Hello to all of you from the Jelsmas in Manila. First of all for those that did not see the thank you note from us on the Cedar Grove website; thank you so much for the packages that were send our way. Often we think of you especially when we drink a good old Tim Hortons [I forgot how many pounds] that was send by you. We felled so blessed and encouraged by you all. Besides that we are amazed at your personal support and of course the direct support from Cedar Grove. You our support team, make it possible for us to serve the poor, and to learn so many things, we are very grateful to you all!
On April 21st Marijke’s fifth birthday, at 6.00am in the morning I got a call from Jocelyn saying that the bags are packed and that we are going on a little outing for three nights with our family. Jocelyn was on night shift that night. We had talked about getting out of the city with our family at some point but were not able to make plans. But, Jocelyn did and really surprised me with going to Puerto Galera on Mindoro Island. Our driver picked us up at 7.30am as Jocelyn came of shift and of we went. It was a good 2 1/2 hours drive to Batangas where we got a boat to Puerto Galera. It was a mad house arriving in Batangas. So many people try to grab your bags so they earn a few pesos. Also they try to sell you tickets for the ferry. To us was recommended to buy the tickets inside the main building, so that is what we did. We just wanted to gather our thoughts as to where and what we needed to do but it was so noisy and people kept bothering us. I stayed with the kids and Jocelyn went to get tickets. About 30 minutes later we took of in this boat to a different world. About 1 hour and 15 minutes later arrived in the village of Muelle. From there we took a tricycab with the whole family. Matthijs sat right in front of the driver, he loves that!! Halve an hour later we were dropped of at supposedly our little resort at the beach. There was no record of us coming but apparently we were booked into a residential place. The person in charge that had expected us brought us to this house. My first impression was, oh my goodness what is this?? Is this going to be our relaxing family weekend away? The sewage canal was running outside the kitchen, holes in the sheets, then there was the cat inside, ants everywhere, mosquito’s already got me [ok, maybe not]. The man of the house came by a few minutes later to bring us a plug in insect repellent thing. Anyways my head was a little downcast thinking at the start of this romantic get-away. A little later we did get it all packed up again and went back to the place we were first dropped of. They did have a room for one night, so we stayed there for the night. What relieve that we got his place. The rest of the day stayed at the resort and had fun playing in the water. Jocelyn and the kids had never been at a tropical beach, this was the first time for them. We also had to figure out where to stay the next two nights. The next day we went to a place where the snorkeling is really good. This was definitely the highlight for all of us. All of us had a change to have tropical fish eat out of our hands. Nemo was around to the excitement of the kids, also other characters from that movie. Also during this time we visited the Mangyan tribes. Jocelyn went into the Three Sisters clinic and had opportunity to see the clinic and meet the nuns. One of the nuns took us to the tribe to see how they live, what the needs are and what the nuns have done. This tribe is very primitive and is lacking some basic necessities. The Mangyan people account for about 10% or 100.000 of the population of Mindoro Island.
They were driven into the jungle when the Spanish came.
April 29th 2006 Already, at 8.00am it was so hot in our house that sweat drops were on our foreheads, especially on Matthijs.
April 30th Saying goodbye’s again really sucks. The other Canadian Family that was here the Woods, left today back to Winnipeg. We got to know them really well. Our kids played lots with theirs and we went out with them as well. People come and go; new people arrive in May and June, and still others are leaving. Also the medic team will be in town for two weeks doing outreaches.
May 5th Marijke was sad thinking about the Woods and saying that she is missing Asher. Matthijs was sitting there too and said, I am not sad I said goodbye!! That sounded so funny.
Life here continues to be a life of extremes. There is so much wealth and so much poverty. Two days ago we saw a little boy trying to sell his little flower strings. He was maybe three, and already learned how to beg to put up the saddest face trying to convince people. Wherever we go we are faced with poverty. At our home often beggars, either children or adults come to our door. We sometimes give them, clean water, crackers, fruit, and vitamins whatever we have. Not all the time though as this can get out of control very quickly as we have experienced before. They also take our recycling so they can earn a few pesos.
May 6thWe went to Laguna with the medic team. In Jan the team here went too a program called IFL. This is an orphanage, school and self sustainable agriculture program. We just went to reconnect with the people and the week after they did a health teaching. I might go here in the fall if schedule permits with the new team to go through the program.
May 7th I started to use this different deodorant but my skin is getting irritated from it. Very soon after, weird looking puss filled blister are appearing. We are looking in our books and internet to try to diagnose what this is. Others are concerned it may be shingles so our whole family is not allowed to the clinic or church. Shingles can cause great complications for pregnant woman and baby. A doctor that is just here for a few weeks from the States has a look and can not rule out shingles. We continue looking and diagnose it as impetigo, as this comes closest to all the symptoms. So, I took antibiotics orally and also antibiotic cream. It took a few days before it all cleared up. Thankfully it was not shingles, it would have been much more painful, and isolation long….possible long vacation!!
May 9th Medic outreach in Welfareville. We treated about 90 people this day. I was able to go as our home help is working out very good so. We have someone now to stay with the kids. This week I also took two teams of medics through Welfareville to show them around and connect with people. They had not been there yet as most of their time was spent in the mountains.
May 12th we had five Filipino kids over at our house for the afternoon. It was nice to have these kids over. We played go fish and they ran around. I also wanted to share some scripture with them about who Jesus is, what He has done for them, and how much He loves them. I had asked Jhun [a Filipino watchman at the clinic] to translate to make sure they understood. After sharing I asked if anyone had a question. One of the girls asked why Jesus had to die on the cross.
May 15th Jocelyn and I went out on a date. One of the things we did is getting a haircut. Normally I pay 50 pesos, but this place was 250 pesos, so five times the amount but still only 5 bucks. For us this is very little but for people here it is a lot. When I walked the babysitter back that evening we came across several people sleeping in alleys. This is a very common sight. We never seem to be able to escape the touch of poverty.
May 17th This morning we said goodbye to the medic team. They are finished now with their commitment and go onto other things. Some have plans to return to the Philippines long term, others don’t yet know or go elsewhere.
Somewhere in here we were surprised by an unexpected visit from Connie Mumford from our home church in Surrey. She showed up at the door while I was in Quizon at a feeding program. It was wonderful to see her. I took Connie through Welfareville and visited the family that I have reached out to for the last 2 months. God really used this time. I always pray with the family after doing checkup. This time I did as well. We thanked God that the kids are completely healed from the scabies. They had received a bible in Tagalog three weeks prior to this and found out that the mom had been reading it every day. Connie asked a few questions in Tagalog and soon the mom indicated that she wanted to give her life to Christ. It was a beautiful time. I shared some words as well, while Connie interpreted. We led her to Jesus that day. What a great time and privilege it was to be part of that and that God used Connie to reach out to her own people while being here.
June 10th It has been three weeks now since I wrote last in this journal. Things have been very busy here. Jocelyn became an intern a few weeks ago so has added some more responsibilities. Besides that there have been a lot of births in a short time so not much sleep for Jocelyn’s team and other teams also. During this time we also moved to a different house down the street. A little bigger but the same price, can’t beat that! Then there were other added things in our schedule, like the Fiesta that the girls participated in and having to get organized to get the girls registered for Montosori School. Neat less to say we were really burned out. The schedule continues to be very hectic but we seem to be dealing with it a bit better. This far Jocelyn has attended 48 births and out of that has caught 22 babies.
I just finished reading ‘Wild at Heart’ This came at a time I really needed to read a book like that to focus on myself as I felled like I was losing myself in the midst of it all. God is good and He is shaping us through all this.
Now I am reading ‘The Heavenly Man’. This is the remarkable true story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun. So far it is shocking, challenging, encouraging and amazing.
Love to hear from you, drop us a line!!
Greetings from Richard and the Family.
Family Ice Cream
April 2006 Kalinga tribes
Well I went with 6 days notice to the tribes!!
April 1st – 16th 2006.
First of all, thank you to everyone that prayed and thought of me and my family back in Manila.
I left on April 1st at 10pm with a night bus from Manila to Tabuk(in the province of Kalinga). During the night we stopped occasionally for a break. At one point we stopped for an hour because we had come across another bus that had broken down. Our driver decided to help the other bus. He even took parts from our bus to fix the other without success. We ended up taking most of the stranded passengers onto our already overloaded bus. I didn’t sleep much that night mainly because I could not put my seat back into sleeping position because someone was right behind my seat. After 11 hours, 9 am, we arrived on Jan 2nd in Tabuk. It was great seeing all the people again from the medical team that I had trained with in Boise.
Three people had planned to stay overnight in one of the resettlement villages, so I decided to join them. Later in the afternoon we left by jeepney to the village of Pakak. It was just a 15 minute hike from the main road. This town just had electricity installed last month. Before electricity, the village would be at rest by 9pm but now there is even tv! In the evening we saw a large group kids and adults watching a cheesy movie. On the way to Pakak we had picked up “fresh” chicken to give to the pastor there. So, when we walked into Pakak we went straight to his house. We were greeted by him, his wife and the elders from the village. I experienced my first Kalinga coffee with an abundance of sugar that was already added. In the evening we ate at the pastor’s house and heard many stories about life in the past and present. Many years ago he, his family and the Bugnay village they lived in often sacrificed animals to evil spirits, and they were under spiritual oppression. This was done when someone was sick, as they believed that the spirits were upset with them and this was to satisfy the spirits. They lived in constant fear. His wife was demon possessed and often unconscious. In 1987 there was a big earthquake in the Bugnay, so at that time they birthed the new village of Pakak, a But But resettlement village down in the valley. Many also left Bugnay because of persecution and hunger.
Two of the medics had planned to do a dental outreach the next day. One pulled teeth and the other cleaned. I assisted a little just handing them whatever they needed. I observed a dental outreach for the first time.
Later in the day another medic and I left for the But But village named Ileb. We met the rest of the team in Ileb. [Around 20, this included our Filipino director and 5 other interpreters]. The purpose here was a medic outreach focused on ages 5 and under. The WHO (World Health Organization) came up with an international program called IMCI, this is a way to medically classify the child and provide appropriate teaching for the mother or caretaker of the child. This system is very helpful and makes sure that you don’t miss the most obvious and gives guidelines for use of medicines and that we refer the patient to other health authorities where possible and necessary. All the kids were weighed, checked, treated and prayed for and hopefully set on the road to good health!
On April 5th we left for the 9 days of hiking to tribes and for some time of relaxation.
The plan had changed a little as it was not safe going into one of the villages. Apparently someone had killed a pig that was not theirs; they had been seriously fighting over this including some stabbing with a knife.
The first village was Sumadel, area Tinglayan, province of Kalinga. We drove on top of a jeepney for a few hours and then another one for a while to the start of the trail. Just the drive was quite an experience with the fresh Kalinga air [contrary to Manila] and really steep scary drops on this narrow road. We were greeted by a large group of locals to help us carry all the medical supplies and food items. The hike on these trails between magnificent rice fields, steep cliffs, mountains and scorching sun, was about 2 hours into the village. We were welcomed with open arms as special guests. In this town there is a small nursery started by the Anglican Church where they grow small pine trees and coffee to plant into the hillsides. Wherever we went, people wanted to feed us and drink coffee together. Needless to say, we often ate several meals in a row. It would have been an offense to these wonderful people had we said no.
Early the next morning we set up our clinic to start at 8am. We had several stations; check-in where BP and pulse is taken and their chief complaints recorded, weighing station, 2 ICMI, wound treatment, and 2 stations for older people [including one with a Filipino doctor named Francis, who recently became a believer. He came along with us to the first village] and dental station. We treated about 200 people and prayed with each one. There were many with TB and pneumonia, ear problems, arthritis, ulcers, UTI etc…It was such a joy to be able to help these people and pray with them and to learn more about how to treat and diagnose. During the day we were continually fed with rice in many forms: regular rice, red rice, sticky rice, and rice soup. I couldn’t stuff it all and got a little sick of rice!! At the end of the day enjoyed another meal, this time with cabbage, green beans, a little pork and ooh, of course rice.
