Sentence Finally Given

I know you are all expecting the tale of my journey home but this post doesn't actually require me to do much writing and is therefor less time consuming.

The two men who were found guilty of breaking into my father's home and attacking him and my brother were sentenced yesterday. You can read the article that was run in today's StarPhoenix newspaper below or it can be found online here. Please note that there is a typo. My father is 55 years old not 59.


Assault on father, son leads to jail time

Betty Ann Adam, The StarPhoenix

Published: Thursday, June 26, 2008

Two men who forced their way into a rural home and assaulted a father and son inside are going to prison.

Justice Ian McLellan had no pity for William Kominetsky, who was shot in the stomach by the Pike Lake-area homeowner he was assaulting on the rainy night of June 17, 2005.

McLellan refused to consider Kominetsky's wound a mitigating factor, saying he was the author of his own misfortune.

Kominetsky, 39, was sentenced to 41/2 years in prison for break and enter and assault causing bodily harm against Robert Stonehouse, 59, who later suffered a trauma-induced stroke from the attack.

Stonehouse also suffered a gunshot wound from the same bullet that pierced Kominetsky's stomach.

Stonehouse inadvertently shot through his own side as he reached across his front and tried to fire behind himself at Kominetsky, who was holding him face down on the sofa and punching his head.

Thomas Johnson, 31, was sentenced to 30 months for break and enter and assaulting Stonehouse's son, Dirk Stonehouse, 29.

Both offenders will have their DNA profiles entered in the national data bank and are prohibited from possessing firearms for the rest of their lives.

Crown prosecutor Sandeep Bains said it was a very disturbing case in which strangers entered a rural home and committed violence upon the occupants.

The prison sentences send "a significant message to the community" that people who commit home invasions will be dealt with seriously, Bains said.

Both Stonehouses used firearms from their collection to repel the intruders and were themselves charged with attempted murder. Both spent a weekend in custody before the charges were dropped.

The elder Stonehouse suffered the stroke while in custody and was taken to hospital, but returned to cells three times in one night, he said in an interview.

Roger Kergoat, Johnson's lawyer, said the incident occurred when rain prevented Johnson and Kominetsky from camping out and they decided to try to collect an alleged debt while they were in the area.

Both were drunk and belligerent when they knocked on the Stonehouse door and Johnson demanded money, McLellan found.

Robert Stonehouse said he had never met Kominetsky before and didn't recognize Johnson, who had worked for him briefly, years earlier.

Johnson punched Dirk Stonehouse and Kominetsky pushed past them into the house, McLellan found.

Robert Stonehouse hurried to call 911 but the call didn't go through because his son was using dial-up Internet.

Stonehouse managed to seize his .25-calibre pistol from the pocket of his armchair and warned Kominetsky but it did no good and Kominetsky attacked him.

Kominetsky punched Stonehouse on the couch and didn't stop even after he was shot in the stomach.

Dirk Stonehouse, meanwhile, had locked Johnson out of the house and tried to help his father. Kominetsky didn't respond when the younger Stonehouse punched him in the head and warned he would get a shotgun.

Before he could get the weapon, Dirk Stonehouse had to fight off Johnson, who had heard the shot and broken in again to help Kominetsky.

Dirk Stonehouse struck Kominetsky on the head with the shotgun barrel and the weapon discharged, though no one apparently was shot by it.

After the intruders left, police were notified.

When Kominetsky and Johnson were arrested they told police Stonehouse invited them over and then tried to kill them.

RCMP obtained a search warrant for the Stonehouse property and arrested and charged the victims.

Robert Stonehouse said outside court RCMP caused about $10,000 damage during the search and he still has not received back about $30,000 in property seized at that time, despite the fact it has been three years since the incident. He said he intends to take legal action.

McLellan on Wednesday ordered the return of Crown exhibits in the case but those do not apparently include the property Stonehouse alleges was seized.

Home Again

This will just be a quick post to let you all know that I arrived home in Saskatoon in one piece. Yesterday was my first day at home and it was definitely a full one. The next few days promise to be just as busy so I'm not anticipating any time to dedicate to blogging in the immediate future. Hopefully I'll catch you up on the epic return journey sometime soon and then my blog is bound to revert back to it's boring pre-India self again. :) If you're in the Saskatoon area give me a call and maybe we can get together. I'd love to tell you about the adventures in person.

