So it's 9:30 pm and we are on our last load of laundry. All other clothing is rolled and ziplocked into my backpack and I am ready to go. Money belt will be on at 4:30 am as we depart for the airport for our first flight to Manila and then from Manila onto Bangkok where Lindsay and I will meet up with Kor, our close friend from Santa Clara who will be our tour guide for two weeks in Thailand.
All day today I was ready to go. I was ready to be out of this country and wanted nothing more to do with it. It poured rain, lightening shot through the sky and the thunder was deafening. The power went out three separate times today and Lindsay and I felt like we wasted our day packing, waiting for the DSL man to come to Hilary and David's and then waiting for him to fix the computer for another three hours. I was done with Filipino time, Filipino food, traffic and power outages. Without Hilary and David here to tell us funny stories about how crazy things are or help us take everything in stride we were feeling more ready to go.
How do I even sum up this past month? I can start by saying that two years ago I did a very similar month (6 weeks) in El Salvador at the National Maternity Hospital. I had a lot of the same roller coaster emotions, was frustrated with the same issues, and saw them same poverty. What struck me most was the parallels between El Salvador and Cebu City. They are so far from each other yet both share a few common characteristics that have made them so similar.
Primarily, they are both countries with a strong (if not overpowering) catholic/christian theocratic government. This allows for people who have nothing to still have profound faith. It also allows the church to mandate rules about women's reproductive rights and makes for the fertility rate to be through the roof. This has a large ripple effect throughout all populations leading to women who are not able to work or pursue education due to the five or six children on their hips and men who feel that their power and domination is inherent and are able to be the primary decision makers while often times not bringing in any income.
Secondly, both countries have been passed around by different world powers and had little time to form their own identities. The Filipino cuisine is a prime example of this lost identity. What is Filipino food? Well, it's basically Asian food that is fried and turned into an American/bad Asian restaurant. The lack of a cultural identity in the Philippines makes it hard to want to stay and identify with your people. The fact that most educated Filipinos speak English also gives an easy out to the US or other foreign countries for work. This exodus of Filipinos to the US (and Salvadorans as well) is visible in any unskilled work force or housekeeping company. It's not so much that Filipinos (or Salvadorans) have given up on their economies rather their governments have failed to provide jobs and industries to sustain the population. Lindsay and I met three men while here. The father and his two sons are all trained as engineers. In the US, engineering students are almost always guaranteed to find jobs and generally lucrative ones at that. In the Philippines these three men are able to make a much better living as caterers. Engineering has no value or market even in a booming city like Cebu.
Lastly, there is no out here- at least not one that is worth dreaming about at night. Foundations, institutions and initiatives set up in the US to help undeserved communities don't exist her because the entire population is undeserved. In the US we like to think that the poor kids from the ghetto can still make it to college or into the big leagues. We have reasons to believe these things, citing Obama as our biggest story yet. In the Philippines these types of opportunities are not realistic and not dreamed about. The kids at the dump will remain at the dump and the girls in Kamagayan will still be there for the next group of visitors. Father Heinz assured me of these suspicions without me even asking. Even though the dump we visited has since partially burnt down, the families will simply relocate to another part of the same dump site or onto the next one and remain. The medical check ups that Father Heinz administers are merely enough to keep these people afloat but no where near enough to get them out of their mess (literally).
So, if nothing can change here and the government makes pointless laws and the women are constantly being pushed down, why even come at all? I have asked myself this question regarding both my time here in Cebu and in El Salvador. Is it really worth it to endure the pain of seeing all of this and helping such a small amount only to know that when I leave it will still be the same desperate place it is now?
The answer is I don't know. For me, it has been eye opening a second time around and helped me draw parallels between some of the dangerous effects of the Catholic church's divide and conquer methods of the past. It was also yet another opportunity for me to challenge myself with the living conditions, cultural norms, heat and the discomfort of leaving my comfortable home. I think I know what I have gotten out of the experience but I still have yet to decide if the Philippines got anything out of having me around. One of the reasons I see myself (and Linds) as small beacons of hope is through using Hilary as an example. Hilary came to the Philippines nine years ago as a young and fresh midwife right out of school. She probably endured some of our same struggles (and far worse) and must have contemplated why she was here in the first place. But within three years of her arrival she was able to set up a clinic and now has delivered nearly 2,000 babies. That is real progress that you can feel. She has plans to go to medical school, open a larger clinic and expand the areas of expertise. If I can even say that I contributed to her vision in the slightest than I am satisfied with my time here.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Making Friends 101
Not that Lindsay and I don't have loads to talk about but at times we want to make some friends! We decided that while at Club Serena we were going to make some friends even if it killed us. We brought Yahtzee, scrabble, cards and our game faces. We were happy to meet the Jesuits but bummed to find out they were leaving the next day. We saw a French family but they were very busy with golfing, diving and being French. We decided to start sitting up at the bar in the evenings and get to know the wait staff. This proved to be a huge success. We met two of the waiters who were our age (Jofel and John Ray) and of course were married with kids. Being that we were two young, white women (and the priests told the whole wait staff to take good care of us), they were at our beckon call.
Not only did we make friends with Jofel and John Ray, we also beat them shamelessly in hearts. Every night at the end of their shift we played cards for an hour. The first night they were terrible and we gave them mercy, the second night they improved and we still showed a little mercy and the third night they finally got the hang of it and there was no holding back. All three nights we still whooped them.
We also got a chance to make friends with the rest of the staff and make sure that our pancakes were always made to our liking (with whipped cream and bananas), and when we wanted a chocolate milkshake we instructed Jofel on how to make it and he did. It was incredible. We had dessert about 5 times a day. Sometimes it was fried bananas, other times chocolate cake, mango shakes, bubble gum ice cream, native hot chocolate and fresh fruit. It was amazing.
One afternoon we coerced John Ray to take us into town on his motorbike to go get hot cheesy rolls from our favorite bakery. During our 20 minute moto ride, John Ray knew and waved/honked at nearly every passerby. He said most of the people were curious as to who his American friends were and he was an immediate superstar. He showed us the local "dating" spot aka the pier and tried to get us to come to the disco with him. We politely declined.
The next local we met was Rick, a tattoo and henna artist. Rick came to the Club Serena on Friday night and did amazing (henna) tattoos for us. Pics of this on the blog soon! Our last local friend was a nine year old girl- Cherry. Her mom was the hotel manager and she pretty much lived the life of a resort bum. She played scrabble with us, ate ice cream, and even had sleep over with some hotel guests who had kids around her age. She said she would cry when we left but somehow I think she will be infatuated with another guest soon enough.
The resort was an incredible experience minus one aspect: the money. We have been back for over 24 hours and still haven't paid. The visa machine at the resort didn't work (no surprise there) and the one in the city office also didn't work due to a brown out (power outage) throughout the city. We are now waiting for the resort to pick us up so we can finally pay for our stay!
We head to Thailand tomorrow and will be cruising through the country for two weeks. This will be a whole different type of Asia with plenty of new experiences! I will definitely do a few more entries summing up my experiences here in Philippines and at Glory Reborn.
Look at all the new pics!
Not only did we make friends with Jofel and John Ray, we also beat them shamelessly in hearts. Every night at the end of their shift we played cards for an hour. The first night they were terrible and we gave them mercy, the second night they improved and we still showed a little mercy and the third night they finally got the hang of it and there was no holding back. All three nights we still whooped them.
We also got a chance to make friends with the rest of the staff and make sure that our pancakes were always made to our liking (with whipped cream and bananas), and when we wanted a chocolate milkshake we instructed Jofel on how to make it and he did. It was incredible. We had dessert about 5 times a day. Sometimes it was fried bananas, other times chocolate cake, mango shakes, bubble gum ice cream, native hot chocolate and fresh fruit. It was amazing.
One afternoon we coerced John Ray to take us into town on his motorbike to go get hot cheesy rolls from our favorite bakery. During our 20 minute moto ride, John Ray knew and waved/honked at nearly every passerby. He said most of the people were curious as to who his American friends were and he was an immediate superstar. He showed us the local "dating" spot aka the pier and tried to get us to come to the disco with him. We politely declined.
The next local we met was Rick, a tattoo and henna artist. Rick came to the Club Serena on Friday night and did amazing (henna) tattoos for us. Pics of this on the blog soon! Our last local friend was a nine year old girl- Cherry. Her mom was the hotel manager and she pretty much lived the life of a resort bum. She played scrabble with us, ate ice cream, and even had sleep over with some hotel guests who had kids around her age. She said she would cry when we left but somehow I think she will be infatuated with another guest soon enough.
The resort was an incredible experience minus one aspect: the money. We have been back for over 24 hours and still haven't paid. The visa machine at the resort didn't work (no surprise there) and the one in the city office also didn't work due to a brown out (power outage) throughout the city. We are now waiting for the resort to pick us up so we can finally pay for our stay!
We head to Thailand tomorrow and will be cruising through the country for two weeks. This will be a whole different type of Asia with plenty of new experiences! I will definitely do a few more entries summing up my experiences here in Philippines and at Glory Reborn.
Look at all the new pics!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Dolphins and Turtles and Lizard Fish, Oh My!
Day two of our tropical adventure was full of sea adventures. After indulging in our morning mango and banana pancakes, we rented Flippers, snorkels and masks and hopped on the big diving boat for a day out at sea. We were joined by a French family living in Hong Kong, two diving guides (for the French), one snorkel guide and one boat driver. Within 10 min of being on the boat we spotted dolphins in the distance. The boot immediately turned toward them so we could catch them in action. We saw a whole pod- including some babies who were fond of doing flips and spins. This was really incredible because apparently there is only a 50/50 chance of seeing dolphins on the boat. Not only did we see them but we got to get up close and watch them play.
Our next stop was a small island 3km away from our beach called Pescador Island. The island is surrounded by small fishing boats and other divers as it is a haven for manta ray, sea turtles and other cool sea life. The divers descended to the depths and Lindsay and I put on our shoddy snorkeling gear and began our circumnavigation of the island's coral reef without guide. We saw masses of coral and every type of fish buried within it. Right as we jumped into the water a seaturtle swam by and headed for the far depths. It was going to be a good day. Our guide showed us lots of types of fish including a weird iguana looking fish called the lizard fish. We chased down schools of fish and tried to get crabs to come out from hiding.
We all piled back on the boat and conferred on the creatures we saw as we headed to our next snorkel spot- Kasai Wall. This area consisted of a coral reef wall full of sea life. Lindsay and I headed out with our guide again and spotted two sea turtles and many more of the same fish. After about 30 mins of snorkeling we got back on the boat to rehydrate, take some photos and play around on the arms of the boat. Concerned that our fitness is EXTREMELY lacking, we tried to do some pull ups on the boat arms and felt sore the next day. We truly are pathetic.
We returned back to the beach to find lunch waiting and our skin slightly burnt. We spent the rest of the afternoon reading in the shade and hanging out with our local friends (more on this in the next post).
I have now spent two hours in the sweaty internet cafe and haven't finished all the blogging I wanted to do but will have to stop here and head up to Hilary and David's house where Lindsay and I will spend the next day and a half getting ready for Thailand. More later!
Our next stop was a small island 3km away from our beach called Pescador Island. The island is surrounded by small fishing boats and other divers as it is a haven for manta ray, sea turtles and other cool sea life. The divers descended to the depths and Lindsay and I put on our shoddy snorkeling gear and began our circumnavigation of the island's coral reef without guide. We saw masses of coral and every type of fish buried within it. Right as we jumped into the water a seaturtle swam by and headed for the far depths. It was going to be a good day. Our guide showed us lots of types of fish including a weird iguana looking fish called the lizard fish. We chased down schools of fish and tried to get crabs to come out from hiding.
We all piled back on the boat and conferred on the creatures we saw as we headed to our next snorkel spot- Kasai Wall. This area consisted of a coral reef wall full of sea life. Lindsay and I headed out with our guide again and spotted two sea turtles and many more of the same fish. After about 30 mins of snorkeling we got back on the boat to rehydrate, take some photos and play around on the arms of the boat. Concerned that our fitness is EXTREMELY lacking, we tried to do some pull ups on the boat arms and felt sore the next day. We truly are pathetic.
We returned back to the beach to find lunch waiting and our skin slightly burnt. We spent the rest of the afternoon reading in the shade and hanging out with our local friends (more on this in the next post).
I have now spent two hours in the sweaty internet cafe and haven't finished all the blogging I wanted to do but will have to stop here and head up to Hilary and David's house where Lindsay and I will spend the next day and a half getting ready for Thailand. More later!
Bamboo Rafts and Tropical Amazingness
Our first full day in Moalboal started with a trip to Kawasan Falls. We had read about this three layer waterfall but not yet talked to anyone who had been. It was a gorgeous morning without a cloud in the sky and we hopped in the car without tuna fish sandwiches, mangoes, water bottles and cameras to the thirty minute drive to the trail head. Don't be fooled by the word trail head, we were still surrounded by huts, trash, kids trying to sell us snacks and the occasional pig sleeping in the grass. Our two drivers picked up two assistant guides who just came along hoping for a tip. The walk to the falls was about 20 mins long and along the way we saw a monkey in the trees (an actual monkey in the wild, far better than the caved up Tarsier monkey) and a giant spider. Along the way we passed by huts equipped with karaoke machines, snacks, roosters and ice cream. The river was full of women washing clothes, kids playing and bugs floating.
When we approached the falls we had to pay yet another hidden fee and made our way to the picnic tables surrounding the falls. The water was absolutely amazing. It was the type of waterfall you always wished we had in the US; strong and beautiful but small enough and with warm enough water to swim in. The fall was surrounded by a perfect lagoon for swimming. We immediately were in our swimsuits ready to go. One of our guides grabbed a bamboo raft for us and we rowed out to the falls. He then instructed us to lie down and we slid under the falls just barely. The whole time we are screaming/laughing as we look up at the one inch that separated our noses from the rocks above. Once we made it under the waterfall we were simultaneously in heaven/hell. The water was gorgeous but it was pounding down at us. We went through the waterfall and emerged on the other side. Our guides than instructed us to lie down again as they brought us back under the waterfall for a high pressure back massage.
