iA tae 2 Zuckerberg Island this week. Showing him island cl Director tours island Zuckerberg Island is a unique site, according to Russell Irvine of B.C. Her- itage Trust. Irvine toured the island heritage site Thursday morning while in the area on other business. Irvine is the chief exec- utive officer of the Heritage Trust which gave $23,000 last year towards the develop- ment of the Island Park. Irvine said in an interview Lions lose $263, VANCOUVER (CP) — The British Columbia Lions So- ciety for Crippled Children has almost $1.3 million in risky mortgages that have forced it to provide for a loss of at least $263,000, the so- ciety’s annual report shows. Ralph Long, a Vancouver lawyer and a director who invested the money, said the investments appeared to be good when he made them in 1981 and 1982, when the Vancouver real estate mar- ket was extremely volatile. The investments were in high-interest second and third mortgages. The society, which raised $6.35 million in the year ended June 30, 1983, was caught when first-mortgage holders foreclosed on proper- ties on which the society held second and third mortgages, which turned out to be un- protected. Long said that although he had appraisals that showed the investments were sec- ured by the property when they were made, when the property owner stopped pay- ments, they were no longer worth enough to cover the society's investment. He said the investments looked so good, he put his own money on the same properties he put the soci- ety’s money into.” “TI lost a fortune on mort- Caldsat GROCETERIA & LAUNDROMAT We Are Open 364 Days a Year Monday - Friday 7 a.m. - 10:30 p.m. Saturday 8:30 a.m. - 10:30 p.m. Sundays & Holidays 9 - 10:30 p.m. 1038 Columbia 365-6534 that the 5'/r-acre project was one of 127 projects which the trust contributed to last year, with grants rangin; from $500 to $50,000. . Irvine, impressed with the site, said it is unique in that “it is faseinating when you get a combination of natural and cultural values.” He added that most pro jects the Heritage Trust déals with are to do with the regforation of old buildings, but the Zuckerberg project gages myself,” he said. “We just got caught in the times and now we're paying for it.” The annual report shows the society has provided for a loss of $263,000 on its mort- gage investments, but Long said Friday that “we have a potential loss, not a definite loss. “We are going to wait until the economic climate is better before we decide what to do. “The rate of interest was just too good for us at the time,” he said. “Now, we only invest in term deposits. There's no way we're going into the mortgage market any more.” The annual report shows the society has invested $763,980 in mortgages at an annual rate of 20 per cent or higher. It has an additional $520,680 in real estate held for resale. You can lose 17 to 25 pounds in just 6 weeks! . -and learn how to keep that excess weight off. Call Today 365-6256 DURO PUMPS & SOFTENERS WE STOCK pel house is zina. deals with buildings and a natural area. “I'm pleased to see the progress . . . I'll be back to keep in touch with it,” he said. Irvine is also. director of the province's Heritage Con- servation Branch. He was accompanied by Harry Diemer, head of the planning section. The two were given a tour by project co-ordinator John Charters along with other The report says that since October 1982 and “subse- quent to the year-end, the society has not received any payments for either principal or interest on these mort- gages.” CUTTING SERVICE Long said the society made $275,000 in interest in 1979, 1980 and 1981, but in 1982, had to write off $36,000. The losses come when the society is under fire for an- nouncing it will cease oper- ation of its Vancouver Easter Seal bus service for handi- capped children this summer, but Long insisted Friday that the change has nothing to do with the society's investment problems. Long said the society de- cided it cannot afford all the operating costs, such as insurance and gasoline, or the bus service, so it has asked other groups to pay. ISLAND TOUR . . . Russell Irvine (left) of B.C. Heritage Trust toured Katimavik project project workers. Irvine is also handling projects in Greenwood, Mid- way and Grand Forks, as well as Rossland and Nelson's Baker Street heritage revit- alization. He noted that in Green- wood and Midway there are a lot of older buildings but not too many resources available. In commenting on Irvine's visit Charters noted, “We have been trying to get him for a year.” 000 For example, he said, if children are being driven to school, the school board is being asked to pay the insur. ance, gas and driver's salary. Society chairman Douglas McCallum announced earlier that the service would be cut to save $400,000 in operating costs. The 1983 annual report was registered with the B.C. Registrar of Companies on Feb. 27, but McCallum said it has not yet been distributed to society directors, and he refused to discuss it until the members see it. McCallum said it will be at least a month before he would discuss the report, and even then, he does not want to talk about the society's mortgage investments. “As far as internal invest- ments are concerned, that’s internal,” he said. DEEP WELL SUBMERSIBLES SHALLOW OR DEEP WELL JET PUMPS SUMP & SEWER PUMPS PRESSURE TANKS % PVC PIPE FITTINGS ETC. ETC. ETC. Stocking Distributor. CosNewsPhoto by Chery! Colderbank “The Heritage Branch has been sponsoring a lot of work on the island,” he noted. “We have to give credit to the Herithge Trust. They have done a tremendous job in‘ saving our history.” Charters said the group is applying to the Heritage Trust for more funding to further develop the park. Future projects include the establishment of electricity and water on the island, and developing the chapel house so it will be possible to use it for community activities such as meetings. SPANTEX ® DECK COATING Hypalon or Acrylic Reg. $29.98 41. ei WOODCRAFT > SEMI-TRANSPARENT #717 Natural Redwood *16°° tmcsoae - $182? UNTIL JUNE 2, 1984 WOODCRAFT SOLID COLOR STAINS Oil or Latex at. Deep or Accent Colors $2.00 extra. - STUCCO-COAT For Masonry and Stucco. Reg. $25.98 $ 99 Standard colors Special au. 