aMAZinggly relAXEd!

I had a bit of a crazy weekend, with clinic on friday, dayshift sunday, and clinic again monday morning.. we also handed in our Family Planning assignments, and took (and passed) the test for that, AND received our next assignment - all about genetic screening and diagnostic testing (which I'm looking forward to studying!) bUt. after the test on monday, Lois and I met Jenny and her dad who is here "on buisness" visiting Jenny! We were blEssed with the opportunity of staying the night at Paradise. and Uhh. Everything is right with the world (at least for now, in my mind).

the mysterious "Lake Agco"

1)on the way UP!..









2)in front of Lake Agco.









3)a view of the resort..









4)i've ALways wanted a pet monkey :|

Ate May and Kuya Arex, boiling the eggs:)

This past wkd I went with Rose to our supervisor's place in Makilala and took a day trip to Lake AGCO, located at the foot of Mount Apo (the tallest volcano on this island) to experience all of the natural wOnders of the mountain. The "lake", as they call it, turned out to be (for me) more of a pond! But, it was breathtaking, none-the-less! As you can see from the first picture, lake Agco was sO hOt it was boiling and steamy...we actually boiled eggs in it for part of our lunch! The people there say that the lake gets angry if it's noisy and steams up to hide - so we were all whispering :) hahah, it was so cool. Actually, it wOUld steam more if we forgot to be quiet...

Whaaat eeelse, there was a natural spring pool (freezing to everyone except me), a "mud" bath - which turned out to be just muddy water, although still natural, and warm. There was paths and trails, and boiling clay to cover your body with, and a steam cave - the steam was natural and smelled like sulphur, but the cave was man-made.. It started raining around 2pm and we waited it out until 5:30ish to ride back on the motorcycles we packed onto to get there. At that point, I could ACTually see my breath, which was aMAZing because I haven't experienceD that kinda thing since last, last winter. The filipinos kept saying there was smoke coming out of the mouth, and I was trying to think of the word we use for that, and couldn't...i think i've deduced that it doesn't exist.

It was SUCh a nice, relaxing weekend...getting out of the city is pure bLIss! I'll leave you with just one last picture, that was posted before the trail leading to mount Apo. It reminded me of the movie Hitch...right?!

it's finally Friday

and that means i was FINally able to hand out the bags of food we/you supplied, bought, and put together! THe first picture here depicts the girls dividing up all the food into individual blue bags - working hard on a friday night. And the next ones are of our patients receiving the bags after their prenatal, just before going home. We made ~350 bags, and handed out those bags ALL week, and there are still leftovers! It's been so amazing to bless these women in this way, a little extra somethin', for no good reason except that Jesus loves them!
Once again, thank you for your excitement in this. Through trying to show these girls love, i've been learning crazy new things about blessings myself, and growing in the process of putting my 'problems' or 'stuff' aside to help somebody ELSE out (whether that be at the clinic, or in a house brimming with girls who are all also missing home and whatnot).

an UPdate on Mercy.

and i DO mean "mercy"!! The DOH came in monday morning with comPLETely different spirits than before...she was open to the explanations Krys (our director) had to offer instead of cutting her off left and right. SHe was impressed with the changes we have implimented to comply with her demands, AND she agreed to take the issue of training foreigners to CHED (commission of higher education) locally instead of Manila, which is exactly what we wanted. The board here knows us, knows about us, and understands the impact we make in our poor community and I doubt they will have much of a problem with what we're doing. Although not completely resolved, there has been incredible headway made and it lOOks as though I won't be pACKin' my bags any time soon! thank goodness. [not that i don't want to come home, it's just...i wouldn't have anything to dO when i got there!] I'm sure you understand!

a little spIN on thanksGIVing feasts..

Let me start the pictures with the final product you see before you. Last Friday I was fortunate enough to accompany a few of the filipinas who, after calculating food and rations enough for 350 families, went to buy the stock. Here is the rice/noodle/and canned fish fest you see before you in the clinic's kitchen after much work of loading and unloading.

Our girls bargaining with the suppliers to get the best deal possible...when asked what this was all about, they simply replied their foreigner staff wanted to bless their people. Everyone was so interested in what was going on...and why (or how) we could buy so much rice.

A stock boy helping to load those huge bags of rice into the multicab.

The multicab packED full of good food! We got rice, mongo beans, noodles, canned fish, vinegar packets, soy packets, etc. to divide and fill individual bags for our patients.

aaaaand, the UNloading! It's kinda cool how this all worked out. We are ready to start this week handing out the food bags. Therefore, anyone who comes for prenatals this whole week will receive a bag of food. Tomorrow just so happens to be the day the DOH (department of health) is coming in for a "final inspection". The update there is that our clinic is fine, we will have our renewed license in hand this week...bUT, the DOH is concerned with the amount of foreign students working at the clinic. They still have the power to say we are not allowed to be helping out at the clinic in the capcity we currently are, which would ultimately shut down Mercy Maternity for lack of man-power. They are aware of this fact, and will hopefully see the care and compassion we have for the ladies we serve. The DOH has appointed monday morning at 7:30 am as a final review. We are excited it fell on this day, trusting and excited about what the Lord has for the clinic.

