The actual outreach was very relaxed, it ended up being a time to really observe the culture and be involved with some of the activities that the midwifery clinic in the village do and we also fit in a little missionary support. Some of you may have heard that prier to this trip I threw my back out and was laid up for about two days literally. Even if I wasn't in bed I was lying down somewhere. Anyway it healed up enough for me to go on the planned date and feels very good now. Thank you all so much for praying!
Activities
The day after we arrived the Midwife clinic where we were staying (the clinic is an extension of the clinic here in Tabuk with their own midwife ( a missionary from the states) supervisor and local midwives who live and work there.) had their prenatal day where expecting mothers come for devotionals, teaching on a topic related to motherhood, their medical prenatal checkups and for Merienda (a term used for snacks in between meals; it's wonderful!), Ellora opened in prayer and I closed in prayer after the devotion.
The next day we walked down to the village (the clinic is situated above the village with a few other dwellings) and it is quite the walk; complete with a catwalk like suspended bridge. The purpose of the strip was for a teaching time for mothers called a "Well Baby Seminar" This included lots of women and their children all packed into a church watching an hour long teaching video and as always, complete with Meriends (Merienda is included in everything here which is absolutely wonderful in my opinion.) From there re received a wonderful tour of the town, It is an amazing village I would love to show pictures but I seem to have misplaced the object that transfers my photos from my camera to my computer, when I find it I will post them.
The next day I got to go to the village again and it was so neat to see the people there, their homes, and their families, they are all such wonderful and beautiful people.
A speed bump in the plans
Later that day I got a text saying that I needed to sort some paper work out for my enrollment with National College of Midwifery: my high school transcripts had not been signed by a school official, the cutoff date I needed to get this in was November 20th. the sudden panic was my fault as I had not had my head in the right place and although I sent an e-mail asking for it to get signed I had not fully dealt it with it yet and had not realized the urgency. So back I cam from Bugnay to Tabuk to sort it all out and I received some killer motion sickness on the bumpy ride back. Fortunately when I returned I had an e-mail waiting for me from my high school overseer with the scanned signed transcript so I sent it to the college but then remembered they wanted the overseer to send it. Thankfully I was able to get a hold of my dear mother and she miraculously found the phone of the teacher (we have not used this number in about three years) so she calls my former teacher/overseer and actually gets a hold of her. Apparently she had just got in the door and the next morning she was leaving for three weeks (thank you God for your timing!). She sent it right away. But before I went back to the world of no internet access I knew I should confirm with National College to make sure everything was well. But in order to do that I had to wait for Tuesday or midnight Monday in the Philippines which is Monday in New Mexico (where the school is stationed). So I figured I'd just hang out for a few days and maybe get in on some births...good plan right?...well....
A speed bump on the speed bump
I woke up at 4 the next morning with a nasty stomach flu. So for a full 24 hours I was out of commission except to lay in bed watch movies and sip the occasional fluids, I was well taken care of though the girls made sure I had lots of fluids and that I wasn't dying (which had crossed my exhausted mind at about 7 that morning). Monday dawned with wellness and that night (or early morning) I stayed up till after midnight to skype call the college: I got the confirmation that everything was in order and Tuesday morning I took a buss back to Bugnay
Bugnay trip continues
so the adventure in Bugnay continued with beautiful walks great talks with our host (the midwife missionary) about midwifery and missions, helping the said person with cleaning her future little house and assisting in some paperwork organization as well as doing some midwife book reading. The last day before we came back we went to the next province and visiting one of it's cities. Ellora and I visited the museum which held artifacts and history of the local tribal people, it was fascinating! Then on Tuesday we made the journey back. Hopefully I can get these photos to you soon so you can get an idea of how gorgeous this place was.
Oh dear so much for the "little update" this is getting really long i apologize and give you all permission to skim read.
Since then
Since returning I got my confirmation that I am an official student of Natinal College of Midwifery. So begins the coalition of being a long distance education student and a missionary volunteer. Ellora (as she is also enrolled) received our first assignment, it's quite exciting!
Since returning Bugnay I have been feeling really good emotionally. I won't lie; it has not been easy adjusting to a new living environment and routine. But I have felt really happy and content the last few days and I am eager to study and ready to embrace what ever comes next. Thank you everyone so much for your prayers and support. Do keep praying for continual language learning as I begin to force myself to speak little bits of ilocano here and there and prayers for understanding as I begin to learn new concepts.
love you all so much!
Vienna