more pictures of our trip

This is a darian fruit. I don't known if I spelled that right. We called it stinky fruit. It has a very strong odor. They seem to love them there, but it's hard to get pass the smell in order to taste it with an open mind. You crack the hard pointy shell open and inside are huge seeds. On these huge seeds is a mushy orange creamy stuff. this is what you eat. They sort of suck it off the seeds.


these are the shells with the fruit already removed. Talk about the smells Martha. I kept imagining this smell long after I left the Philippines.
These types of stands are all over the streets. They are either selling snacks, drinks, roasted chicken or pork fat. (at least it looked like just fat)
Here is a jeepney. This one is a nicer one. They are often stuffed with people. They have 2 long bench seats along the sides. Everyone just squishes in, shoulder to shoulder.
As bad as the driving is, no one wears seat belts and I never once saw a car seat, not even the missionary's. The vans hold lots of people. they have the 2 front seats, then a regular back bench seat that you squeeze 3 on (the vans are not near as wide as ours) Then in the back it had 2 bench seats facing each other. So if you really wanted to squish you could fit 11 I think in a small van.
Baskets house on the sea.
the trees are all full of these coconuts
really neat tree.
strange flowering plant.

Here are more of the basket houses on the sea

These kids spoke good English. they were part of a sports team. They were very happy to have us pay attention to them. All Filipinos love having their picture taken. It was a sure way of getting beautiful smiles.


This is where the Badjoe Indians live. They are the lowest tribe here, being boat people. They live in boats or basket houses held up in the air on stilts. They are very poor .

I'll quote from Sherry here:

"Birth for them is something to be feared. They are very concerned about the mother bleeding to death. After the baby is born, they leave it off to the side and try to keep the mom from bleeding too much. The floor is made of reeds with cracks and the blood is pushed down into the water. It is hard to know how much a mom lost that way! Anyway, the birth process is quite amazing. The birth mom is covered head to toe with blankets. The birth granny goes under the blankets to help with the birth. The mother of the birth mom actually bites her daughter’s ears and pulls her hair, while she is trying to push, in an effort to get her to get all riled up to push harder. They had invited Toinette (midwife) to the birth in case the mom bled too much, maybe she could help. After the fact???"

The sand is black here. It's hard to tell in the picture, but Monica brought a bit home.

The rest of the trip

sleeping in the airport
finished with the trip
Rick picking us up
Monica loved the views out the window in the airplane.
this was the huge airplane from Manila. there was an upstairs too.
Well traveling just doesn't seem to come easy for me! lol. This time with the gravol working so well I thought it should be smooth sailing. Monica kept teasing me about taking gravel. (Gravol: the nausea medicine)
Well when we got to Salt Lake city we had a few hours to wait till our next plane. We were very tired, because sleeping on the plane in those tiny little seats is challenging to say the least, then avoiding sleep all night in the San Fransisco airport. But now we were almost home with just one more flight to Spokane that leaves at 11:35. So we went over to get something to eat and to get some walking in. After we ate we thought we would just sit and wait, it was still 1-2 hours before our flight. So Monica said it's this way and I agreed, went and sat down in C5. I got on the phone with Martha and time began to pass. Suddenly I looked at my watch and wondered why they haven't called us yet. It was 11:30. Looked at the ticket and realized we should have been in D5 not C5. We ran, but had missed our flight. We waited for the rest of the day on standby as they tried to get us onto the next flight out. Not until 7:30 did they finally find a seat for us. Then the wind started blowing. They stopped all flights. During these hours it was to our bodies the second night in planes or airports. Monica was sleeping soundly where ever I would move her, I would drift off to sleep sitting straight up even for a few minutes with a short little dream, then wake up to check if Monica was still there, the baggage, purse etc. In and out of these 5 min naps. Rick has been in Spokane all day waiting for me. He visited a friend, drove down to Ritzville and had a nice time reminiscing at the library, looking at year books etc. Then he took a long hike at the airport. We finally got into Spokane about 9:30, drove straight home and arrived about 1:30 Am.
I tried to total the hours in travel and I belive it came to about 42 hours from the time of leaving Davao to home. Boy it was good to get home. The children had the house all clean and James and Jon had huge hugs for me. Mark is still in Kalispell and Gina is at school in Bozeman. I slept so good and now my hours seem to be pretty normal except for a quick nap yesterday.
I acme home to a huge stack of mail, luggage to unpack, half an hour of phone messages on the machine, with huge lists of to do stuff and it's great to be home, to toilets that flush, warm showers, quiet and peaceful Libby. Fresh air, no more sweat and stickiness and "normal " food. Mishael said something about having roast chicken for dinner and it took me a few minutes to wonder why I didn't feel like eating this. (Trey have roast chicken on almost every street corner, so we ate a lot of it.) I think we will have tacos tonight! with real cheddar cheese!
Monica and I will never forget our wonderful experience in the Philippines. The very kind, sweet Filipinos, the wonderful friendships, and the incredible birth experiences. May the Lord continue to bless the wonderful work Mercy Maternity is doing there and also those that made this trip possible for us. I'm so thankful I got to be part of serving there for 3 weeks.
I can't wait to see what God has for our future.