Of course the waterfall had some amazing (and not too high, mom) rocks to jump off of. Our guides hoisted us up onto the rocks and we jumped multiple times into the turquoise water. We swam around for another half hour just taking in how amazing everything was. More groups continued to arrive but no one else seemed to really enjoy the fresh, cool water as much as our Pacific Northwest blood did. We sat at our picnic table eating mangoes and tuna when a woman came over and gave us a bill for 600 pesos (12 USD). This was yet another hidden fee of merely sitting at a picnic table and using a bamboo raft. Filipinos are tricky little business people.
Next up was stage two. We were so ready. We grabbed our cameras and headed up a trail for another 5 or 10 minutes to the next lagoon. This one was much smaller than the last with only a little waterfall but we jumped right in and climbed up the rock for another round of waterfall jumps. One guide helped us find our footing while the other photo documented blurry action shots of us.
We continued up a bit further to the second large waterfall. This one had more bamboo rafts and expensive picnic tables. We opted against those two and instead explored the falls on our own. We watched as others scurried up the rocks to jump but decided on this one to just wade around and enjoy the water.
On our way down our guides pointed out the BIGGEST spider I have ever seen. Our photos of her were unsuccessful but the men assured us it was a pregnant female spider due to her large size and puffy midsection. Great, now I can sleep at night knowing that many more baby spiders of that giant type exist.
We came back down to waterfall one and couldn't resist jumping in for a last time. We went all the way to the waterfall, jumped off the rocks,went under and through the fall and back out again. When we got back to the resort we were pooped for the first time in a month. It was the first time I felt my adrenaline again since arriving here. This was a good taste of what is to come in Thailand in two days!
I took tons of pics and will post them when I can use Gina's computer!
When we approached the falls we had to pay yet another hidden fee and made our way to the picnic tables surrounding the falls. The water was absolutely amazing. It was the type of waterfall you always wished we had in the US; strong and beautiful but small enough and with warm enough water to swim in. The fall was surrounded by a perfect lagoon for swimming. We immediately were in our swimsuits ready to go. One of our guides grabbed a bamboo raft for us and we rowed out to the falls. He then instructed us to lie down and we slid under the falls just barely. The whole time we are screaming/laughing as we look up at the one inch that separated our noses from the rocks above. Once we made it under the waterfall we were simultaneously in heaven/hell. The water was gorgeous but it was pounding down at us. We went through the waterfall and emerged on the other side. Our guides than instructed us to lie down again as they brought us back under the waterfall for a high pressure back massage.
Of course the waterfall had some amazing (and not too high, mom) rocks to jump off of. Our guides hoisted us up onto the rocks and we jumped multiple times into the turquoise water. We swam around for another half hour just taking in how amazing everything was. More groups continued to arrive but no one else seemed to really enjoy the fresh, cool water as much as our Pacific Northwest blood did. We sat at our picnic table eating mangoes and tuna when a woman came over and gave us a bill for 600 pesos (12 USD). This was yet another hidden fee of merely sitting at a picnic table and using a bamboo raft. Filipinos are tricky little business people.
Next up was stage two. We were so ready. We grabbed our cameras and headed up a trail for another 5 or 10 minutes to the next lagoon. This one was much smaller than the last with only a little waterfall but we jumped right in and climbed up the rock for another round of waterfall jumps. One guide helped us find our footing while the other photo documented blurry action shots of us.
We continued up a bit further to the second large waterfall. This one had more bamboo rafts and expensive picnic tables. We opted against those two and instead explored the falls on our own. We watched as others scurried up the rocks to jump but decided on this one to just wade around and enjoy the water.
On our way down our guides pointed out the BIGGEST spider I have ever seen. Our photos of her were unsuccessful but the men assured us it was a pregnant female spider due to her large size and puffy midsection. Great, now I can sleep at night knowing that many more baby spiders of that giant type exist.
We came back down to waterfall one and couldn't resist jumping in for a last time. We went all the way to the waterfall, jumped off the rocks,went under and through the fall and back out again. When we got back to the resort we were pooped for the first time in a month. It was the first time I felt my adrenaline again since arriving here. This was a good taste of what is to come in Thailand in two days!
I took tons of pics and will post them when I can use Gina's computer!
Club Serena Welcomes Santa Clara University
Yes, you read that correctly. For those of you who don't know, Lindsay and I got a chance to actually take a vacation here in the Philippines and escaped to Club Serena in Moalboal, Cebu. It is about 2.5 hours away through mountains, rainy jungles and come out on the other side of the island in sun and heaven. We were greeted with a "welcome drink" of lemon grass tea/water and empanadas. Our cottage wasn't ready when we arrived so we lounged in the beach bed/couches, dipped our feet in the water, read our books and explored the beach. The resort is small- it accommodates a maximum of thirty guests and was probably hosting maybe 20 this week. We noticed quite a few white people but when we got close enough to them to actually hear them speak they were either German, French or from some other unidentified European country. We did notice that two older men were definitely from the US.
Here in the Philippines older American men (most with pot bellies) are a dime a dozen. They are almost always Ex-Pats who fought in the Philippines during the Vietnam war and for whatever reason decided that life was a lot better (and cheaper) here. Most of them, however, have one (or two) Filippina women on their arms at all times. The women are without fail at LEAST 20 years younger than the men. The American men at Club Serena had no Filipina women in sight and were talking about their snorkeling journals at the dinner table while drinking gin and tonics. They smiled and at us and we smiled back but decided not to strike up a conversation.
About thirty minutes later we were seated at the bar and they were at the table next to us. All of a sudden I hear the words "Santa Clara." Hmm, that's funny I thought. Maybe I heard wrong, maybe they are talking about some place in the Philippines called Santa Clara. A minute later I hear "Loyola Marymount." Ok they have GOT to be talking about Santa Clara (my alma mater FYI). I whisper this to Lindsay and she says she thought she heard it too. I walk over and apologize for interrupting and tell them I thought I heard Santa Clara and we are graduates from June 08.
It is a small, small, minuscule world. These two men are JESUITS who taught at Santa Clara for 20+ years! One of them now lives and teaches in Taiwan and the other one lives in Los Gatos (15 mins from SCU where I always ran) and was on a trip to Asia to visit his friends. They are good friend of Papa Locatelli (President of SCU) and one of the men started the Communications department at Santa Clara in 1972. Wow. My jaw was pretty much on the floor. Lindsay and I are not only across the world but also at a small and hidden resort in the middle of no where. WHAT ARE THE ODDS? It was truly amazing to talk to priests from Santa Clara and to get to share our story and experiences. I never had any Jesuit mentors while at SCU and always felt a little envious of my friends who were in esoteric prayer groups etc. At this moment I finally felt what everyone tells you about the SCU community after you graduate: it is everywhere. After chatting with them for a while about the priests and professors we knew in common I ran up to the room to text my parents that I was definitely safe at the resort with Jesuits from Santa Clara staying a few feet away from us.
For those of you who are wondering which Jesuits, it was Father Privett (his brother is the one at USF) and Father Morrison.
Here in the Philippines older American men (most with pot bellies) are a dime a dozen. They are almost always Ex-Pats who fought in the Philippines during the Vietnam war and for whatever reason decided that life was a lot better (and cheaper) here. Most of them, however, have one (or two) Filippina women on their arms at all times. The women are without fail at LEAST 20 years younger than the men. The American men at Club Serena had no Filipina women in sight and were talking about their snorkeling journals at the dinner table while drinking gin and tonics. They smiled and at us and we smiled back but decided not to strike up a conversation.
About thirty minutes later we were seated at the bar and they were at the table next to us. All of a sudden I hear the words "Santa Clara." Hmm, that's funny I thought. Maybe I heard wrong, maybe they are talking about some place in the Philippines called Santa Clara. A minute later I hear "Loyola Marymount." Ok they have GOT to be talking about Santa Clara (my alma mater FYI). I whisper this to Lindsay and she says she thought she heard it too. I walk over and apologize for interrupting and tell them I thought I heard Santa Clara and we are graduates from June 08.
It is a small, small, minuscule world. These two men are JESUITS who taught at Santa Clara for 20+ years! One of them now lives and teaches in Taiwan and the other one lives in Los Gatos (15 mins from SCU where I always ran) and was on a trip to Asia to visit his friends. They are good friend of Papa Locatelli (President of SCU) and one of the men started the Communications department at Santa Clara in 1972. Wow. My jaw was pretty much on the floor. Lindsay and I are not only across the world but also at a small and hidden resort in the middle of no where. WHAT ARE THE ODDS? It was truly amazing to talk to priests from Santa Clara and to get to share our story and experiences. I never had any Jesuit mentors while at SCU and always felt a little envious of my friends who were in esoteric prayer groups etc. At this moment I finally felt what everyone tells you about the SCU community after you graduate: it is everywhere. After chatting with them for a while about the priests and professors we knew in common I ran up to the room to text my parents that I was definitely safe at the resort with Jesuits from Santa Clara staying a few feet away from us.
For those of you who are wondering which Jesuits, it was Father Privett (his brother is the one at USF) and Father Morrison.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The Fast and the Furious
Two babies on two different nights: one fast and the other furious. Nearly every night that a woman is in labor Lindsay and I head to bed at our apartment (directly next door) and tell the women on duty over and over to call us when she is active (10 cm) and we will come right over to assist/observe the birth. Every time we wake up in the morning with no call, saunter over to the clinic and find a brand new baby and midwives saying, "sorry we forgot." We were ready to take action and decided to start camping out in the clinic overnight (the midwives have an "on call room" with three beds and air conditioning!). This method proved to be highly successful!
The first night we went to bed around 11:30 pm and the mother was 6cm dilated. It usually takes about an hour per cm so we figured it would be maybe 3am when she delivered. At 12:15 one of the nurses opens the door and tells us she is at 10cm. Wow, that was fast. We jump out of bed and walk into the delivery room right next door to see the head crowning. With one push the baby was out. The mom delivered like it was nothing. Sheila, the midwife delivering the baby, was squatting at the end of the bed barefoot to catch the baby. The baby girl was healthy and clearly happy to be out as she caused no trouble for her mom. Her mom, however, was a different story. She looked about 40 years old but was actually 27 with her 6th baby now in arms. She delivered a few of her other children at the clinic and brought one baby in with anal bleeding after she had let the witch doctor stuff herbs up it's butt to cure constipation. This mom is 'not all there' according to the midwives and who knows what baby #6 will mean for her.
The second night was furious and here's why:
We drifted off to AC sleep around 11 pm again and this time were awoken at 1 am with a first time mom on the table. She was pushing and pushing and the baby was not coming out. Within a few minutes we noticed that the baby's heart beat was plummeting- as low as 80 bpm- and then jumping back up to normal- 140 bpm. This is a sign that the baby is in distress and the compression from the birth canal is causing the heart rate to drop. Of course the midwives were only speaking Cebuano and Lindsay and I watched wide eyed as we wondered what would happen to a baby in this condition. 30 mins went by and the agony continued. The midwives had the mom use the wall to help her adjust the position of the baby and by 2 am the head was out. One problem: the baby was stuck. Not only did the head come out but the arms were stuck on the sides of the babies head, making it difficult for the baby to get out. The labor room went into emergency mode and immediately two women were pulling the baby out and the third was bracing the mom. It took a full minute of intense manual labor to finally get the blue baby out. No cry, no muscle tone and no breathing. Immediate vacuuming was required and within a few minutes the blue baby slowly turned to a yellowish/red baby and a loud cry ensued.
Lindsay and I crawled back into the beds in the midwives quarters and let the midwives handle all of the monitoring that took place after the birth. We were awoken at 4 am to find seven people sleeping in the room with three beds. It went something like this: Lindsay and I spooning against the wall and bed one. One girl next to me and one other on the edge. At the foot of the bed one of the midwives slept horizontal. On bed number three two girls curled up. We slept for nearly eight hours like this. The power of AC.
The first night we went to bed around 11:30 pm and the mother was 6cm dilated. It usually takes about an hour per cm so we figured it would be maybe 3am when she delivered. At 12:15 one of the nurses opens the door and tells us she is at 10cm. Wow, that was fast. We jump out of bed and walk into the delivery room right next door to see the head crowning. With one push the baby was out. The mom delivered like it was nothing. Sheila, the midwife delivering the baby, was squatting at the end of the bed barefoot to catch the baby. The baby girl was healthy and clearly happy to be out as she caused no trouble for her mom. Her mom, however, was a different story. She looked about 40 years old but was actually 27 with her 6th baby now in arms. She delivered a few of her other children at the clinic and brought one baby in with anal bleeding after she had let the witch doctor stuff herbs up it's butt to cure constipation. This mom is 'not all there' according to the midwives and who knows what baby #6 will mean for her.
The second night was furious and here's why:
We drifted off to AC sleep around 11 pm again and this time were awoken at 1 am with a first time mom on the table. She was pushing and pushing and the baby was not coming out. Within a few minutes we noticed that the baby's heart beat was plummeting- as low as 80 bpm- and then jumping back up to normal- 140 bpm. This is a sign that the baby is in distress and the compression from the birth canal is causing the heart rate to drop. Of course the midwives were only speaking Cebuano and Lindsay and I watched wide eyed as we wondered what would happen to a baby in this condition. 30 mins went by and the agony continued. The midwives had the mom use the wall to help her adjust the position of the baby and by 2 am the head was out. One problem: the baby was stuck. Not only did the head come out but the arms were stuck on the sides of the babies head, making it difficult for the baby to get out. The labor room went into emergency mode and immediately two women were pulling the baby out and the third was bracing the mom. It took a full minute of intense manual labor to finally get the blue baby out. No cry, no muscle tone and no breathing. Immediate vacuuming was required and within a few minutes the blue baby slowly turned to a yellowish/red baby and a loud cry ensued.
