a bit about my 'new' life

so it's about time that i gave you a little more insight to how my life in toronto is looking. i am basically working (volunteering) at a salvationa rmy corps called 614 in regent park in toronto. regent park is an extremely poor area with mainly families (roughly 60% of the 7,500 residents are between 6and 18 years of age). it is purely government housing (my house is on the opposite side of the road) and when you have enough money that you no longer need the assistance, then you have to move. so it's a poor area that stays poor. all the things that you imagine might occur in an area like this, do.
some of the things that 614 run include squads. they are like groups for kids - they do kids and youth squads. at squads they play, hang out, eat (for a lot of them it's the best meal they get all week), do some sort of bible activity and pray. they last around 2 hours. this may include pick ups and drop offs. that doesn't mean driving, it means walking. (side note - i have walked so much the last few days i would be excelling at the 10,000 steps program).
i have also investigated doing some volunteer work at some of the local schools. all of which are primary. there are about 4 in the area. but no high schools. however, at this stage it looks likely that i will get involved with a group called 'pathways' who do tutoring, etc for high school students.
my house is a three level, skinny thing. it's good. my room is down in the basement. the roof is kind of low, but if you know me, then you would realise that for me, it's not an issue at all. (i hope my brother in law doesn't come to visit!!!) i live with heather, who get's called by her last name - keeler - as there are lots of heathers here, and mike and mark. eloiys and maiva also live with us, but they are away at the moment. my house is a 2 minute walk from the office.
geoff and sandra are the officers (pastors). they are the ones who had been out to australia last october and i guess are the reason i am here.
well, that's about all for now. there's so much more to tell, but i won't do it all at once.
oh, and for a quick nana update. dazza ended up going home with mum (not sure if i blogged that or not). that was good. they went straight to the hospital to see nana. she is still in a coma. morphine. she has declined even since the other day. she is so heavily medicated that she can't respond to the family or visitors. they are trying to see if they can reduce the medication so she can acknowledge the family or if it would cause her too much pain. apart from that, no more news about her.