Thank you for your suppORt in all of this, it means such a great deal to me as well as the other foreigners living here and the native people of Davao..

@LL wør†h i†..

Last night's nightshift began with being endorsed Genevieve Batoon, an inactive labor who'd been at the clinic since 5pm. She was sleeping at the time, and I decided to let her rest instead of checking vitals right away. Every hour, on the hour, from that point on I'd complete my checks...and kind of sit with her while contractions grew stronger. It was a routine of ours that she would go to the CR (bathroom) at every check, so that was fun because sometimes she'd go before I'd ask! Her sister was dead asleep on the bed in the adjacent cubicle.

At 1am I found her on her knees beside the bed her sister was in, her labor much more active. She had SROM at 1:35 am and at 2 I did an internal exam to check her dilation. With a little anterior lip (left on her cervix), we suggested she move into a "hands and knees" position! OH my, i've delivered babies with women lying on their side before, which is prETTy easy to figure out... But completely upside-down required my fULL attention! (especially because she was emptying her bowels at this time..). It was her fourth time giving birth and therefore the span of time from "head visible" to "head out, baby out" was all within one contraction! I eased the baby down, and unwrapped the cord that had strung up the baby by the heels (literally). The baby thEN went under and between Gen's legs as she flipped over onto her back to wait for the placenta.

The baby needed to be deep suctioned, and was having a hard time with the transition to extrauterine life. I ended up transporting her to the hospital soon afterwards, which is a post in itself beCAUSE I carry in this (somewhat fragile) newborn only to find premature twins beside us in the ICU (one of which was being placed into a shoe box because he hadn't been strong enough to make it). Oh man...it was nuts. They're heads were sO smALL.

I was able to reassure Gen, after seeinG the twins, that hER baby girl would be ABsolutely fine! Our patients stay at the clinic until stabilized before joining their newborn at the hospital. I made Gen some breakfast (special priviledges for pt's without their babiesss :P) and was just finishing up paper work and such when she asks me "what name you?" (the literal translation of her language to mine) And I answered "jenna" - we had gone through this when we met, but she was in labor at that point, soooo. After a bit of silence I asked "do you have a name for your daughter yet?" and, in a tiny sweet voice she replies "jenna." Oh my goodness. How fUN! Next I asked "how will you spell it?" and she goes "just like you". AWE! Anyways, it's cool because now Genevieve has a daughter named Jenna :D

biGGESt Birthday Wishes...

dearest MOM, you know how much you've done for me (I live it everyday)...not only carrying me around for nine months, but for 23 years after this whole process you're still 'mothering', and 'gRANDmothering' now (not for me...for Rob.). Just wanted to thank you for how completely selfless you've been as a mom, and how incredibly helpful you always are to me. I pray nothing but another aaamazing year of your life, on thIS the day of your birth!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MA!~
i misssssssss youuuu.

nEW hobbIEsss..

bADminton!!

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!!

a month in review -

a liTTle nuts but, this is the first time i've had the chance to sit (currently in an air-conditioned coffee shop) and mull over what I could or should be doing this afternoon, eve, weekend, etc. let me explain:
i jUSt arrived home in South-east Asia after being "home" for an entire month - and whAt a month it was.. go.go.go. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. I'll try to update you all in 50 words or less..

. wedding day prep!

Brad and Christine Morgan's BIG DAY! (the beautiful bridesmaids)

. kittykats and homegrls <3

. the cottage and my gp's new pontoon boat

TORONTO! and the newest aveda star :D

. the newest addition to our family, my sweet new niece Alexis with her big brother Owen and their beautiful mom, Cindy

all of my dearest friends...all marrieds, as you can tell by the ring fingers

another perfect baby, Aysia Levi Ouwendyk with her proud (and already amazing) parents Michelle and Bryden - how was your holiday?!

OH my goodness, and there was so so much more. I just wanted to say how much i appreciated everyone welcoming me back into your lives...and making me feel so incredibly loved. My mom kept the fridge stocked with all the favs, someone was always asking me out for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and/or coffee [tEA] and whatnot... i was just so blessed. and refreshed.
I made it home ok, all the flights went well, although I will not be getting my luggage for another two days (hopefully, they said saturday so...) my bags got a little delayed at our first layover and didn't make it the rest of the way, so i don't even have unpacking to keep me busy!! But, all is well other than that. Thanks for praying over my journey across the world, and kEEp in touch!
ONLY ONE MORE YEAR!!
love