stores

This is a whole case of hankies. Very beautiful hankies. I bought quite a few.

A whole case of fans. The people working are so happy to help and show you each fan or hankie. they also give their opinion and help you decide what is pretty or if we made a good choice.
this is a sink in Mc Donald, they have it in the main dining room so you can wash your hands before you can eat. It seemed Mc Donald's was better then at home, or was it just I was tired of Philippine food?
We were surprised at the small servings at Mc Donald's. The quarter pounder was actually a good hamburger.
They had beautiful china sets. I wanted to buy some for Martha, but they were not cheap. :( So you just get pictures instead.




Here is a sample of stock in the stores. I couldn't believe how much stuff they have in each store. It's never just a few of anything. These are all plates. There are always rows of what ever it is. Rows of plates, soap, towels. The fabric store was lots of fun. They really stock their stores!
This row was all bowls.
Pots and pans.
Glasses

our interesting lunch in Eldavico

Here is a picture of my chicken lunch.
Chicken bones is more like it!
Here is Monica's "hamburger". It must have been a soy burger
this is Julia laughing at our sorry lunch

this is Holo holo. A very popular drink.
It's coconut milk and ice and it looked like beans on the bottom. I guess some people love the stuff!

trip home

The last time I spent the night in the airport, I hoped I would never have to do it again. But here I am 3:30 AM in San Francisco airport. I’m actually trying to stay awake as it’s a little scary to sleep with Monica and baggage. It’s not too hard, since in Davao this would be day time, but I hardly slept last night on the plane.
We had a great last day in Davao. It was hard to leave all our new friends, plus leaving Sherry and Julia. It was especially hard to leave Lisa and Beth. Two wonderful sisters in Christ, that I so easily felt like I’ve known them all my life. Beth lives in Haiti, I can’t remember if I mentioned her already. Her family have been missionaries for 18 yrs in Haiti., Lisa whose family also spent time in Haiti, and Lord willing will be back there again full time. We understood each other so well. I truly hope the Lord brings something of these relationships. Maybe a short term mission trip to Haiti? I have never had any thought of wanting to go to Haiti, but the Lord has ways of changing hearts.
I met so many wonderful missionary’s. They are being trained as midwives specifically to work in Africa, Haiti, and I can’t remember where all else. The neat thing is even during their training they are able to be “missionaries”. The clinic is a wonderful outreach to help the poor. After seeing that hospital so many times during transports, It blessed me so much to see how many births could be kept out of that place. Mom’s having baby’s in a clean, quiet place with a curtain between at least, with loving midwives and students to attend them. Davao is a huge city with over 200 births per day. About 125 per month go to the clinic. They would have more, but that is all they can handle. It’s strange to see so many pregnant women around all the time. They have more maternity clothes in the stores then I’ve ever seen.
One of the best part of midwifery is when you are helping a women through her labor, and when she leaves she thanks you from the depth of her being. Because there is something about pain that draws people together.
We had also made a quick trip to a beach that was close by. Here the water was dirty, the sand was black, and children everywhere. There is a group of poor people that live over this sea. Their houses are made of baskets, the floor bamboo, and they are up on stilts. They are very deep in their own cultures and traditions. There is one family we met, missionary’s from Africa. Isn’t that a twist? They have been in the Philippines for 9 yrs. She is a midwife and he is a medical missionary. Takes regular trips into the bush to have clinics. Anywhere from pulling teeth to what ever is necessary, working long days to help the very poor. He has been able to work with these people, but it is very unusual for the to accept any help from outsiders.