Later in the evening, the community came all out as they had organized a big, long cultural fest for us. There were speeches and songs of thankfulness, dances with playing gongs and flute and other songs. We were also pulled in to dance and play the gongs, it was so much fun. They also did a special dance with a warrior and a man of peace with a bible. At the end the bible was put down in the middle and the spear put on top, there was peace now. God’s word and a relationship with Christ brought peace to their village. It was very encouraging to see and hear this. Two years ago they were fighting the village next to them over land use and borders. It was really funny that the captain kept telling us: “Our village is safe. There are no terrorists here” Of course their village was the safest.
We also sang a worship song and one person gave a testimony, played violin and guitar. Toward the end of the evening a person stood up and told us that we could not go yet because not everyone was helped. ( We still had several villages to visit and needed medicine for them as well) A good thing was that the captain was on our side. It made us all feel a little uncomfortable and we all looked down to the ground. Before we started clinic we were clear about the maximum amount of people we could help due to our med supplies and also our schedule as we had to continue hiking to the next village. In Sumadel I also had opportunity to share my testimony and faith with 4 people from a cult (Iglesia di Cristo). They don’t believe Jesus is God and need to do all these deeds in their life to have some kind of assurance of salvation. We were able to talk for 3 hours.
I also had the opportunity to pray for a miracle in Jesus name for the couple who have been unable to bear children for 6 years.
Later the following day, we left to the village of Danaoa. We were met in Sumadel by people from Danaoa to help us carry the supplies.
This was by far the most strenuous hike, about 6 hours through rice terraces and mountains. Welcomed again with open arms, were well fed, food and coffee non-stop. The next day at our outreach saw 128 people and we were done at 5.30pm. That evening we had supper at the Baptist pastor’s house. It was nice because they served us sweet potato as appetizer, I took it as the meal. For supper was rice and beans. Before the meal we had some mountain tea…very tasty. After supper we were really tired and ready to go to bed. It was around 9pm by now when we found out that they had slaughtered 2 pigs for us. Well not only for us, actually the whole community came out and put on a party!
It started with the pastor reading some scripture and then several people from our team including myself shared our testimony. At around 10pm the music started, with gongs and dance. Also here just like in Sumadel they made us play the gongs and dance, more for their amusing entertainment seeing these North Americans make fun of themselves. It was great!! By the way the gongs are held by a string and attached to it is either some kind of stick or in some cases a human jaw bone. (See the picture on shutterfly.) We were reassured that this one was not of a victim from the past but that of a family member. Later in the evening they randomly picked out a girl and a boy to come up and sing together to try to match make. So, almost all our team had a turn. Some a little embarrassing, especially when they got sung to like it was the love of their life. I’m glad I got out of it; actually I was in hiding during that! One thing that was really good for me is that I had a picture of my family. Wherever we went almost the first question would be, are you available? Then I would pull out my card and play it.
We didn’t eat until 1.30am on Sunday morning. The whole town was still active, including kids. They had brought out planks to put all the food onto, served in rows of bowls. It was impressive. On Sunday went to the Baptist church at 8.oo am with our whole team… eyes half open. The pastor was wide awake, the few hours of sleep did not seem to bother him. We sang a song with the team as we were asked to. After lunch continued medic work and saw another 50 people. That evening we had family night and had opportunity to pray for each other. The next morning woke up at around 5.30am as the roosters is the village did their job. Had a good breakfast and took of at around 9.30am of to the next village Tulgaoa.
Here also we were met with helpers to carry the supplies. We hiked for about one hour to these beautiful waterfalls and hot springs on the way to Tulgaoa. We spent some time there, but the helpers continued on to the village. As we found out around lunch time, they had also taken our lunch food! We stayed at the house of the police. It also happened to be on the evening of a peace pact meeting. There was a lot of drinking going on. We did some intercessory prayer for this just to make sure peace would remain and that the meeting would be productive. They also slaughtered a pig for us and for those involved with the meeting.
We did not do medic outreach because they had never received any of the communication. This was disappointing but hey next time. It seems like plans here in the Philippines usually change a few times. The next day we hiked for 20 minutes to get to the road up the hill where we took a jeepney ride.
From Tulgaoa, Tinglayan, Bontoc we traveled for about 6 hours to destination Sagada.
This drive was probably the most dangerous with the rough road and steep cliffs. When we first got on we soon had to get off again because the jeepney could not get up the hill. Later it started to rain very heavily so as we sat on top of the jeepney the driver gave us a tarp to hold overtop of the packs and ourselves. When we went through Bontoc it was a really strange feeling to enter a bigger city with food in abundance. We ate lunch there and ate at a table (had not eaten at one) for a while. Also we used cutlery instead of eating with our hands.
We arrived in Sagada at around 5pm. This was the place to recharge and get ready for more tribal work. Not so for me because my time was up and had to get back to Manila. The time here was very relaxing. We saw two waterfalls, caves going down 100 meters, and hanging coffins ( on the side of a cliff). According to a local person 2% of the people here still hang the coffins. To them it has some spiritual significance. Also still 10 years ago dead people would be tied onto a chair in upright position and talked to like they were still alive. They would also hold a cup to put money into. We saw some pictures of this, a little too freaky for my liking. Other pictures we saw in the museum in Bontoc were of the former headhunters, the head or rest of the body of their captives. This was done when they were fighting but also for fun as a game.
On Maundy Thursday, three of us went to the local Episcopal church for the evening service. Before we left I had to go to the bathroom. When I was going, a cockroach showed up and ran his circles on the toilet seat. Before I knew it he actually flew right on me, yes on me!. I had to keep my business short and get rid of this creature. I shook out my pants to make sure it would not stay behind. I did not see it again…..until??? …about ½ an hour later I sit there, straight and quiet in this church. All of the sudden I feel this crawling in my pants, oh boy did I start sweating. I am trying to hit this thing to kill it and keep quiet at the same time. I keep trying and then I see this wet spot showing right through my pants. So, I thought I had it but a few minutes later there he goes again. My friend Joshua sitting beside me is just beside himself trying not to laugh out loud in this sacred place. The girl from our team sitting on my other side was probably wondering what is going on with me hitting myself on my upper leg. I quickly explained to her what I was in battle with. I am ready to walk out but this is not really feeling ok to do so in this place. If this was “The Grove” our home church I would have been running out of there! Anyways I stood up and shook out my pants and there it fell out. I squished it quickly to its final resting place. This is one of those things I will never ever forget!
I took a jeepney back to Bontoc to catch the night bus back to Manila. Here the rest of the team continued for two more weeks of outreaches in the Bugnay.
I arrived at 2am on Easter Sunday, back with my family. What an adventure!
Thanks again for praying me through this adventure.
God was faithful!
April 1st – 16th 2006.
First of all, thank you to everyone that prayed and thought of me and my family back in Manila.
I left on April 1st at 10pm with a night bus from Manila to Tabuk(in the province of Kalinga). During the night we stopped occasionally for a break. At one point we stopped for an hour because we had come across another bus that had broken down. Our driver decided to help the other bus. He even took parts from our bus to fix the other without success. We ended up taking most of the stranded passengers onto our already overloaded bus. I didn’t sleep much that night mainly because I could not put my seat back into sleeping position because someone was right behind my seat. After 11 hours, 9 am, we arrived on Jan 2nd in Tabuk. It was great seeing all the people again from the medical team that I had trained with in Boise.
Three people had planned to stay overnight in one of the resettlement villages, so I decided to join them. Later in the afternoon we left by jeepney to the village of Pakak. It was just a 15 minute hike from the main road. This town just had electricity installed last month. Before electricity, the village would be at rest by 9pm but now there is even tv! In the evening we saw a large group kids and adults watching a cheesy movie. On the way to Pakak we had picked up “fresh” chicken to give to the pastor there. So, when we walked into Pakak we went straight to his house. We were greeted by him, his wife and the elders from the village. I experienced my first Kalinga coffee with an abundance of sugar that was already added. In the evening we ate at the pastor’s house and heard many stories about life in the past and present. Many years ago he, his family and the Bugnay village they lived in often sacrificed animals to evil spirits, and they were under spiritual oppression. This was done when someone was sick, as they believed that the spirits were upset with them and this was to satisfy the spirits. They lived in constant fear. His wife was demon possessed and often unconscious. In 1987 there was a big earthquake in the Bugnay, so at that time they birthed the new village of Pakak, a But But resettlement village down in the valley. Many also left Bugnay because of persecution and hunger.
Two of the medics had planned to do a dental outreach the next day. One pulled teeth and the other cleaned. I assisted a little just handing them whatever they needed. I observed a dental outreach for the first time.
Later in the day another medic and I left for the But But village named Ileb. We met the rest of the team in Ileb. [Around 20, this included our Filipino director and 5 other interpreters]. The purpose here was a medic outreach focused on ages 5 and under. The WHO (World Health Organization) came up with an international program called IMCI, this is a way to medically classify the child and provide appropriate teaching for the mother or caretaker of the child. This system is very helpful and makes sure that you don’t miss the most obvious and gives guidelines for use of medicines and that we refer the patient to other health authorities where possible and necessary. All the kids were weighed, checked, treated and prayed for and hopefully set on the road to good health!
On April 5th we left for the 9 days of hiking to tribes and for some time of relaxation.
The plan had changed a little as it was not safe going into one of the villages. Apparently someone had killed a pig that was not theirs; they had been seriously fighting over this including some stabbing with a knife.
The first village was Sumadel, area Tinglayan, province of Kalinga. We drove on top of a jeepney for a few hours and then another one for a while to the start of the trail. Just the drive was quite an experience with the fresh Kalinga air [contrary to Manila] and really steep scary drops on this narrow road. We were greeted by a large group of locals to help us carry all the medical supplies and food items. The hike on these trails between magnificent rice fields, steep cliffs, mountains and scorching sun, was about 2 hours into the village. We were welcomed with open arms as special guests. In this town there is a small nursery started by the Anglican Church where they grow small pine trees and coffee to plant into the hillsides. Wherever we went, people wanted to feed us and drink coffee together. Needless to say, we often ate several meals in a row. It would have been an offense to these wonderful people had we said no.
Early the next morning we set up our clinic to start at 8am. We had several stations; check-in where BP and pulse is taken and their chief complaints recorded, weighing station, 2 ICMI, wound treatment, and 2 stations for older people [including one with a Filipino doctor named Francis, who recently became a believer. He came along with us to the first village] and dental station. We treated about 200 people and prayed with each one. There were many with TB and pneumonia, ear problems, arthritis, ulcers, UTI etc…It was such a joy to be able to help these people and pray with them and to learn more about how to treat and diagnose. During the day we were continually fed with rice in many forms: regular rice, red rice, sticky rice, and rice soup. I couldn’t stuff it all and got a little sick of rice!! At the end of the day enjoyed another meal, this time with cabbage, green beans, a little pork and ooh, of course rice.
Later in the evening, the community came all out as they had organized a big, long cultural fest for us. There were speeches and songs of thankfulness, dances with playing gongs and flute and other songs. We were also pulled in to dance and play the gongs, it was so much fun. They also did a special dance with a warrior and a man of peace with a bible. At the end the bible was put down in the middle and the spear put on top, there was peace now. God’s word and a relationship with Christ brought peace to their village. It was very encouraging to see and hear this. Two years ago they were fighting the village next to them over land use and borders. It was really funny that the captain kept telling us: “Our village is safe. There are no terrorists here” Of course their village was the safest.
We also sang a worship song and one person gave a testimony, played violin and guitar. Toward the end of the evening a person stood up and told us that we could not go yet because not everyone was helped. ( We still had several villages to visit and needed medicine for them as well) A good thing was that the captain was on our side. It made us all feel a little uncomfortable and we all looked down to the ground. Before we started clinic we were clear about the maximum amount of people we could help due to our med supplies and also our schedule as we had to continue hiking to the next village. In Sumadel I also had opportunity to share my testimony and faith with 4 people from a cult (Iglesia di Cristo). They don’t believe Jesus is God and need to do all these deeds in their life to have some kind of assurance of salvation. We were able to talk for 3 hours.
I also had the opportunity to pray for a miracle in Jesus name for the couple who have been unable to bear children for 6 years.
Later the following day, we left to the village of Danaoa. We were met in Sumadel by people from Danaoa to help us carry the supplies.