Lindsay and I crawled back into the beds in the midwives quarters and let the midwives handle all of the monitoring that took place after the birth. We were awoken at 4 am to find seven people sleeping in the room with three beds. It went something like this: Lindsay and I spooning against the wall and bed one. One girl next to me and one other on the edge. At the foot of the bed one of the midwives slept horizontal. On bed number three two girls curled up. We slept for nearly eight hours like this. The power of AC.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Tourism is Tough
So I haven't mentioned that much regarding money here but Lindsay and I have been fairly lucky. Everything here is cheap. Lunch and dinner are provided for us at the clinic and our daily ice cream costs about 40 cents. We can spend an hour at the internet cafe for 25 cents.
Yesterday we had a day off and decided to head to Bohol for the day. Bohol is a neighboring island that is very touristy. It boasts white sand beaches, beautiful rolling "chocolate hills," and the worlds smallest monkey: the tarsier. We quickly found out that being a tourist here has a lot of frustrating hidden fees. Let me explain.
We got to the ferry terminal two hours early (6:30 am) to find out that they only had "first class" tickets available. This cost us an extra 400 pesos. We had no choice but to pay. We were not sure what first class would entail only to find out it meant we got saltine crackers and orange "juice" (sugar and orange dye). Feeling ripped off, we got off the boat in Bohol and were immediately surrounded by beggars in boats. They had naked babies riding on their boats and approached the dock asking for money and food. This is nothing new for us so we moved along.
We were planning on seeing some of the inland tourist spots on the island (monkey and the hills) and inquired with the woman from the beach resort about a tour. She directed us toward her tricycle riding "friends" and they began naming prices. A tricycle here is a motorcycle with a two person attached sidecar. We decided this was the best deal and hopped in his trike.
Our drivers name was Glen and he insisted that we pay him 1500 pesos for the whole day (30$). We started off on our drive up to the Chocolate Hills. It was a windy drive and we got to see a lot of Bohol. It is a very rural island where houses are more spread apart and the poverty and pollution doesn't seem to overtake every corner. People move much slower and cows, goats and dogs roam all the streets. Their wasn't quite as much honking and traffic was manageable.
As we put putted up the hills we chatted with Glen a little but mostly just looked at the sights. We also both noticed that Glen had an undeniable cough, accompanied with sniffles and a seemingly sore throat. Here in the Philippines when we hear these kind of symptoms we think TB rather than the Flu. We kept our distance and applied multiple layers of purell.
Our first stop on the tour was the "home" of the Tarsier monkeys; the world's smallest monkeys. We arrived at their safe home to find it wasn't so natural after all. People gather around a cage where three of four monkeys lived and clung to their trees with eyes of fear. We were able to "feed" them monkeys with a stick for a small donation and take pictures. The signs say no touching but children are constantly crowding and touching the poor little rat monkeys.
Next we moved into a little trail that had monkeys somewhat hidden in the trees. We also saw a few sloths and some bigger monkeys: all caged. After 15 minutes, Lindsay and I felt more sad about the state of the monkeys than excited to see a natural wonder. We told Glen to move us on to the chocolate hills and he obliged.
The Chocolate Hills are a large grouping (1200) of very soft rounded hills. They look very bizarre as if they were sanded down to appear so smooth. When we arrived (after paying yet another fee) at the viewing area it began to rain and we quickly climbed up about six flights of stairs to reach the top for a birds eye view of all the hills. It really was a spectacular sight and I was bummed that my camera died right as we reached the top! We were able to take some pictures on Lindsay's camera of us "licking" the chocolate hills.
As we walked back down we told Glen we wanted to buy some postcards but he insisted we needed to get back on the road right away. We weren't totally sure why but figured we could find postcards elsewhere. About 20 minutes into our descent, a fellow driver flags Glen down and tells him that the police are staked out down below ready to give out penalties to unlicensed vehicles going up to the Chocolate Hills. Apparently Glen's tricycle fell under that unauthorized category. Lindsay and I were a bit confused and concerned and kept asking him if everything was ok. He said yes and our pace down the hills slowed down drastically. Finally we reached a spot where a group of white tourists had rented motorcycles and we stopped to relax (aka kill time until the cops left). Glen must have assumed being around white people made us feel a little safe. After about 10 minutes one of his friend drove by and told him the cops were gone. We hopped in the trike and whizzed down the hills.
Our next stop was the Bohol Beach Club for lunch and swimming. The Bohol Beach Club has a very inexpensive entrance fee and a cheap lunch to go along with it. Starving, Lindsay and I beelined for the restaurant and had rice, veggies, chicken and fish. Glen asked for 100 peso advance and got some fish as we swam. The beach was very beautiful white sand and turquoise water. We looked for fish but mostly found a few starfish and a plethora of beautiful coral.
After swimming for awhile we were on a quest for towels. Most of the lifeguards told us towels were not available to day visitors. We decided to dry off in the sun until it started to pour rain at which point we ran to the front lobby soaking wet in our swimsuits and begged for towels. For 30 pesos we were able to "rent" a towel for ten mins.
Next we met back up with Glen and headed back to the ferry. On the way back we started inquiring about his cough and cold but couldn't get very many answers out of him. He told us his cough was due to the rain. When we got to the ferry we paid Glen our overcharged 1500 pesos and got ready to board the ferry. Before entering the ferry we had to pay yet another fee in addition to our ferry fee. Running out of money, soaking wet and tired we were ready to go home.
The waiting area for the ferry also doubles as a concert hall for aspiring musicians. We listened to two guys in Hawaiian shirts and sunglasses (indoors and at night) playing guitars and singing a mixture of gospel music and US oldies. We couldn't understand anything that came over the loudspeaker and were lucky to figure out what time and where our ferry boarded.
Based on my ferry experiences in Europe and North Africa, I am very skeptical of the reliability of any foreign ferries. The rain storm on Bohol made me even more nervous but surprisingly the ferry ride was smooth and relaxing. Once we arrived back in Cebu the cab multiple cab drivers tried to rip us off before finally insisting to one of them that we knew what we were doing and he couldn't rip us off.
We got home at about 9 pm after leaving the house 15 hours earlier. For the first time I really felt like the clinic and all the midwives and guards were my home. I felt so relieved to be back and showered, watched a movie and waited for the woman in the clinic to deliver (more on that later). While being a tourist is fun it is also extremely frustrating when you know enough to know how much you are getting scammed. All we needed was a Filippino friend to help us get around and lay down the law on the scammers.
Tomorrow Lindsay and I depart for Club Serena for three days. We are very happy to have chosen a place where all the fees are set and the owners know and love Hilary and David!
Yesterday we had a day off and decided to head to Bohol for the day. Bohol is a neighboring island that is very touristy. It boasts white sand beaches, beautiful rolling "chocolate hills," and the worlds smallest monkey: the tarsier. We quickly found out that being a tourist here has a lot of frustrating hidden fees. Let me explain.
We got to the ferry terminal two hours early (6:30 am) to find out that they only had "first class" tickets available. This cost us an extra 400 pesos. We had no choice but to pay. We were not sure what first class would entail only to find out it meant we got saltine crackers and orange "juice" (sugar and orange dye). Feeling ripped off, we got off the boat in Bohol and were immediately surrounded by beggars in boats. They had naked babies riding on their boats and approached the dock asking for money and food. This is nothing new for us so we moved along.
We were planning on seeing some of the inland tourist spots on the island (monkey and the hills) and inquired with the woman from the beach resort about a tour. She directed us toward her tricycle riding "friends" and they began naming prices. A tricycle here is a motorcycle with a two person attached sidecar. We decided this was the best deal and hopped in his trike.
Our drivers name was Glen and he insisted that we pay him 1500 pesos for the whole day (30$). We started off on our drive up to the Chocolate Hills. It was a windy drive and we got to see a lot of Bohol. It is a very rural island where houses are more spread apart and the poverty and pollution doesn't seem to overtake every corner. People move much slower and cows, goats and dogs roam all the streets. Their wasn't quite as much honking and traffic was manageable.
As we put putted up the hills we chatted with Glen a little but mostly just looked at the sights. We also both noticed that Glen had an undeniable cough, accompanied with sniffles and a seemingly sore throat. Here in the Philippines when we hear these kind of symptoms we think TB rather than the Flu. We kept our distance and applied multiple layers of purell.
Our first stop on the tour was the "home" of the Tarsier monkeys; the world's smallest monkeys. We arrived at their safe home to find it wasn't so natural after all. People gather around a cage where three of four monkeys lived and clung to their trees with eyes of fear. We were able to "feed" them monkeys with a stick for a small donation and take pictures. The signs say no touching but children are constantly crowding and touching the poor little rat monkeys.
Next we moved into a little trail that had monkeys somewhat hidden in the trees. We also saw a few sloths and some bigger monkeys: all caged. After 15 minutes, Lindsay and I felt more sad about the state of the monkeys than excited to see a natural wonder. We told Glen to move us on to the chocolate hills and he obliged.
The Chocolate Hills are a large grouping (1200) of very soft rounded hills. They look very bizarre as if they were sanded down to appear so smooth. When we arrived (after paying yet another fee) at the viewing area it began to rain and we quickly climbed up about six flights of stairs to reach the top for a birds eye view of all the hills. It really was a spectacular sight and I was bummed that my camera died right as we reached the top! We were able to take some pictures on Lindsay's camera of us "licking" the chocolate hills.
As we walked back down we told Glen we wanted to buy some postcards but he insisted we needed to get back on the road right away. We weren't totally sure why but figured we could find postcards elsewhere. About 20 minutes into our descent, a fellow driver flags Glen down and tells him that the police are staked out down below ready to give out penalties to unlicensed vehicles going up to the Chocolate Hills. Apparently Glen's tricycle fell under that unauthorized category. Lindsay and I were a bit confused and concerned and kept asking him if everything was ok. He said yes and our pace down the hills slowed down drastically. Finally we reached a spot where a group of white tourists had rented motorcycles and we stopped to relax (aka kill time until the cops left). Glen must have assumed being around white people made us feel a little safe. After about 10 minutes one of his friend drove by and told him the cops were gone. We hopped in the trike and whizzed down the hills.
Our next stop was the Bohol Beach Club for lunch and swimming. The Bohol Beach Club has a very inexpensive entrance fee and a cheap lunch to go along with it. Starving, Lindsay and I beelined for the restaurant and had rice, veggies, chicken and fish. Glen asked for 100 peso advance and got some fish as we swam. The beach was very beautiful white sand and turquoise water. We looked for fish but mostly found a few starfish and a plethora of beautiful coral.
After swimming for awhile we were on a quest for towels. Most of the lifeguards told us towels were not available to day visitors. We decided to dry off in the sun until it started to pour rain at which point we ran to the front lobby soaking wet in our swimsuits and begged for towels. For 30 pesos we were able to "rent" a towel for ten mins.
Next we met back up with Glen and headed back to the ferry. On the way back we started inquiring about his cough and cold but couldn't get very many answers out of him. He told us his cough was due to the rain. When we got to the ferry we paid Glen our overcharged 1500 pesos and got ready to board the ferry. Before entering the ferry we had to pay yet another fee in addition to our ferry fee. Running out of money, soaking wet and tired we were ready to go home.
The waiting area for the ferry also doubles as a concert hall for aspiring musicians. We listened to two guys in Hawaiian shirts and sunglasses (indoors and at night) playing guitars and singing a mixture of gospel music and US oldies. We couldn't understand anything that came over the loudspeaker and were lucky to figure out what time and where our ferry boarded.
Based on my ferry experiences in Europe and North Africa, I am very skeptical of the reliability of any foreign ferries. The rain storm on Bohol made me even more nervous but surprisingly the ferry ride was smooth and relaxing. Once we arrived back in Cebu the cab multiple cab drivers tried to rip us off before finally insisting to one of them that we knew what we were doing and he couldn't rip us off.
We got home at about 9 pm after leaving the house 15 hours earlier. For the first time I really felt like the clinic and all the midwives and guards were my home. I felt so relieved to be back and showered, watched a movie and waited for the woman in the clinic to deliver (more on that later). While being a tourist is fun it is also extremely frustrating when you know enough to know how much you are getting scammed. All we needed was a Filippino friend to help us get around and lay down the law on the scammers.
Tomorrow Lindsay and I depart for Club Serena for three days. We are very happy to have chosen a place where all the fees are set and the owners know and love Hilary and David!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Random Assortment of "Facts" About the Philippines
This is a personal account of "facts" that I have learned (most through observation) while in Cebu. Some medical, some cultural and others just plain hilarious.
*Abortion is illegal
*The hilot (or witchdoctor) is perfectly legal and readily used by pregnant women. Some of the procedures performed by the hilot include: putting smoke up the vagina of a pregnant woman who has previously had a miscarriage to get rid of the bad spirits, breathing smoke into the mouth of a baby with pneumonia and shoving herbs up the butt of a constipated baby. Most of these procedures result in death or severe harm to the baby. Women continue to go.
*In order to receive a bag of blood for a necessary blood transfusion you must pay a fee AND donate a bag of your own blood or find someone on the street to donate for you (you must also pat for their blood to be screened).
*The beds in the hospital have no sheets.
* The Head of Public Health in Cebu called the local public hospital (CCMC) Cebu's version of population control. He also spends most of his budget for the hospitals sending his wife's rockette dance team to Vegas to compete.
*"Whitening" face cream is very popular here. It actually contains a fungus that causes your skin to develop white splotches. It is a best seller.
