Outreach

My favorite day is when we go on outreach. Usually six of us midwives pile into our jeep and go to one of the four local tribal villages that we visit. Pakak, Lacnog, Highway Pakak, and Ileb. It is anywhere from a 25-50 minute drive and is always an adventure! You are sure to see Caribou, pigs that are suicidal and begging to get run over, rice fields, mountains, and people drying rice on the road. Once we are at the village we go to a home that someone opened up for us and wait. Sometimes we go roaming the village or the rice fields searching and gather women for their prenatal. One time we helped plant rice so that the pregnant women could come! Once all the women are present we give a lecture about prenatal care, or nutrition, or family spacing methods, or postnatal care. We then have a bible study and merienda (snack)! Then give each pregnant woman a prenatal check up or a postnatal baby check. Most of the time we stay for a little while and visit with different people in the village.

Apologies

Just in case anyone hasn't noticed I am not the best blogger in the world. Things get so busy and time to rest becomes precious, and when you do get to rest you don't want to do anything but rest. I also am a bit of a perfectionist and so it takes me quite a while to write what I want and then fix this and tweak that, until it is exactly how I like it. And intentions, no matter how noble, don't mean a thing when it ain't got that swing, or when their is no action associated with it. I am sorry to all my family and friends who are continually wondering about me and wanting to know how I am doing. I will now start with a clear clean slate and write, and write, and write some more.

Oh What I Didn't Know!

This past week I have learned many new things. How to butcher a chicken Filipino style. That this southern gal can pluck a chicken faster then three Filipino men! How to get your visa extended. That if you put a plate (that has cookies and ants all over it) in the freezer you can salvage the cookies! That geckos can urinate and lay eggs while upside down on the ceiling over your head. Cockroaches bite. And that sifting flour isn't just for separating the wheat and the germ....its for separating the flour from the weavels. All in all it was an enlightening week.

White Water Rafting

Yesterday we went white water rafting on the Chico river! I've been rafting a couple times before on the Ocoee in Tennessee, but this was an entirely different experience. We started the day at the local hotel meeting our guides and piling into a jeepney (think of an elongated hummer that is skinny). We had the deflated raft, paddles, snacks, flotation devices, and helmets along for the ride as well. We took a hour drive up through the Kalinga mountains which was one of the most beautiful drives ever! On the trip up we were on narrow roads and had mountains on one side with mudslides (which put nice size rocks all over the road) and a drop off on the other; plus the roads were excruciatingly windey. And just to add a little more excitement some of us road on top of the jeepney! Once we reached our destination we all gathered while our guides filled our raft with air and got everything ready. It was an eight person raft and there were six of us from the maternity clinic. So two experienced rafters came with us plus our guide. It was so nice that their were no other rafts around, just us. The river was very wide and had a lot of calm parts where we could enjoy the beautiful scenery and was it ever beautiful! While in some of these calm parts we past a few natives fishing and bathing. At one point we stopped at a beautiful waterfall and ate some snacks. The Chico river has some class four rapids and boy were they fun! I couldn't really get pictures when we were in the rapids and so here are some from the company that took us on the river: http://www.chicoriverquest.com/gallery.php ! Once we got back on the jeepney we went to their headquarters where they fed us a delicious filipino meal! All of us got a bit sunburt. So now I have a bunch of guinea pigs who want to try my after sun essential oil mix that I made. Its an assortment of carrier oils with lavender, geranium, and chamomile, and so far it seems to be doing wonders!

The Market and Food

Today I went to the local market with three of the ladies here. We took a tricye (which is a motorcycle with a side car, two girls on the back of the motorcycle and two girls in the car on the side) there and back. Its a five minute drive into town and it costs 10 pesos (22 cents) to go just about anywhere. Apparently four white girls going anywhere draws a lot of attention and with us all crammed on a tricye we were quite a sight to be seen! We walked through the busy streets going in and out of shops and stands getting some familiar and some not so familiar food items. They have green oranges here (which are the same shape and size of an orange but green like a lime) which they have the nerve to call oranges, which I think kind of defeats the purpose of an orange being called an orange. I found out where you can get a ton of squash blooms which I will be getting soon and will prepare a wonderful southern dish! Wonderful note: Filipinos eat potatoes! YEA! We then visited the Buko Brothers (my favorite place in the market so far) and got fresh buko juice (young coconut juice)! YUM!

