11 Days

We have 11 days to go until we leave! Things have been coming together very good thus far. For those that have been following this site, I will actually won't be posting updates of our trip on this site since there is no security on it.

You can follow our trip for updates and prayer requests at:

www.heartlandafricapartnership.com

A username and password is required for this site so I hope to send an email to people we've talk to about this trip. If you don't hear anything in the next week please feel free to email me for access. nathanielpapay(at)hotmail(dot)com

We are still ironing out some finals details but will hope to have a post of shortly and go from there.

Thanks everyone.

One Month Left

In one month we will be touching down on the west coast of Africa in the capital city of Guinea, Conakry. It will most likely be raining when we land as we have heard that it will be the rainy season in July/August.

These days are quite busy for us as we prepare to leave with busy jobs at the same time. Every day there is something for us to do. Today we picked up our tickets and bought a few Canadian souvenirs to take over with us.

At times everything can be overwhelming. Among all the details of preparation, computer training, radio equipment testing, radio script writing are all things we haven't done before but are hoping to help with when we are there. We have background skills to help with this but sometimes the wall can look too big to climb. We need prayer for strength and just trust in God that he will do what he has planned by working through us.

The days are counting down!!!

Visa's Arrived!

Today we received our passports back from the Guinea embassy with our visas. This was one more step in the process that can now be checked off. I also got my Typhoid shot yesterday and so I still have a bruised arm today. The other shots recommended for a trip like this include Yellow Fever, Meningitis, Hep A, Hep B, Tetanus and fortunately I have received all these previously. Laura got 2 shots in each of her arms a couple weeks back so she is ready too.

Part of the work we will be doing in Guinea is testing some radio equipment which will enable more people in Guinea and throughout Africa to hear the broadcast. Currently the coverage is only in the vicinity of the capital city of Conakry. The larger plan is to stream the broadcast over Internet to Canada and from here send it up to a Canadian satellite, over to an African satellite and then back down to Africa. This is a lower cost option and with some simple equipment, the signal can be received from anywhere in Africa and re-broadcasted. A diagram illustrating this can be seen by clicking here.
However, this information is password protected so please email me and I can send you the user/password info. nathanielpapay(at)hotmail(dot)com

This week and on the weekend we are doing some preliminary setup and testing of some equipment before bringing it to Guinea. I don't now a whole lot about this technology but it sounds interesting and I look forward to learning a little more about it.

Guinea Bound

Great NEWS:
Since Tuesday I have been trying to work out flights with the travel agent to find the best deal and dates which would be most suitable. We nailed down some flights on Wednesday which had to be paid for by today. However, I hadn't confirmed the dates with my manager yet. So Wednesday and Thursday I was quite nervous since my manager was not in the office or was unavailable. I left work Thursday wondering if he would respond to my calls/emails before Friday afternoon. Friday I woke up to my day off and saw that he had emailed me and agreed to my vacation and leave of absence time!! Awesome! God is leading the way.

The idea of leaving for a month during the summer has been quite stressful for me since I'm in a new position and this is my first year running my own projects. Leaving during the main construction season will be hard and my manager just wanted to ensure I have got people to look after them when I leave. I'll be praying that my projects will run smoothly.

So part of the tickets have been purchased today and we are moving forward with the planning!

Passed!

I have passed the Engineering exam! I'm ready to apply for my professional designation now which is actually quite a lot of paper work.

In other news, we met with a couple from our church last week and heard that there are some great opportunities for us in Guinea this summer and that the field director has sent an official invitation to us. Exciting! Once we confirm if there are flights available and that I can get time off work then we are set to get everything else ready!

I talked with a travel agent today and she has given us some options on flights. We are thinking of leaving early July and staying for about 4 weeks. I hope to get approval from my manager this week!

Eng EXAM Done

Today I wrote the Engineering Professional Practice Examination. It is one of the requirements to become a professional engineer (P. Eng). It was a busy time leading up the exam over the past few months since the material covered was quite extensive. There was about 3 textbooks total worth of material. I'm glad it is done. After finding out my result in the next 6-8 weeks, I can then move on to getting my application ready.

Life is moving very quickly these days it seems. Spring break for my wife came and went and we had a chance to go to Fernie for a few days to snowboard. We had fresh powder on the second day and some of the best snow I've experienced. It was awesome!!

Some other big news for those who haven't heard is that my sister is expecting a baby in August!!!! I am going to be an uncle! That is incredible and it is sure going to be an exciting time.

I decided to post now because we have been trying to decide and see what we should do this summer since Laura is off for two months. It has been challenging because I've been thinking since the fall of going to Africa but nothing was ever working out. It was frustrating since no doors were opening. Recently we had decided to just do something else instead like kayaking the Broken Islands off of Vancouver Island or going to Hawaii. We have been taking books out of the library about Hawaii and Vancouver Island to get ready for it. However, just this Sunday, a great opportunity presented itself for us this summer to go to Guinea. It was quite funny because only last week did I decide that Africa wasn't going to work out and then all of sudden we were told of some exciting plans that we can be a part of this summer and potentially in the years ahead. We are still confirming details and whether logistically things can work out but we are trusting God with the next steps.

We will keep you posted on how things progress!

4th Friday Off!

Well, I wasn't sure if I would ever write again on this blog or if I ever will after this, but I figured I may try again.
Today is a day off for me. I get the 4th Friday of every month off from work and I really enjoy these days. Everyone else is at work and I can have a relaxed morning and do whatever I'd like. Today I played squash with my brother and then had lunch at Subway. Squash is a great game and sport. I've really gotten into it over the past couple years. It is a very good work out, it is high energy and very strategic. I love it!

So what is going on these days?!! It seems so long ago since I first my wedding day. I think last time I wrote was shortly after getting married. Since then a lot has happened actually. In a nutshell, we've moved to a new condo in downtown Edmonton, both my wife and I have started a new job, her at a different school and me at a different department at E PCOR (I will save the details for another post), we took 9 flights and travelled to London, Paris, Slovakia, Croatia, Morocco, and Ontario last summer, we are attending a new church and we added a new addition to the family: a beta fish called Stanley. Since I last wrote, life has been full of fun, adventure and challenges. Let me say, there is lots to learn about being married but it is all worth it.
So as you can see, lots has happened. Life seems to get busier and go by quicker the old I get. However, on Fridays like today, I can slow things down and just enjoy the simple things.

The picture is from a Bedouin Village about an 2 hour drive outside of Marrakesh in Morocco.

Hopefully there will be more of this coming up.