*Tampons are not used and rarely sold. Women here often have never heard of a tampon and if they have they prefer a pad.
*Onezies are not sold here and therefore are a hot commodity at the clinic from the donations bin. Newborn babies are generally put in a baby wife beater shirt.
*Their is one psych ward in the entire city of Cebu. The patients are kept in a cage outside of the hospital and they are all forced to remain naked and screaming at the walls of the cage.
(Now onto the non-medical facts)
*Rice is eaten everyday. At least three times.
*Men are allowed (and expected) to urinate freely in the streets at all times of the day and night.
*Rats are larger than kittens and run along the telephone polls in broad daylight.
*Roosters begin crowing to signal morning at 1:30 am. They don't stop until about noon the following day.
*The mall is the center of existence here. People line up for its opening every single day of the week.
*Not only are there cock fights, but also dog fights and horse fights.
*The Philippines is the worlds largest supplier of bananas.
*The Philippines is comprised of about 7,100 islands at low tide and 7,000 at high tide; the world's second largest archipelago.
*If a holiday falls on a weekend, the president moves it to a Monday or Friday so that workers always get a day off.
*Spaghetti sauce here is BRIGHT orange and is very sweet. People here eat it like I eat chocolate.
*Whenever it rains cockroaches fill the walls of the apartment and clinic. When we kill them they look like Bavarian cream coming out the sides.
*Their is an entire magazine dedicated to Nam vets who have moved to the Philippines and married women 40 years younger than them. It is tastefully called "ExPat"
*The dump site we visited 3 weeks ago caught on fire and burned for nearly five days. It was on the front page of the newspaper several times and never once mentioned that 2,500 people live there.
*If a person squats (builds cardboard shanty home) on land for two years it automatically becomes their land.
*There is a caged boa constrictor on our block. An old man takes a stick and pokes at it to make it hiss whenever we ask.
*If you are a woman over the size of American 4 you can't shop here. You are far too large.
*Abortion is illegal
*The hilot (or witchdoctor) is perfectly legal and readily used by pregnant women. Some of the procedures performed by the hilot include: putting smoke up the vagina of a pregnant woman who has previously had a miscarriage to get rid of the bad spirits, breathing smoke into the mouth of a baby with pneumonia and shoving herbs up the butt of a constipated baby. Most of these procedures result in death or severe harm to the baby. Women continue to go.
*In order to receive a bag of blood for a necessary blood transfusion you must pay a fee AND donate a bag of your own blood or find someone on the street to donate for you (you must also pat for their blood to be screened).
*The beds in the hospital have no sheets.
* The Head of Public Health in Cebu called the local public hospital (CCMC) Cebu's version of population control. He also spends most of his budget for the hospitals sending his wife's rockette dance team to Vegas to compete.
*"Whitening" face cream is very popular here. It actually contains a fungus that causes your skin to develop white splotches. It is a best seller.
*Tampons are not used and rarely sold. Women here often have never heard of a tampon and if they have they prefer a pad.
*Onezies are not sold here and therefore are a hot commodity at the clinic from the donations bin. Newborn babies are generally put in a baby wife beater shirt.
*Their is one psych ward in the entire city of Cebu. The patients are kept in a cage outside of the hospital and they are all forced to remain naked and screaming at the walls of the cage.
(Now onto the non-medical facts)
*Rice is eaten everyday. At least three times.
*Men are allowed (and expected) to urinate freely in the streets at all times of the day and night.
*Rats are larger than kittens and run along the telephone polls in broad daylight.
*Roosters begin crowing to signal morning at 1:30 am. They don't stop until about noon the following day.
*The mall is the center of existence here. People line up for its opening every single day of the week.
*Not only are there cock fights, but also dog fights and horse fights.
*The Philippines is the worlds largest supplier of bananas.
*The Philippines is comprised of about 7,100 islands at low tide and 7,000 at high tide; the world's second largest archipelago.
*If a holiday falls on a weekend, the president moves it to a Monday or Friday so that workers always get a day off.
*Spaghetti sauce here is BRIGHT orange and is very sweet. People here eat it like I eat chocolate.
*Whenever it rains cockroaches fill the walls of the apartment and clinic. When we kill them they look like Bavarian cream coming out the sides.
*Their is an entire magazine dedicated to Nam vets who have moved to the Philippines and married women 40 years younger than them. It is tastefully called "ExPat"
*The dump site we visited 3 weeks ago caught on fire and burned for nearly five days. It was on the front page of the newspaper several times and never once mentioned that 2,500 people live there.
*If a person squats (builds cardboard shanty home) on land for two years it automatically becomes their land.
*There is a caged boa constrictor on our block. An old man takes a stick and pokes at it to make it hiss whenever we ask.
*If you are a woman over the size of American 4 you can't shop here. You are far too large.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Cottage Industries and Graveyards
Today we got to slip away from the clinic for an exciting adventure to another interesting and desperate neighborhood in Cebu: the graveyard. I know this sounds spooky but it wasn't at all. Let me explain.
Rhonda is a 40 year old Canadian woman who has been living in Cebu for roughly ten years. She originally came to the Philippines doing mission work and eventually decided to stick around and minister to street children. A few years ago, after witnessing the multitude of garbage tossed into the sides of the street and burned nightly, she was inspired to find a sustainable alternative. She decided to start cleaning and collecting juice boxes and sew them together to make bags. Today, her bag making handicraft has grown into it's own small cottage industry. She has hired around ten sewers who operate as private contractors. They each come in to demonstrate their ability to using a sewing machine (they are all operating on Singer sewing machines that are AT LEAST 50 years old) and once they pass the training are sent out to collect their own juice boxes, clean them as directed and sew them into bags she has designed. She then sells them across the world for 100-500 pesos (2-10$) and the profits all go straight back to the craftspeople. Rhonda givers her sewers a sense of privatized business in that she sets the standard in terms of bag design, juice box cleaning process and stitching and lets them produce as many or as few as they feel fit.
On our first stop we went to her workshop, a nice and fairly large building where she keeps all the bags and has other magnets and jewelry on display. Hilary and David picked up an order of nearly 100 bags to take back to the US with them for their fundraising tour. They always sell out. We got to see some of the women working on the ancient sewing machines and couldn't believe that they were able to produce the quantity and quality that they do with such a decrepit instrument. Rhonda has been able to market to a plethora of churches in both the US and Canada and often times ships out orders of 500 or even 10,000 bags. Her story is the true success that can come from micro-financed cottage industries.
After getting to see her shop we all hopped in the pick up truck and drove about 10 mins down the road to the graveyard neighborhood. At first glance it looked like any other shanty town her in Cebu; kids playing, women washing clothes and a maze of windy alleys swarmed with stray dogs trying to stay cool in the shade. We got to meet some of them sewers and see how there work has supported entire families.
As we ventured further back into the neighborhood we finally came upon the actually graveyard. In Cebu, graves are above ground (see photos) and can be rented by families for five years. After the five years are up the family must come and claim the bones or they are just thrown out into the graveyard while the grave is cleared out for a new body. I thought it would be creepy and daunting but the multitude of children and goats running around the graveyard dispelled any fear I had. Naturally, the Filipino people decided to take these massive concrete graves and use them as walls for there houses, tables for eating, or stoops for hanging laundry. The graveyard is no more sacred than any other overcrowded neighborhood in the city. It serves as the base for homes, karaoke machines, loud music and crying babies.
Walking out from the windy and smelly alleyways of the graveyard we came upon a gorgeous yellow house adorned with dark mahogany and three stories. Adjacent to this beautiful home was a muddy, dirty strip of land hosting four of five huts full of people, roosters dogs and your general poor families. This it completely normal here; the dead, the poor and the rich all within a rocks throw of eachother.
Rhonda is a 40 year old Canadian woman who has been living in Cebu for roughly ten years. She originally came to the Philippines doing mission work and eventually decided to stick around and minister to street children. A few years ago, after witnessing the multitude of garbage tossed into the sides of the street and burned nightly, she was inspired to find a sustainable alternative. She decided to start cleaning and collecting juice boxes and sew them together to make bags. Today, her bag making handicraft has grown into it's own small cottage industry. She has hired around ten sewers who operate as private contractors. They each come in to demonstrate their ability to using a sewing machine (they are all operating on Singer sewing machines that are AT LEAST 50 years old) and once they pass the training are sent out to collect their own juice boxes, clean them as directed and sew them into bags she has designed. She then sells them across the world for 100-500 pesos (2-10$) and the profits all go straight back to the craftspeople. Rhonda givers her sewers a sense of privatized business in that she sets the standard in terms of bag design, juice box cleaning process and stitching and lets them produce as many or as few as they feel fit.
On our first stop we went to her workshop, a nice and fairly large building where she keeps all the bags and has other magnets and jewelry on display. Hilary and David picked up an order of nearly 100 bags to take back to the US with them for their fundraising tour. They always sell out. We got to see some of the women working on the ancient sewing machines and couldn't believe that they were able to produce the quantity and quality that they do with such a decrepit instrument. Rhonda has been able to market to a plethora of churches in both the US and Canada and often times ships out orders of 500 or even 10,000 bags. Her story is the true success that can come from micro-financed cottage industries.
After getting to see her shop we all hopped in the pick up truck and drove about 10 mins down the road to the graveyard neighborhood. At first glance it looked like any other shanty town her in Cebu; kids playing, women washing clothes and a maze of windy alleys swarmed with stray dogs trying to stay cool in the shade. We got to meet some of them sewers and see how there work has supported entire families.
As we ventured further back into the neighborhood we finally came upon the actually graveyard. In Cebu, graves are above ground (see photos) and can be rented by families for five years. After the five years are up the family must come and claim the bones or they are just thrown out into the graveyard while the grave is cleared out for a new body. I thought it would be creepy and daunting but the multitude of children and goats running around the graveyard dispelled any fear I had. Naturally, the Filipino people decided to take these massive concrete graves and use them as walls for there houses, tables for eating, or stoops for hanging laundry. The graveyard is no more sacred than any other overcrowded neighborhood in the city. It serves as the base for homes, karaoke machines, loud music and crying babies.
Walking out from the windy and smelly alleyways of the graveyard we came upon a gorgeous yellow house adorned with dark mahogany and three stories. Adjacent to this beautiful home was a muddy, dirty strip of land hosting four of five huts full of people, roosters dogs and your general poor families. This it completely normal here; the dead, the poor and the rich all within a rocks throw of eachother.
Cherry Love: A Case Study
This post is about five days late but still just as important. Cherry Love is one of the women who sought pre-natal care at Glory Reborn from Kamagayan. Since Cherry Love is not her real name, rather her 'work name,' I feel comfortable using it in this post. She is a very petite woman with long, straight black hair and an unnaturally pale face. She looks more Chinese than Filipino and always has a scared look on her face. She is shy and never wants to give any personal or pertinent medical information to the midwives.
I first met CL about two weeks ago during a prenatal exam. She came to the clinic with a "bantay" (an escort required to accompany patients to visits close to their due date. The Bantays help the patients get to the clinic, go to the bathroom, carry medical supplies etc). Her bantay was a boyfriend of one week. She was nine months pregnant. During her prenatal exam she was very uncooperative and had a hard time answering basic question's about prenatal vitamins and the baby's movement. She insisted she was 18 but looked closer to 15, maybe 16.
This past week, a cab pulled up to the clinic at about 7 pm. CL and an older, stumbling woman emerged. CL was covered in cold sweat, her hair matted onto her face. She was wrapped in a towel and was wearing the same red dancing top she had on at her previous two visits. She was disoriented; tripping over her own feet and help her cell phone up to her face with no one on the other line.
Hilary escorted CL onto an exam table and CL immediately resisted any treatment or touch. She pulled away and thrashed as Hilary attempted to complete an internal exam to see how far the labor had progressed. Her track marks up and down her inner elbow and forearm were undeniable. After determining she was 4 cm dilated, Hilary demanded that CL shower, change into a hospital gown and try to calm down. Her bantay at this visit was actually the "Mamasan: of her house; the woman who houses prostitutes for a particular pimp and receives roughly 30% commission of the nightly revenue. The bantay was so out of it as well she was hardly acting as any type of caregiver.
Finally at two am CL gave birth to a five pound baby girl whom she refused to name. The first few hours of life after a baby is born are critical for mother/child bonding. The baby receives essential nutrients and antibodies from the mother's breast milk and learns the touch and voice of the mother. CL, so high on meth and possibly other substances, refused to touch or breast feed her nameless baby. Luckily, a mom staying at the clinic with her jaundice baby was able to provide breast milk for CL's baby. (Her own baby couldn't have the breast milk until his billirubin levels went down).
Knowing that CL is both incapable and unwilling to care for her baby does nothing to prevent her from leaving with the baby. The idea of social services and child neglect charges don't exist here. Babies born to women from Kamagayan are generally "raised" by the Mamasan and live in the boarding house with all the other women. They then grow up into the children we met while visiting Kamagayan with Father Heinz- parent less children with no sense of schedule, boundaries or direction.
The morning after giving birth, CL signed a form to leave against medical advise and had a midwife carry the baby out with her as she left. Yesterday CL returned for a routine check up exam with her baby and boyfriend. The baby had not gained a single ounce and during her two hour visit didn't cry once. She lacked muscle tone but still responded to stimulation. CL presented with high blood pressure and early signs of pre-eclampsia. She kept on insisting that she wasn't using drugs or alcohol but her scars seemed to tell a different story. Throughout her pregnancy she rarely complied with medical advice and this situation seemed no different.
The reason I titled this blog a case study is because these types of cases occur so frequently here. CL could have actually been considered a fairly compliant patient in that she even made a choice to pursue pre-natal care. Despite the fact that Father Heinz covers all medical expenses, none of the other multitudes of pregnant women we saw during our night walk in Kamgayan have showed up at the clinic.
