I started my career teaching through the United Church of Canada at Kung Lee College in Hong Kong in the 70’s. I subsequently taught Developmentally Delayed students, in St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. I have two children, Charlene, who is now in Medical school in Ireland, and Stefan, who has just finished a degree in Sports Science and Management. After retirement, I began to work part time in Pastoral Care with Eastern Health – work that I enjoy immensely. Meanwhile, my Church (Gower Street United) promoted the opportunity to contribute in a meaningful way to a just peace in the Holy Lands through a program of the World Council of Churches by becoming an Ecumenical Accompanier. So… after a daunting recruitment and training process, I am about to go to Israel/Palestine.
PatriciaInPalestine/Israel 
All the best to you in your courageous endeavours. I can’t think of a better person for this job. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the whole world had a just peace, not an enforced peace but a JUST peace? Thanks Pat for what you are doing to achieve that.
All best wishes Patricia.
You are remarkable for your sharing of love and peace.
Pat, I finally got to read your postings and I amazed by what you have said. Please take care of yourself and be careful, I hope you enjoyed the dead sea, that did sound nice! kisses and hugs
Pat, After such a long time, to connect with you on the other side of the world, leading such an interesting, humanitarian, and hopefully, a safe adventure. When I first met you, I was so impressed with your charm, talents, and kindness, and thought, at that time, you having taught in Hong Kong, was very exotic !! I will continue to enjoy reading your experiences, and hope that some day, our paths cross again. Stay Safe.
Sheena
I want to post quick hello and want to say appriciate for this good article. h2jpcbwT6aWBOT
Hi Pat,
I am so glad to hear from you and to be able to keep in touch now. Also, I can see your posts and I can picture where you are as I have been there too. I am holding you close to my heart -stay safe. -Much love, Eve
Wonderful to see that smiling face in the picture, is that Torbay in the background? I was just out to Clare’s for lunch with Sheila, Barb and Muriel. Lovely time with good food and company. i think of you often and hope you are well, but I worry a little considering that volatile area you are in. I pray the peace you wish for the peoples of these lands follows you wherever God takes you. Cherish this time. I hold you in my thoughts and my heart. Peace and God bless……Jim
Miss Pat, you know, I hope, how much I admire and love you. You are truly one of my heros in life and I am not in the least surprised to see where your retirement has taken you. You have always given 100% of yourself to others and I see in retirement you continue to do this. You are amazing and I pray that life brings you tremendous joy and peace. May God protect and guide you always.
Love
Colleen
Johnny’s Mom
Pat, I am so proud of you! More steps toward world peace! Thank You!!!
You may be interested in this:
Amir Ofek responds to the child abuse charge in the Guardian:
Your special report looks at allegations that Israel’s military justice system mistreats Palestinian children who have been arrested for throwing stones.
“Many are exhausted from sleep deprivation. Day after day they are fettered to the chair, then returned to solitary confinement. In the end, many sign confessions that they later say were coerced,” you state. But you omit the horrific nature of the atrocities that minors, some as young as 12, can be arrested for.
Hakim Awad, 17, is a minor. Last March he and his 18-year-old cousin, Amjad, brutally murdered the Fogel family while they slept. No mercy was shown to three-month-old Hadas, her two brothers (aged four and 11) and their parents. The scene of the crime, including the severed head of a toddler, left even the most experienced of police officers devastated. The duo proudly confessed to their killings, and they have shown no subsequent remorse.
Between 2000-04, 292 minors took part in terrorist activities. Shocking images of Palestinian infants dressed in explosive vests are only the tip of the hate industry that Palestinian children are exposed to. Ismail Tsabaj, 12, Azi Mostafa, 13, and Yousuf Basam, 14, were sent by Hamas on a mission chillingly similar to the one involving the Fogels, aiming to penetrate a Jewish home at night and slaughter a family in their beds. In this case, the IDF fortunately stopped them in time.
Of the detainees, you report dismissively that “most are accused of throwing stones at soldiers or settlers”, showing a bewildering disregard for this crime. Judah Shoham never reached the age of many of these minors, as he was killed by Palestinians throwing stones, aged just five months. Similarly, Jonathan Palmer never reached his second birthday; he was killed with his father when stones were hurled at their car last October.
Gerard Horton, of Defence for Children International, tells your reporter: “We’re not saying offences aren’t committed – we’re saying children have legal rights.” Israel is in complete agreement. In the face of ever younger minors committing ever greater numbers of crimes, its efforts to maintain and even increase legal protections are impressive. When a minor involved in terrorist activity is arrested, the law is clear: no torture or humiliation is permitted, nor is solitary confinement in order to induce a confession – which challenges the veracity of the accounts in your article.
Furthermore, a special juvenile court has been established to guarantee professional care for minors in detention. The above and other measures have succeeded in making legal proceedings easier for minors, and have almost halved their duration.
In the few days since the article was published, two minors (aged 16 and 17) shot at passing Israeli cars in the street. This was not the first crime these two had been involved in, having previously used firebombs as a weapon against Israelis.
It would be our wish that no minor would ever find themselves in Israeli custody. Unfortunately, we have to deal with the reality, not our dreams.
I don’t agree with the torture/abuse of ANY child for ANY reason.
Hi pat, have been thinking of you and wondering what you are doing these days, this post came up and i’m not surprised being the caring person that you are, are you still in palestine? Take care and wish you well
My name is Eddie wong and have taught in Canada and Kung lee with pat mercer. I am now in Melbourne and if pat still remember me, please write kwwong44@hotmail.com
how is life with you and family? i came across your name again after 5 years and still think about the good time we worked at kung lee. both connie boon and i are retiring at melbourne. 2 things i can still remember is you took me to your friend’s clinic opening at shaukiwan and you once borrowed a foldable bed from my mother at quarry bay. all these happened 40 plus years age. connie married again two years ago.
I am making a documentary film. In the 20 minute film we hear the stories of 2 young Palestinian women. They talk about living under occupation, specifically about going through checkpoints and the separation wall. I received grant money to make the documentary but there was not enough for me to travel to Bethlehem. I would like to use a few of your photographs, specifically the ones where people are trying to get through the checkpoints that you posted on July 16, 2015. Will you consider granting me permission? It will help so much in illustrating their stories.
I will be more than happy to share a link to the documentary with you so you can see how your photos will be used.
I very much appreciate your consideration.
Many thanks, Jules Hart