So the ambulance and guard took us to airport. I had been told about the airport tax. I was told it would be 80 pesos in Davao and 1400 in Manila. Well I had a little extra, but I didn’t really want to go home with a bunch of peso, so I just had enough. Well in Davao the tax turned out to be 200 pesos each. Which left me short in Manila. Only I seem to get into these troubles! I did have 4 American dollars, which putting everything together and dumping out my change purse we still came up short about 80 pesos! So the flight leaves in 20 min I thought, and here I am on another one of those run quick outings. I ask where is an ATM machine. I leave Monica with the attendant, and run to the door to go to the ATM machine. But every door you go though you have to show your ticket and passport. I did and they keep my ticket, and give me a pass of some sort. I run out side. They have people sitting around every 200 feet it seems, so I can ask anytime I get lost. I find the machine, and it refuses to give me money. I try other cards too. Nothing would work. Many of the machines are set up for only master card, or only visa or only? So I run and ask where another machine is, they guide me, I run, I find the machine to no avail. It will not give me money either. I’m thinking by this time I’m going to miss my plane and they are not going to let me through all because of 80 pesos (less then $2). So I go back in and the customs man is standing there as the lady is counting out all my change, trying to help me figure out home much my American money is worth. I found another American quarter! This is crazy! As they are counting and talking and I’m rechecking my wallet and Monica’s wallet, the customs guy opens his own wallet and puts in 100 pesos. What a blessing for kind people! He said he would take my American change for a souvenir. So we get on the airplane somehow on time, maybe there is an hour difference between manila and Davao? I don’t know, but somehow we made it on, and we were seated together this time, by the window. We sat next to a sweet Christian girl who is in a foreign exchange student program. She is already a dermatologist.
One of the wonderful students from Canada heard I was going to take Dramamine for the trip home, and she said Gravol is much better. Boy do I love that stuff! I took one pill and I never was nauseated the whole trip. What a huge difference in my flying experience. It did make me a little sleepy, but not drugged.. We got on a 8 pm, was served a chicken and rice dish and then the lights go out and we try to sleep. The seats are very small, so it’s really hard to sleep. Plus Beth told me quite a few times before I left, get up and walk every hour, go to the bathroom farthest from your seat, etc. in order to prevent thrombosis. So all night I’m thinking I should get up and walk. My legs were aching. I only managed to get up twice, as it’s such a huge hassle to get everyone to move around to let you out. But my legs are fine. Thanks for caring Beth. :)
After another line through customs I’m told I need to pick up my luggage and check them back in on Delta. So we are lugging 6 pieces of luggage around, but when I wait in line to check them in they say we can’t take them until just before the flight. They can’t give me boarding passes either. So here I am not long enough to get a motel, but stuck in the first entrance part of the airport all night. After getting over the original shock, we settled on a spot, and got out a movie to watch on the computer. So the time is flying by. Hopefully the rest of the trip will be uneventful.
I was asked for money a couple of time and thankfully I could honestly say I only have 10 pesos. Thankfully in the states we can use cards everywhere.

pictures

crocodile park






these are the real ones.
these are baby crocodiles.