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Today — like yesterday and the day before and the day before that — started shortly after five a.m., and will end between 10 p.m., (when I send the older ones off to bed) and midnight. Today, we welcomed blind, 27-year-old Miguel into the family. He's a pale, undernourished, somewhat neurotic young man with a mild case of epilepsy for which he takes daily medication. I've put him in the room with 21-year-old Rodrigo who is presently in my black books ‘The clandestine love affair has alienated me from two of my promising teenagers’ head knowledge of Christian courtship to the cold, cold wind. Maybe Mark Twain was right when he suggested that 13-year-olds should be placed in barrels and fed through the bung-hole until reaching 16, after which the bung-hole should be plugged up. Concurrently, with the clandestine love affair that has alienated me from two of my promising teenagers, a growing romance has been developing between my jewel of a cook and one of my newer 23-year-olds. Antonia is at that precarious age — she is in her late 30s — when anything is preferable to remaining single for the rest of one’s life. To make.a long and tempestuous story short, she and Nelson will likely be getting married next month . . . in the jungle where Antonia’s Quichua Indian family live. Then they will return to build their pest ina small apartment they've rented in the neighbor. ing town of San Antonio. She's willing to continue working here on a day-basis, but that is not so ideal as having a live-in cook. March 21 We attended the traditional parade to the Equatorial for having overstayed his visit to the coast in a deliberate effort to lose his job at the rug-making factory at the Blind Institute. He wanted a change, but it’s a change at my expense, for jobs for the blind are very hard to come by. Fifteen-year-old Luis and younger Braulio occupy the same room on weekends and holidays. During the week they are boarders at the Blind School in Quito. Cesar, also blind, has not returned from visiting his family in another province and may have decided to quit school altogether. Jose, another of my blind foster sons, left two weeks ago with his cousin Amable, to visit the family in the western jungle. Neither of them had returned, so I'm a little concerned. The saddest news, however, concerns 20-year-old Waldo, who's been with me for over eight years and for whom I had high hopes even regarding his being trained into a position of leadership here, and Margarita (19) who has been with me for about seven years. They broke several of the basic “family rules” and also my heart, and are now here in Quito, 5 Waldo has returned twice, once to collect his clothing and personal effects and papers, and once to pick up a letter of recommendation from me in order to help him find work. Margarita slipped away early one morning and has ‘phoned once but to date shows no inkling of repen- tance. If and when she returns | shall give her the neces- sary papers for the two of them to legalize their marriage. I reminded Waldo that even God could not forgive him if he was not genuinely repentant, and I did have an opportunity to assure him he was still like a son to me. In my initial chat with Margarita she was still too upset to think rationally, and she has had a long, hard battle against an inbred tendency towards deceit and bitterness despite her popularity with both teachers and fellow-students. Your prayers for them both would be greatly appreciated. Both were professing believers and both were baptized and one-time Sunday School teachers, and both, too typically, mistook passion for love and threw all their just up the road to celebrate the Equinox — today we'll have exactly 12 hours of sunlight and 12 hours of night. Yesterday at 2:15 a.m., I received a phone call with the welcome news that 20-year-old Pablo, my latest foster son, had been found an@ was under heavy sedation at HCJB’s Vozandes Hospital. His illness has been diagnosed as paranoia and yesterday afternoon he was taken in my car to a nearby psychiatric hospital where he is to remain for at least six weeks. He disappeared from, here around 3 a.m., Monday morning, and had taken with him one of our blankets and a satchel full of exercise books belonging to one of my Grade 6 boys. Neither the books nor the blanket nor even Pablo's own shoes were found on him when a young ‘That morning Miguel had a bad epileptic attack, followed by another at 4 p.m.’ friend happened to find him on a Quito bus that same evening. It is a miracle he is alive, for Vietor had found and befriended him in Quito's main plaza on Saturday after. noon. By that time he had already drawn a crowd as he shouted his intentions to commit suicide. Despite the difficulty we had in settling him down that night, he did eventually get to sleep, and seemed more or less composed all Sunday. Around 10 p.m., that night, however, he took a turn for the worse and was frighteningly irrational and almost threatening. I slept fitfully and was not too surprised to find he'd disappeared early in the morning. He's a tall, fine-looking young man, artistic and highly intelligent. Two years ago he graduated from high school. But he is the victim of a broken home (his parents were divoreed when he was eight years old) and the harsh and violent handling of a tyrannical father who is art teacher at