This was by far the most strenuous hike, about 6 hours through rice terraces and mountains. Welcomed again with open arms, were well fed, food and coffee non-stop. The next day at our outreach saw 128 people and we were done at 5.30pm. That evening we had supper at the Baptist pastor’s house. It was nice because they served us sweet potato as appetizer, I took it as the meal. For supper was rice and beans. Before the meal we had some mountain tea…very tasty. After supper we were really tired and ready to go to bed. It was around 9pm by now when we found out that they had slaughtered 2 pigs for us. Well not only for us, actually the whole community came out and put on a party!
It started with the pastor reading some scripture and then several people from our team including myself shared our testimony. At around 10pm the music started, with gongs and dance. Also here just like in Sumadel they made us play the gongs and dance, more for their amusing entertainment seeing these North Americans make fun of themselves. It was great!! By the way the gongs are held by a string and attached to it is either some kind of stick or in some cases a human jaw bone. (See the picture on shutterfly.) We were reassured that this one was not of a victim from the past but that of a family member. Later in the evening they randomly picked out a girl and a boy to come up and sing together to try to match make. So, almost all our team had a turn. Some a little embarrassing, especially when they got sung to like it was the love of their life. I’m glad I got out of it; actually I was in hiding during that! One thing that was really good for me is that I had a picture of my family. Wherever we went almost the first question would be, are you available? Then I would pull out my card and play it.
We didn’t eat until 1.30am on Sunday morning. The whole town was still active, including kids. They had brought out planks to put all the food onto, served in rows of bowls. It was impressive. On Sunday went to the Baptist church at 8.oo am with our whole team… eyes half open. The pastor was wide awake, the few hours of sleep did not seem to bother him. We sang a song with the team as we were asked to. After lunch continued medic work and saw another 50 people. That evening we had family night and had opportunity to pray for each other. The next morning woke up at around 5.30am as the roosters is the village did their job. Had a good breakfast and took of at around 9.30am of to the next village Tulgaoa.
Here also we were met with helpers to carry the supplies. We hiked for about one hour to these beautiful waterfalls and hot springs on the way to Tulgaoa. We spent some time there, but the helpers continued on to the village. As we found out around lunch time, they had also taken our lunch food! We stayed at the house of the police. It also happened to be on the evening of a peace pact meeting. There was a lot of drinking going on. We did some intercessory prayer for this just to make sure peace would remain and that the meeting would be productive. They also slaughtered a pig for us and for those involved with the meeting.
We did not do medic outreach because they had never received any of the communication. This was disappointing but hey next time. It seems like plans here in the Philippines usually change a few times. The next day we hiked for 20 minutes to get to the road up the hill where we took a jeepney ride.
From Tulgaoa, Tinglayan, Bontoc we traveled for about 6 hours to destination Sagada.
This drive was probably the most dangerous with the rough road and steep cliffs. When we first got on we soon had to get off again because the jeepney could not get up the hill. Later it started to rain very heavily so as we sat on top of the jeepney the driver gave us a tarp to hold overtop of the packs and ourselves. When we went through Bontoc it was a really strange feeling to enter a bigger city with food in abundance. We ate lunch there and ate at a table (had not eaten at one) for a while. Also we used cutlery instead of eating with our hands.
We arrived in Sagada at around 5pm. This was the place to recharge and get ready for more tribal work. Not so for me because my time was up and had to get back to Manila. The time here was very relaxing. We saw two waterfalls, caves going down 100 meters, and hanging coffins ( on the side of a cliff). According to a local person 2% of the people here still hang the coffins. To them it has some spiritual significance. Also still 10 years ago dead people would be tied onto a chair in upright position and talked to like they were still alive. They would also hold a cup to put money into. We saw some pictures of this, a little too freaky for my liking. Other pictures we saw in the museum in Bontoc were of the former headhunters, the head or rest of the body of their captives. This was done when they were fighting but also for fun as a game.
On Maundy Thursday, three of us went to the local Episcopal church for the evening service. Before we left I had to go to the bathroom. When I was going, a cockroach showed up and ran his circles on the toilet seat. Before I knew it he actually flew right on me, yes on me!. I had to keep my business short and get rid of this creature. I shook out my pants to make sure it would not stay behind. I did not see it again…..until??? …about ½ an hour later I sit there, straight and quiet in this church. All of the sudden I feel this crawling in my pants, oh boy did I start sweating. I am trying to hit this thing to kill it and keep quiet at the same time. I keep trying and then I see this wet spot showing right through my pants. So, I thought I had it but a few minutes later there he goes again. My friend Joshua sitting beside me is just beside himself trying not to laugh out loud in this sacred place. The girl from our team sitting on my other side was probably wondering what is going on with me hitting myself on my upper leg. I quickly explained to her what I was in battle with. I am ready to walk out but this is not really feeling ok to do so in this place. If this was “The Grove” our home church I would have been running out of there! Anyways I stood up and shook out my pants and there it fell out. I squished it quickly to its final resting place. This is one of those things I will never ever forget!
I took a jeepney back to Bontoc to catch the night bus back to Manila. Here the rest of the team continued for two more weeks of outreaches in the Bugnay.
I arrived at 2am on Easter Sunday, back with my family. What an adventure!
Thanks again for praying me through this adventure.
God was faithful!
March 2006 Manila
#Today, March 9th we decided to bring our laundry to a place to have it done by a Philipino here just down the road. It worked out really well!!! This saves so much time and energy as they do it all including folding. At the clinic we paid $1 for washing and $1 for drying it per load.Well, it almost works out to be the same.
#An intense 24hr. Jocelyn worked from 7.30 the night before till about 8.30 this morning. I worked my shift and set up the nursing students to lead us into some Tagalog worship songs and did a bunch of hematocrits [some really low levels like 28 and 29] Then later into the morning Jocelyn was called in for a continuity client, who was in early stages of labour, so I dropped what I was doing and went home to stay with the kids. When Jocelyn came home I went back in for a little bit. Jocelyn was pretty tired as she had a sleepless night taking care of a newborn as the mother had to be transported to the hospital due to not being able to deliver the placenta. They attempted manually to remove the placenta at the clinic but with no success. 48 hrs later the baby is still at the clinic and the mother is in hospital receiving blood after a D&C. After lunch I went with two other guys to buy some medical supplies, including an otoscope and an instrument set to use in wound care.Jocelyn was able to rest just a little bit as Marijke and Matthijs were sleeping and Danieke was doing her own thing [ended up doing dishes and sweeping the floor]. As I was coming back, I planned on stopping to pick up some food for supper because we were having people over. Just before I was going to enter the store Jocelyn texted me to let me know to come home because the patient from that morning was in more active labour. Someone stayed with the kids until I came home. Jocelyn came home from catching the baby at 10.30pm and missed supper (that she had prepared!) with friends...'the life of a midwife'.
#The holistic approach to the people we minister to. We feel strongly about treating the whole person, a physical, emotional, and spiritual being. So, we try to be sensitive to each aspect of the person and show Christ's love to people by helping them in every area of their life. Doing this is not always easy and requires building trust with the people, listening to the Holy Spirit and letting Him guide us into His wisdom and discernment. We share Christ and His hope with our patients as there is opportunity. Pray for courage to speak the words God puts in our mouths!
#Today Saturday March 11th I went out with Marijke and Matthijs and walked down to the Baranguay hall. This is like a community centre with a basketball court. I went here for the first time [During this time Jocelyn was doing a home visit at a patient's house with Danieke]. The kids loved it, there is a little swing and push mary-go-round and a trail of people wanting to know our names and kids ages. Later in the afternoon I went back with Danieke to this place. Danieke met some new friends and so did I on the basketball courts. The last time I really played some ball was probably years ago with Jon Wieser. Me being out of shape and the hot climate made for quite the combination of huffing and puffing and sweating like you would not believe. It was great though, connecting with people that live in our neighbourhood area and having a great work out. The kids that I played with were between 12 and 14 years old. I also happened to see a little kid that looked very skinny. I grabbed his arm to say what big muscles he had and quickly measured his arm circumference with my fingers. His upper arm was thinner than Marijke's. I found out that he is 7 years old, Marijke is almost 5. And yes, there is a difference of course with measuring arm circumverence in Asia compared with North America...but he was definitely malnourished.
#Book reading recommendation... "Caring For The Least Of These" This is worth the read. The book is made up of real stories of poor people in the states and overseas. They tell the stories of their lives and how they have felt when treated by the healthcare system or welfare etc.. Also included in the book how christian organisations have approached reaching out to people in healthcare as ministry...the holistic approach. "And The Word Came With Power" by Joanne Shelter. This is a very touching read, about how a village in the Philippines (just one mountain away from the But But tribe MIA works with)lived in fear of spirits that they had to keep happy... these spirits ruled their village and the mountain region. Then a missionary came into this headhunting tribe. God used her mightily to bring transformation to this tribe by doing medical work, saving lives, and at the same time translating scripture into the local language. For those of you that are not the "praying type", this is still a really great book to see what the power of God can do.
#Jon is a Christian Filipino taxi driver in Manila. His mission is sharing the gospel with customers and handing out information about Christ and info on his church. He hands out about a 150 per day.Can you imagine doing this back home. How many people would be offended...but he is the kindest man and not pushy...just has an open conversation!
#When Jocelyn went into Welfareville with Danieke she was asked by a pregnant woman if it was ok to squeeze Danieke's nose. They have a superstition that if you squeeze a "big" nose while being pregnant that the baby will have a "big" nose too. Danieke and Joce laughed at their "big" noses.
#Yesterday March 17th we were given the day off to get out of the city for the day. We really needed this day for our family to do something fun. The other family and kids and three others also came. The place we went to is called "8 Waves",a wave park with all kinds of pools and this huge wave pool, all outdoors of course. What a nice break to get away from the city and clinic.
#On Tuesday March 21st I went to Welfareville to go back to the family that has scabies. It is getting better, but their kids still have it really bad all over their bodies. The worst is on their heads. Their hair is full of scabs, bleeding in the hair from scratching, and parts are now infected. We will keep going back to this family to help them and keep giving them more ointment.I also asked if I could pray for the family and we did. It must be so distressing to go through this as a family. I am going to look for a shampoo with sulphur to treat the kids heads.
#Today March 23rd. This morning I had planned to go into Wellfareville with a British medical student named Andrea, to visit some patients and follow up from last week. About half an hour before she arrived,Jocelyn was called in immediately as a lady came in that was in labour. Jocelyn caught the baby with her friend Joanne, did the postpartum checks and completed all the paper work. So, we decided to go later in the day. Half an hour later Andrea was called in as well for a different labour. We might go later on this afternoon or have to postpone it till later.The day was not done yet!! At nine o'clock pm Jocelyn was called in again, another woman in active labour. She caught the baby and did all the other checks etc...Came into bed at 3.00AM. Altogether yesterday, there were 6 births at Mercy and one woman transported to hospital while she was in labour.Things are getting busy!!
#March 24th. I was on shift this morning and was busy! I took blood and tested 12 women's hematocrit levels and some vitals. Also went out to look for shampoo with sulphur for the family with scabies but no luck. Jocelyn had taken the kids and some friends to the playground at Market Market mall. She met up with another midwife and some women from Welfareville who delivered their babies with Mercy last year. They had a great morning together! The older siblings of the babies had a blast at the playground. They had never seen anything like it!
#In the next little while we will get a yaya for two days a week as a start. This lady attends the community church around the corner and is known by others. One of the students had a homestay with her. Having her help will give our schedule a bit more flexibilty and free up some time. We will do this as a trial first and see how it works out.
#March 22, Joce did a couple of home visits. Usually, the families are difficult to find because in Welfareville the numbers are not clear and there are sometimes no defined streets. Joce went to find one patient and couldn't find her. There were about 50 people gathered around her and trying to figure the address and "sketch" out. (all the pts here draw a sketch on how to get to their house) So, Joce and Danieke moved on the next patient. (after an hour and a half of looking). Joce prayed that God would help to find this woman, because her baby was born only at 2000g and the midwife who tried the first home visit also was unable to find her. While Joce was on her second home visit, she got a call from the birth center saying that two of the women who had seen her looking had returned to the center by tricycab to get Joce and remembered where to find her pt. So, Joce came quickly back and piled in to the tricycab to go find "Ruth". What an adventure. They got to a store, climbed out, walked behind the store and discovered a river...that they had to cross. There is a small ferry boat with attached bamboo floats to cross the river on. There is also a rope that spans the river. A man PULLS the ferry boat across to the other side barehanded. Joce got on with the two other women ( it costs 1.50 pesos or about 3 cents a person) and crossed. One of the women asked her if she knew how to swim and Joce said she did. The woman confessed that she couldn't swim, so Jocelyn reassured her that she would "save" her if they sunk. Actually, the water, according to Jocelyn was really bad. Black and sewage, garbage floating, etc...so it's a good thing they didn't sink! Once they got to the other side, Joce was able to get to the house and do a home visit. It was at an address the clinic did not have, because ruth brought her baby home to her workplace (there is a small room there for her to live in as she has no fixed address) What a blessing...God is good. Mom and baby are both doing well!