As for the silent, nameless baby, CL couldn't have made it any clearer that she will be neglecting this child. Here in Cebu, the health care providers have no effective power of linkage to any child protection agencies or social service support. Hilary has tried many time to report neglect, starvation and abuse and never once had a successful outcome.
For families in the US who struggle to bear children and look to international adoption, the Philippines presents very few options. Although there are millions of children here in need of active parenting and safe homes the infrastructure to get the children and transfer them to adoption programs is either completely derelict or was never instituted.
I first met CL about two weeks ago during a prenatal exam. She came to the clinic with a "bantay" (an escort required to accompany patients to visits close to their due date. The Bantays help the patients get to the clinic, go to the bathroom, carry medical supplies etc). Her bantay was a boyfriend of one week. She was nine months pregnant. During her prenatal exam she was very uncooperative and had a hard time answering basic question's about prenatal vitamins and the baby's movement. She insisted she was 18 but looked closer to 15, maybe 16.
This past week, a cab pulled up to the clinic at about 7 pm. CL and an older, stumbling woman emerged. CL was covered in cold sweat, her hair matted onto her face. She was wrapped in a towel and was wearing the same red dancing top she had on at her previous two visits. She was disoriented; tripping over her own feet and help her cell phone up to her face with no one on the other line.
Hilary escorted CL onto an exam table and CL immediately resisted any treatment or touch. She pulled away and thrashed as Hilary attempted to complete an internal exam to see how far the labor had progressed. Her track marks up and down her inner elbow and forearm were undeniable. After determining she was 4 cm dilated, Hilary demanded that CL shower, change into a hospital gown and try to calm down. Her bantay at this visit was actually the "Mamasan: of her house; the woman who houses prostitutes for a particular pimp and receives roughly 30% commission of the nightly revenue. The bantay was so out of it as well she was hardly acting as any type of caregiver.
Finally at two am CL gave birth to a five pound baby girl whom she refused to name. The first few hours of life after a baby is born are critical for mother/child bonding. The baby receives essential nutrients and antibodies from the mother's breast milk and learns the touch and voice of the mother. CL, so high on meth and possibly other substances, refused to touch or breast feed her nameless baby. Luckily, a mom staying at the clinic with her jaundice baby was able to provide breast milk for CL's baby. (Her own baby couldn't have the breast milk until his billirubin levels went down).
Knowing that CL is both incapable and unwilling to care for her baby does nothing to prevent her from leaving with the baby. The idea of social services and child neglect charges don't exist here. Babies born to women from Kamagayan are generally "raised" by the Mamasan and live in the boarding house with all the other women. They then grow up into the children we met while visiting Kamagayan with Father Heinz- parent less children with no sense of schedule, boundaries or direction.
The morning after giving birth, CL signed a form to leave against medical advise and had a midwife carry the baby out with her as she left. Yesterday CL returned for a routine check up exam with her baby and boyfriend. The baby had not gained a single ounce and during her two hour visit didn't cry once. She lacked muscle tone but still responded to stimulation. CL presented with high blood pressure and early signs of pre-eclampsia. She kept on insisting that she wasn't using drugs or alcohol but her scars seemed to tell a different story. Throughout her pregnancy she rarely complied with medical advice and this situation seemed no different.
The reason I titled this blog a case study is because these types of cases occur so frequently here. CL could have actually been considered a fairly compliant patient in that she even made a choice to pursue pre-natal care. Despite the fact that Father Heinz covers all medical expenses, none of the other multitudes of pregnant women we saw during our night walk in Kamgayan have showed up at the clinic.
As for the silent, nameless baby, CL couldn't have made it any clearer that she will be neglecting this child. Here in Cebu, the health care providers have no effective power of linkage to any child protection agencies or social service support. Hilary has tried many time to report neglect, starvation and abuse and never once had a successful outcome.
For families in the US who struggle to bear children and look to international adoption, the Philippines presents very few options. Although there are millions of children here in need of active parenting and safe homes the infrastructure to get the children and transfer them to adoption programs is either completely derelict or was never instituted.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
An Invite to Karaoke
The past few days have been a mixture of logging in hours at the clinic and getting a chance to experience a few Filipino musts. On Monday mid afternoon the clinic was very quiet. Only Hilary and Maritess were on duty and Lindsay and I were helping out with prenatals. Prenatals finished at about 11 am and by noon a woman stepped out of a taxi, towel on her head and hunched over. She was already dilated to 5 cm and we were ready to go. Lindsay and I assisted with getting her ready for labor and helped her continue to exercise.
By 3pm she was in the delivery room with her sister yelling "JUST COME OUT" to her belly. Hilary and Maritess left Lindsay and I up in the delivery room with the woman and her sister while they completed a few routine check ups on patients downstairs. Within about 5 mins of their departure her pushing was getting much more extreme. We tried to stay calm. Her sister explained to us, "She thinks the head is about to come out and wants to get on the bed." Lindsay and I got her up on the bed, gave eachother a look of terror/excitement and rubbed her stomach as she pushed. Within a few minutes Maritess returned and the head was crowning. Hilary rushed up a minute later and with a few long pushes the baby girl was out. Just the four of us in the room allowed for Lindsay and me to have a lot of responsibilities. I suctioned the baby, clamped the umbilical cord and cut it. Meanwhile, Lindsay assisted with the woman who was hemorrhaging due to a uterine prolapse. We had to work quickly and efficiently to get the IV in, help stabilize the mom's uterus and handle the post birth workup for the baby. By 530 pm all was stable and despite the sweat dripping down our faces (and bodies) we felt accomplished and integral in the safe delivery and care of mom and baby. The baby was named Pinkie Pearl. Not kidding.
On Monday evening, Lindsay and I got a taste of home! Our good friend and neighbor from Santa Clara, Trisha Hall, is half Filipino. Her mom is from Cebu and her uncle and his wife and four children live here (only 5 mins from the clinic) and own a city wide catering company. He and his family invited us out of dinner on Monday night. Ironic to eat out with a family that cooks for a living but they like to call it"research" when they got to restaurants. It was a blast! Lindsay and I got to meet such a warm and welcoming family and understand where Trisha gets her love for music and her free spirit. The Maier family then totally won our hearts by taking us to the Desert Factory after dinner. We got Oreo cake and chocolate cookies and talked about our experiences in Cebu. It was very interesting to hear from locals about their opinions of the problems in the Philippines and how ineffective government legislation tries to alleviate problems while only creating more.
At the end of the evening, true to our analysis of Filipino culture, they invited us to a Karaoke bar for another night! Apparently this karaoke bar has private rooms for each group and big screen TVs for optimal Karaoke performances. Lindsay and I warned that we are not the best Karaoke singers but they insisted it doesn't matter. Hopefully we will find a time to go with them!
Today we experienced another Filipino must: buying pirated DVD's! John, our driver and good friend (and fan of all EMO bands), took us to the pirated DVD street where we were inundated with every movie we could hope to see. Each DVD costs 50 pesos (1 $) and we insured they were giving us the real price, as opposed to the white girl price. Lindsay and I toiled over what the get. The Reader, BrideWars, Slumdog Millionaire, Push, Gossip Girl, X-Men, Monsters Vs. Aliens you name it. To make sure that the quality is good, they have a TV and DVD player in their street side market so you can have them play the video before you buy it. If there is something wrong with it, you can return it! Nothing like illegal pirating industry having a return policy. We decided on Slumdog Millionaire (I just love it), Doubt, X Men 3 and Twilight. We will probably go back before our trip to Moalboal and stock up on some Gossip Girl.
It is now 3pm and we are patiently awaiting the 5cm patient at the clinic to go into active labor. In the meantime, I have finished reading Merle's Door and Dreams From My Father (Obama's Autobiography) and will now move onto the Soloist. We are happy to hear the protests have subsided n Thailand and we are still beach bound and ready for elephant riding!
By 3pm she was in the delivery room with her sister yelling "JUST COME OUT" to her belly. Hilary and Maritess left Lindsay and I up in the delivery room with the woman and her sister while they completed a few routine check ups on patients downstairs. Within about 5 mins of their departure her pushing was getting much more extreme. We tried to stay calm. Her sister explained to us, "She thinks the head is about to come out and wants to get on the bed." Lindsay and I got her up on the bed, gave eachother a look of terror/excitement and rubbed her stomach as she pushed. Within a few minutes Maritess returned and the head was crowning. Hilary rushed up a minute later and with a few long pushes the baby girl was out. Just the four of us in the room allowed for Lindsay and me to have a lot of responsibilities. I suctioned the baby, clamped the umbilical cord and cut it. Meanwhile, Lindsay assisted with the woman who was hemorrhaging due to a uterine prolapse. We had to work quickly and efficiently to get the IV in, help stabilize the mom's uterus and handle the post birth workup for the baby. By 530 pm all was stable and despite the sweat dripping down our faces (and bodies) we felt accomplished and integral in the safe delivery and care of mom and baby. The baby was named Pinkie Pearl. Not kidding.
On Monday evening, Lindsay and I got a taste of home! Our good friend and neighbor from Santa Clara, Trisha Hall, is half Filipino. Her mom is from Cebu and her uncle and his wife and four children live here (only 5 mins from the clinic) and own a city wide catering company. He and his family invited us out of dinner on Monday night. Ironic to eat out with a family that cooks for a living but they like to call it"research" when they got to restaurants. It was a blast! Lindsay and I got to meet such a warm and welcoming family and understand where Trisha gets her love for music and her free spirit. The Maier family then totally won our hearts by taking us to the Desert Factory after dinner. We got Oreo cake and chocolate cookies and talked about our experiences in Cebu. It was very interesting to hear from locals about their opinions of the problems in the Philippines and how ineffective government legislation tries to alleviate problems while only creating more.
At the end of the evening, true to our analysis of Filipino culture, they invited us to a Karaoke bar for another night! Apparently this karaoke bar has private rooms for each group and big screen TVs for optimal Karaoke performances. Lindsay and I warned that we are not the best Karaoke singers but they insisted it doesn't matter. Hopefully we will find a time to go with them!
Today we experienced another Filipino must: buying pirated DVD's! John, our driver and good friend (and fan of all EMO bands), took us to the pirated DVD street where we were inundated with every movie we could hope to see. Each DVD costs 50 pesos (1 $) and we insured they were giving us the real price, as opposed to the white girl price. Lindsay and I toiled over what the get. The Reader, BrideWars, Slumdog Millionaire, Push, Gossip Girl, X-Men, Monsters Vs. Aliens you name it. To make sure that the quality is good, they have a TV and DVD player in their street side market so you can have them play the video before you buy it. If there is something wrong with it, you can return it! Nothing like illegal pirating industry having a return policy. We decided on Slumdog Millionaire (I just love it), Doubt, X Men 3 and Twilight. We will probably go back before our trip to Moalboal and stock up on some Gossip Girl.
It is now 3pm and we are patiently awaiting the 5cm patient at the clinic to go into active labor. In the meantime, I have finished reading Merle's Door and Dreams From My Father (Obama's Autobiography) and will now move onto the Soloist. We are happy to hear the protests have subsided n Thailand and we are still beach bound and ready for elephant riding!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Commentary on Religion
I have been urged by my mother not to write this post so as to not burn any bridges here in the Philippines. Before I go on, I want to say that the Overtons (who have started the clinic) are the most generous, selfless and amazing people I have ever met. I have so much respect for them and cannot believe all they save seen, endured and done to help the women and families of the Philippines. Whatever keeps them going, whatever they do to have the courage and drive to help so many people is something I am very respectful and appreciative of. I think religion is the reason that most people are compelled to give themselves so fully to a cause and to endure a lifestyle that they don't have to. I am very thankful for all of that.
On Easter Sunday, we attended a church service in the afternoon that was far different from any Easter celebration I have ever been to. To be honest, I was very frustrated the entire time. Here's why:
1) The theme of his sermon was "One God." He emphasized this by pointing out that in India they worship nearly 30 million gods. He then encouraged somewhat of a moan or sigh from the audience implying how terrible it would be to have 30 million gods. While I am a Catholic and I worship one God, I see nothing wrong with having 30 million gods. That doesn't make these people disgusting, sinners or repulsive as he implied. It nearly makes them different. Criticism and disagreement regarding religions is at the root of nearly every world war and massive genocides throughout time. Scorning another country for their different (but very similar) beliefs doesn't lead to less poverty, lower child mortality rate or any progress. It only engenders more hate and stereotyping.
2) He also took a good twenty minutes to discuss how the name Easter was actually rooted in a sinful background. Ish-Tar was the goddess of fertility. The first Easter happened to fall on her celebration feast. She was represented by an egg and sacred prostitutes were adorned at the temple on her feast day. The pastor then began to bemoan on how terrible that was and how could a prostitute ever be sacred. He warned us that by saying "Happy Easter" we were giving thanks to prostitutes of pagan cultures, not to Jesus. Of course I find prostitution repulsive and tragic. Of course I also find nothing sacred about it as well. But the key here lies in two simple words that so many religions forget about: CULTURAL CONTEXT. In the time of Jesus all cultures had prostitution and women had no rights. Prostitutes were very common place and often times their services were used in temples. Today, this would seem terrible. Two thousand years ago, however, this was very normal. Forgetting this small detail creates a situation in which a very common cultural act is turned into a reason to hate the word Easter but even more so to condemn an entire culture for something that was completely taken out of context.
3) He then spent the next ten minutes talking about how terrible it was to celebrate Easter bunnies because bunnies are prolific animals that mate every three months and then proceeded to go into detail about how distasteful the reproductive habits of bunnies are. Since I am a student of science, I have to intervene here not only to question the point of his observation but also to point out that the rapid proliferation of rabbits and bunnies has helped scientists in all areas of medicine come up with treatment and effective drug research. OK, so maybe this man is repulsed by how often rabbits are reproducing. Even if this is the case, what does it have to do with taking away from celebrating Easter and believing in God? I found much of what he said to have no logical connection to Easter but rather an excuse to berate other species, cultures and religions.
