it was a unique experience and I don't think I have ever experienced a level of (discreeet) service like it and there was a level of attention to detail which was exceptional

 

The standard of cuisine was in a class of its own and offered a wide range of dishes focusing of course on local fare

 

At the hotel we met a guy called Michael Hunter who I know from the Rotary Club of Belfast West and we has dinner one evening with his wife and he - small world!

 

We got quie a surprise on the way to the airport to hear that there had been serious rioting the previous day and this was confirmed by the local press. THis was news to us and we were totally unaware of what was happening - quite reminiscent of the bad old days at home

 

Our present location is Dubai where we are settled by the beach and plan to enjoy a relaxing time

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                     

 

 

 

 

 

 

      

 

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

      

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I prepared an update to the blog yesterday at the Clinic and have now discovered things didn't quite work out as planned. There was quite a bit of fluctuation with power so perhaps we fell foul of that

 

Going back to Sunday we attended an ecumenical sevice in a village called Dompa which was supported by the local Churches. It lasted around 3 hours which was just a litte on the long side for me...please don't let me complain about the length of Brian or Winston's Services again

 

After the Service some members of the group went on a long walk to see the site for a new Church while others went back to base camp to relax - I'll leave it to you to decide which group I was in

 

Monday saw a full day on the site with the major focus still on the preparation for the floors to be laid and having been promoted to Quality Controller I was a bit shocked to discover that when I got to the location I was shovelling stones for the entire day. I was part of a Team of locals and we got a great system going very quickly

 

That was also the routine for Tuesday with the exception of a short break which I enjoyed to accomping some of our Teachers to a local School and that was a unique experience and we just couldn't believe the conditions in which the children were being taught. In spite of that they were bright, cheerful and gave us a great welcome and were so thankful for the gifts which the Team had brought

 

Yesterday  brought a choppy, wet and windy crossing to the Clinic but it wasn't long until the clouds had cleared and we were working happily under a clear blue sky

 

As this was the last day on site we organised things a little differently and had a late lunch to which the local workers and clinic staff were invited and that was quite a banquet with over 60 participating

 

Team memebers had agreed to leave some of their belonigings and it was very humbling to see the expressions on the faces of our co-workers when they were given our boots, tee shirts, shorts etc - actually it was quite a moving experience

 

The later part of the day was filled with mixed emotions as we reflected on the progress that had been made whilst at the same time having to say fsarwell to those with whom we'd worked so well

 

This morning we were on the road at 8.00am heading for the coast for two days of relaxtion before making the journey home. En route we visited an Orphanage  where Team members gave some items which we hope will help brighten the lives of the children there....at least for a short time

 

We are now at our destiniation, unpacking and preparing to unwind with bueatiful memories of our time at Lake Bosumtwe

 

My plan is to let you have a final update before we leave - meantime thank you again for all your messages of support which we have really apprecoated

 

Regards

 

Tom

 

On the way across the Lake to the Clinic this morning several members of the Team were remarking how quickly the trip is going – here we are Saturday 19^th July already – my Mums birthday and I’ve spoken to her earlier

 

It’s been a few days since I’ve had a chance to update the Blog so I think I need to go back to Wednesday

 

Before doing that may I mention that there are certain traditions in Ghana which Groups like ours observe and one of these is to visit the Bishop

 

This was planned for Wednesday and as we were making the trip to Kumasi some other activities were included to make it really worthwhile

 

These included a visit to the Village of Adanawanse which specialises in weaving and we witnessed the process at first hand

 

A tour of a wood carving village was interesting and together with a visit to the Cultural Centre it gave Team Members an opportunity to pick up mementos of the trip

 

An interesting stop that day was to the Awkasse Methodist Faith hospital and after noting the process for  dealing with patients said they would be more sympathetic to the Health Service at home in future

 

The Bishop received the Group warmly and was generous in his appreciation of the support the Irish Church had given to the Clinic at Lake Bosumtwe in terms of personnel and finance

 

I’m not sure if I’m supposed to mention that we had an excellent meal in a Chinese Restaurant before returning that evening

 

Thursday brought a packed programme of work on the site, two visits to the Chiefs of local villages and a visit to a nearby School

 