Ostrich

These are statues of course.

this is a real one
I finally got my picture to upload. This was an add from international house of pancakes (Ihop) Fish and rice of course.
This is Monica at Pizza hut. They have a 99 peso special. It's a pan pizza that is almost like regular pizza and mushroom soup, with a coke. They don't offer you other pop, or soup. then I bought chicken and spaghetti. Ugh! It was horrible.
Of course these are the pictures from the crocodile park. There were lots of crocodiles, little big and huge.
This is a Philippine Deer. A little different!

Sorry all out of order, but this is the bread sticks, more like crackers with mayo drizzled on it.

El Davico

Monica and I went back to El davico yesterday. Eldavico are stores for tourists. We took a taxi there this time, and as soon as you get out you start getting bombarded by these young men trying to sell sunglasses and watches. They won’t leave you alone. You have to say no thank you, over and over and try to get through them. Then you start with the shops. As you walk by the shop, they say “hello mum, come in, come in” they are all trying to get you into their shop. They all basically have the same stuff. At this place you are expected to deal and bargain. I love making deals. It’s something I’ve always enjoyed. We had lots of fun finding some little gifts. Then we decided to stop and get something to eat. We went into this little restaurant. Funny display of bras they sell in the restaurant too. The menu was sparse; the waitress couldn’t understand much English. So when I asked her what something was she just smiled and I figured I would be safe with chicken. Monica ordered a hamburger. And we decided we should try Halo halo. It’s sold everywhere, and looks pretty. When our order came though it was awful. Monica’s hamburger was a big white bun, full of mayonnaise and a tiny hamburger patty. Nothing else on it. And the meat didn’t even taste good. (later I found out it was probably soy not meat ) It was awful. Then my chicken turned out to be bones in a sauce! I was shocked! Maybe if you like skin there would have been more bites, but they gave me a pile of backbones, one wing, I maybe had 3-4 bites of chicken. Now the Halo halo. It was shaved ice with these colored pieces of something in it, and some sort of milk poured over the top. It was served with a bowl of sugar, so maybe we were supposed to sweeten it. Well it was the worst food we had since we’ve been here. We actually paid about $3 for this interesting lunch. Including my bones!
I guess we hit the cool season of the year. It has rained quite a bit since we have been here. It’s very hot still to me. I can’t really function without a fan. Thankfully they have fans everywhere. Really nice fans that hang on the wall. It’s too sticky to dress without a fan; the toilet seat sticks to your legs even!
We have been surprised how clean it is here. People are always cleaning, and really very few bugs. But then someone told me that’s because the house we are staying in is new. Older homes have more bugs. Well yesterday Monica and I were getting our favorite fruit shake. Mango, pineapple and melon, blended with ice, a little milk and sugar. When she went to get the straw a huge cockroach climbed out of the straw holder. We just didn’t enjoy our shake as much after that. When I say huge, I really mean huge. Maybe 2” long!


I took an IV class. I debated if I should try it because you are not allowed to use them as a midwife in MT. But I thought I shouldn't pass up the opportunity, so dear Sherry let me poke her twice and I was able to get it. It feels good to accomplish something like that.
Since then I did an IV on a transport patient and I got it first try.

more blog

I'm not sure why I can't get any pictures to upload. I'll keep trying. The Internet has been so sporadic that I finally started writing in word, so I'll paste my writings in:


A nice busy night at the birth center. As soon as I walked up for my shift this mom says “hi Joyce” Of course I couldn't remember who she was. Turns out I had seen her for a prenatal and told her to come back on my shift to have the baby. So she said she was waiting for me to come on shift. They were a sweet couple that thankfully spoke some English. When I was planning this trip I had heard that most people speak English. All the people that work here speak English, but their accent is strong and they talk a language called cebuano. Most of the patients do not speak English, but usually can understand a little. It’s hard when a midwife cannot communicate with her client. Especially for someone like me that likes to talk! :)

When I came on shift there were 3 moms in labor. My mom delivered first, with a little girl wrapped in her cord. Usually in that case you can somersault them out, but it was a short cord and this poor baby was all tangled in the cord. We finally got her all untangled and she did great.