4) The majority of the sermon focused on how God feels when you don't worship him fully (yes, God is a him in this church). He used a story from the Old Testament where God made Hosea marry a prostitute but also had to allow her to be a prostitute at the same time. He then equated the way Hosea felt about how dirty his wife was with how God feels about people who don't fully worship him. Yuck he called it. He went on to discuss how foul the prostitute wife, Gomer, really was. Everything about her was ugly and dirty. Even her name was ugly he said. After having seen (and medically treated) some of the prostitutes in this area, I would like to ask this pastor where his humility is. Since when did these women have a choice? And since when did humans stop being humans and become nothing more than a tainted piece of meat? Seeing these women in their desperate situations doesn't make me hate them but rather pity them and want to help them find a way out. It definitely wouldn't make Jesus hate them either. Jesus didn't' hang out with the high society; his friends and followers were the prostitutes and the lowest of the low. Secondly, he made a point to comment on (and laugh about for a few minutes) how ugly the prostitutes name was from the story: Gomer. To me, this was not only completely pointless but downright "unchristian." This man seemed so far removed from what Christianity was really about that he took something as fickle as an Old Testament name and decided to laugh about how ugly her name was and how it could only be the name of a prostitute. The Catholicism I grew up with and experienced at Santa Clara never had a teaching about ugly names or the importance of names at all. What I learned was compassion, understanding and forgiveness. What he was preaching was disdain, superficial judgement and hatred.
5) Here in the Philippines the women are the laborers, the bread winners, the child care providers, the cooks, the cleaners and everything else. But the men still get to make the decisions. Even if their wife had a very high risk pregnancy her last time or already has 5 kids she can't feed, if he wants another she will have another for him. If he doesn't want to use family planning, they won't use family planning. Where does this fit in with the sermon on Easter Sunday? The pastor constantly was giving examples of the "abomination" that occurs when you don't worship God as One God. His examples of how repulsive that was were always about women: prostitutes, dirty menstrual rags, pregnant rabbits. Nothing to visualize disgust involving a man.
6) Another example he gave of how God says "yuck" to us when we worship other Gods was the story of a man dying from kidney failure who wanted a blessing from this particular pastor. The pastor's take on the story was that he was so disgusted by the state of the dying man that he could hardly stand being there to do the blessing. Remind me when I am old and dying to make sure that the priest (or holy person of my choosing) can see beyond superficial flaking skin and yellow blood vessels to actual bless me on my death bed.
7) Lastly, both weeks he has criticized the poor and dirty people throughout the world yet not given any sort of call for action. Religion is the primary reason that so many missionaries I have met here feel compelled to be here. Liberation Theology has brought many people to developing countries to try to help minister and provide community for them. Hilary and David felt a calling. Father Heinz wanted to minister to the poor and forgotten people of the slums. Another Canadian woman here came to help train Filipinos in dump sites to make useful crafts out of their trash. All of these are ways that religion can affect positive change in an area. Where was the call to action in this sermon? What did Easter even mean to him other than exploring all that has been done wrong with the holiday and mangling historical anecdotes to prove a point? I am still not sure.
For me, Easter has always been a time of celebration with family and friends. A time to celebrate your faith in God (or your 30 million gods if you so choose) and to gather in community and be thankful for the message and example that Jesus led by. It is also a time to reflect on how you can continue to live out Jesus' works- helping under served communities, forgiving someone who has hurt you, practicing non-violent conflict resolution and countless other lessons. For me, it has never been a time to reflect on the reproductive habits of rabbits or to discuss the repulsiveness of prostitution.
While I know this post seems a bit harsh and poorly written, I felt compelled enough during the service to take a minute to write down everything that frustrated me about his Easter message.
On a happy note- I was able to put my bemoaning aside after Church for an amazing dinner. We went to a Japanese restaurant where the chef cooks at the table for you (similar to Benihana in the US). We enjoyed sushi, lobster, garlic and spinach rice, fish, steak, noodles, fresh veggies and mango shakes. Total bill $12.00.
On Easter Sunday, we attended a church service in the afternoon that was far different from any Easter celebration I have ever been to. To be honest, I was very frustrated the entire time. Here's why:
1) The theme of his sermon was "One God." He emphasized this by pointing out that in India they worship nearly 30 million gods. He then encouraged somewhat of a moan or sigh from the audience implying how terrible it would be to have 30 million gods. While I am a Catholic and I worship one God, I see nothing wrong with having 30 million gods. That doesn't make these people disgusting, sinners or repulsive as he implied. It nearly makes them different. Criticism and disagreement regarding religions is at the root of nearly every world war and massive genocides throughout time. Scorning another country for their different (but very similar) beliefs doesn't lead to less poverty, lower child mortality rate or any progress. It only engenders more hate and stereotyping.
2) He also took a good twenty minutes to discuss how the name Easter was actually rooted in a sinful background. Ish-Tar was the goddess of fertility. The first Easter happened to fall on her celebration feast. She was represented by an egg and sacred prostitutes were adorned at the temple on her feast day. The pastor then began to bemoan on how terrible that was and how could a prostitute ever be sacred. He warned us that by saying "Happy Easter" we were giving thanks to prostitutes of pagan cultures, not to Jesus. Of course I find prostitution repulsive and tragic. Of course I also find nothing sacred about it as well. But the key here lies in two simple words that so many religions forget about: CULTURAL CONTEXT. In the time of Jesus all cultures had prostitution and women had no rights. Prostitutes were very common place and often times their services were used in temples. Today, this would seem terrible. Two thousand years ago, however, this was very normal. Forgetting this small detail creates a situation in which a very common cultural act is turned into a reason to hate the word Easter but even more so to condemn an entire culture for something that was completely taken out of context.
3) He then spent the next ten minutes talking about how terrible it was to celebrate Easter bunnies because bunnies are prolific animals that mate every three months and then proceeded to go into detail about how distasteful the reproductive habits of bunnies are. Since I am a student of science, I have to intervene here not only to question the point of his observation but also to point out that the rapid proliferation of rabbits and bunnies has helped scientists in all areas of medicine come up with treatment and effective drug research. OK, so maybe this man is repulsed by how often rabbits are reproducing. Even if this is the case, what does it have to do with taking away from celebrating Easter and believing in God? I found much of what he said to have no logical connection to Easter but rather an excuse to berate other species, cultures and religions.
4) The majority of the sermon focused on how God feels when you don't worship him fully (yes, God is a him in this church). He used a story from the Old Testament where God made Hosea marry a prostitute but also had to allow her to be a prostitute at the same time. He then equated the way Hosea felt about how dirty his wife was with how God feels about people who don't fully worship him. Yuck he called it. He went on to discuss how foul the prostitute wife, Gomer, really was. Everything about her was ugly and dirty. Even her name was ugly he said. After having seen (and medically treated) some of the prostitutes in this area, I would like to ask this pastor where his humility is. Since when did these women have a choice? And since when did humans stop being humans and become nothing more than a tainted piece of meat? Seeing these women in their desperate situations doesn't make me hate them but rather pity them and want to help them find a way out. It definitely wouldn't make Jesus hate them either. Jesus didn't' hang out with the high society; his friends and followers were the prostitutes and the lowest of the low. Secondly, he made a point to comment on (and laugh about for a few minutes) how ugly the prostitutes name was from the story: Gomer. To me, this was not only completely pointless but downright "unchristian." This man seemed so far removed from what Christianity was really about that he took something as fickle as an Old Testament name and decided to laugh about how ugly her name was and how it could only be the name of a prostitute. The Catholicism I grew up with and experienced at Santa Clara never had a teaching about ugly names or the importance of names at all. What I learned was compassion, understanding and forgiveness. What he was preaching was disdain, superficial judgement and hatred.
5) Here in the Philippines the women are the laborers, the bread winners, the child care providers, the cooks, the cleaners and everything else. But the men still get to make the decisions. Even if their wife had a very high risk pregnancy her last time or already has 5 kids she can't feed, if he wants another she will have another for him. If he doesn't want to use family planning, they won't use family planning. Where does this fit in with the sermon on Easter Sunday? The pastor constantly was giving examples of the "abomination" that occurs when you don't worship God as One God. His examples of how repulsive that was were always about women: prostitutes, dirty menstrual rags, pregnant rabbits. Nothing to visualize disgust involving a man.
6) Another example he gave of how God says "yuck" to us when we worship other Gods was the story of a man dying from kidney failure who wanted a blessing from this particular pastor. The pastor's take on the story was that he was so disgusted by the state of the dying man that he could hardly stand being there to do the blessing. Remind me when I am old and dying to make sure that the priest (or holy person of my choosing) can see beyond superficial flaking skin and yellow blood vessels to actual bless me on my death bed.
7) Lastly, both weeks he has criticized the poor and dirty people throughout the world yet not given any sort of call for action. Religion is the primary reason that so many missionaries I have met here feel compelled to be here. Liberation Theology has brought many people to developing countries to try to help minister and provide community for them. Hilary and David felt a calling. Father Heinz wanted to minister to the poor and forgotten people of the slums. Another Canadian woman here came to help train Filipinos in dump sites to make useful crafts out of their trash. All of these are ways that religion can affect positive change in an area. Where was the call to action in this sermon? What did Easter even mean to him other than exploring all that has been done wrong with the holiday and mangling historical anecdotes to prove a point? I am still not sure.
For me, Easter has always been a time of celebration with family and friends. A time to celebrate your faith in God (or your 30 million gods if you so choose) and to gather in community and be thankful for the message and example that Jesus led by. It is also a time to reflect on how you can continue to live out Jesus' works- helping under served communities, forgiving someone who has hurt you, practicing non-violent conflict resolution and countless other lessons. For me, it has never been a time to reflect on the reproductive habits of rabbits or to discuss the repulsiveness of prostitution.
While I know this post seems a bit harsh and poorly written, I felt compelled enough during the service to take a minute to write down everything that frustrated me about his Easter message.
On a happy note- I was able to put my bemoaning aside after Church for an amazing dinner. We went to a Japanese restaurant where the chef cooks at the table for you (similar to Benihana in the US). We enjoyed sushi, lobster, garlic and spinach rice, fish, steak, noodles, fresh veggies and mango shakes. Total bill $12.00.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Filipino Games= Crazy
At our last staff meeting I casually volunteered to help out with the adult games for the Easter party. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. The next day began the questions of what games are we playing? have you gotten all of the supplies? how many people can play each game? what about this game? I came up with a list of musical chairs, egg toss and 3 legged race. That's about it.
Little did I know that Filipinos have a whole slue of crazy games I have never heard of but experienced at the Easter Party on Saturday. Let me try to explain... The first one was called the ribbon game. In this game each team (of two) hast o tie four ribbons of different colors to four different places on their bodies. For instance, one girl will have the white ribbon on her head and her partner will have it on her ankle. Blue will be on one persons wrist and the other one's thigh. Then the clown (all Filipino parties have clowns) will call out a color and you have to run and find your partner and match up your colors. This involves a lot of screaming and a lot of falling over. It's basically twister without the mat. After a few rounds, the clown ups the ante and chooses two or three colors you have to match up. At this point, 90 pound women are on the floor, wrist to armpit, thigh to forehead. This went on for about 20 mins before a winner was finally declared.
After each game ended, the Filipinos immediately approached me and asked for the next game. After my three were over I was clueless. The clown was also looking to me for the list of games. I was all out! We then proceeded with the egg toss which was just vicious. Lindsay and I actually made it to the final round when our opponents (JoJo and Rual the guards) tried to intercept our egg mid-air and smashed it. I still think their egg was hard boiled.
The party was a total blast and completely different than any Easter party I have been to at home. All the midwives and nurses brought their children and the swimming pool was full. The one thing to note about Filipinos is that they actually can't swim. Their kids (like most kids), however, love swimming pools. For this reason, all children come equipped with cheap blow up life jackets that are somehow supposed to keep them alive. I'm not sure how that works considering how quickly cheap blow up pool toys deflate.
By the end of the party, I had eaten about 5 cupcakes and was sweating profusely from laughing so hard at the games. We also brought our remaining three kittens to the party and were able to unload them onto unsuspecting guests. Two of the cats, Sal and Tom, were taken home by the daughters of the OBGYN. Don't worry- they already have four cats. Two more won't hurt. Jerry, the biggest of them all, was taken home by a very nice young couple from Seattle (UW law school grads!). The man works as an attorney against child prostitution and his wife works at the clinic and is in training to be a midwife. We were excited to hear that we will be able to see Jerry at the clinic occasionally.
This entire Holy Week (from Thursday-Sunday) has been birth free and borrrrrinnnnggg. Lindsay and I have passed the time by playing countless games of scrabble, watching movies, reading and just plain old sitting around watching the clock tick. Women here don't want to have babies during Holy Week so they "hold them in." Never having been pregnant or in labor, I'm not exactly sure how that works. Just now a woman walked in, drenched in sweat, towel on her head and hunched over. She is 4 cm dilated and refused to have stripping done (opening of the cervix) last week because she was afraid of going into labor on Black Saturday. Looks like today might be her lucky day! I'm still waiting for a baby Lauren.
Check out the new pics on the blog. Also- coming up soon will be a post about my Easter Sunday Church interpretation. Missing you all terribly! Thanks for all the texts, emails etc. Keep it coming!
