Her last words

I was talking to my sister over msn today. For the first time she told me what Rubina's last words were as the waves hit them.

"What about Mike?" December 26th, 2004

My feelings for her are impossible to express in words, but I pray she can see what an affect she had on me and all of us. There is so much that can be done here. I'm already encouraged by the stories of other Canadians, Thais and different nationalities. Some are building boats, others are cleaning up debris and a few are involved with building a daycare on Phi Phi island. The ferry for phi phi leaves tomorrow at six in the morning.

Just Arrived in Phuket

On the plane down to Phuket, I read an article about a group of volunteers working on PhiPhi doing construction and cleaning up the local beaches, and reefs. I also ran into a few American and French tourists , it seems like many people are not detered from coming here to enjoy their vacation. It seems a bit awkward for some when i tell them what happened and why im here and what we are doing. Maybe they feel they shouldn't be here vacationing. But in reality it's really good that people keep coming as it is the livelihood of the Thai people down here.

I'm planning to take the boat over to phiphi in the next day or two with a friend and see if we can offer a hand in the reconstruction. I figure while Im there I should get a good idea of whether we will be able to deliver aid directly to the island through financial assistance. In addition to this I'm going to be in contact with the Canadian Embassy and various other Aid agencies trying to figure out how we can help. It feels good to be here. I know for a fact that often what you hear back home and overseas is almost always very different from what is actually happening on the ground. Wish me luck......It's late I'm going up the street to see if i can get some pub grub for dinner.....thats all thats open now.