It’s no secret that travel is a big part of Mercy Tech Mission – before we can share our skills, we have to go to where the students are.

That, of course, sounds pretty obvious, but when you stop and consider how many miles MTM volunteers have put on since we began travelling in 2011, it’s mind-boggling. By the time you read this, there will have been over 18 trips to places like Mozambique, Swaziland and the Baja, with over 20 different volunteers taking part.

Since our early beginnings in 2011, Mercy Tech Mission has completed 6 trips to Africa and 7 trips to the Baja. On each trip our volunteer instructors have taught the basics of employable trades, such as automotive mechanics, concrete finishing, construction and woodworking, wiring and electrical installation, and welding. Now it's May 2016, and our 14th trip begins as I and volunteer Craig Skinner (welder and millwright) leave for Swaziland in Southern Africa. We’ll spend the month of May sharing our knowledge with the local workers at the Heart for Africa mission base, and we're looking forward to it.

And so begins a recent email from a young mechanic in Africa.

We’ve got two quick things to tell you about, and they both involve a lot of hard work by dedicated volunteers.

The first is our brand new website. The same web address, but a totally redesigned look and feel that will make it so much easier to find out what Mercy Tech Mission is all about. Take some time to look around! (There is still some fine-tuning to come, but we were excited for everyone to see it!)

The first trip of 2015 is almost upon us, and it's time to hit travel mode and get dirty.

On Sunday, March 22nd, the six-member Mercy Tech Mission team (along with the 23 volunteers from Summerland Baptist Church) will descend upon San Quintin in the California Baja. 

Sharing with others the things that were given to us - that's the theme of our new MTM promotional video, and it will be the ongoing theme of all that we do at Mercy Tech Mission in 2015. 

As you watch this video, please take a moment to ask yourself a simple question: "What can I share with somebody else in 2015?"

It's great to be back home, even if it does mean getting used to some colder weather. But we're Canadians, eh? We can handle it, thank you very much. Or is that "Pardon me?" - I'm not sure.

But we're glad to report that in spite of battling a few stomach bugs, we were able to accomplish our goals for the trip. In the last post, I showed some photos of the work area that was built to facilitate our automotive training in the months ahead. It turned out very well, and the next step will be to put up a few walls and a roof to keep the sun off.

It's been a busy week here in the California Baja of Mexico, where volunteer Rich Howard and I have been getting a start on Mercy Tech's latest training venture. In cooperation with One Life One Chance, we are preparing to start an automotive training program that will bring hope to local young men who would otherwise not have access to skills training of this nature.

Our main objectives to this point have been to pour a concrete slab where we can repair vehicles, and to also begin bringing in the tools and equipment needed for the training sessions. What follows are photos of the progress we've been making here. Thanks for following along, and I'll give a more complete update when we wrap things up here at the end of the week.

If you've been following our blog, you'll know that most of the past 3 or 4 years have been spent teaching trades in Mozambique in Southern Africa. But I'm excited to announce that Mercy Tech Mission will be starting a second training location that's a lot closer to home, and therefore easier for some volunteers to get involved.

On November 9th, I and Rich Howard (volunteer from Summerland, BC) will be travelling to San Quintin, on the California Baja in Mexico. As you'll see on the map, San Quintin is the red dot about 7 hours driving time south of San Diego, California.

It takes a lot of little pieces to make something big work well.

Just drop your cell phone off the second story deck and you'll discover a whole bunch of little pieces that are suddenly very important. They always were; you just didn't know they were there.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit the San Quintin area of the California Baja in Mexico. My hosts were Rob and Brenda Wall, founders of One Life One Chance, a group that works with the poor and forgotten indigenous people of Mexico.

Through the efforts of their amazing staff at their mission base, Los Olivos, they host multiple volunteer teams each year who come to build a home for those in need.

Action is awesome. It feels great to be doing something instead of just talking about it.

On the other hand, if there's no analyzing of the past or planning for the future, then the present can easily fill up with frenetic activity - we look busy, but are we really accomplishing anything?

To read previous entries to Rick's blog, Dust on my Shoes, please click here. Over time we will continue transferring older posts over to this new site. Thanks for your patience!