The Team was divided suitably to meet the various tasks and the appreciation of the visit by one of the Chiefs was acknowledged by the gift of a sheep – which appeared in the form of a stew yesterday

 

In addition he sent some women from the village to join the others on the site for a short time yesterday morning

 

The interaction with the local people is really good and they are most courteous and helpful – language permitting

 

Yesterday was a full day for everyone on the site and it was full steam ahead, building walls, knocking down walls, leveling floors for concreting to name but a few jobs and in the evening we were joined for dinner with 3 people with whom Dorothy & Philip worked at the Clinic almost 30 years ago

 

Today is another action packed day on the site with floors being laid and all the preparations that are needed for that Rodney and I are on kitchen duty today which means we prepare and serve morning coffee and lunch and of course all the clearing up that goes with it – individuals are selected carefully for specific taks so as to get maximum benefit from their talents!

 

I don’t see any sign of home sickness and am glad communications have enabled a reasonable level of contact with back home

 

The Team have asked me that thank everyone  for their continued support and interest – we are all thinking about you

 

Regards for now

 

Tom

 

It came as a slight shock to the technically minded members of the Team to discover that the foundations for part of the extension to the Clinic had not been prepared exactly to the plan we were working from. As it happens it wasn’t as bad as it first seemed and a little bit of picking and shoveling from some of the less technical members of the Team got things back on track

 

On Sunday morning we crossed the Lake and joined Church in Amakom about half way through the Service. Our reception was warm and friendly but the real Ghanaian welcome was saved for Dorothy & Philip who were remember by some people present

 

It was a lively service with a great atmosphere and sense of freedom and the Seymour Street tradition of clapping was extended to include dancing with ALL members of the Team taking part!

 

The Team also formed a choir and sang two pieces including  ‘We are marching in the name of the Lord’ so you can imagine how the dancing started

 

Yesterday, Monday was a long busy working day on the site with the first boat leaving for the Lake at 6.45am

 

Having prepared and trained carefully over the past six months the Team’s expertise and enthusiasm was evident as they have worked side by side with the local work Team and enormous progress was made – in fact Alex –the Director of Operations – had difficulty getting some people to leave the site to get back across the Lake before dark

 

The work programme agreed by local man Michael Bentum and Alex Moorehead is designed to maximize the resources of the Team for the duration of their visit and the anticipated benefit to the clinic and area is significant.

 

This morning the Team made its way to the Clinic early again and after sharing in the devotional time with Clinic staff – as it did yesterday – paid a formal visit to two local villages to meet their respective Chiefs

 

The first was Amakom and the second was Atafram and on each occasion greetings were exchanged and personal introductions undertaken

 

Both Chiefs expressed their appreciation of the work of the Clinic and also the efforts being made by the Team to extend its facilities and requested continued support

 

Plans to get to work immediately after the visits were delayed due to heavy rain and an early lunch allows time for the sky to clear and the warm sunshine to return to allow work to continue

 

At the same time this afternoon some members of the Team have gone to visit a local school where in addition to sharing with the children they will distribute some of the  items provided by the Shell Club of other local Schools back home

 

Over the past two days quite a number of people have mentioned the name ‘Bambrick’ and that was nor surprise to most of us given  the impact we know Denis made on this whole area – perhaps someone would be good enough to pass on good wishes to Denis from Lake Bosumtwe

 

The plan tomorrow includes a visit to the bishop in Kusmia so that will be another new experience for most of the Team

 

With the exception of minor (health) upsets everyone is in great form and appreciating the all these new experiences

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well here we are – 10^th July 2008 and we’re off to Ghana in a short while

 

The personal and Team support has been extraordinary and will keep us all going for the journey

 

Thank you all

 

Regards

 

Tom

 

It's hard to believe after all the planning, preparations and Fund Raising the Team will fly out To Ghana on Thursday morning of this week – 10^th July 2008

 

Subject to the availability of an internet connection I am planning to continue the practice of providing updates through a Blog. Now this is a bit high tech for me and it might just be above my ability level, however I am going to have a go

 

You can read this – and of course send a reply or comment – on www.THM40.spaces.live.com and I hope you will continue to remember the Team as your hear of their activities

 

Thank you again for your continued interest

 

Regards

 

Tom