# An entry by Joce:Well, I am working on 6 hrs sleep over 48 hours! So this will be short! Two days ago, I caught 2 babies in the span of 12 hours and then I had to work my intake shift at the clinic... last night I worked the night shift and at around midnight we heard the birth bell go off. We ran to the door and a couple were there, no "buntis" (pregnant lady) no baby! They came because a woman had delivered in Welfareville (a family member) and said the baby and placenta were out but they needed someone to clamp and cut the cord...so, we waited on an ok from our supervisor and then Patricia and I piled into a tricycab with the couple and Ging (our nightshift security guard) and left for Block 31 in Welfareville. We had no idea what we were going to find. We got out and weaved through the dark alley ways (read no light) and I prayed literally "Lord guide each step I take", especially as we stepped along narrow boards with sewage running underneath! We got into their place and thankfully there was light and someone had the presence of mind to find a flashlight. To our surprise, the baby had not been touched...even though by this point the baby had been born for an hour. No one had dried him off or wrapped him, so his temperature was a very cool 96oF (normal is 98.6oF) He felt seriously cool to the touch, but was crying as he was lying in a pool of blood. The placenta was NOT OUT!(very dangerous because the uterus is unable to clamp down and stop bleeding. So...I quickly clamped and cut the cord, dried the baby, placed him on the mother's chest skin to skin and covered him in blankets/towels. Slowly over the next two hours, the baby's temperature came up to 98.4oF wow... While I was doing this and getting the baby nursing, Patricia, one of the other midwives at MIA, was doing controlled cord traction to get the placenta out. It came out (looked a little funny at first, thought we were missing a piece, but once we cupped it in our hands, saw that it was complete - HUGE sigh of relief). I gave an injection of Pitocin to keep the uterus contracted, as we had just found out that this was baby number 7 with her "second" husband. We had no idea of her hematocrit level before delivery, so we wanted to minimize any more blood loss. I had already scooped up all the clotted blood to get an idea of how much blood she had lost and we were at about 300cc. So after getting everyone settled, with baby warm, I did a quick newborn exam. Baby was totally fine and mom was doing well too. I gave the baby eye medication and a vitamin K shot.We had an opportunity to pray with her and bless this baby!This is her first baby in 10 years and first with her "second" husband. Her family was teasing her because she is 40 and he is 27. They were saying "he's so young, he's still a cry baby!" Anyhow, the night ended up being pretty fun after the initial adrenaline rush and Patricia and I worked really well as a team. At our "after action" review, we both said what a great experience it was. We always debrief after every birth. (what did we learn, what did we do right, what can we do better next time) We both agreed next time we'd bring a flashlight! So Patricia grabbed a spare we had and threw it into the transport bag/ emergency childbirth bag we have for situations like this!
Her name is Marievic and she named her son Arnel. We had asked them to come into the clinic today for a check and they did! I had already done two home visits this morning, one for a baby I caught two days ago and one on my little 2200g baby from almost a week ago. So, I stayed to help with the check up, snapped a couple of photos and we prayed together before I left. Her "kasama" - friend came running after me and pressed two 50 peso notes in my hand for "marienda" -"snack" they were really grateful we came last night. So, 100 more pesos for the clinic and I am really ready to have a sleep!!! I got off shift this morning at 7:30 am, slept until 9:30 am at the clinic and then scooted home to change for my first home visit (the husband came and got me at 9:45am) All babies and moms are doing great!
#An intense 24hr. Jocelyn worked from 7.30 the night before till about 8.30 this morning. I worked my shift and set up the nursing students to lead us into some Tagalog worship songs and did a bunch of hematocrits [some really low levels like 28 and 29] Then later into the morning Jocelyn was called in for a continuity client, who was in early stages of labour, so I dropped what I was doing and went home to stay with the kids. When Jocelyn came home I went back in for a little bit. Jocelyn was pretty tired as she had a sleepless night taking care of a newborn as the mother had to be transported to the hospital due to not being able to deliver the placenta. They attempted manually to remove the placenta at the clinic but with no success. 48 hrs later the baby is still at the clinic and the mother is in hospital receiving blood after a D&C. After lunch I went with two other guys to buy some medical supplies, including an otoscope and an instrument set to use in wound care.Jocelyn was able to rest just a little bit as Marijke and Matthijs were sleeping and Danieke was doing her own thing [ended up doing dishes and sweeping the floor]. As I was coming back, I planned on stopping to pick up some food for supper because we were having people over. Just before I was going to enter the store Jocelyn texted me to let me know to come home because the patient from that morning was in more active labour. Someone stayed with the kids until I came home. Jocelyn came home from catching the baby at 10.30pm and missed supper (that she had prepared!) with friends...'the life of a midwife'.
#The holistic approach to the people we minister to. We feel strongly about treating the whole person, a physical, emotional, and spiritual being. So, we try to be sensitive to each aspect of the person and show Christ's love to people by helping them in every area of their life. Doing this is not always easy and requires building trust with the people, listening to the Holy Spirit and letting Him guide us into His wisdom and discernment. We share Christ and His hope with our patients as there is opportunity. Pray for courage to speak the words God puts in our mouths!
#Today Saturday March 11th I went out with Marijke and Matthijs and walked down to the Baranguay hall. This is like a community centre with a basketball court. I went here for the first time [During this time Jocelyn was doing a home visit at a patient's house with Danieke]. The kids loved it, there is a little swing and push mary-go-round and a trail of people wanting to know our names and kids ages. Later in the afternoon I went back with Danieke to this place. Danieke met some new friends and so did I on the basketball courts. The last time I really played some ball was probably years ago with Jon Wieser. Me being out of shape and the hot climate made for quite the combination of huffing and puffing and sweating like you would not believe. It was great though, connecting with people that live in our neighbourhood area and having a great work out. The kids that I played with were between 12 and 14 years old. I also happened to see a little kid that looked very skinny. I grabbed his arm to say what big muscles he had and quickly measured his arm circumference with my fingers. His upper arm was thinner than Marijke's. I found out that he is 7 years old, Marijke is almost 5. And yes, there is a difference of course with measuring arm circumverence in Asia compared with North America...but he was definitely malnourished.
#Book reading recommendation... "Caring For The Least Of These" This is worth the read. The book is made up of real stories of poor people in the states and overseas. They tell the stories of their lives and how they have felt when treated by the healthcare system or welfare etc.. Also included in the book how christian organisations have approached reaching out to people in healthcare as ministry...the holistic approach. "And The Word Came With Power" by Joanne Shelter. This is a very touching read, about how a village in the Philippines (just one mountain away from the But But tribe MIA works with)lived in fear of spirits that they had to keep happy... these spirits ruled their village and the mountain region. Then a missionary came into this headhunting tribe. God used her mightily to bring transformation to this tribe by doing medical work, saving lives, and at the same time translating scripture into the local language. For those of you that are not the "praying type", this is still a really great book to see what the power of God can do.
#Jon is a Christian Filipino taxi driver in Manila. His mission is sharing the gospel with customers and handing out information about Christ and info on his church. He hands out about a 150 per day.Can you imagine doing this back home. How many people would be offended...but he is the kindest man and not pushy...just has an open conversation!
#When Jocelyn went into Welfareville with Danieke she was asked by a pregnant woman if it was ok to squeeze Danieke's nose. They have a superstition that if you squeeze a "big" nose while being pregnant that the baby will have a "big" nose too. Danieke and Joce laughed at their "big" noses.
#Yesterday March 17th we were given the day off to get out of the city for the day. We really needed this day for our family to do something fun. The other family and kids and three others also came. The place we went to is called "8 Waves",a wave park with all kinds of pools and this huge wave pool, all outdoors of course. What a nice break to get away from the city and clinic.
#On Tuesday March 21st I went to Welfareville to go back to the family that has scabies. It is getting better, but their kids still have it really bad all over their bodies. The worst is on their heads. Their hair is full of scabs, bleeding in the hair from scratching, and parts are now infected. We will keep going back to this family to help them and keep giving them more ointment.I also asked if I could pray for the family and we did. It must be so distressing to go through this as a family. I am going to look for a shampoo with sulphur to treat the kids heads.
#Today March 23rd. This morning I had planned to go into Wellfareville with a British medical student named Andrea, to visit some patients and follow up from last week. About half an hour before she arrived,Jocelyn was called in immediately as a lady came in that was in labour. Jocelyn caught the baby with her friend Joanne, did the postpartum checks and completed all the paper work. So, we decided to go later in the day. Half an hour later Andrea was called in as well for a different labour. We might go later on this afternoon or have to postpone it till later.The day was not done yet!! At nine o'clock pm Jocelyn was called in again, another woman in active labour. She caught the baby and did all the other checks etc...Came into bed at 3.00AM. Altogether yesterday, there were 6 births at Mercy and one woman transported to hospital while she was in labour.Things are getting busy!!
#March 24th. I was on shift this morning and was busy! I took blood and tested 12 women's hematocrit levels and some vitals. Also went out to look for shampoo with sulphur for the family with scabies but no luck. Jocelyn had taken the kids and some friends to the playground at Market Market mall. She met up with another midwife and some women from Welfareville who delivered their babies with Mercy last year. They had a great morning together! The older siblings of the babies had a blast at the playground. They had never seen anything like it!
#In the next little while we will get a yaya for two days a week as a start. This lady attends the community church around the corner and is known by others. One of the students had a homestay with her. Having her help will give our schedule a bit more flexibilty and free up some time. We will do this as a trial first and see how it works out.
#March 22, Joce did a couple of home visits. Usually, the families are difficult to find because in Welfareville the numbers are not clear and there are sometimes no defined streets. Joce went to find one patient and couldn't find her. There were about 50 people gathered around her and trying to figure the address and "sketch" out. (all the pts here draw a sketch on how to get to their house) So, Joce and Danieke moved on the next patient. (after an hour and a half of looking). Joce prayed that God would help to find this woman, because her baby was born only at 2000g and the midwife who tried the first home visit also was unable to find her. While Joce was on her second home visit, she got a call from the birth center saying that two of the women who had seen her looking had returned to the center by tricycab to get Joce and remembered where to find her pt. So, Joce came quickly back and piled in to the tricycab to go find "Ruth". What an adventure. They got to a store, climbed out, walked behind the store and discovered a river...that they had to cross. There is a small ferry boat with attached bamboo floats to cross the river on. There is also a rope that spans the river. A man PULLS the ferry boat across to the other side barehanded. Joce got on with the two other women ( it costs 1.50 pesos or about 3 cents a person) and crossed. One of the women asked her if she knew how to swim and Joce said she did. The woman confessed that she couldn't swim, so Jocelyn reassured her that she would "save" her if they sunk. Actually, the water, according to Jocelyn was really bad. Black and sewage, garbage floating, etc...so it's a good thing they didn't sink! Once they got to the other side, Joce was able to get to the house and do a home visit. It was at an address the clinic did not have, because ruth brought her baby home to her workplace (there is a small room there for her to live in as she has no fixed address) What a blessing...God is good. Mom and baby are both doing well!