One of the best parts about the Philippines is how and what they eat. They don't use any form of utensils, just there hands! A typical breakfast, lunch, and dinner looks like this: For breakfast we have had dried fish, rice and bananas. At lunch we have had mongo (mung) beans with tomatoes, chilies, watercress, and rice. At dinner we have had whole chicken broken in pieces in a pot of water with cabbage, tomatoes, ginger, and garlic, with kangkong (a wonderful leafy green) and rice. And possibly later or in between we might have rice pudding. And I can't emphasize enough how much fun it is to eat with your hands!

A Normal Day

The schedule for Abundant Grace of God Maternity Center is as follows. We are open for prenatals Monday-Thursday 8-5(which made today my first day of a normal clinic day.) On Friday we go on an outreach to a local tribal village, giving them prenatal care. Saturday is cleaning and chores day. Sunday we go to church and rest [unless of course we need to do laundry(which is done by hand) or if their is a birth! Which is very likely since the range of births per month is between 20 and 30!) Since we offer all our services for free it seems that everyone in Tabuk is pregnant and needing a prenatal, or a postpartum, or is giving birth! Today we saw twenty or so patients. Most of which came for prenatals, a few for postpartum, and one who is in labor! It was very busy around 10:00. There were three midwives on duty, a teacher from the local school and her three students, and me, and we couldn't seem to keep up for a little while. I prepared the patients files, took their bp-blood pressure, pulse, weight, temperature, and basic info. I sat in on many of the visits, helped the midwives, cleaned the clinic, studied the language, studied about breast feeding, held multiple babies, and enjoyed every minute of it!

The Pure Christian Heart

Today I went to church in Pakak, the local tribal village we were in last Friday on our outreach. It was such an amazing experience. The people there have such a pure heart and want to please God and love Him whole heartily. The worship was so full, so very sincere. There was a time of singing, a time of sharing (at this point all visitors (me!) are expected to sing a song in front of the entire congregation! I said a few words and then sang "Here I am to Worship"), a time of teaching from the pastor, and another time of sharing and singing. It seemed as though most everyone got up at some point in the service and said or sang something; whatever they felt led to do. Everyone sang what they wanted to, and praised how they wished to, and said what they felt needed said, whatever they needed to do they did wholeheartedly! After the service we ate with the pastor and his family. We were expected to bring food and did so for them to cook with there own. We had a good time of fellowship, in which I learned a lot about there culture and customs before there tribe was Christian and what changed after they became so. The conversation was choppy and took a lot of listening intently to understand for it consisted of English, Butbut there tribal tongue, and Ilanacano; the language of the people in the Kalinga region. There was translating and trying to figure out what words to use that made sense in each language, etc. It was quite a trick!

Once back in town we went to the local market and got some needed supplies and buko. Oh, wonderful buko! We go into the market weaving like a labyrinth to find our hidden prize, and once found they use a machete to brake it, pierce it, and open it up like a chest of gold and then proceeds to pour out the water of nourishment that quenches thirst and keeps you hydrated; fresh young coconut juice! Yum!

My First Birth!

I have finally witnessed my first birth here in the Philippines! It was beautiful! Such a lovely birth! There was a shoulder dystocia, but only for two minutes. And so it was a birth with slight complications that turned out well! The family and mother were so calm even when things were difficult. This was their fifth child and she seemed overly calm during the two minutes of us pulling and prodding trying to get the babies stuck shoulder out of the birth canal, taking comfort in her previous experiences. Since this was my first time witnessing as a student, I was the official observer! I also took vital signs (bp-blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory, temperature, etc.) of both mother and baby, and I documented the birth and the statistics on all vital signs etc.! The mother thought it was lucky a lucky birth, because she was 35, and it was the midwife's 35th birthday, and the assistant midwife is 35, and the main midwife who is 37 weeks pregnant is 35. The baby's placenta (or life support; giver of life) was born at 2:35, and the baby weighed 3.5 kilos! I believe the birth was full of Lavished Upon Christ's Kindness! It was beautiful!