Little did I know that Filipinos have a whole slue of crazy games I have never heard of but experienced at the Easter Party on Saturday. Let me try to explain... The first one was called the ribbon game. In this game each team (of two) hast o tie four ribbons of different colors to four different places on their bodies. For instance, one girl will have the white ribbon on her head and her partner will have it on her ankle. Blue will be on one persons wrist and the other one's thigh. Then the clown (all Filipino parties have clowns) will call out a color and you have to run and find your partner and match up your colors. This involves a lot of screaming and a lot of falling over. It's basically twister without the mat. After a few rounds, the clown ups the ante and chooses two or three colors you have to match up. At this point, 90 pound women are on the floor, wrist to armpit, thigh to forehead. This went on for about 20 mins before a winner was finally declared.
After each game ended, the Filipinos immediately approached me and asked for the next game. After my three were over I was clueless. The clown was also looking to me for the list of games. I was all out! We then proceeded with the egg toss which was just vicious. Lindsay and I actually made it to the final round when our opponents (JoJo and Rual the guards) tried to intercept our egg mid-air and smashed it. I still think their egg was hard boiled.
The party was a total blast and completely different than any Easter party I have been to at home. All the midwives and nurses brought their children and the swimming pool was full. The one thing to note about Filipinos is that they actually can't swim. Their kids (like most kids), however, love swimming pools. For this reason, all children come equipped with cheap blow up life jackets that are somehow supposed to keep them alive. I'm not sure how that works considering how quickly cheap blow up pool toys deflate.
By the end of the party, I had eaten about 5 cupcakes and was sweating profusely from laughing so hard at the games. We also brought our remaining three kittens to the party and were able to unload them onto unsuspecting guests. Two of the cats, Sal and Tom, were taken home by the daughters of the OBGYN. Don't worry- they already have four cats. Two more won't hurt. Jerry, the biggest of them all, was taken home by a very nice young couple from Seattle (UW law school grads!). The man works as an attorney against child prostitution and his wife works at the clinic and is in training to be a midwife. We were excited to hear that we will be able to see Jerry at the clinic occasionally.
This entire Holy Week (from Thursday-Sunday) has been birth free and borrrrrinnnnggg. Lindsay and I have passed the time by playing countless games of scrabble, watching movies, reading and just plain old sitting around watching the clock tick. Women here don't want to have babies during Holy Week so they "hold them in." Never having been pregnant or in labor, I'm not exactly sure how that works. Just now a woman walked in, drenched in sweat, towel on her head and hunched over. She is 4 cm dilated and refused to have stripping done (opening of the cervix) last week because she was afraid of going into labor on Black Saturday. Looks like today might be her lucky day! I'm still waiting for a baby Lauren.
Check out the new pics on the blog. Also- coming up soon will be a post about my Easter Sunday Church interpretation. Missing you all terribly! Thanks for all the texts, emails etc. Keep it coming!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Happy Ish-Tar
We were informed by the pastor at church last Sunday that Easter should not be called Easter but rather Resurrection because Easter is named after the Greek God "Ish-Tar" and therefore Easter is pagan. Pagans go to the Lake of Fire after death, FYI.
Semana Santa started on Wednesday evening and you can really feel it all over the city. The streets are much emptier (they look like our streets on work days now) and Christmas music plays at night. Apparently any holiday celebrating Jesus is fair game for Christmas music. For some reason it is also bad luck to have a baby born on Good Friday, Black Saturday or Easter Sunday. Maybe many women are at home "holding in" their babies or doing something to prevent birth because the clinic has been absolutely barren the past few days. This is NOT normal for a place where every third woman is pregnant.
Lindsay and I spent Thursday afternoon and evening in the clinic alone with one other newly hired midwife while the rest of the staff was at Tina's baby's memorial service. We played a vicious game of scrabble and talked about how Jesreal (the midwife) really wanted to come to the US. We waited for a labor and waited and waited. Nobody showed up. They didn't want their babies born anywhere near Good Friday.
Yesterday we went to Hilary and Davids to help prepare for the Easter Party. We made and frosted 50 cupcakes and two cakes. At the end I think I had eaten maybe 5 cupcakes. oops. We also brought the kitties along (we now have four kittens in the apartment) and gave them baths, clipped their nails and attempted to give them away as Easter gifts. Lindsay and I went door to door throughout Hilary and David's neighborhood explaining we were friends of their neighbor and wanted to give kitties away as Easter gifts. Nobody seemed very into it. One girl said her Auntie and Uncle hate cats. Another guy said no and showed us his little drop kick dog to prove that he couldn't have kitties. Another man was asleep outside a house and when we asked him if he wanted a cat he kept nodding his head yes. He also had two vicious dogs. We then started saying anything we wanted and he kept nodding his head yes. We decided he had no idea what we were saying and out kittens would surely be lunch for the snarling dogs at the gate. We said goodbye and he nodded his head yes.
We finally stumbled upon a family of six or seven sitting under a few trees in the shade next to their cousins big house. We showed them the kittens and they seemed moderately interested. One of the boys (about 17 years old) was very interested in talking to us and was happy to hold Princess (the only girl kitty) when we handed her over. After a few minutes of chatting and explaining that we wanted him to KEEP the cat not just hold it for a few hours he obliged.
We said our goodbyes to Princess and said we would bring him back some cat food. He and his brother (or friend or someone) insisted on taking photos with us with the cat before we left. We gave thumbs up in the photos and they kept saying you are booooootiful. When we returned with the cat food we posed for yet another round of photos. As we were walking home they ran up to us yet ANOTHER time. One of the boys kept asking where to buy cat food as the other boy quickly snapped photos of us. We explained they can buy cat food in grocery stores and they asked for yet ANOTHER round of photos. Something tells me every time anyone comments on how cute their cat is they will tell the story of how they got it from American girls and proceed to show the entire photo album of us. If you happen to see my face (greasy and sweaty) all over the Internet, let me know.
Today we are going to the Easter Party which will be Karaoke and egg tosses. I promise to photo document!
Semana Santa started on Wednesday evening and you can really feel it all over the city. The streets are much emptier (they look like our streets on work days now) and Christmas music plays at night. Apparently any holiday celebrating Jesus is fair game for Christmas music. For some reason it is also bad luck to have a baby born on Good Friday, Black Saturday or Easter Sunday. Maybe many women are at home "holding in" their babies or doing something to prevent birth because the clinic has been absolutely barren the past few days. This is NOT normal for a place where every third woman is pregnant.
Lindsay and I spent Thursday afternoon and evening in the clinic alone with one other newly hired midwife while the rest of the staff was at Tina's baby's memorial service. We played a vicious game of scrabble and talked about how Jesreal (the midwife) really wanted to come to the US. We waited for a labor and waited and waited. Nobody showed up. They didn't want their babies born anywhere near Good Friday.
Yesterday we went to Hilary and Davids to help prepare for the Easter Party. We made and frosted 50 cupcakes and two cakes. At the end I think I had eaten maybe 5 cupcakes. oops. We also brought the kitties along (we now have four kittens in the apartment) and gave them baths, clipped their nails and attempted to give them away as Easter gifts. Lindsay and I went door to door throughout Hilary and David's neighborhood explaining we were friends of their neighbor and wanted to give kitties away as Easter gifts. Nobody seemed very into it. One girl said her Auntie and Uncle hate cats. Another guy said no and showed us his little drop kick dog to prove that he couldn't have kitties. Another man was asleep outside a house and when we asked him if he wanted a cat he kept nodding his head yes. He also had two vicious dogs. We then started saying anything we wanted and he kept nodding his head yes. We decided he had no idea what we were saying and out kittens would surely be lunch for the snarling dogs at the gate. We said goodbye and he nodded his head yes.
We finally stumbled upon a family of six or seven sitting under a few trees in the shade next to their cousins big house. We showed them the kittens and they seemed moderately interested. One of the boys (about 17 years old) was very interested in talking to us and was happy to hold Princess (the only girl kitty) when we handed her over. After a few minutes of chatting and explaining that we wanted him to KEEP the cat not just hold it for a few hours he obliged.
We said our goodbyes to Princess and said we would bring him back some cat food. He and his brother (or friend or someone) insisted on taking photos with us with the cat before we left. We gave thumbs up in the photos and they kept saying you are booooootiful. When we returned with the cat food we posed for yet another round of photos. As we were walking home they ran up to us yet ANOTHER time. One of the boys kept asking where to buy cat food as the other boy quickly snapped photos of us. We explained they can buy cat food in grocery stores and they asked for yet ANOTHER round of photos. Something tells me every time anyone comments on how cute their cat is they will tell the story of how they got it from American girls and proceed to show the entire photo album of us. If you happen to see my face (greasy and sweaty) all over the Internet, let me know.
Today we are going to the Easter Party which will be Karaoke and egg tosses. I promise to photo document!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Update on Tina
If you read the blog a few days ago, you will remember I posted about one of the midwives, Tina who had a baby girl, Hannah with many lung and respiratory complications and in need of surgery. Thanks to donations from readers and friends of Hilary, we were able to raise the money to get baby Hannah her surgery. She was stable after the surgery but not doing any better (or worse). The last we heard last night she was just being monitored and Tina had been discharged. They had the best doctors on the case.
This morning at about 8 am the clinic received a text from Hilary that baby Hannah had died. Apparently her other lung collapsed and they tried to go in but couldn't save her. I don't know many details but will keep you updated as I hear them. This case is tragic but not uncommon here.
Tina was 31 years old, ancient by Filipino standards for child bearing, and had been trying to conceive for many years. She was lucky enough to finally get pregnant only to find out two days before giving birth that her baby had a diaphragmatic hernia. This is generally something in the US that can be fixed and treated (at a price). Here in the Philippines they struggled to get the money, the surgeon, the supplies and the technology to help the baby survive.
We are not sure what will happen next for the family and the funeral ceremony but we would appreciate any prayers or thoughts you have for Tina as she is emotionally a wreck and needs all the support she can get. Losing a baby, no matter where you are, is not something that is easy. Women do it hear much more often than we can ever imagine.
This morning at about 8 am the clinic received a text from Hilary that baby Hannah had died. Apparently her other lung collapsed and they tried to go in but couldn't save her. I don't know many details but will keep you updated as I hear them. This case is tragic but not uncommon here.
Tina was 31 years old, ancient by Filipino standards for child bearing, and had been trying to conceive for many years. She was lucky enough to finally get pregnant only to find out two days before giving birth that her baby had a diaphragmatic hernia. This is generally something in the US that can be fixed and treated (at a price). Here in the Philippines they struggled to get the money, the surgeon, the supplies and the technology to help the baby survive.
We are not sure what will happen next for the family and the funeral ceremony but we would appreciate any prayers or thoughts you have for Tina as she is emotionally a wreck and needs all the support she can get. Losing a baby, no matter where you are, is not something that is easy. Women do it hear much more often than we can ever imagine.
Poop Eating Crabs
On the City Tour yesterday we learned that on Mactan Island there are areas without any septic systems. This means that many people poop in the grass or beach side and have the crabs eat it up. The crabs are then eaten by the people- the "Circle of Life" is what our tour guide called it. Not sure how that actually works.
We learned and saw many interesting things on the city tour. We started on Cebu and visited Fort San Pedro, a fort created when the Spanish had rule. We also saw Magellan's cross (or remnants of it) at the Cathedral in town and saw the masses of people going into the church to pray to St. Nino during Holy Week.
We visited some old house where a very famous and wealthy priest used to live. We also saw a few statues of Magellan and other warriors. All in all I was not very impressed by the monuments in Cebu. They are small and not particularly nice looking. I think this is actually just a bit of my snobbery coming out in that I am used to seeing churches and monuments in Europe where everything is big, beautiful and ornate. Here, things are small, not well kept and surrounded by the poverty of Cebu.
We ventured over to Mactan Island to get a feel for the history surrounding the port city. We saw Lapu Lapu's shrine (the guy that killed Magellan) and got to see the port where his ships used to be. It was low tide so we could see all the disgustingness that is below the water. Millions of little crabs, sewage smell and trash everywhere. Many young boys were walking through this slushy water digging crabs up (I think?).
We also found out that Lapu Lapu (the Filipino king who defeated Magellan) was 4'5" while Magellan was more like 5'6. Filipino men are little munchkins. Many of the men that come into the clinic are about half the size of their wives.
Lastly, we stopped at place called Alegre Guitars- a family run guitar manufacturing business. It was truly amazing. They do the entire process in a little yard/work shop next to the house. They start with drying the wood, assembling the guitars, testing the acoustics and eventually come out with beautiful guitars of all shapes, sizes and colors. Our tour guide picked up a $7,000 guitar and strummed it for a bit. Pretty incredible.
Last night we had spaghetti and meat balls at Hilary and Davids (a nice alternative to our usual tuna or egg salad sandwiches) and watched an episode of Lost. We also stuffed Easter eggs with candy for the party on Saturday and ate home made chocolate chip cookies! SO AMAZING.
Time for our weekly grocery shopping escapade. There are more pics up on the right hand side! Take a look
We learned and saw many interesting things on the city tour. We started on Cebu and visited Fort San Pedro, a fort created when the Spanish had rule. We also saw Magellan's cross (or remnants of it) at the Cathedral in town and saw the masses of people going into the church to pray to St. Nino during Holy Week.
We visited some old house where a very famous and wealthy priest used to live. We also saw a few statues of Magellan and other warriors. All in all I was not very impressed by the monuments in Cebu. They are small and not particularly nice looking. I think this is actually just a bit of my snobbery coming out in that I am used to seeing churches and monuments in Europe where everything is big, beautiful and ornate. Here, things are small, not well kept and surrounded by the poverty of Cebu.
We ventured over to Mactan Island to get a feel for the history surrounding the port city. We saw Lapu Lapu's shrine (the guy that killed Magellan) and got to see the port where his ships used to be. It was low tide so we could see all the disgustingness that is below the water. Millions of little crabs, sewage smell and trash everywhere. Many young boys were walking through this slushy water digging crabs up (I think?).
We also found out that Lapu Lapu (the Filipino king who defeated Magellan) was 4'5" while Magellan was more like 5'6. Filipino men are little munchkins. Many of the men that come into the clinic are about half the size of their wives.