# An entry by Joce:Well, I am working on 6 hrs sleep over 48 hours! So this will be short! Two days ago, I caught 2 babies in the span of 12 hours and then I had to work my intake shift at the clinic... last night I worked the night shift and at around midnight we heard the birth bell go off. We ran to the door and a couple were there, no "buntis" (pregnant lady) no baby! They came because a woman had delivered in Welfareville (a family member) and said the baby and placenta were out but they needed someone to clamp and cut the cord...so, we waited on an ok from our supervisor and then Patricia and I piled into a tricycab with the couple and Ging (our nightshift security guard) and left for Block 31 in Welfareville. We had no idea what we were going to find. We got out and weaved through the dark alley ways (read no light) and I prayed literally "Lord guide each step I take", especially as we stepped along narrow boards with sewage running underneath! We got into their place and thankfully there was light and someone had the presence of mind to find a flashlight. To our surprise, the baby had not been touched...even though by this point the baby had been born for an hour. No one had dried him off or wrapped him, so his temperature was a very cool 96oF (normal is 98.6oF) He felt seriously cool to the touch, but was crying as he was lying in a pool of blood. The placenta was NOT OUT!(very dangerous because the uterus is unable to clamp down and stop bleeding. So...I quickly clamped and cut the cord, dried the baby, placed him on the mother's chest skin to skin and covered him in blankets/towels. Slowly over the next two hours, the baby's temperature came up to 98.4oF wow... While I was doing this and getting the baby nursing, Patricia, one of the other midwives at MIA, was doing controlled cord traction to get the placenta out. It came out (looked a little funny at first, thought we were missing a piece, but once we cupped it in our hands, saw that it was complete - HUGE sigh of relief). I gave an injection of Pitocin to keep the uterus contracted, as we had just found out that this was baby number 7 with her "second" husband. We had no idea of her hematocrit level before delivery, so we wanted to minimize any more blood loss. I had already scooped up all the clotted blood to get an idea of how much blood she had lost and we were at about 300cc. So after getting everyone settled, with baby warm, I did a quick newborn exam. Baby was totally fine and mom was doing well too. I gave the baby eye medication and a vitamin K shot.We had an opportunity to pray with her and bless this baby!This is her first baby in 10 years and first with her "second" husband. Her family was teasing her because she is 40 and he is 27. They were saying "he's so young, he's still a cry baby!" Anyhow, the night ended up being pretty fun after the initial adrenaline rush and Patricia and I worked really well as a team. At our "after action" review, we both said what a great experience it was. We always debrief after every birth. (what did we learn, what did we do right, what can we do better next time) We both agreed next time we'd bring a flashlight! So Patricia grabbed a spare we had and threw it into the transport bag/ emergency childbirth bag we have for situations like this!
Her name is Marievic and she named her son Arnel. We had asked them to come into the clinic today for a check and they did! I had already done two home visits this morning, one for a baby I caught two days ago and one on my little 2200g baby from almost a week ago. So, I stayed to help with the check up, snapped a couple of photos and we prayed together before I left. Her "kasama" - friend came running after me and pressed two 50 peso notes in my hand for "marienda" -"snack" they were really grateful we came last night. So, 100 more pesos for the clinic and I am really ready to have a sleep!!! I got off shift this morning at 7:30 am, slept until 9:30 am at the clinic and then scooted home to change for my first home visit (the husband came and got me at 9:45am) All babies and moms are doing great!
Febr 24th 2006 Our Schedule in Manila
Hello everyone!We have been so blessed to get emails from some of you this week! Thanks for your encouragement and prayers! We are also praying for you. We have a glass top on our table and we have slipped photos of you underneath. Everyday we choose a family/ person to pray for. We are missing a lot of you (and your photos!) If you could send us a photo via email, we can burn it to CD and print it here, or, you can send it to us (with a letter!!!) at:Mercy In Action Maternity Center559 J. Luna Street Pinagtipunan Corner Mandaluyong, Manila 1500 Philippines We'd like to share with you what our weekly life is like. So we'll just start with Mondays. They are our day off. That means that neither of us are on call to go into the birth center for primary health care patients or midwifery patients. Mondays, we try to explore the city and leave the area of the birth center so that we truly have a family day off. The photos we have uploaded from Shutterfly show some of those explorations!Tuesdays through Sundays, Jocelyn works usually three shifts (two twelve hour shifts plus Wednesdays - her prenatal day at the clinic) and is on call 24hrs/ day in case one of the women she provides prenatal care to comes into the clinic in labour. She also is called in for postpartum and baby checks and goes on home visits to visit women who have just delivered their babies. On prenatal days, Jocelyn and her team have the opportunity to lead these women in worship (Tagalog and English songs) and then a woman from our partner church around the corner leads a devotional time in Tagalog for the women. We do prenatal exams from 8 am until 10 am and that's when we break for worship (most of the women are there by then!) After worship, we do a health teaching and continue prenatals until everyone is seen. This week, Jocelyn taught about parenting and child development. She really enjoys spending time with each woman during prenatals. This is an amazing opportunity to build relationships. At te end of each prenatal, she has the opportunity to pray with each woman and share about Jesus. It really is a powerful time.Richard gets called in to the clinic for primary child care checks and medic work. Just a few days ago, a man walked in off the street, truly believing he was dying. He had blistering sores sweeping across his abdomen and around his back. He had been involved with prostitutes and thought he might have an STD. He was really terrified. Richard came in and reassured him that he would do everything he could to find out what was wrong. The diagnosis? Shingles. The man was really in pain and Richard referred him to see a doctor. Richard prayed for him and shared Christ with him. He should be returning in a few days for a follow up check. Please pray that He will find hope in relationship with God. He offered the man an HIV test, because of his risky behaviour and also because shingles can be related to HIV, but he cannot afford it. If he does return, we pray that God will provide for him. The clinic does have money for situations like this, but sometimes God provides in other amazing ways! Richard also has aset prenatal day. On Fridays, he works alongside the Friday prenatal team at the clinic taking blood pressures, taking pulses, weighing women, and taking blood tests to test hematocrit (and spins them out in our clinic centrifuge). He also helps with newborn exams and well baby checks. Today, he is teaching on parenting and child development. When Richard is at the clinic, he is also able to spend time with the husbands of women who come for their prenatal checks. This is a fantastic opportunity to build relationship and share Christ.It seems hardly a day goes by that we don't have someone at our door begging for food. It's a heartbreaking reality here. We have a young girl about the same age as Danieke that we give our recycling to. She came by the other night and simply said: "I'm hungry". We always give food out, but not money, as that is the clinic policy. There is also a family that lives on the corner in the broken shell of a tricycab. Whoever is on shift at the clinic takes them food when we have our evening meal. The poverty here is on a scale we have never experienced before and it's hard to find balance in our own lives. Do we go out on our day off for a meal when we know there are so many here who go without? We sometimes feel caught between two worlds. Please pray that we will hear the voice of God in this and respond to the need in the way He would. On Family night (Wednesdays at the clinic) we have a worship time and devotional time. This week's was about how to respond to poverty in the manner Christ would.Are we providers or partners? What is the difference? We're still chewing on this one!We attend church around the corner from us when Jocelyn in on call. It is a Tagalog church with a three hour service! This has been a challenge for the kids (and us at times!) We have not found a solution yet, except that we may attend for part of the service and then come home. There is a Sunday school class, but there are well over 30 children packed into a small office and that is pretty overwhelming for Marijke and Matthijs. Please pray that God will direct us in this...We would love to be part of a local church family, and the people at Harvest are incredible...that is our heart. On Sunday afternoons, we often try to go to a park somewhere where the kids can run around, as there is no "greenspace" where we live. We've found several places to go. In Metro Manila, we can get to these by taxi: Quezon Circle, Rizal Park, and University of the Philippines. Each one has room to run! On Tuesdays, Danieke goes to her homeschool group for violin and art classes. This is an opportunity for her to spend time with Philippino kids and have fun. We have lots of kids on our street as well. The kids are finding the adjustment of drawing so much attention quite difficult. Lots of people come up and touch them or try to hold their hands. The comment we mostly get about the girls is: "They are just like Barbie dolls". It's hard to know how to respond with the kids as Marijke and Matthijs especially tend to bury themselves in us to "hide". Please pray that we will know how to respond in each situation. The people are very well meaning and genuinely interested in the kids, it's just all a little overwhelming.Every morning, either one of us or both, (depending on who is working at the clinic), begin homeschooling with Danieke at 8 am. The kids are up every am at 6:30, so we have time to cook oatmeal or run down the street to a family run bakery to buy pandesol or "encimada" for breakfast. Encimada is a sweet bun smothered in butter and sugar (our kids favourite!) Marijke and Matthijs play together, colour or paint, and sometimes (actually most mornings) scrap it out! Please pray that we will stay patient with them and keep them busy! We boil water on our stove to make coffee in our press (thank you mom and dad for giving that to us!) and get our shot of caffeine for the day!At 11:30 am, lunch is served at the clinic. We eat in community with everyone there and usually lunch is rice and vegetables. In the afternoons, the kids sleep (under our newly acquired mosquito nets) and Danieke plays with friends. While the kids are sleeping, we usually study about midwifery and primary health care and have some private time with God. Please pray that we will stay firmly rooted in scripture and prayer. As anywhere, there are always demands on time, and we want to make this a priority. Please pray that we will recognize the distractions for what they are and stay committed to having regular time alone with God.This past week has felt a little more stressful. We recognize a little "culture shock" creeping in as well as just continued adjustment for our family. We trust that God will walk through this with us. There are others from our group experiencing the same and we are not alone! Please pray that we will grow more in our understanding of Tagalog and in our speaking ability. This will make a huge difference!We love you guys and are so comforted in knowing you are with us here in prayer! Pray we will make the most of every opportunity we have to make the name and love of Christ known. We know that He is the hope living in us...and hope is what those in our neighbourhood need most. Pray also that we will always we ready to give a reason for this hope we have.We miss you! We can get mail at the clinic address and would be delighted to hear from you!Love, Richard, Jocelyn, Danieke, Marijke and Matthijs
Febr 2006 General Information of Life in the Philippines
Funny, sad, and other general information from our life here in Manila.
#Around 47 pesos is $1 Canadian. A taxi driver makes around 500-1000 pesos a day or between $10-$20 for working from 6 am to 10 pm
#Matthijs said this morning, when we go to Canada can I have a cookie and you can come to my birthday. When are we going to the Philippines?
#There is a big shopping centre nearby here, within 3 km. To get there we take a jeepney. Per person this cost 7.50 pesos, free for the little kids only if we put them on our lab when the jeepney is full or else we do pay. The funny part is that it takes about 30 minutes and I used to be able to run it in 12 minutes.
#So, jeepneys [old 2nd world war vehicles that are used as a taxi, can hold about 20 in the back and 3 in the front] cost 7.50 pesos/person. A tricycab [ this is a motorcycle with a sidekick that can hold three people and one behind the driver] is 20 pesos for the vehicle. An FX 12.50 pesos/person, but airconditioned and closed, so we inhale a lot less polution. The other day on the way back from Danieke's [one afternoon] school at a church, I caught myself walking an extra 30 minutes through the mall to find the way to get to the jeepneys. I could have taken the FX but I thought lets save some money and choose the lesser comfort[???] You do the math and put it in perspective for me please.
#For a fresh bun we pay 1 peso. This morning I bought 3 big cinnamon buns and 10 cookies for 42 pesos, that is around 90 cents.
#The other day one of the patients had to be transported to the hospital because of a great loss of blood. In the operating room a sick cat was walking around. Nobody paid attention to this.
#Whenever we go to a persons house or someone comes here, the standard drink is coke in a bottle. This is without asking, it is just the norm. It is cheaper to buy your pop in a bag!
#Ants continue to be a battle. You can set the timer by how long it takes for them to come out after especially leaving some breadcrumbs. Needless to say I am policing my family to clean up after themselves and to eat above the plate to reduce the crumbs from spilling.
#Cochroaches are also a daily battle, we crush a couple a day.
#I mop the floor every night, as the air pollution and tracking via our feet into the house leaves a thin film on our floor. A bucket with black water is the end result.
#Even though the people may not have much they still seem to be happy with what they have, contrary to our North American culture, where we strive for happiness in what we have in materialism, by acquiring more, but are never satisfied.
#For a small fee we can eat at the clinic for lunch and dinner from Monday through Saturday. This is a great blessing as it saves us a lot of time in preparations, and gives us time with others in community.
#We sort of have a shower but according to the landlady there is only enough waterpressure from 12pm-3.00am, so we should get the kids up at that time (suggested by her). It has only worked so far by trickling a little, (in other words no shower). We do have a laundry tubwe use to fill with water [and even add some water that we warm up on the stove]
#It is funny to look back at life at our old house where we had four bedrooms, four bathrooms with one bath and three showers, now we are down to a basin and a bucket [ha,ha].
