a reason to cElEbratE!

We (me and the other girls who were fortunate enough to go home for the month of august, Tiff and Laura) turned in our Newborn risk screening and provision of care assignment on Monday. The test for this assignment we completed (very confidently) on Tuesday. and tuesday NIGht Jonna and Lois took us out as a little reward for these accomplishments. ANd to renew us for the week ahead (Friday is the semester final exam..). Take out and a movie...then ICEcream (milo) and to MTS for a little truth or dare (and by that i mean dare or dare) initiated by Laura. It was a tuesday night, hardly anyone was out and we had to create our own fun and games. The jeepney ride back home, and stopping off for a late-night visit to Ate Nora's house (our ever-so-faithful laundry woman at the clinic) were especially fun.

yet another.. bOATtrip - sept'07

yEEE! amidst the all-nighter shifts handling 4 or 5 births within just a few hours, the constant nag of assignments due, and the stress of up-coming exams (really, it's not all that bad ;)) we were fORtunate enough to get to spend all day saturday out on the water. It's ALways such a fun, relaxing yet tIRing day of sun and snorkling and getting stung by jelly fish.. yes, I have another rash. but I didn't get burnt this time - I wore a big brimmed hat aLL day [fashion sense ANd protection from my wise gramma!] I think my favourite part of these boattrips are the ride back across the channel to the dock because everyone finds cRAZy and nEW places and positions to fall asleep.

"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!"

Our clinic has been through a tOUGh couple of weeks - what with the DOH (department of health) bursting in and giving us 15 days to comply with (UN)reasonable measures...all of which are underway. There are approx. 100 lying-in (maternity) clinics in all of Davao and WE, as Mercy Maternity, are the biggest of them all. We're like walmart...only with no sweat shops or cheap materials. The DOH has only found 14 clinics up to their standards, ours not being one of them. We almost closed down. Why? Not because we're dirty, or have malpractice, or anything like that...just because we're in a war against something bigger than ourselves. [OUR clinic gets in trouble for not having the cap screwed on tight to the container of our cottonballs.. when the public hospital gets away with cats running astray through the wards, blood splattered on the floor, not bothered with until the next shift].

Mercy is a great clinic, not ONLy because we are clean, but MORE so because of the people we serve. Most of our clients don't make more than $4 dollars a day (and that's being generous). And we give them free prenatal care, free labor and delivery, and postpartal care. We decided to show our patients jUSt hOW mUCh we love and care for them and their families by springing big bags of food on everyone who walks through the door, on some random day at the clinic. WE've done this before, the students just gather as much money as possible by a certain date, give it to our filipina staff to go to the market where they can buy lOADS of rice, and vegetables, and powered milk, and sugar, and such to bless our patients.

As I've said before, people at home just have such a heart for what I am doing here, constantly reading up on my blog, and girls have done this in the past where they throw this out there, and see if anyone would respond...
and so am i.
If you want to give ($5, $10, $1000) whatever you've got in your wallet at the time...(haha, Matt!) Just get the money to my mom 562-7400 - probably not so smart to put a telephone number on here but, she'll wire it to me, and i'll see that this foodbank at Mercy receives it. Oh my goodness...this thing'll be great, even if NO one gives any money! I cannot wait to see the reactions of our patients (a little disheartening, because filipinos tend to be shy and not as expressive as sOMe...but. mmm, it'll be sweet either way!) Pass on the word! and thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Isaish 58:6-8

.."when i'm lost, look at my picture of you."

Gian Brent Quilay, born this early morning at 3:37 am, sept.19th/07.
He weighs in at 6lbs10oz and is ABsolutely aDORable.
His mom, Joyce Carol, is an 18 yr old housewife who now has a son!

Two days ago, sept.17 I had the priviledge of catching the 5th baby of 25 yr old Elizabeth Somoza. It was a memorable birth story because by her LMP (last menstrual period) her baby was 47 weeks' gestation...let me remind you that NORMal is 40 wks, and our clinic refers those who are past 42 weeks because the risk is too high at that point. We kept her because she walked in fully dialated and ready to push and ALso because she'd had an ultrasound back in June changing her dates to make her 41 wks and 5 days (still late). We had NO idea when her bag of waters had ruptured, and i BASically pulled an overly done baby out of her little oven. Out with absolutely NO amniotic fluid, thick meconium staining and postdates, the brown/greenish stained baby was transported immediately to the hospital (although I saw her 8 hrs afterwards and she was doing much better). It was nuts though. I couldn't figure out what the mom was actually feeling, but I did make her laugh telling her that her baby was a little "burnt". Everyone's ok, praise the Lord!

the aMAZingg race - sa Davao

depicted here all the teams: yellow, blue, grEEn, and red. I was part of the bLUE team - we started at 9am and came in third place around 1:15pm where the prize for all was chicken bbq and garlic-fried rice.




They had us running all over the city. Each team got a budget to work with for transportation and other costs that would arise along the way. We weren't allowed to use taxis or hire any other sort of private transportation. There was karoke involved (Celine Dion favourites), a urinalysis, massages to new interns, ate Barbara at the market, random raw pig parts, durian paradise, bowling, internet cafes, second-hand shoes, a lIVE radio broadcast! (with monster radio, 99.5), pedicures, train rides at sm, and finally jack's ridge as the finale. SUCh a good way to see/get to know the city though.