Before all this occurred all the midwives and I had devotionals in the back yard. We talked about some verses and prayed over each other butbut style (or Asian style, or whatever you want to call it. They called it butbut, which is one of the tribes near here), which means that everyone prayed at the same time. It is so wonderful to be with these women, that put God above everything else and make it a point to have Him be the center of all they do!

My first outreach day!

Today we went to a local tribal village about 45 minutes away and did our outreach program. Which we go and do every Friday. Seeing four different villages a month. We go and give the woman a informative lecture and then proceed to do prenatal checkups, give the women prenatal vitamins, and pray with them. It is very hard to see so many woman with young children (some of which had no clothes on) in such hard circumstances. Many of the children were crying while we were there (this is mostly due to our white skin). I never thought of myself as being scary looking, but apparently I can be (next time we go maybe I will brush my hair first!) The drive there and back is positively gorgeous. There are so many rice fields which are beautifully engineered. They just harvested a few weeks ago and so they are pretty barren, but some parts they have already planted again. And so every so often you see some spots of sprouted rice, and it is the most vibrant green and reminds one of wheat grass. Once back to the maternity center we had lunch and proceeded to our afternoon of rest. Which has been quite a lovely thing. I am getting over the jet lag, but I'm not quite there yet!

I'm finally here!

And so i have made it to my destination in Tabuk. And lets just say the journey here was...different. The driving in Manila.....well....there were really four lanes but there were six rows of cars, and motorcycles in between! I'll leave the rest up to your imagination. The plane ride was gorgeous, we flew over the Kalinga mountains. We arrived at the smallest airport I ever have seen (the photo shows the entire extent of the airport. It is looking out from a little building the size of a small barn. This is the plane I came in on.)The ride from Tuegagarao was the winedyest road that has ever existed! And the entire trip was through the Kalinga mountains and oh but it is beautiful! The country here is so beautiful! The Abundant Grace of God Maternity center is located in a peninsula sorounded by rice fields and the Kalinga mountains! I went for a walk this afternoon with some of the ladies here and met some of the locals at the food market, in the neighborhood, and in the rice fields. There are animals loose everywhere. From goats and chickens to water buffalo and dogs the streets are frequented by them. In fact when walking through the rice fields we came upon a water buffalo and her calf....she proceeded to charge at us. We decided to take an alternate route and leave her be!

On a somewhat comical note: I seriously haven't had to use the restroom all day. All the water I drink goes straight out my skin. I have probably sweated more today than with an entire week of P90X! In other words it is excruciatingly hot!

And thus my journey begins. I arrived in Manila late Tuesday evening after a three hour flight from Seoul, South Korea and after being on one of the longest flights known unto man. After the thirteen hours from Atlanta to Seoul I was exhausted, in need of food, and had terribly swollen ankles. After searching through the most enormous airport I have ever seen (which had a subway system in it) I finally found a money exchange counter and got some Korean money and some Korean nourishment. It was delicious! (this pic is for you Tucky! J) Being a holistic nut and and studying to be an herbalist I have brought multiple herbs and essential oils to use during my stay. And so once I was situated in my hotel I began rigorously applying lavender to my ankles, thyme to the toilet seat, and inhaling lavender and geranium to help me with jet lag and sleep.

Wednesday I mostly tried to stay awake and was constantly inhaling peppermint and eucalyptus and applying grapefruit to my neck. It must have worked wonders, because I managed to stay awake until 10pm. At which point I proceeded to try and sleep. Sleep can be a beautiful thing when peaceful and intent. Or it can be a trial; a constant struggle to be or at least appear to be at rest. For when the body is not able it is not so much a refreshing experience as it is exhausting and work. Making yourself enter into a peaceable slumber is not possible. You can be uneasy or awake and yet asleep. Waking yourself up because it is not the correct time to sleep and then making yourself return to the place in which your body is rebelling is so very difficult and in the end gives you not the intended result. Hopefully at the next time when I should be sleeping my body will be so exhausted that it will finally oblige me in my endeavour. I feel as though I have had three or five naps over the past 72 hours.

I will be leaving shortly to get on a plane yet again, which will take me on an hour flight to Tuguegarao and there will I get an hour ride to my final destination: Tabuk!