#Things we have done here at the house: - waxed the floor and finished it off by buffing it with a coconut[ see the picture on shutterfly] - we bought a table with chairs and a couch - Andy [my supervisor] and I built a wardrobe under the staircase with bookshelves and a desk for Danieke - The sink is back on the wall, thanks to Brad. - I built a Shoerack - We purchased a fridge after 6 weeks - Got aircon for kids bedroom and exhaust fan in between bedrooms, so we get some cool air too!! #We had our neighbour's cat in our house twice. He was able to come in through an opening at the top of our staircase...there was just a big enough crack. We have since closed that hole! Those that know me well know that I am extremely allergic to cats, so in other words Jocelyn was the one getting the cat out of the house. Also we don't want cats in our house because many are so sick here.
#TP does not go down the toilet but into the bucket beside it. There is not enough water going down to flush it through.Also I was reminded as I was out with the kids to always bring TP along because in most public bathrooms there is none.
#Filipino people do value efficiency, but relationship is more important than anything else. At the end of a job they will evaluate if they had a good time with one another and appreciate the job done. Yes, relationship is important but our own culture including myself is much more driven by productivity and efficiency.
#It is winter here, so people wear winter clothes. I have seen people with tuques on. Right now it is only 30C so a little chilly for those that have been acclimatised, excluding the Jelsmas.
#There are religious signs everywhere, especially in all the taxis. A lot of praying Mary's, as the Philippines is predominantly Catholic. Although, it is not uncommon to see many different religious symbols in the same taxi, Christian, Buddhist and Catholic.
#A very popular thing that people do here is cockfighting. You see roosters here all over the place. There is a rink close by, we can sometimes hear the games going on. A lot of gambling surrounds this pasttime. I do want to see it sometime..just another cultural experience.
#Experiences in a culture with extremes!! Last night Jocelyn and I got out on a date. We went to an area called Makati. This is a really upscale area of the city. Oh my goodness we could not believe what we saw. The elite is so present in this area...I personally feltreally uncomfortable, probably because I am white and being looked upon as rich, that is what we are, compared to the people who we minister to, do life with and the neighbourhood we live in. Also it was strange that the whole time we have been here we hardly have seen any white people, but going to Makati we saw so many. They are mainly business people, as Makati is an international business place. It almost felt like culture shock as this was such a weird experience, walking out of Welfareville and driving into a completely different reality.
#Yesterday Jocelyn was sitting at the desk, below the staircase with above her a bag hanging with bread. Suddenly there was a scream from her with a bunch of ants crawling on her. The bag was totally infested and a few trails leading to it. Even hanging stuff up away from ants doesn't stop them.
#We have seen the first mouse droppings but no sight yet, this is good!!
#Today Febr 14th, we went to an apartment building where friends of mercy in action live. They have a pool on top of the 35th floor. We had a great time and felt for the first time really cooled down.
#One person can save a LIFE!! Cassandra's life was valued by a midwife that took the time to put this little girl on a handventilator because a regular ventilator was not available. She also kept advocating for the proper treatment of this 14 month old girl. After giving positive pressure ventilation puffs all night by hand finally the next morning a ventilator became available to rent.
#The Philippines is the texting capital of the world. After you buy the phone, you have to buy load to be able to use the phone. You can buy load everywhere. Texting here locally only costs 1 peso per message.
#People die here of preventable diseases like pneumonia and TB. We are reminded of this daily as we pass funerals on the streets surrounding our clinic (at least one a day).
#A couple of weeks ago, I accidentally put an electrical cord from the cd/radio player into the regular outlet without the adapter. In other words it was smoking, so I quickly unplugged it and put it outside. The same day I had to order in some more water for our dispenser. The person bringing the water saw the radio sitting outside and asked if he could have it. I tried explaining to him what happened to it and that it is a 110Volt radio. He still wanted it, so I gave it to him and he thankfully received it. Just this week I went into the water place and to my happy surprise he had fixed it and had changed the radio to a 220Volt. When we see something smoking and it is electrical we assume the worst of it and don't want to take the risk of ever plugging it in again...right?
#Garbage is sorted out three times before it comes to the garbage dump. First if we hang the garbage on our fence it will be picked up very shortly and taken to get sorted. After that it will be put on a big pile close by on a corner. There it will be picked up by the official garbage pickup crew with a big truck. When they get it they also will start sorting right in the truck. Then it goes to the dump and there again many people that will go through it to find something of use. By the way, we also sort it. We right away put the recycle in a separate bag onto our fence.
#Alright,lets get a bit more personal. After working 2 years in Holland and 12 years in Canada as greenhouse grower here I am now in the Philippines out of the regular 'normal' day job. It has been a big challenge for me, to be honest. A lot of my life was fullfilling with what I accomplished at work. I had a great job satisfaction with what I produced and the great team I worked with. Now I am learning to find a new satisfaction in reaching people here, learning medical work, homeschooling the kids, doing stuff at home supporting Jocelyn in midwifery. The greatest challenge is in my attititude. What do the experts say, the way your life is shaped is determined 90% in the attitude how you respond to circumstances, and the remaining 10% is what you can't control.Well I need to start responding with a better attitude...and a greater trust in the Father.
#Wherever you go here there are guards. The main stores, even some coffee shops have armed guards. Also when cars park in underground parking they will have security check underneath their car for bombs. #Cochroach morning!! This morning we came accross one cochroach. He went towards the stairs and disappeared into a hole. I thought well, I will spray in there and kill it. Well what happened about a minute later is cochraches everywhere, running and climbing all over the place. It was unbelievable!! It felt much like a horror flick, where the sun aint shining.In about one hour we killed 26 cochroaches, and 14 escaped to the outside. Danieke was able to kill a couple as well. A lot of sweat, and almost tears when this was happening. Jocelyn was at the clinic for a 24hr shift and catching her first baby during this endeavour.
#In the evening when it's dark out it can be quite a challenge to go for a walk. Sometimes I go out to pick something up at a store, about a 20 minute walk. To get there you need to pass by wild dogs, really sick cats, dirty water on the road, sometimes sighting rats and cockroaches. Besides this there are the jeepneys racing by with the exhaust smoking nicely. So, just going to a store can be an adventure. On the plus side, it is nice and cool at night!
#Matthijs told me today, "Daddy when I grow up I'm going to be an elephant. Daddy when you grow up you can drive a dumptruck."
#Alright, my first haircut in the Philippines. I left the house around 9.00pm to find a salon. First of all I was greeted by a lady that hardly spoke English, but made it clear that I would like a haircut. I looked through some magazines to try to find a picture of a guy with a haircut that I liked, I succeeded. About 20 minutes later the lady came and asked me if I could come to the other side of the salon, I had no idea where she was leading me to. Then a guy with his child approached me asking if I had money for his wife's medical condition. I told him I could not because of Mercy in Action policy but that I would talk with the leadership and would contact him later about it. So, then we got to getting my hair cut. I was greeted by a "very" friendly man, actually he was nice and obviously didn't hide that he was gay. He did a really good job for 50 pesos. Cutting neckhair and sideburns was done with a little razorblade, and to brush the hair off, baby powder was added to the brush. I will save you the details on some of the comments he made after the haircut, but it was humorous, and I left laughing. Together with his colleague they admired the new look and soon it was time to go! What an experience!
#This week we watched pictures online of a newborn baby back home in Canada. I couldn't stop but think what a priveleged baby this is already. Born in a society that has a healthcare system that will give all the care this baby needs with the newest medical materials there are for almost free. A family that gave this child a beautiful new room because they have a room to spare, a warm bed to sleep, nice clothes, clean air, loving parents and grandparents that will hug, kiss and do everything for this child that what is best for it. Lets just say the child has the perfect start and is on the way to a bright andhealthy future.
Then there is the reality in what we see here in Wellfareville. A baby born with wonderful loving parents that will also do everything for this newborn baby. Well, the healthcare system is not there for everybody except if you have the money. Everything is here as long as you have the bucks. The parents are poor. They don't even have clothes for this baby. Their dignity might be hurt by excepting charity from people that care. It is a huge struggle to get enough food on the table and pay the rent. The father works in a recycling warehouse and takes home maybe 200 pesos. When he comes home he is dead tired but eager to see his family.There are lots of people at the house, they live with his wife's parents and older brother and his wife and two kids. They all share the rent so they are able to survive. They live in a place with open sewers and no toilet in the house. The only way to go is somewhere outside where they are exposing themselves. The pregnant mother does not drink much because she would have to go too often because of pressure on the bladder from the baby growing inside. What she does not know is the risk she is putting herself and the baby in. Now her pulse is so fast, and she is at a higher risk of going into premature labour. Also her risk of miscarriage has gone up. How is this cycle going to stop? What is God's heart in this? How is this baby going to have a bright healthy future without the worry of day by day survival. What is the future of the poor in the Philippines? What part does education play? What part does a heart changed by God play? These are big questions...Lord where are you at work? Where can we join you?
#Funny, that here,at the Seven Eleven corner store, about a 10 minute walk away, I can buy Dutch Waffles in other words, yummy stroopies!!
#Guayabano is this weird looking fruit that when you first look at it doesn't leave a great impression. When you do try it, the meat is kind of slimy, but it tastes really good. Drinking the juice cold is even better.
#An encouraging thing we heard today from student nurses at the clinic is that they are inspired to serve the poor because they see us here at Mercy in Action sincerely loving them with God's love and sharing the hope we have in Christ.
#So, after 6 weeks we finally decided that spending money on airconditioning is a very wise investment. Two of the staff [Andy and Eric] installed the unit. We put it in the kids bedroom for cooling, but at the same time the air gets filtered. Also the noises from outside are somewhat dimmed. The other thing we did is put an exhaust fan in the wall between the kids bedroom and ours, so our room is cooled as well.
#We also just bought a fridge. Six weeks without a fridge was long enough. It is so nice and we feel so blessed, knowing now what it is like to live without one. Today we did a big, big shop to fill it and to get some other staples. We have decided to do more of our own cooking instead of eating at the clinic. Kim, one of our janitorial staff at the clinic, came over to our house and saw the big box that the fridge came in and asked for it so she could use it for a mattress on her bed. She, her husband and 2 year old have been sleeping on it ever since. She is 5 months pregnant! Jocelyn visited her in Welfareville just last week and they had been sleeping on open springs.
#Today I went to checkout the feeding program in Quezon City. This is fully run by the local Vineyard church. Women from the church cook and buy the food. The program has been focused on feeding 12 kids three times a week to bring them up to the weight they ought to be. On the third day, the whole family is invited to have a meal and socialize. Also once in a while they organize outings. It was really cool to be there and help out. The close to 30 kids kids were so nice and friendly. There was a lot of laughter and smiling with these kids. Weighing the kids was another thing as many of them are below the lowest accepted weight for their age, but they are gaining and that is the main thing. As long as they don't decline or stay the same.
#Today, Sunday March 5th we went to Mike and Eva Fasts church. We came really late because Jocelyn was called in for a baby check but we did go. They have a class for the kids so this is a big plus. The other churches we have attended did not which made it difficult for the kids.After church they invited us out for lunch, we really enjoyed it. We also saw their house and spent the afternoon there. All the kids played really well together and had a good time as well. I was getting really sleepy and found out about a Philipino custom. When you are friends and a guest at someones house you can just tell them that you are going to "look upstairs for a while"..meaning you are going to look for a place to lay down. So in other words I found a bedroom and laid down for a bit. At six o clock in the evening we went to see a free outdoor ballet performance with the Fasts and with others from the Mercy in Action team. It was really well done and everyone enjoyed themselves. The hardest part was all the little kids begging for money and some trying to sell the little flower headbands. It is so hard to see this, wanting to do something for these street kids. I just want to take them home and give them a chance.
#Yesterday, one of Jocelyn's patients confided that her husband is beating her. This patient's face is half paralyzed from a childhood surgery. She has two children by two different men, who now live with her mother in another city. She sees them once a year. She cried as she told Jocelyn the painful things she has experienced in her life. She is 20 weeks pregnant with a new partner who's "other wife" (previous live-in partner) delivered at Mercy In Action last year. Jocelyn had been praying that morning that God would work in her to bring hope to someone and He was so faithful. Jocelyn was able to share Christ and the hope He brings to our lives. Her patient had made a decision to follow Christ last year, but has had no follow up support. Jocelyn was able to give her a Bible we had that was extra, and point her to good places to begin reading. Jocelyn will follow up with a home visit soon. They prayed together and cried together and asked God to intervene to radically change her "husband's" heart...Pray with us for a miracle in her life. Her name is Maria, a precious and beautiful daughter of the King.