OH! and, i almost forgot... HAPPY 25th ANNIVERSARY MOM&DAD!! (and Ted&Juls)(and someone else..i forget now who.)

http://www.chask.org/

we jUST found out that an intern we've been living under the same roof with, Sherry Bushnell, is the founder of an organization called CHASK - Christian Homes and Special Kids. Somewhat like an adoption agency, yet without the crazy expense, this organization encourages women who either cannot or don't want to keep their child with special needs, and then facilitates the adoption of this child into a loving home who would be able to love and care for she/he as needed.
Ok but, that's amAZINggg. I mean, what kind of person thinks this kind of thing up? I can't believe the character in which I am surrounded by. I am so completely blessed (and also guilty of second-guessing my thoughts if I were in such a situation). Please check out this website.

The Midwife’s Garden

A is for anise, sweet relief for the bowels
B is the butcher’s broom to shrink the womb down
C is for cayenne, its heat stays the blood
Dandelion greens should be boiled some good

E is for eggs, one a day cooked ‘til hard
Fennel brings mother’s milk and a woman’s blood
G’s the gooseberry, for pie or for jam
Hyssop, tansy, and mugwort for taking a bath
I’s the Irish Moss for blanc mange and stew
Juniper without berries is for making tea too
K is for kelp, when it’s dried it will keep
Labrador tea if you’re needing some sleep

M is for mustard, on her belly makes her bleed
N’s for the nettle, just the leaves, not the seed
Onions to the feet will bring down a fever
Pennyroyal’s tincture makes a tiny baby leave her

Queen Anne’s lace is poison, it’s not caraway
Red raspberry tea should be drunk every day
S is for sage, which makes the milk go
Thistle, that’s blessed, makes the milk flow
Unicorn, false, with bed and capsicum
Very good at keeping the babe inside his mum
Wintergreen tea is best made in the spring
X-cept for making jam, for the berries you must bring

Y is for yew, its stone will bring strife
Zest comes from lemons, oranges and life!

(i did nOt make that up...
but who knows,
maybe i'll have a garden like this one day!)

A few nights ago we went out to Gardena Fresca - a restaurant in a garden, beside a pond and whatnot. IT was such a beauitful night and such a good time.

our trip to New Carmen - aka. the DUMp

There's a guy from Austria who recently starting helping a couple from Texas, who have been living here in Davao for 5 years while they help a village not too faR from the city. The village of New Carmen is built on a landfill. The dump is still in full swing, as you will see in the pictures, and makes for a bleak view from the plateau that the elementary school and a few houses were developed on. These guys have been helping the filipinos of new Carmen to create a better infrastructure, plus ways to stablize the flow of income for the village. It's crazy how this "remote" village in only 15 minutes off a main road in my big city. I like how easy it is to leave the city for a day, breath some fresh air, and meet the kindest people Everrr.

This is the plateau where mOSt of the village is built on...

and thIS is the view from that plateau...the biGGest landfill I've ever seen - a far stretch from the dump at the cottage...there aren't any black bears here either ;)






Behind me in this picture is the piggery that is being built. A fish pond is also in the works, as well as a duck pond (fertilized, unhatched duck eggs are vERY popular in this country - you can find a nice hot egg with a 21-day old chick inside at almost ANy time day or night (supposedly it's very healthy for you!)).

The guys have also tapped into the natural spring that we are hiking to in this picture, and plan on brining the water right up onto the plateau for drinking water and the ladies with their washing.

AS of right now, they hike all the way to the source and carry out laundry up here, it's beautiful ANd cool in temperature, but not so practical or efficient.


and THIS. was the CUTEST. little boy ever...seriously, I would have taken him home if not for his mother and family. hahaa, oh my goodness - he wouldn't speak a word to me, just came up and grabbed my fingers with his little dirty hands, and touched my face, and rubbed the hair on my arms (uhh, i kINda felt like an animal at Zooz petting zoo but) It was awesome.

"home sweet home"

I didn't have time to miss this country and culture while home for a month, but as sOOn as I boarded the plane in Vancouver, the one headed to the capital of the Phils, Manila, I couldn't get over how much I missed these people. Tiff and I boarded the plane as "late shows" because our plane from TO had arrived late (and everyone had already boarded). As soon as we sat down these 2 nice, old filipinas were smiling at us, and started up a conversation.

Since that point on it's been nothing but blISS in regards to how I am treated. The airport personnel, the taxi drivers, random ppl on the street all go out of their way to smile, say hello, and accomodate us however we might need. Let me give you a few examples of the type of ppl I'm around daily:
Lois and I went to the market this morning but somehow got separated in the crowd... I was on the outskirts of the market, looking in to find her. I turned around and caught the eye of a cute, little, old man who raised his eyebrows at me and pointed with his lips to a particular aisle of the market. haaha, sure enough, I found Lois not too far in! He knew I was looking for the only other white girl in the place. It was cool.
and then,
Just on my walk home tonight from Aileen's house (which, by the way, her baby boy, Aijey, is growing like a beanstalk!...two months and he's changed so much! :S), anyhow, on my walk home these little boys were playing basketball. And the one with the ball raises his eyebrows at me a few times, I raise'em back and smile, and he goes "this one's for you" as he shoots the ball!! (aweeee.)(he missed but still. so cute!)

I also attended a ministry called Family Circus, you should look it up because there is much too much happening with that organization to type about on here. But, I attended one of there services this afternoon, kids of all ages and some moms came out to sing, recite bible verses, get food, and prizes. Oh mYYY, it was such a good time. Being around all these kids makes me kind of sad that I only work with moms who have tiny babies. Toddlers and children are just SO CUTE! I think I've decided that IF i were to ever open a clinic somewhere, there'd need to be an orphanage next door [michelle..are you up for that kinda thing?! :P][chrisTINE, you could teach!][and of course, Brianna would be the strength and encouragement behind the whole operation because SHE's the one who wanted to work in Africa in the first place]. Oh the possibilities!!