life's ups and downs

Hello Friends and family.  This time I have broken my record for the longest ever space with no blog post via the sheepishmidwife.  I admit I tend to lose faith in how many eyes see my blog, no judgment here, I am pretty sure I am the worlds worst blogger blog reader.  Truly, I think I might be…. anyway moving on.  

                                               New chapters

Life in the Philippines has continued with its normal ups and downs as life tends to do, but recently life has shifted somewhat.  What I mean by that is simply that the same pattern of assignment, clinic work assignments has adjusted slightly in that our assignment load has lessened, in fact I only have to hand in my final assignment.  This is exciting as it allows for flexible hours in the clinic and preparing ourselves to begin studying for our NARM exam.  But I don’t feel like talking about academics, except that I am enjoying not being weighted down with deadlines.

                                            The interesting October

I shall talk about October, because October was crazy.  Without going into too much details, there were 25 babies born at the clinic and I got to witness 6 of them kicking and screaming into the world (they actually do kind of do that).  Sleep was was hit and miss, but since we had no pressing assignments it made it easier for the other senior volunteer and I.  Most of the babies decided to come within 2 weeks of each other, twice we had all 7 beds filled with mothers and babies. My theory as to why they all came at the same time: Typhoon Lawin.  

You may have heard about it on the news.  Typhoon Lawin was the biggest typhoon that Tabuk has ever seen: signal 5.  I think the babies all decided they better come before the storm.  That way they could still get to the midwives and not risk being born in the middle of the wind and rain. Other babies made the wise decision to be born after the typhoon had cleared.  One of the patient’s that delivered about two weeks after the typhoon described her conversation with her baby concerning this matter.  During the typhoon she told her baby to not be born yet.  After the typhoon when she was busy cleaning up from the wind and rain; she told her unborn baby to wait still a little longer until they got things cleaned up.  So about two weeks later mama was ready and so baby was born nice and healthy at the clinic.   

My personal experience with the typhoon was as follows.  We were all trying to prepare ourselves for the warned storm ahead, but what I wouldn’t give to go back and to a better job of taking care to put my books and suitcase under more cover.  They ended up taking on some considerable water damage. When the storm started I told myself to suck it up and sleep by my lonsome in my room, cause I was sure it was going to be fine.  We also were storing the clinic dog Madra in my room and out of harms way, so I figured I should stay with him and keep him somewhat calm.  However he was much calmer than I.  After listening to the howlnig wind and rain with tremendous pressure against my windows I gave up the brave fight and joined Keri and the two other visiting volunteers who were attempting to sleeping on the floor in the living/dining area in the center of the building.  As the storm worsened the other midwives joined us, we all felt a natural instinct to put distance between us and the glass windows which every once in awhile would violently swing open.  The water started pouring in from any and all cracks and crevices, no matter how many towels were applied or how tight the doors and windows were closed.  we took it in turns to sweep the increasing water away from our foamies on the floor (yes, I said sweep).  I’m not going to lie people, I was mildly freaking out and tensing up every time a wave of intense wind hit the building.  I did, after all, grow up in a deep valley where violent winds were something you saw on the News and the Wizerd of Oz.  

As the storm died down the staff midwives returned to their rooms but us volunteers fell asleep and woke to find the foamies drenched in rain water.  We all returned to our rooms of which were flooded, Madra was marooned on my bed.  We all slept for a few hours and then awoke to the morning.  

The winds had died down to what we might call a very windy day in the North Thompson valley, and the cleanup began, we had no power and no running water….well no running water from the tap...we had plenty of water running on all three floors of the clinic.   our clinic building had actually fared well compared to others.  There were only a few broken windows and some damage to the roof.  However it still won't be cheap to repair and thankfully Shepherds purse has volunteerd to pay for the damages.  People in smaller dwellings were the ones whom were really affected.  

I talked to one lady from our church whose part her her and her family’s roof blew off while they were still inside.  Thank the Lord they weren't hurt.  We heard that out of everyone affected by the typhoon 14 people died, which is less than we imagined, but of course one life is too many.  

As far as injuries at the AGGMC family, I apparently volunteered to be the scape goat for everyone. It was actually to the point of humorous.  the night of the typhoon my wrist got strained (no sprained, just strained, from trying to open the bathroom door and the wind forcing the door against my efforts. I know, it sounds really pathetic). Then the next morning I was walking down the sleek stairs to the water pump where the breakfast dishes were to be washed.  In this process my foot slipped, I lost my footing, feet wen flying, dishes went crashing (including my favorite coffee cup :( ), and my back hit the cement staircase and I slid down about four or five steps.  Four midwives rushed to my aid (advantages of living in a clinic) it was quite the bruise and they sent me to bed with some ice.  About an hour later I got up and someone looked at me and said "your elbow!" I looked down at said elbow and was shocked to discover a massive swelling the size of a chicken egg.  It was so big and looked so bizarr that we all started laughing. I hadn’t even felt the pain at first but turns out my elbow was what broke my fall.  

Still there are places that are affected by the typhoon, people who have lost their homes, rice crops that have been destroyed; leaving a shortage of food for some.  An area called Pasil lost access to their bridge and have a shortage of medical supplies.  There are still locations that are out of power.  If you want to donate to the cause, you can do so through the Georgia Macad, who is the director of the clinic, go to her blog, gthemidwife and you can donate to her with a note for Typhoon Lawin.  

So that was October, please continue to pray for the people of Kalinga and surrounding areas for recovery from the typhoon. and to be with the families of those 14 people who lost their lives. 