#Around 47 pesos is $1 Canadian. A taxi driver makes around 500-1000 pesos a day or between $10-$20 for working from 6 am to 10 pm
#Matthijs said this morning, when we go to Canada can I have a cookie and you can come to my birthday. When are we going to the Philippines?
#There is a big shopping centre nearby here, within 3 km. To get there we take a jeepney. Per person this cost 7.50 pesos, free for the little kids only if we put them on our lab when the jeepney is full or else we do pay. The funny part is that it takes about 30 minutes and I used to be able to run it in 12 minutes.
#So, jeepneys [old 2nd world war vehicles that are used as a taxi, can hold about 20 in the back and 3 in the front] cost 7.50 pesos/person. A tricycab [ this is a motorcycle with a sidekick that can hold three people and one behind the driver] is 20 pesos for the vehicle. An FX 12.50 pesos/person, but airconditioned and closed, so we inhale a lot less polution. The other day on the way back from Danieke's [one afternoon] school at a church, I caught myself walking an extra 30 minutes through the mall to find the way to get to the jeepneys. I could have taken the FX but I thought lets save some money and choose the lesser comfort[???] You do the math and put it in perspective for me please.
#For a fresh bun we pay 1 peso. This morning I bought 3 big cinnamon buns and 10 cookies for 42 pesos, that is around 90 cents.
#The other day one of the patients had to be transported to the hospital because of a great loss of blood. In the operating room a sick cat was walking around. Nobody paid attention to this.
#Whenever we go to a persons house or someone comes here, the standard drink is coke in a bottle. This is without asking, it is just the norm. It is cheaper to buy your pop in a bag!
#Ants continue to be a battle. You can set the timer by how long it takes for them to come out after especially leaving some breadcrumbs. Needless to say I am policing my family to clean up after themselves and to eat above the plate to reduce the crumbs from spilling.
#Cochroaches are also a daily battle, we crush a couple a day.
#I mop the floor every night, as the air pollution and tracking via our feet into the house leaves a thin film on our floor. A bucket with black water is the end result.
#Even though the people may not have much they still seem to be happy with what they have, contrary to our North American culture, where we strive for happiness in what we have in materialism, by acquiring more, but are never satisfied.
#For a small fee we can eat at the clinic for lunch and dinner from Monday through Saturday. This is a great blessing as it saves us a lot of time in preparations, and gives us time with others in community.
#We sort of have a shower but according to the landlady there is only enough waterpressure from 12pm-3.00am, so we should get the kids up at that time (suggested by her). It has only worked so far by trickling a little, (in other words no shower). We do have a laundry tubwe use to fill with water [and even add some water that we warm up on the stove]
#It is funny to look back at life at our old house where we had four bedrooms, four bathrooms with one bath and three showers, now we are down to a basin and a bucket [ha,ha].
#Things we have done here at the house: - waxed the floor and finished it off by buffing it with a coconut[ see the picture on shutterfly] - we bought a table with chairs and a couch - Andy [my supervisor] and I built a wardrobe under the staircase with bookshelves and a desk for Danieke - The sink is back on the wall, thanks to Brad. - I built a Shoerack - We purchased a fridge after 6 weeks - Got aircon for kids bedroom and exhaust fan in between bedrooms, so we get some cool air too!! #We had our neighbour's cat in our house twice. He was able to come in through an opening at the top of our staircase...there was just a big enough crack. We have since closed that hole! Those that know me well know that I am extremely allergic to cats, so in other words Jocelyn was the one getting the cat out of the house. Also we don't want cats in our house because many are so sick here.
#TP does not go down the toilet but into the bucket beside it. There is not enough water going down to flush it through.Also I was reminded as I was out with the kids to always bring TP along because in most public bathrooms there is none.
#Filipino people do value efficiency, but relationship is more important than anything else. At the end of a job they will evaluate if they had a good time with one another and appreciate the job done. Yes, relationship is important but our own culture including myself is much more driven by productivity and efficiency.
#It is winter here, so people wear winter clothes. I have seen people with tuques on. Right now it is only 30C so a little chilly for those that have been acclimatised, excluding the Jelsmas.
#There are religious signs everywhere, especially in all the taxis. A lot of praying Mary's, as the Philippines is predominantly Catholic. Although, it is not uncommon to see many different religious symbols in the same taxi, Christian, Buddhist and Catholic.
#A very popular thing that people do here is cockfighting. You see roosters here all over the place. There is a rink close by, we can sometimes hear the games going on. A lot of gambling surrounds this pasttime. I do want to see it sometime..just another cultural experience.
#Experiences in a culture with extremes!! Last night Jocelyn and I got out on a date. We went to an area called Makati. This is a really upscale area of the city. Oh my goodness we could not believe what we saw. The elite is so present in this area...I personally feltreally uncomfortable, probably because I am white and being looked upon as rich, that is what we are, compared to the people who we minister to, do life with and the neighbourhood we live in. Also it was strange that the whole time we have been here we hardly have seen any white people, but going to Makati we saw so many. They are mainly business people, as Makati is an international business place. It almost felt like culture shock as this was such a weird experience, walking out of Welfareville and driving into a completely different reality.
#Yesterday Jocelyn was sitting at the desk, below the staircase with above her a bag hanging with bread. Suddenly there was a scream from her with a bunch of ants crawling on her. The bag was totally infested and a few trails leading to it. Even hanging stuff up away from ants doesn't stop them.
#We have seen the first mouse droppings but no sight yet, this is good!!
#Today Febr 14th, we went to an apartment building where friends of mercy in action live. They have a pool on top of the 35th floor. We had a great time and felt for the first time really cooled down.
#One person can save a LIFE!! Cassandra's life was valued by a midwife that took the time to put this little girl on a handventilator because a regular ventilator was not available. She also kept advocating for the proper treatment of this 14 month old girl. After giving positive pressure ventilation puffs all night by hand finally the next morning a ventilator became available to rent.
#The Philippines is the texting capital of the world. After you buy the phone, you have to buy load to be able to use the phone. You can buy load everywhere. Texting here locally only costs 1 peso per message.
#People die here of preventable diseases like pneumonia and TB. We are reminded of this daily as we pass funerals on the streets surrounding our clinic (at least one a day).
#A couple of weeks ago, I accidentally put an electrical cord from the cd/radio player into the regular outlet without the adapter. In other words it was smoking, so I quickly unplugged it and put it outside. The same day I had to order in some more water for our dispenser. The person bringing the water saw the radio sitting outside and asked if he could have it. I tried explaining to him what happened to it and that it is a 110Volt radio. He still wanted it, so I gave it to him and he thankfully received it. Just this week I went into the water place and to my happy surprise he had fixed it and had changed the radio to a 220Volt. When we see something smoking and it is electrical we assume the worst of it and don't want to take the risk of ever plugging it in again...right?
#Garbage is sorted out three times before it comes to the garbage dump. First if we hang the garbage on our fence it will be picked up very shortly and taken to get sorted. After that it will be put on a big pile close by on a corner. There it will be picked up by the official garbage pickup crew with a big truck. When they get it they also will start sorting right in the truck. Then it goes to the dump and there again many people that will go through it to find something of use. By the way, we also sort it. We right away put the recycle in a separate bag onto our fence.
#Alright,lets get a bit more personal. After working 2 years in Holland and 12 years in Canada as greenhouse grower here I am now in the Philippines out of the regular 'normal' day job. It has been a big challenge for me, to be honest. A lot of my life was fullfilling with what I accomplished at work. I had a great job satisfaction with what I produced and the great team I worked with. Now I am learning to find a new satisfaction in reaching people here, learning medical work, homeschooling the kids, doing stuff at home supporting Jocelyn in midwifery. The greatest challenge is in my attititude. What do the experts say, the way your life is shaped is determined 90% in the attitude how you respond to circumstances, and the remaining 10% is what you can't control.Well I need to start responding with a better attitude...and a greater trust in the Father.
#Wherever you go here there are guards. The main stores, even some coffee shops have armed guards. Also when cars park in underground parking they will have security check underneath their car for bombs. #Cochroach morning!! This morning we came accross one cochroach. He went towards the stairs and disappeared into a hole. I thought well, I will spray in there and kill it. Well what happened about a minute later is cochraches everywhere, running and climbing all over the place. It was unbelievable!! It felt much like a horror flick, where the sun aint shining.In about one hour we killed 26 cochroaches, and 14 escaped to the outside. Danieke was able to kill a couple as well. A lot of sweat, and almost tears when this was happening. Jocelyn was at the clinic for a 24hr shift and catching her first baby during this endeavour.
#In the evening when it's dark out it can be quite a challenge to go for a walk. Sometimes I go out to pick something up at a store, about a 20 minute walk. To get there you need to pass by wild dogs, really sick cats, dirty water on the road, sometimes sighting rats and cockroaches. Besides this there are the jeepneys racing by with the exhaust smoking nicely. So, just going to a store can be an adventure. On the plus side, it is nice and cool at night!
#Matthijs told me today, "Daddy when I grow up I'm going to be an elephant. Daddy when you grow up you can drive a dumptruck."
#Alright, my first haircut in the Philippines. I left the house around 9.00pm to find a salon. First of all I was greeted by a lady that hardly spoke English, but made it clear that I would like a haircut. I looked through some magazines to try to find a picture of a guy with a haircut that I liked, I succeeded. About 20 minutes later the lady came and asked me if I could come to the other side of the salon, I had no idea where she was leading me to. Then a guy with his child approached me asking if I had money for his wife's medical condition. I told him I could not because of Mercy in Action policy but that I would talk with the leadership and would contact him later about it. So, then we got to getting my hair cut. I was greeted by a "very" friendly man, actually he was nice and obviously didn't hide that he was gay. He did a really good job for 50 pesos. Cutting neckhair and sideburns was done with a little razorblade, and to brush the hair off, baby powder was added to the brush. I will save you the details on some of the comments he made after the haircut, but it was humorous, and I left laughing. Together with his colleague they admired the new look and soon it was time to go! What an experience!
#This week we watched pictures online of a newborn baby back home in Canada. I couldn't stop but think what a priveleged baby this is already. Born in a society that has a healthcare system that will give all the care this baby needs with the newest medical materials there are for almost free. A family that gave this child a beautiful new room because they have a room to spare, a warm bed to sleep, nice clothes, clean air, loving parents and grandparents that will hug, kiss and do everything for this child that what is best for it. Lets just say the child has the perfect start and is on the way to a bright andhealthy future.
Then there is the reality in what we see here in Wellfareville. A baby born with wonderful loving parents that will also do everything for this newborn baby. Well, the healthcare system is not there for everybody except if you have the money. Everything is here as long as you have the bucks. The parents are poor. They don't even have clothes for this baby. Their dignity might be hurt by excepting charity from people that care. It is a huge struggle to get enough food on the table and pay the rent. The father works in a recycling warehouse and takes home maybe 200 pesos. When he comes home he is dead tired but eager to see his family.There are lots of people at the house, they live with his wife's parents and older brother and his wife and two kids. They all share the rent so they are able to survive. They live in a place with open sewers and no toilet in the house. The only way to go is somewhere outside where they are exposing themselves. The pregnant mother does not drink much because she would have to go too often because of pressure on the bladder from the baby growing inside. What she does not know is the risk she is putting herself and the baby in. Now her pulse is so fast, and she is at a higher risk of going into premature labour. Also her risk of miscarriage has gone up. How is this cycle going to stop? What is God's heart in this? How is this baby going to have a bright healthy future without the worry of day by day survival. What is the future of the poor in the Philippines? What part does education play? What part does a heart changed by God play? These are big questions...Lord where are you at work? Where can we join you?
#Funny, that here,at the Seven Eleven corner store, about a 10 minute walk away, I can buy Dutch Waffles in other words, yummy stroopies!!
#Guayabano is this weird looking fruit that when you first look at it doesn't leave a great impression. When you do try it, the meat is kind of slimy, but it tastes really good. Drinking the juice cold is even better.