At the same time there was a mom pushing loudly behind another curtain. It’s unusual for them to be loud. Most of these women are very quiet and you have a hard time telling when they are getting close because they are so quiet. Well 20 minutes after my birth I was checking vitals on my mom, when I heard nothing at all, then a soft “breath baby”. Those are always scary words to hear. I quick went in to have a chart thrown in my hands, while they efficiently gave PPV (like mouth to mouth but with a hand pump ventilator). Heart rate was good, but it was a very limp baby that didn’t look like it any strength to breath. He finally did breathe, but they were very labored breaths even with oxygen. He never did cry, and he was still very limp when they transported. Thankfully we don’t have to wait for an ambulance. We have a guard here 24 hours. He is our ambulance driver; he screens for new clients and gets the charts for anyone in labor. . Then he comes in and says, “labor mum”. It’s very nice to have him always there. He also answers the phone, but it rings only about once a day. Telephones are not part of this culture. But the text phones are everywhere

So this baby was transported and them mom stayed here. I felt so sorry for her as she barely even saw her baby. We still had one more in labor; she was a 3rd time mom already dilated 8 so we thought she would go fast. About 3 in the morning I finally finished with my newborn exam, the baby bath, taking enough vitals that I could leave her for 4 hours so she could get some sleep and I was caught up on my paper work.
I was asked if I would like to suture the mom whose baby was transported. She said it’s just a little 1st or 2nd degree. I said sure and got all set up, when the supervisor who was going to help me began by assessing the tear. It turns out it was a 4th degree tear. She was wearing a blue glove, and I won’t be gory here, but you could see the glove where you shouldn't be able.
This means we had to transport the mom too. A 4th degree needs a surgeon. The reason she tore so bad though was to save her baby. Turns out during the delivery the Heart tones jumped up to 200 just as baby was crowning. So at that point a tear is the least of the worries. They had her get that baby out fast and the placenta came right after, meaning it was probably detaching before the baby was born. This baby was born sucking in blood because the placenta detached too soon.
I volunteered to go to the hospital with the supervisor to transport her. She still wont is able to see her baby. The hospital is a chaotic very sad place. Outside there are benches full of people sleeping, and all their stuff. Inside there are rows of beds, sometimes without even spaces between them. People everywhere, because not only are their sick people everywhere, but also the patients family is all with them. This Is at 3 am. That’s because the family has to take care of the patients. I even saw one baby with a little girl using the Positive pressure ventilator, breathing for the baby. She was just constantly pumping it every few seconds. They have no machines that I saw. Everything is the old way. They take blood pressure and temperature with an old mercury thermometer when they walk in the door, then they sit on a bench and wait their turn. On the way out we saw the baby in a side room. It was sharing the bed with another baby. It has oxygen and an IV, but only the young aunt was with the baby. This was the room for urgent care, but I don’t think there was a nurse or doctor in the room, just family and the patients. The nurses wear old-fashioned hats and most wear masks too. I saw one nurse go in to collect blood. She was using a syringe and the needle was never covered. She drew the blood and walked to another room with the syringe and needle open not even carrying it very careful.
When we did get back to the clinic the other mom had just had her baby. I was able to sleep for 2 hours before it was time for vitals and paperwork. 2 hours is just enough to make a person really groggy.
We hardly ever find out what happens to the moms after we transport.
We had to transport another one last night. Again I noticed children pumping the amubags, to breathe for maybe their dad? I brought the mom into the room that they will check her, and the bed was still bloody from someone else. I was really grossed out. In a country where they have so many people all working hard, and usually so clean, why is the hospital so opposite. The hospital is the dirtiest place that I have seen since being here. People everywhere, no matter what time of the day you go in.
It's so hard to bring people there.