Hi all. Here's a quick summary of the last few days. I arrived in Ottawa Tuesday evening after a one hour delay for take off due the fight crew being late - a half hour wait on the tarmac in Ottawa because the crew was not ready to wave the plane in and another half hour watching an empty baggage carousel spin round and round....... Air Canada. I met the rest of the team Wednesday morning, great group, this is going to be fun. They're typical CU people - very serious about their work but like to laugh and have fun doing it. My kind of people. They are: Chris - Risk Officer - Central Risk Management Trudy - CEO - Horizon Credit Union Neil - VP Finance - Conexus Heather - Financial Services Advisor - Meridian CU Graham - retired CU CEO from Saskatchewan after 30 years Sue - Loans Officer - Westoba CU Joan - Branch Manager - Integris CU

The CCA staff are just as great. We spent two and a half days in training and orientation sessions. We heard from various key people. Tanya gave us a very thorough look at the organization itself, history, mandate and structure. We also heard from Erin who gave us a clear understanding of the work being done around the world by the International Develpoment division of the CCA. Gender equality and cultural sensitivity training delivered by Anna and a interesting discussion with a sharp individual named Michael who heads up the business development area (aka the guy who finds the money to fund the programs).

On Thursday we were back at it. We spent the majority of the day with Sarah talking about Mongolia: the history, the culture and the credit union system. Very intersting day as we we really got down to ground level and talked about what we can expect when we get to our assigned credit unions to begin our coaching assignments. I wish we we're leaving tonight. Only a half day on Friday. We met with David Shanks - media and communication guru of the CCA and all around good guy. I first met David in 2009 before my first trip to Uganda. Joining him for this session was Laurie Tennian (wife of my good buddy Tom Tennian (now with CUMIS) whom I've known for 23 years. Laurie's been with the CCA for well over 20 years and appears to have done it all, working in many different roles over the years. Many credit union readers may know Laurie from her great work with the Women's Mentoring Program. The jewel in her crown I would think. Laurie took us through the mandate of the communications side of things or public engagement as its referred to here at CCA and David zoned in on helping us "tell our stories" when we get back. The communication part of our mission requires that we bring back our story in words as well as in pictures and video if possible. Having us on the ground, side by side, working, talking, learning, coaching, seeing and listening to our Mongolian credit union partners, staff, directors and members is vital to the program and to the CCA. Vital for lots of reasons not the least of which is helping the CCA tell "its story" about the marvelous work they do in the area of international development and to help in securing future funding for the program. Very interesting and worthwhile session. Had lunch and a couple of pints with friends, Joan Ellis (who was with us on the Uganda mission, she lives here and works for CUSOURCE which is the credit union education/training arm of Central of Canada and my old buddy Tom Tennian who I've known for 23 years. His wife Laurie works for the CCA and he works for CUMIS. Tomorrow we head out for Mongolia. Up at 5am and take off at 8. I did the math and I believe if all of the flights are on time we'll be at least 35 hours from pillow to pillow. According to the schedule it does not appear there'll be much rest when we get there - adrenaline takes over at that point based on my Uganda experience. Worry about sleep later. Looking forward to it. Thanks for reading. I'll post again first chance I get subject to internet access. Before I sign off I have to say many thanks to Sarah Feldberg - Program Coordinator, who quarterbacked all the arrangements for us, provided all the answers to our many questions and pumped our brains with just about everything we need to know about what to expect when we get there. She continues to provide support from CCA headquarters until we meet up again in Vancouver for the mission debrief scheduled for Sept 22/23rd. Thanks for taking care of us Sarah. Charlie