#An encouraging thing we heard today from student nurses at the clinic is that they are inspired to serve the poor because they see us here at Mercy in Action sincerely loving them with God's love and sharing the hope we have in Christ.
#So, after 6 weeks we finally decided that spending money on airconditioning is a very wise investment. Two of the staff [Andy and Eric] installed the unit. We put it in the kids bedroom for cooling, but at the same time the air gets filtered. Also the noises from outside are somewhat dimmed. The other thing we did is put an exhaust fan in the wall between the kids bedroom and ours, so our room is cooled as well.
#We also just bought a fridge. Six weeks without a fridge was long enough. It is so nice and we feel so blessed, knowing now what it is like to live without one. Today we did a big, big shop to fill it and to get some other staples. We have decided to do more of our own cooking instead of eating at the clinic. Kim, one of our janitorial staff at the clinic, came over to our house and saw the big box that the fridge came in and asked for it so she could use it for a mattress on her bed. She, her husband and 2 year old have been sleeping on it ever since. She is 5 months pregnant! Jocelyn visited her in Welfareville just last week and they had been sleeping on open springs.
#Today I went to checkout the feeding program in Quezon City. This is fully run by the local Vineyard church. Women from the church cook and buy the food. The program has been focused on feeding 12 kids three times a week to bring them up to the weight they ought to be. On the third day, the whole family is invited to have a meal and socialize. Also once in a while they organize outings. It was really cool to be there and help out. The close to 30 kids kids were so nice and friendly. There was a lot of laughter and smiling with these kids. Weighing the kids was another thing as many of them are below the lowest accepted weight for their age, but they are gaining and that is the main thing. As long as they don't decline or stay the same.
#Today, Sunday March 5th we went to Mike and Eva Fasts church. We came really late because Jocelyn was called in for a baby check but we did go. They have a class for the kids so this is a big plus. The other churches we have attended did not which made it difficult for the kids.After church they invited us out for lunch, we really enjoyed it. We also saw their house and spent the afternoon there. All the kids played really well together and had a good time as well. I was getting really sleepy and found out about a Philipino custom. When you are friends and a guest at someones house you can just tell them that you are going to "look upstairs for a while"..meaning you are going to look for a place to lay down. So in other words I found a bedroom and laid down for a bit. At six o clock in the evening we went to see a free outdoor ballet performance with the Fasts and with others from the Mercy in Action team. It was really well done and everyone enjoyed themselves. The hardest part was all the little kids begging for money and some trying to sell the little flower headbands. It is so hard to see this, wanting to do something for these street kids. I just want to take them home and give them a chance.
#Yesterday, one of Jocelyn's patients confided that her husband is beating her. This patient's face is half paralyzed from a childhood surgery. She has two children by two different men, who now live with her mother in another city. She sees them once a year. She cried as she told Jocelyn the painful things she has experienced in her life. She is 20 weeks pregnant with a new partner who's "other wife" (previous live-in partner) delivered at Mercy In Action last year. Jocelyn had been praying that morning that God would work in her to bring hope to someone and He was so faithful. Jocelyn was able to share Christ and the hope He brings to our lives. Her patient had made a decision to follow Christ last year, but has had no follow up support. Jocelyn was able to give her a Bible we had that was extra, and point her to good places to begin reading. Jocelyn will follow up with a home visit soon. They prayed together and cried together and asked God to intervene to radically change her "husband's" heart...Pray with us for a miracle in her life. Her name is Maria, a precious and beautiful daughter of the King.
Jan 16th 2006 Arrived in Manila
Hello everyone!
Well the adventure continues! God is good!We arrived safely and without any major problems. There was a delay in Vancouver, this gave us some problems in Japan with our connection flight to Manila. But, with all of us running and trying to find out how to get to the next plane we just made it in time. We were delayed in Japan as well because two passengers didn't show, so they had to dig to get their luggage out. Maybe this delay helped to get all our luggage ontoour flight, God knows!
When we flew into Manila around midnight, there was just a sea of lights,all across the horizon. As we looked out, Marijke peeped up: "Danieke, I can see the whole universe! It's showtime!" about 5 minutes later, Danieke: "I can see millions of lights just like twinkling stars!" It was really magical looking!We met a lot of nice Philippino people on the plane and one of them went over to the customs official and told him what we were doing in the Philippines and to "look after us" (unbeknownst to us!) So he directed us to go to a certain line and the official opened and looked at the top of a few of our boxes and sent us on our way!
At the airport we were greeted by Andy and Sarah from Mercy in Action. It was wonderful having them there and organizing getting us to our place. The ride was a new experience for us, with all the honking and not really paying attention to the lane dividers wow...However, the streets were clear and we were home in 30 minutes.
The weather here is really hot, even at midnight it's 26C.This, by far has been the biggest adjustment for us. Please pray that we and the kids will acclimate soon! In the meantime, it's extra deodorant for us! We are also getting used to a fair amount of pollution, and the fine layer of black that it leaves on surfaces in the house! It doesn't bother the kids at all, but as soon as they press their noses on the screen to look out the window, they have a black face!
Andy and his wife, Becky, have made all these adjustments easier for us by helping us get around and get the things we need to set up here. We bought a table and chairs yesterday and were able to get our bank account set up here. This was a huge thing! The first bank we went to, would not give us an account because we are not Philippino, so we went to Metrobank and now we are set up! This will help us a lot! To get a bank account, we needed to get passport photos to bring with us and we got 3 for 30 pesos. That's less than a dollar. They kept two and now I have one for my ID badge at the birth center.
We had some close encounters of the creature kind on our first night. We have some very large cockroaches (all the better to see them and get them!) and they are pretty brazen! They are about as long as a finger and move at the speed of light! We got about 4, and as most of you would recognize, Danieke was fascinated! ("no...you can't keep them!") We also had a rather large spider whom we evicted from under our kitchen sink (actually evicted then exterminated. He would have fit very nicely on a bread plate back home. Richard and I spent a few minutes plotting his death and mustering the courage to "execute"! Anyone who knows us, knows this was one of our fears...spiders, and it looks as though God has a sense of humour to get us over it in the first 24 hours!
We have some ants that are competing with us for food, so we now have a can of Raid and any ant is a marked ant! They love any kind of crumbs or sugar of any sort! They are really small, but bite leaving a mosquito type bite, so they are getting an eviction notice as well. Everyone else in the neighbourhood has been very friendly and there are a ton of kids on our street to play with! We have a "sari sari" right next door to us that sells pretty much all sorts of household stuff all in small packages. 1 cup servings of flour, sample sized dish soap, yummy mango juice, and sweets. It's very handy!
We took the receiving blankets and baby clothes to the clinic yesterday and they were delighted to get them! Thanks to all who donated. They will be made into "new baby" packages including a receiving blanket, an outfit, and some other baby items and will be distributed at the clinic to bless new moms.We'll take the vitamins and antibiotics over today!
We ate at the clinic yesterday for lunch and had a great Philippino style lunch with some of the other midwives. The Filipina midwives are very kind and I hope to get to know them soon! This morning we were up at 4:00 am with the kids and it feels much cooler! It's a much better time to work and the sun is just coming up as I write this...It's 6:00am now and we need to get going on clearing out some boxes and cleaning out some cupboards. Later today, our table and chairs will arrive, so we'll be ready! Mercy In Action set us up with a water dispenser and one burner stove, so we don't need to buy those...Thanks! We also have very comfortable beds thanks to them! We bought a bed for Matthijs (bamboo) yesterday from a neighbour. He had bought it a couple of days earlier from a street vendor, and we bought it from him at a $2 profit for him, so we were happy, (the whole bed cost a little over 10 dollars) and he was happy with his profit as well!
We so appreciate your prayers as we settle in here. There are many adjustments, but it feels so good to be here finally! We look forward to the adventures ahead and trust in His care.
Jetlagged and happy to be here...God bless. We love you.
Richard, Jocelyn, Danieke, Marijke and Matthijs Jelsma.
Well the adventure continues! God is good!We arrived safely and without any major problems. There was a delay in Vancouver, this gave us some problems in Japan with our connection flight to Manila. But, with all of us running and trying to find out how to get to the next plane we just made it in time. We were delayed in Japan as well because two passengers didn't show, so they had to dig to get their luggage out. Maybe this delay helped to get all our luggage ontoour flight, God knows!
When we flew into Manila around midnight, there was just a sea of lights,all across the horizon. As we looked out, Marijke peeped up: "Danieke, I can see the whole universe! It's showtime!" about 5 minutes later, Danieke: "I can see millions of lights just like twinkling stars!" It was really magical looking!We met a lot of nice Philippino people on the plane and one of them went over to the customs official and told him what we were doing in the Philippines and to "look after us" (unbeknownst to us!) So he directed us to go to a certain line and the official opened and looked at the top of a few of our boxes and sent us on our way!
At the airport we were greeted by Andy and Sarah from Mercy in Action. It was wonderful having them there and organizing getting us to our place. The ride was a new experience for us, with all the honking and not really paying attention to the lane dividers wow...However, the streets were clear and we were home in 30 minutes.
The weather here is really hot, even at midnight it's 26C.This, by far has been the biggest adjustment for us. Please pray that we and the kids will acclimate soon! In the meantime, it's extra deodorant for us! We are also getting used to a fair amount of pollution, and the fine layer of black that it leaves on surfaces in the house! It doesn't bother the kids at all, but as soon as they press their noses on the screen to look out the window, they have a black face!
Andy and his wife, Becky, have made all these adjustments easier for us by helping us get around and get the things we need to set up here. We bought a table and chairs yesterday and were able to get our bank account set up here. This was a huge thing! The first bank we went to, would not give us an account because we are not Philippino, so we went to Metrobank and now we are set up! This will help us a lot! To get a bank account, we needed to get passport photos to bring with us and we got 3 for 30 pesos. That's less than a dollar. They kept two and now I have one for my ID badge at the birth center.
We had some close encounters of the creature kind on our first night. We have some very large cockroaches (all the better to see them and get them!) and they are pretty brazen! They are about as long as a finger and move at the speed of light! We got about 4, and as most of you would recognize, Danieke was fascinated! ("no...you can't keep them!") We also had a rather large spider whom we evicted from under our kitchen sink (actually evicted then exterminated. He would have fit very nicely on a bread plate back home. Richard and I spent a few minutes plotting his death and mustering the courage to "execute"! Anyone who knows us, knows this was one of our fears...spiders, and it looks as though God has a sense of humour to get us over it in the first 24 hours!
We have some ants that are competing with us for food, so we now have a can of Raid and any ant is a marked ant! They love any kind of crumbs or sugar of any sort! They are really small, but bite leaving a mosquito type bite, so they are getting an eviction notice as well. Everyone else in the neighbourhood has been very friendly and there are a ton of kids on our street to play with! We have a "sari sari" right next door to us that sells pretty much all sorts of household stuff all in small packages. 1 cup servings of flour, sample sized dish soap, yummy mango juice, and sweets. It's very handy!
We took the receiving blankets and baby clothes to the clinic yesterday and they were delighted to get them! Thanks to all who donated. They will be made into "new baby" packages including a receiving blanket, an outfit, and some other baby items and will be distributed at the clinic to bless new moms.We'll take the vitamins and antibiotics over today!
We ate at the clinic yesterday for lunch and had a great Philippino style lunch with some of the other midwives. The Filipina midwives are very kind and I hope to get to know them soon! This morning we were up at 4:00 am with the kids and it feels much cooler! It's a much better time to work and the sun is just coming up as I write this...It's 6:00am now and we need to get going on clearing out some boxes and cleaning out some cupboards. Later today, our table and chairs will arrive, so we'll be ready! Mercy In Action set us up with a water dispenser and one burner stove, so we don't need to buy those...Thanks! We also have very comfortable beds thanks to them! We bought a bed for Matthijs (bamboo) yesterday from a neighbour. He had bought it a couple of days earlier from a street vendor, and we bought it from him at a $2 profit for him, so we were happy, (the whole bed cost a little over 10 dollars) and he was happy with his profit as well!
We so appreciate your prayers as we settle in here. There are many adjustments, but it feels so good to be here finally! We look forward to the adventures ahead and trust in His care.
Jetlagged and happy to be here...God bless. We love you.
Richard, Jocelyn, Danieke, Marijke and Matthijs Jelsma.