oné of Quito’s biggest high schools. With Pablo’s acceptance of Jesus Christ the father ordered him out of the house and he fled for refuge to his mother who rents a tiny apartment in the heart of Quito. John Charters .. . Reflections & recollections e 1) ~ Shortly after Victor had befriended Pablo, the two of them bumped into Pablo's distraught mother who was searching for him. And so the trio turned up here late Saturday night, the mother returning almost immediate. ly by taxi. When she came back the next day (Sunday) to check on him and to join us for the afternoon service here, some remarkable discoveries were made. Sara is from Birmingham, England, but speaks Spanish so perfectly it's impossible to guess she is anything but Ecuadorian. Twenty-five years ago, at the age of 19, she left England to enter a convent in Quito (despite her Jewish blood) intent on becoming a nun. Not too long after her arrival, her Ecuadorian artist husband-to-be fell in love with her, wooed her and won her. The marriage was not to last for long, but it produced four children of whom Pablo is No. 3. Sara is just a few weeks’ old as a Christian, but she has a hunger for the things of God that is enviable. Because her parents were with the British Embassy in several exotic countries while she was growing up she became fluent in Japanese, Sanskrit, Bengali, French, German, Spanish, etc., has mastered several musical in struments and the appropriate folksongs for which they are popular, is an opera soprano, a television star, a prac- tical arts and cooking expert and who knows what else Yet, none of these talents and abilities and activities produced in her the spiritual satisfaction for which she craved. Nor could it be found in religion; nor in the attempted formation of a home with a husband who no doubt loved her enough at first to give her all he was capable of giving . . . nor in handsome, healthy children who so desperately needed a mother’s love. In the wake of a search that for years ended in nothing, Sara's weight of guilt and frustration despite her own personal fame and one-time fortune became unbear able. That's how she came to the foot of the cross less than two months ago and started afresh as a forgiven, cleansed and fulfilled child of God. She is not very well and soon must undergo surgery, once she can lose 60 pounds or more, and Pablo's mental illness weighs heavy on her. She is also virtually penni less, as she’s turned her back on her former life as a per forming artist, but she is enjoying that peace that passes all understanding. I've offered to take Pablo back should he need us in the future. On Sunday morning a fine young medical student who will receive his MD in less than five months, began his physical exams on our growing family. Julio has decided to take us all under his professional wing as a ministry and so is part of our “diospaj Nan” team. That morning 27-year-old Miguel had a bad epileptic attack, to be followed by another at 4 p.m., right in the middle of our afternoon service that caused considerable consternation in our growing congregation of 50 or 60. That night, or early in the morning, he had a series of attacks, so 1 spent Monday morning at the hospital with him in Quito. He’s now on an extra medication which I'm controlling to make sure he doesn't fail to obey doctor's orders. Yesterday Luis had another attack, so my two epileptics keep me on my toes. That same morning I took 13-year old Gustavo into town to have his abcessed tooth pulled. It did hurt, but the visiting dentist didn't charge a cent and will be spending tomorrow afternoon out here to check on some of my other children. Before bringing Gustavo and Miguel home I indulged in a hotdog and out dropped another of my fillings. Slowly but surely I'm coming apart. Yesterday afternoon I had another visit from the ‘Yesterday afternoon | had another visit from the Russian Embassy’ Russian Embassy. At first I thought the five hefty men were innocent tourists. They had walked in to take pictures — at a distance — of my apartment — and when they ‘didn’t react to my English greeting I asked them what country they were from. The answer was “Russia” atid my presumption that they were from the Embassy was correct. I made the observation that they would surely not be pleased were I to walk into the Russian Embassy with my camera, etc., etc., etc., expressed my disgust at the abusive way the previous 15 or so Russian visitors had acted during their picture-taking spree a month or so ago, assured them I loved Russians for I'd once been a teacher of Russian young people in Canada, but that we were living in a world of political tension . . . that their pictures would make marvelous propaganda, but that actually this North American “Gringo” was caring for some 30 or so needy young people that included blind, epileptics and so forth and so on. Finally, they apologized, said they had to be on their way and then fled in their late-model car. The biggest of the lot I suspect to be the official bodyguard, though any one of the five would have qualified. He stood unsmiling and staring through cold, steel-grey eyes and gave the impression of being eight feet tall and three feet wide. I immediately phoned the head of HCJB's Russian Department who was duly concerned and then put through a call to my friend General Joel Zaldumbide, former chief of the entire Ecuadorian police force. He wants me to keep our street-gate locked and will send a police ear on the run the next time something similar occurs. It's consoling to know that the General and the Lord are on my side. And we've almost finished our two-and-a-half-metre-high concrete block wall that flanks the second level of property. John Munday PS. April 12 I trust spring has fully sprung and that all is well with all of you!