Saying Goodbye To My Kids.

This past Tuesday was our first day back at Kalapani after being away for two weeks. As I was walking up to the school building I heard some kids yell out "Miss". Then Chetan and Sushil came running out of the classroom calling "Good morning Miss! Good morning Miss!" And one after the other they ran up to me with arms open wide and grabbed me in probably the best hug I have ever received. It nearly brought tears to my eyes and I've gotten a little teary eyed when I have thought about it since. A child giving someone a hug might not seem like that big of a deal to us in North America but here in India people don't really give hugs. Everyone shakes hands instead. This has been a bit of an adjustment for me because I like hugs. It has been hard saying goodbye to people and not being able to hug them. For me a shake of the hand just doesn't seem to bring enough closure. This unabashed show of affection from Chetan and Sushil really made my day. I know that it is going to be one of my fondest memories of India when I go home. That small event has given me some confidence that maybe I did make a bit of a difference in these children's lives.

Chetan on the left and Sushil on the right. I made them pose for this picture after class on Tuesday. Not only are hugs uncommon but so is smiling for the camera!

Today we went out to Kalapani for the last time. We have been going to the school twice a week and teaching stories from the life of Christ. (We also taught Sunday school using Old Testament stories.) We wrapped up our lessons on Tuesday with the story of the crucifixion and resurrection and today we had a fun day of presentations and goodbyes.

From the very first day that I went to Kalapani I fell in love with those kids. That first day they had no idea what to make of these white Canadians girls. Now just walking up the road to the school we are greeted with shouts of "Good morning Miss!" no matter what time of day. And on our way back down we are sure to be sent off with a "Goodbye Miss!" Even the parents of the children often greet us. I've gone from not knowing how to even pronounce their names to only confusing a few of their names because they look so much alike. Some of them have gone from being too shy to even try to speak English to being able to say some simple phrases. Spoken communication has been difficult but unspoken communication has happened on so many levels.

Today was a difficult day for me. I knew saying goodbye was going to be hard but I never imagined that my heart would hurt as much as it does. We started out our morning by handing out folders with all of the worksheets that they have done with us over the last 5 months. We also presented each child with a photograph of themselves. These kids have most likely never had their photos taken until we came along. They get so excited every time I pull out my camera and they always want to see the picture after I have taken it. I think they were pretty pleased when I gave them their photos today. As I called them each up one by one I went against the cultural norm and gave them each a hug. Some of them were eager to hug me and others didn't seem to know how to respond. We spent some time singing their favorite songs and then we went outside for a class photograph.

It was unfortunate that there were only 39 out of 53 of the students there today.

After our photo shoot we had one last go at "What time is it Mr. Wolf?" They really do love that game although sometimes their "What time is it Mr. Wolf?" comes out more like, "Wat choo a et mor woog?" or something of the sort. :) After they were all played out we served them cookies that Raysha and I had made last night. Soon enough it was time for them to be dismissed and the inevitable goodbye had come. I tried to say a little something but pretty much started to cry on the spot. They all kind of stared at me dumbly and I know they were thinking, "Why is Miss crying???" I think that most of them understood that this was the last time that we were going to see them as they all came and said goodbye two or three times. I was blown numerous kisses from Laxmi as she walked down the road and I was pretty much just a big blubbering baby.

I love those kids and I pray that the seeds that were planted in their hearts during our short time with them will one day grow into faith. Please join me in praying for these very precious children. Thank you to all of you who have chosen an individual child to pray for. There are still 10 more children who have not been chosen by someone. This includes one new student, Hinangshu Sinha who started coming to school while we were away. The others are Raj Chetri, Brine Marak, Aditya Singha, Emon Sangma, Ujjal Kalita, Sujal Singha, Rahit Sharma, Pawan Chetri, and Udiptta Sharma. You will find their photos here. Go and choose one and leave a comment letting me know. Thanks.

Five Months

Today marks five month since we left Canada. That means that in two weeks from today I will be back in Saskatoon. We are leaving Guwahati in four days. FOUR DAYS! It feels surreal. I've already started to assemble the complicated puzzle that is the contents of my suitcases. I'm beginning to think that packing could be considered and art form.

