Bowled all day at Juan de Fuca, both Saturday and Sunday in Bowl for the Cure. Saturday won 2 games lost 2 and tied one. Sunday won four lost 1. I believe we finished in fourth place out of 32 entries. Great event. Just finished a hot tub, much needed after bowling in the rain for two hours. E$ach morning away before 8 am so not much time for anything else.

Chapter 9.

  Forty-six days later the family bid farewell to each other. All three girls wept loudly as the reality of the moment set in. John manfully keeping his tears in check, hugged his two little sisters, awkwardly embraced his mother and shook his father’s hand. Jean followed suit by hugging and kissing the departing four, crying all the while. The four boarded the train which would take them to Plymouth, where they would embark on a liner that would take them first to North Africa then on down the western coast of the continent around Cape Horn and on to Somalia. The voyage would take almost a full month.

  As the train blew its whistle John stepped forward and waved frantically at his mother, when she looked out at him, he put his hands to his eyes then gestured down the length of the train and mouthed the words, ‘LOOK THAT WAY, THE FUTURE LIES AHEAD’.

Mrs. Pearce stared at her son for a moment then leaned to the window and stared in the direction he had pointed. When the train chugged from the station she turned and blinded by the tears streaming from her eyes half collapsed in her husband’s arms and sobbed violently. He held her for several minutes occasionally wiping his own eyes.

  When the train had disappeared around a curve in the tracks, John and Jean made their way to their Aunt who had stayed back while the family said their goodbyes. Without a word she took them both into her arms and held them tightly.

  A few weeks later school finished as did John and Jean’s years of grade school education. Jean found employment for the summer helping to restore the Manchester library and catalogue books. John found a farm a few miles outside the city where help was needed to attend to a dairy herd.

  In the fall they both attended university, Jean to study nursing and John with no real goal in mind in a program that had majors in geography and history.

  They received letters almost every month from their parents and sisters. The trip down the length of Africa was without incident although it appeared that the heat and two storms that they passed through caused some discomfort. The trip actually lasted more than a month but they finally arrived at the port of Moqadishu. They were met by a Colonel of the British Army who had been assigned to escort them to their mission which was located some one hundred miles inland along a branch of the Seebeli River. In addition to the village where the mission and hospital had been built, there were several more villages scattered along the tributary all about a days walking apart.

 Their accommodation was in a Somalian style quite comfortable and the church while having no pews was impressive. The hospital turned out to be two rooms under a thatched roof, there were five beds, and a very limited supply of antiseptic, bandages and medicines. There were no operating tools and their order for what was needed was anticipated to take almost three months before it arrived.

  The villagers were friendly although quite shy. There were rumours of unrest but whatever trouble there was appeared to be somewhere else.

  The twins had settled in and Margaret in particular found little difficulty in going barefoot and fitting in with the village children.