March Update

Greetings from Olongapo on this lovely Saturday afternoon! Once again, time has flown by and my intention of sharing a monthly update is pushing the borders of tardiness as we are already moving in to the second half of March! 

It has been brought to my attention that I have not introduced the organization that I am volunteering with here in the Philippines. Although I have chronicled personal experiences and involvement with them over the past year - starting with the Maternal/Child and Disaster Preparedness Seminar last April, then the three month academic intensive midwifery school in Boise in the fall, followed by joining their team in response to the Yolanda Disaster in Dulag, and finally here in Olongapo as a volunteer nurse at their lovely clinic - I have not formally explained their work and ministry. I encourage you to visit Mercy In Action’s website at www.mercyinaction.com/about-mercy-in-action for more information. Also, please view the video at the bottom of this post.   

The past 6 weeks of living in Olongapo have clipped along very quickly as I have been occupied with various organizational tasks and activities at the clinic. Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday morning, we have a prenatal clinic and an average of twenty women come in on each of those days for their checkup. Laboring women come in at all hours, as we are open 24/7 as a birthing center. The numbers vary, but we have had an average of twenty births a month. Following delivery and discharge, each woman receives several postpartum visits either in their home or at the clinic. We also have regular  outreach to the local landfill, slum, or village and hand out prenatal vitamins and offer transportation to the pregnant women for prenatal visits. 

I want to share about my daily life here, but because of privacy reasons I am cautious to share any  details about anyone I have met or built friendship with. That being said, it is difficult to accurately portray what goes on each day, but I will try to share a snap shot of my day. I can’t say a “typical” day because they are always so different! 

Today! (Saturday, March 22)

• woke at 5:30am to the sound of a million roosters crowing. There are chickens everywhere here, but I live particularly close to a rooster farm and have no need for an alarm clock!
• Made a cup of coffee - I’m getting accustomed to the instant granules and powdered creamer that is standard here, although I have friends that readily share from their stash of beans with me :)
• I move outside to sit on the Kubo porch, watch the sunrise over the river and prepare my heart for the day
• At 7ish, I walk to the clinic, which is about a 3/4 mile stretch of road that follows the river, then rural housing, passes “Zombieville” (an abandoned/vacant area of apartment type housing) and then up a shady neatly paved road that leads past the clinic
• Once at the clinic, I help set up for prenatal visits and assist with whatever is needed. Today it is mostly paperwork. 
• After prenatals and a quick lunch, I walk with the 4 interns and one of our Filipina nurses to a remote village to find “buntus” (pregnant women) and pass out vitamins. This particular village was of interest to me because it was the one I visited nearly a year ago when our team laid pipe for them to have a nearby fresh water source. The pipe was still there but I couldn’t get a straight answer as to whether it was still a reliable water source...
• Enjoyed interacting with the interns during the long walk and learning about their backgrounds and plans for the future. 
• Arrived home in early evening and found my Canadian neighbor playing with her 3 girls. I hung out and assisted in creating a “fort” for the girls to play in. 
• This evening, I am attempting to write an update. The gnats are attracted to the bright screen and I am continuously batting them away as I try to hint at the geckos that instead of supervising me, they should get to work and eat the bugs! 
• My heart is full of thankfulness and gratitude that the Lord has brought me to this place and I have such an opportunity to serve and sow in to the lives of others. 

Thank you so much for your prayers and support! I know I am not very good with updates yet, but it is important to me that you know what your investment is doing in and through me. Pray that I become skilled at being able to easily and freely express what I need to! Thank you!

Labor of Love from Join the Lights on Vimeo.

Morning Commute

Got in a bit of a traffic jam on my work this morning...

Geckos...

I have become very jumpy over the past few months, as there are a variety of critters that appear suddenly out of nowhere when I am least expecting their presence. I’m using the term “critters” with a bit of sarcastic endearment, as most of these encounters have occurred with a certain, rather large, arachnid species that send a shiver down my spine every time I see one. When I get up each morning and again when I walk through the door in the evening, I make a general service announcement and warn all creepy visitors that I am home and taking up residence again.  So, for the most part, after several public displays of the death penalty, word has gotten out that all spiders will be destroyed on sight…no questions asked. (And don't expect much better if you're a rat..)

Geckos, on the other hand, have total disregard for personal space and have generously populated the kubo. (I saved a naive baby gecko the other day from going down the drain and I am pretty sure that encounter is what endeared me to their heart?) They have taken great satisfaction in keeping my company and even go so far as invite themselves for dinner on occasion. They are curious little creatures of lightening speed and funny high pitched chirping sounds. Lucky for them, their “non creepy” nature has earned them entrance in to my abode. (I talk as though I have control over what comes in my house…I really don’t, but it’s nice to pretend…)

As I was preparing dinner the other night on the propane stove, I turned around to get a plate. I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye. Turning back to the skillet, I jumped back because a large gecko had decided to inspect my cooking up close. “Get out of there!” I scolded and promptly flicked him with my fork.  In lightening speed, he was out of the skillet and back on the wall supervising my dilemma. I decided to fire up the burner again, heat the food well and eat it anyway. There are some things you just have to live with here, and curious geckos are just one those things…