This is my travel schedule:

June 14
12:00pm, depart Guwahati - 1:10pm, arrive in Kolkata.

June 17
1:45am, depart Kolkata - 5:40am arrive in Bangkok.
8:00am, depart Bangkok - 11:45am arrive in Hong Kong.

June 19
12:45pm, depart Hong Kong - 10:00am arrive in Vancouver.

June 22
7:25pm, depart Victoria - 9:45pm arrive in Calgary.
10:40pm, depart Calgary - 11:45pm arrive in Saskatoon.

The McPerhouses will be hanging out in Calcutta for a few days and then spending a few days in Hong Kong with Harmony. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Calcutta than I did the first time but I'm not looking forward to the heat and humidity that we are going to encounter there. They tell me that it's worse than Guwahati, which is hard for me to imagine. I am really looking forward to seeing Harm again and eating some incredible Chinese food. That's probably my favorite memory of our first time in Hong Kong. Such good food! The McPerhouses will be parting ways once we hit Vancouver. I'm heading to Victoria to hang out with my old high school friend Crystal Peckett and the rest of them are headed to Regina. I can hardly wait to see Crystal again and have her show me her BC world. I'm also looking forward to getting home to Saskatoon and seeing my family and friends again. If you're in the Saskatoon area give me a call after the 22nd and we'll catch up.

Aizawl, Mizoram

As I mentioned in my last post Thursday took us from Manipur to Mizoram. The city of Aizawl to be exact. Both Autumn and Andrew were super excited to finally be returning to Aizawl. It is where they lived before they came to Guwahati in January. After spending time with them in Aizawl I now know why they like it so much. It really is a very nice place, very different from anywhere I have been in the North East.

Taken on the road between Aizawl and the airport. The drive from the airport to Aizawl was spectacular!

Aizawl is unlike any city I have ever visited before. It is a city on a hill, or if you are from Saskatchewan, a mountain.

It amazed me how all of the buildings were built on stilts on the side of the mountain. I can't even imagine the devastation that would occur if there was an earthquake.

Our time in Aizawl consisted of lots of visiting. Our first visit was to Supreme and Mary's house. They have a daughter, Shristi and an infant son, Christopher.

Here I am with Shristi and Christopher. Christopher was not at all fond of us white people. He cried when he looked at any of us. Lucky for me he didn't realized it was a white girl holding him until after we took the picture.

On Friday we went to visit the former campus of Silver Oak School where the McMillans used to live and work. A beautiful place that is now owned by the Indian Border Patrol. We also went to visit the new school which operates under the name Dr. Saptea Memorial School. Autumn and Andrew had the chance to visit with some of their old friends and classmates.

This was take at Dr. Saptea Memorial School...Nice view.

This shot was also take from the school.

Friday evening we had supper at Ginpu and Alemla's house. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of their family. Their daughter, Aran, is Autumn's age and their son, Dodong, is Andrew's age. Both Autumn and Andrew spent a couple of nights sleeping over at their house. Alemla is an amazing cook and a very pleasant lady to visit with. While we were there Aran took Raysha and Autumn and I to the highest point in Aizawl, maybe the highest point in all of Mizoram. It was a steep and precarious climb but the view of the city and the sunset was definitely worth it. I took a ridiculous number of photos and I had a very hard time choosing only a couple to post.

On Saturday we had lunch at Pu Moia's house. He entertained us with stories from his trip to the UK. He works with the Gideon's distributing Bibles in various Indian languages.

Pu Moia then took us to meet Becky's mom. I was really glad to have that opportunity.

Saturday afternoon Ray and Ellen took us to the big market in Aizawl. It was quite the experience with lots to see and of course lots of people. Ray and Ellen bought both Raysha and I a Mizo Puan, a wrap around skirt, as a thank you gift. There were literally hundreds to choose from so it was very difficult to make a decision. I absolutely love mine and I am very excited to wear it when I get home to Canada. I can't imagine wearing it in the heat of Guwahati, not even in the cooler temperatures of Aizawl. I'm not sure how the Mizo women can stand it. I would surely melt into a puddle!

Early Sunday morning I became sick again. It was really disappointing for me because it meant that I had to miss out on meeting a lot of people. I stayed at the hotel all day on Sunday and most of Monday. Monday night I did join everyone for supper at Ginpu and Alemla's house again.