                                       

                          post typhoon cleaning

                                             
                                            my freaky looking elbow after my trip down the stairs

                                                     We all love Bugnay

Since my last blog post we have taken several trips to Bugnay, some were for a few days and allowed us to do some hiking to other villages, others were just an over night event.  One such occasion was when some of us attended the celebration of the translated new testament into the local language.  sadly I missed the actual program part, but made it in time for the traditional dancing, which we got to take part in, despite the fact that I look like the awkward Canadian among all the expert dancers.  

Following is an excerpt of a trip we took to Bugnay in the month of August. 

Women wash their dishes together at one of the communal water pumps, a girl scrubs her clothes clean at the outside running faucet.  Babies rest in slings tied to their mother's or sister’s back.  We enter a little house where we eat the best white beans I've tasted.  They are grown in a nearby field, we also partake of the native rice that is the "bread of life" to the Bute-bute people. Both Man and woman partake in its production.  I am completely exhausted after our church service from earlier (from being sick the night before) so our hosts offer for me to take a Sunday nap on their bed.  After being slightly more rested Belen (my Filipina friend and acting guide for the day) leads us over water ways and steps, weaving through dwelling places with tin and bamboo roofs, dodging chickens, pigs and children.  We sit with the clinic directer’s mother-in-law whom is poddng beans with her daughter. She offers us coffee.  It is the traditional Kalinga coffee made in a kettle with lots of sugar.  We drink it with immense satisfaction, listen to the deep melodious sounds of the local language while gazing through the valleys of rice covered mountains.  This is Bugnay of Tinglayan, I have yet to meet a person who has not been charmed by her people and awed by its beauty

                                                      Life and other things 

Church life continues to be great, I have been volunteering with the kids on a slightly more regular bases depending on on my life at the clinic, I think some of the kids don't know what to think of me with my strange Canadian accent but we manage, since a lot of them understand some English.

Two of our midwives have given birth!  Both are beautiful baby boys, whom everyone at the clinic has instantly fallen in love with.  Lucky for us both of them live on the clinic compound so we get to see both babies frequently.

 I got to witness a great birth last August of one of our previous staff midwives, it was a very special birth and I felt so honored to be there.

I have definitely come to the conclusion that although midwifery is a difficult and challenging profession, it also never ceases to amaze me, and I do love it, even after several nights with little sleep.

We introduced our Filipina friends to s'mores the other day when we celebrated Ellora's birthday, we got a nice little campfire fire going and roasted hot dogs and then showed everyone how to make and eat s'mores, it was a big hit! and we all probably ate way to much.

It is so hard to believe it has been well over two years since our arrival here.  In some ways it seems just like yesterday but in others especially when i think of the bewildered, fresh off the bloat wide eyed 22 year old Canadian who never spent more than 4 months at a time away from her beloved Aveley Ranch and no more than 3 months completely away from family, it seems like a life time ago.  I am excited to see my family again, but at the same time I feel a punch in the stomach when I think of leaving the people here.  I remember years ago my mother reading a book to use children about a man from China who was raised in America, in his adult life he would go back and forth between the two countries.  There was a line in the book about how when he was in one place he found he was missing the other, and vise versa.  I remember thinking how awful that must be, to feel split in two.  I realize that the life I am leading means that these will be familiar emotions. But like night shifts and mints-meat pies I don’t think it is as awful as I once thought, it simply means that my heart belongs to more than one place.

I am growing excited for the next stage of my life as God is beginning to form new dreams into my heart, but these dreams are in the early stages so I shall tell no details yet :) 

I saw my first breech birth the other day! (that wasn't on a video) it was a surprise breech and once we discovered that the wee babe was indeed intending on entering the world bottom first, there was no time to transport to the hospital so the baby was born at the clinic, Our midwife director is no stranger to delivering surprise breech babies so she knew what to do.  It was a prefect birth, the baby boy was as healthy and strong as any and his mama did so well! it was pretty amazing to witness. 

It may come as so surprise that blog posts take me several days to write, I wanted to write this paragraph before I post.  I have been going back and forth as to whether or not to share it, because it is easier to share the joys than it is the struggles.  But I think it is important to share struggles, because it proves that no one is perfect and oh how we need God to guide us. So here it.  '

Today was a hard day. It was a day I wish I could rewind and do a better job of. I won’t go into details cause of privacy and all that but there was a moment where I felt I failed people around me and when my heart was overwhelmed.  No worries I am okay and everyone around me is okay.  I am blessed to have good friends that I can talk to and they can help me get back on the horse when I fall down.  Where I am going with this?  In the world of missions and midwifery, there are hard days, days where you feel discouraged and, yes like a failure, days that you wish you could do over. This is why your prayers all mean so much to me and why I encourage you to remember other missionaries and people who work with women and birth, remember to pray for them, that they will get through the hard days and remember that God is in control and to let Him guide us.  

Well I think I hit the highlights of the highlights.  We are beginning to make preparations for Christmas complete with putting up our wooden bamboo Christmas tree, I will strive to give you an update after Christmas and post pictures of the third year Christmas spent in the Philippines.  which sounds totally crazy to my own ears.  
                                              
Ellora and I set up the Christmas tree on November 25, you can buy fake Christmas trees here, but the husband of one of the volunteers made this Christmas tree out of bamboo for their first Christmas in the Philippines and handed it down to us when they left, I have become quite fond of it....

                                            After we set up our tree we made hot chocolate from scratch, complete with the left over marshmellows from the hotdog roast

I shall leave you with some prayer requests

-That I would have a calm and peaceful heart in the last few months of my stay in the Philippines

-For a free vehicle when I return to Canada 

-To continue to grow and learn 

-To be able to complete all the little things that need to be done before the end of my program

-Fiances as needed

things to be thankful for

-I am so thankful to everyone who has donated, my financial situation has been stable and that is all because of people willing to donate and give, I am so thankful to God for this

-For the people that are around me, I have come to love each and every one of them

-For God's faithfulness in every step of this journey