Hi everyone,

Let me introduce to you Camilla, the other house assistant here at Centre Street.  The picture above was taken on the Niagara parkway near Niagara Falls.  It was the Thanksgiving weekend and we both had it off which is rare that we have it at the same time, but many of the core members go home for holidays.  We did a day trip up through Niagara Falls (80 minutes from here) and Niagara-on-the-Lake on a great sunny day.

First let me put your mind at ease and tell you Camilla is 25 and has a boyfriend back in her native Brazil and has hopes of getting married in a year or two and starting a family.  So for those of you thinking..oh oh, as we say back in Moncton "Worry pas!"

Camilla as I mentioned comes from a small town of 30,ooo outide of San Paulo in Brazil and has a brother and a sister who she communicates with often through the internet.  With her web camera, I spoke to her family for her brother's 18th birthday on a live feed.  Amazing!!!! She heard about L'Arche through some friends and she rounded up two others and here she is to live a year with L'Arche.  As I mentioned before  I am always amazed that these young people will give up a year to come here. She speaks Portuguese and her English is improving rapidly.

Camilla and I work well together as a team with Carmen and our support staff. I call her "Momma Camilla" as she races off to break up a session of wild dancing between core members at Dayspring celebrations. Her expression is quite funny when this happens.  The other core members have taken to her and are attached.  When she is away, they are happy to have her back home.  It is easy working with her and we are similar in our approach to the core members. 

A good team is important to the harmony of the home and the happines of the core members.  They can sense when there is tension.  We are both happy go lucky people and that keeps a positive energy in the house.  Sometimes when everyone ha gone to bed, we both grab our computers and sit in the living room.  Camilla jokes that when she first heard that she would living in the ame house as a priest, she was not impressed.  Now he says he is really happy I am here and "sees me for Jeff" It is amazing how two people o different can overcome cultural diferences, but a sign that it can be done.

So until next time...chow!

Jeff