Before we knew it Tuesday had arrived and it was time for us to head back to Guwahati. It was a beautiful sunny day and it stayed that way up until we arrived at the airport. The sky darkened and then unleashed a huge amount of wind and rain. We sat around the airport for a very long time before they finally announced that the flight was canceled. Canceled flights to and from Aizawl are not uncommon at this time of year with the Monsoon starting. The rain had stopped by the time we were making our way back up the mountain to Aizawl. Along the way we encountered a major landslide that had blocked the road. Eventually they were able to clear it away and the traffic slowly filtered through. There were many other small slides along the way but none that blocked the road.

The hills were even more beautiful after the rain. The clouds appeared to be almost resting in the valleys. Quite a sight to see.

The cancellation of our flight offered more opportunity for visiting. Wednesday's flight was booked solid so we had to get tickets on Thursday's flight. Every extra minute was well used. I know that Autumn was glad to have a couple of extra days. On Tuesday morning before we left the hotel she had said that she hoped our flight would be canceled. She got her wish.

My two favorite kids and I hanging out at the hotel.

We awoke to rainy weather on Thursday morning which made us wonder if our flight would be canceled again. Luckily by the time we reached the airport everything had cleared off. If the flight had been canceled our next option was to take a bus. Aizawl is 525 kms from Guwahati which would have taken 18 hours by bus. I was much happier to spend an hour on the airplane. The trip was great but it was very good to come home.

The last but not least of my news from our wonderful trip to Manipur and Mizoram was that I finally learned to solve the Rubik's Cube. Raysha started teaching me back in January when we first arrived. I said back then that I wanted to be able to solve it before leaving India. Figuring it out by myself didn't work so well but the mission was accomplished thanks to a lot of patient instruction from Raysha.

Yippee!

Imphal and Churachandpur, Manipur

So I guess I didn't keep you all waiting as long as I thought I might. For once blogger was not persnickety about allowing me to upload photos. On the health aspect of my life I'm feeling better just really, really tired. I think I'm on about a six day cycle so if I'm right it should be hitting again by Thursday. Here's hoping I'm wrong. :)

From the comments I got on my last post, I think that it may have sounded a bit negative. It wasn't intended to be that way. I was just making fun of the fact that I know that Ray and Ellen's family read the blog to see pics etc. even though many of them have never left a comment. I am very aware that there are people out there who are interested in what I'm doing. I mean really, who wouldn't be? :)

Now, what you've all been waiting for... The Trip! The McPerhouses, minus Ellen, flew to Imphal on Saturday, May 24th. Ellen joined us there on the 27th. When we came out of the airport I was glad to see some familiar faces. I started shaking hands and before I knew it I was shaking the hands of many people I had never met before in my life. At first I thought maybe these people were just trying to get in on the chance to shake a white person's hand but then I realized that there was actually just a really huge welcoming party. (I'm not expecting that kind of welcome when I get to S'toon...I fly in at 11:45 at night. Don't feel bad, I wouldn't be there myself if I didn't have to be!)

We went to Shyam Salam's house where I finally got meet his wonderful wife Peggy. I like her a lot! We were served a very tasty brunch and then took a much needed nap.

Peggy and Shyam.

Joshua then took the "young folk" to see the sights of Imphal. We visited a couple of Hindu temples. My favorite was the monkey temple. I fed bananas to some free roaming monkeys. It was good times.

He was one of the less scary looking ones. I held out the banana to him and he came over and took it right out of my hand.

After the Monkey temple we headed to Kangla Fort. It was established as the capital of Manipur by King Khagemba (1597-1652) and King Garibniwaz (1709-1748). Kangla was occupied by the British in 1891. During the time of British occupation the Palace was destroyed. Today there are only a few portions of the outer walls remaining. The Indian military took over Kangla in 1915 and remained there until 2004 when they handed it over to the Manipur government. It is now a historical landmark. (This info came from a sign at Kangla)

At Kangla. That is Joshua holding his son, Lulu. The guy on the far right is Tawkceu, from Myanmar.

On Sunday we worshiped with the Langol Church of Christ. I was asked to prepare a children's class for Sunday morning so I was pretty surprised when there were actually only 2 children and about 20 young adults. Not exactly what I had prepared for but I managed. Ray preached and then after lunch there was a time of fellowship which actually consisted of a lot of speeches and presentations.

A young man by the name of William spoke on behalf of the young people. He asked specific people he remembered who had been previously. Jason and Shannon Bandura, Jonathan Slywka, Jeremy Olson, Rachel Husband, Serena Bell and Harmony McMillan. He asked me to send greetings from the Langol youth to all of you. He said that they remember you fondly and the fun that they had while you were here. They miss you and pray for God's blessings in your lives. It was really very sweet. If you've been to India before it is guaranteed that you are remembered by the people here and it's very likely that I've seen some pretty funny pictures of you in their albums when I've visited their homes...Tim you had some sweet glasses back in the day! :)

Sunday afternoon at the church building.

A group "snap" taken during one of many "photo sessions" :)

After services we went visiting people in their homes. I met some great people and drank lots of tea! Good times!

Here we are at Thongkhanpao's house. His wife, Vialzaching, is suffering from cancer. She is a very sweet lady.

On Monday we visited Brighter Academy which is run by Shyam's daughter Betty. We ate a wonderful Indian breakfast with them. At the home of the McPerhouses don't eat curry for breakfast. It's pretty yummy if you ask me.

Here are some of the younger students during the morning inspection and prayer time.

We had the chance to teach some songs to classes 3 and 4.

After our visit to Brighter Academy we headed for Lamka in Churachandpur. The drive to Lamka was a really good one for me. I spent some good quality time listening and talking to God. I realized that I've allowed myself to get so busy doing other things that I haven't made personal time with God a priority in the last little while. So funny how doing good things can actually be a bad thing if you don't keep your priorities straight. I had lots of thoughts during the drive but I think I'll save them for another post.

The Lamka Church of Christ had a whole program laid out for us. One session Monday night, and then one in the morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evening on Tuesday. It definitely kept Ray busy and didn't leave a whole lot of time for visiting people in their homes although Ray used every spare minute to do just that. He was up before the sun and off visiting...I'm pretty sure he woke some people up. Again I met a lot of special people and drank lots of tea!

The Lamka Church of Christ building.

Listening attentively to Ray speak.

The brothers and sisters in Lamka singing in Paite. I really enjoyed following along in the song books and singing with them.

Ray with Amzathang on the left and Kamkhantang on the right. We had breakfast at Kamkhantang's house before we left on Wednesday morning. I really enjoyed him!

Here we are with Tualdouthang and his daughters, Siame and Naih.

This is Muana, a former ABC student with his wife, Chingbiakkim and their daughter who they named Harmony after Ray and Ellen's youngest daughter.

I love how they tie their babies on their backs.

We headed back to Imphal on Wednesday morning. Ellen had arrived in Imphal while we were in Churachandpur so we were very happy to have her with us again! We hung out with Shyam and his family for the evening. It was very enjoyable.

A very fun group of people to spend time with!

Joshua with his wife, Ranita, their son, Lulu and daughter, Hannah.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Manipur. Something that saddens me and has stuck in my mind is all of the division that I've seen amongst the churches of Christ here in India. It has been the most apparent to me when we were in Shillong and especially during our visit to Churachandpur. Please pray for the brothers and sisters here in India, that God would move in their hearts to overcome the divisions and break down the walls that have been built. I take comfort in knowing that God can do anything.

We flew from Imphal to Aizawl on Thursday morning but I think I'll write about Aizawl in a separate post. Stay tuned. :)

Back In Guwahati

Thirteen days and 31 cups of tea later I arrived back in Guwahati. It was two days later than we had originally planned but I guess that's what happens when you travel to Aizawl at the beginning of the monsoon season. It was a good trip. I met a lot of people and drank a lot of tea. I would have met more people and drank more tea but I got sick again while we were away. I have pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I'm going to feel yucky until I get home, have some blood tests done and hopefully receive a cure for this "Nasty-India-Sickness". Due to my feelings of yuckiness, all you die hard fans of my blog are going to have to wait a while longer for pictures and stories from our wonderful trip to the states of Manipur and Mizoram. I 'm pretty sure that most of the people who currently read this aren't really interested in me anyway. They either have or are related to someone with the name that starts with a Mc and ends with a Millan. Sorry to disappoint. Serves you right for lurking and not bothering to comment. :P