Lastly, we stopped at place called Alegre Guitars- a family run guitar manufacturing business. It was truly amazing. They do the entire process in a little yard/work shop next to the house. They start with drying the wood, assembling the guitars, testing the acoustics and eventually come out with beautiful guitars of all shapes, sizes and colors. Our tour guide picked up a $7,000 guitar and strummed it for a bit. Pretty incredible.
Last night we had spaghetti and meat balls at Hilary and Davids (a nice alternative to our usual tuna or egg salad sandwiches) and watched an episode of Lost. We also stuffed Easter eggs with candy for the party on Saturday and ate home made chocolate chip cookies! SO AMAZING.
Time for our weekly grocery shopping escapade. There are more pics up on the right hand side! Take a look
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Updates
In an effort to post every day or two I will let you know what we have been up to although nothing has been too notable. On Monday afternoon we found out that one of the favorite masseuses from Club Serena 9the resort where we will stay after our time at Glory Reborn is done) was coming up to Cebu for the day. Naturally, Lindsay and I jumped on the opportunity to have home visit massages! It was amazing to say the least. As it turned out, not one, but TWO of the masseuses came up to the apartment and gave us 90 min massages at the same time. I have never really had a massage other than sports massages (which are extremely painful) so this was bliss. They even massaged my ears! Afterward we felt relaxed and even slightly sore from how extensive they were.
Yesterday, Tuesday, was the monthly "baby party." All the babies that were born in March come back to the clinic for a few hours to eat cake, learn about breastfeeding, family planning and general health teaching, get a check up and get vaccinated against TB. Lindsay and I were able to help out with the vaccines, which were much harder than we had originally thought! The injection is "subderal" which mean you have to just barely get under the skin and inject a small bubble into the top layer. We practiced on eachtother (with sterile unused needles) with injecting sterile water. Even that hurt so I can imagine the TB vaccine really hurt! The babies were very squirmy and upset during the procedure but we managed.
The rest of the afternoon was spent reading, napping and trying to be helpful at the clinic. We have befriended one of the mom's whose baby has been here for the past four days due to jaundice. Her name is Martinelle and she is very into American pop culture. She taught us how to make a cloth diaper and then proudly informed us she learned it on youtube!
Martinelle has also taught us how to make a classic Cebuano desert-Mango Float. Don't be confused by the word float- this is not club soda and mangoes. It is actually more like a mango cheesecake. It starts with a layer of graham crackers (pronounced gray-ham) followed by a layer of mango cream. Mango cream is mangoes, condensed milk and all purpose cream. This is followed by another layer of grahams and more mango cream. This goes on and on until you reach the top of the pan. It is then frozen for a few hours (nothing actually freezes here FYI) and then can be somewhat sliced up. It was quite tasty going in but not quite the same feeling afterward. Given my milk sensitives, I think that will be the last mango float for me.
Today we are headed for an all day City Tour of Cebu and Mactan Island (the island with all the beaches). We are excited to have a day off from the clinic. Tonight we hope to go on a walk up at Hilary and David's and visit with their puppy, Penny.
In other news, I just had a phone interview with Facebook. I was under prepared but couldn't pass up the opportunity to interview! Luckily Skype works to call landlines. More on that later...
Yesterday, Tuesday, was the monthly "baby party." All the babies that were born in March come back to the clinic for a few hours to eat cake, learn about breastfeeding, family planning and general health teaching, get a check up and get vaccinated against TB. Lindsay and I were able to help out with the vaccines, which were much harder than we had originally thought! The injection is "subderal" which mean you have to just barely get under the skin and inject a small bubble into the top layer. We practiced on eachtother (with sterile unused needles) with injecting sterile water. Even that hurt so I can imagine the TB vaccine really hurt! The babies were very squirmy and upset during the procedure but we managed.
The rest of the afternoon was spent reading, napping and trying to be helpful at the clinic. We have befriended one of the mom's whose baby has been here for the past four days due to jaundice. Her name is Martinelle and she is very into American pop culture. She taught us how to make a cloth diaper and then proudly informed us she learned it on youtube!
Martinelle has also taught us how to make a classic Cebuano desert-Mango Float. Don't be confused by the word float- this is not club soda and mangoes. It is actually more like a mango cheesecake. It starts with a layer of graham crackers (pronounced gray-ham) followed by a layer of mango cream. Mango cream is mangoes, condensed milk and all purpose cream. This is followed by another layer of grahams and more mango cream. This goes on and on until you reach the top of the pan. It is then frozen for a few hours (nothing actually freezes here FYI) and then can be somewhat sliced up. It was quite tasty going in but not quite the same feeling afterward. Given my milk sensitives, I think that will be the last mango float for me.
Today we are headed for an all day City Tour of Cebu and Mactan Island (the island with all the beaches). We are excited to have a day off from the clinic. Tonight we hope to go on a walk up at Hilary and David's and visit with their puppy, Penny.
In other news, I just had a phone interview with Facebook. I was under prepared but couldn't pass up the opportunity to interview! Luckily Skype works to call landlines. More on that later...
Monday, April 6, 2009
In need of Donations!
Hi Everyone!
We have an emergency with one of the midwives here at Glory Reborn who just gave birth to her first baby with many complications. Please read the info below and if you would like to donate please go to www.gloryreborn.com and on the right hand side at the bottom you can "donate via paypal." Click on this link and in the PURPOSE put TINA.
For all of you who know and love Tina, our midwife, we are asking for your immediate prayers and support. Tina discovered through ultrasound on Friday that her baby girl had a diaphragmatic hernia. She delivered baby Hannah today, April 5th and x rays confirmed the diagnosis. Tina and Vincent are asking for prayers and support as baby Hannah needs surgery for her condition. We are believing that she can stay at the private hospital under qualified surgeons and not have to transfer to the city/public hospital. The initial estimate for the surgery, continual ventilation, anesthesia, and NICU fees is $4,000. While it seems like a large amount, it's simply 100 people donating $40. If anyone would like to contribute please pledge on our website at www.gloryreborn.com or donate through paypal. Thank you for your prayers, love and support. We are believing for little Hannah's life.
Thanks!
We have an emergency with one of the midwives here at Glory Reborn who just gave birth to her first baby with many complications. Please read the info below and if you would like to donate please go to www.gloryreborn.com and on the right hand side at the bottom you can "donate via paypal." Click on this link and in the PURPOSE put TINA.
For all of you who know and love Tina, our midwife, we are asking for your immediate prayers and support. Tina discovered through ultrasound on Friday that her baby girl had a diaphragmatic hernia. She delivered baby Hannah today, April 5th and x rays confirmed the diagnosis. Tina and Vincent are asking for prayers and support as baby Hannah needs surgery for her condition. We are believing that she can stay at the private hospital under qualified surgeons and not have to transfer to the city/public hospital. The initial estimate for the surgery, continual ventilation, anesthesia, and NICU fees is $4,000. While it seems like a large amount, it's simply 100 people donating $40. If anyone would like to contribute please pledge on our website at www.gloryreborn.com or donate through paypal. Thank you for your prayers, love and support. We are believing for little Hannah's life.
Thanks!
Even God does Karaoke
So, you know when you are channel surfing and you get to the middle, after the news stations but before the kids stations/MTV/vh1 etc? Usually you see some tv evangelical presentations in crappy cable, right? Well, look for me waving on the screen because I was at one of them last night.
The church we attended is part of the "Born Again" movement and it was a whole new can of worms for me. I am accustomed to the very traditional and predictable Catholic mass and this was far from that.
First of all, we walked into the Hotel (where the service takes place) and went up to the 2nd floor which was full of convention rooms. We could easily find the church service because it was booming music at the end of the hall. When we went in there was an entire band on stage, equipped with a sound system, strobe lights, electric guitars and a drummer behind some sort of bullet proof glass looking cover. It was serious business.
We started off singing bible rock. It was essentially karaoke at church. They had a big screen projector and the words for each verse came on so everyone could sing along. People had their hands in the air and were belting the lyrics. I was looking for a lighter to start waving back and forth.
The service lasted two hours and resembled more of a comedy show than a church service. The pastor was a middle aged Filipino man who was pretty much hilarious. He was cracking jokes in Cebuano and English the whole time. The congregation was very engaged and he made sure everyone repeated "Amen" to him every few minutes. It seemed like a very well connected community.
While I thought it was fun and entertaining, I really didn't agree with most of his messages. He was commenting on how Cebu was doing really well and how everyone should be so proud of the malls etc. All I could think of were the girls in Kamagayan and the children in the dump. It seems he had forgotten (or turned a blind eye) to all of the horrible poverty and corruption in the city. He also made subtle negative comments about other religions which I find to be the most contradictory aspect of religions.
All in all it was fun (and had AC) and I will definitely go back next week. If anything it is a learning experience.
After church we went out to a really good (and inexpensive) restaurant for dinner and desert. The desert was amazing! We had so many options but Lindsay and I opted for the flourless chocolate cake. Pure dark chocolate bliss.
Today has been more gram stains and check ups. I'm getting to be a pro with the speculum....
Sounds like we are getting massages tonight (masseuse coming to the apartment)! more pics tomorrow!
The church we attended is part of the "Born Again" movement and it was a whole new can of worms for me. I am accustomed to the very traditional and predictable Catholic mass and this was far from that.
First of all, we walked into the Hotel (where the service takes place) and went up to the 2nd floor which was full of convention rooms. We could easily find the church service because it was booming music at the end of the hall. When we went in there was an entire band on stage, equipped with a sound system, strobe lights, electric guitars and a drummer behind some sort of bullet proof glass looking cover. It was serious business.
We started off singing bible rock. It was essentially karaoke at church. They had a big screen projector and the words for each verse came on so everyone could sing along. People had their hands in the air and were belting the lyrics. I was looking for a lighter to start waving back and forth.
The service lasted two hours and resembled more of a comedy show than a church service. The pastor was a middle aged Filipino man who was pretty much hilarious. He was cracking jokes in Cebuano and English the whole time. The congregation was very engaged and he made sure everyone repeated "Amen" to him every few minutes. It seemed like a very well connected community.
While I thought it was fun and entertaining, I really didn't agree with most of his messages. He was commenting on how Cebu was doing really well and how everyone should be so proud of the malls etc. All I could think of were the girls in Kamagayan and the children in the dump. It seems he had forgotten (or turned a blind eye) to all of the horrible poverty and corruption in the city. He also made subtle negative comments about other religions which I find to be the most contradictory aspect of religions.
All in all it was fun (and had AC) and I will definitely go back next week. If anything it is a learning experience.
After church we went out to a really good (and inexpensive) restaurant for dinner and desert. The desert was amazing! We had so many options but Lindsay and I opted for the flourless chocolate cake. Pure dark chocolate bliss.
Today has been more gram stains and check ups. I'm getting to be a pro with the speculum....
Sounds like we are getting massages tonight (masseuse coming to the apartment)! more pics tomorrow!
Sunday, April 5, 2009
BEACH DAY= HEAVEN
The title really says it all (as does the video I posted). After all night in the clinic (see post) we embarked in a rickety taxi to Mactan Island. Mactan Island is a small extension off of Cebu that holds the airport, some businesses and a multitude of beach resorts. The water faces out so we don't have to worry about swimming in all the trash/sewage dumped into the water around Cebu.
After a 45 min long taxi ride with a lot of honking, abrupt stops and moments where we thought the car would break down we arrived at the gates of the Blue Water Resort. We immediately felt like we were in a different world. We were able to leave all the pollution and poverty and desperation behind us for a day. (Is that a good thing? Still not sure...). Lindsay and I sauntered through the beach huts and quickly explored the two large pools before racing to the beach to jump in the ocean. The beach is a large lagoon with a sand bar about 100 m out. The water was clear and turquoise. We changed into our suits and went on the hunt for a towel. Apparently day guests aren't entitled to towels so we had to bargain with a man who claimed to be the "boss" on the beach to get us towels. This is how our conversation went:
Beach Boy: Hello mo'm can I help you?
me: yes we are looking for some towels
Beach Boy: I'm sorry mo'm those are only for overnight guests.
Boss: Hey, Where are you girls from?
Us: The US
Boss: What are you doing here?
Us: We are volunteers. At a maternity clinic.
Boss: You hear that they are volunteers! Go get them towels! Volunteers (then some Tagalog). I'm the boss here! They will bring you towels.
We smiled and walked away. Only took thirty more minutes to get the towels. When the beach boy brought the towels he also gave us the business card of the "boss." Turns out he is the CEO of the police in some area. WTF? we still have no idea.
We swam (laid on our backs in the ocean and contemplated life) and then decided to sit on the amazing couches on the dock and eat some lunch and drink mango shakes. We played some board games and basked in the sun (with lots of sunscreen!). After lunch we digested, read, digested some more and decided to venture out to the raft. We saw some fish but mostly seaweed. We were greeted by lots of fishermen who offered to take us snorkeling or island hopping. We declined but are definitely bringing our goggles next time!
After our swim we laid on the beach for another 30 mins and then headed over to the Shark Pond to feed the sharks. There was a fairly large group of 10 people there to watch. Mostly Australians and Germans (not sure why there are so many Germans in the Philippines...). When the fish feeder man let the group feed the fish no one took him up on the offer. Lindsay and I, of course, darted over to him on the rocks and immediately stuck our hand in the bucket of fish heads and had at it. It appeared that the sharks were overfed because none of them seemed to be too hungry.
After our fish feeding we realized one of the pools had a WATERSLIDE. It was pretty crowded with seven year old Japanese children but we hopped on anyway. The dad supervising the group of 5 or 6 kids looked at us like we were nuts but whatever it was totally worth it. So worth it we did it four times....
After our day at the beach Hilary, David and Gina picked us up for dinner at a nearby really swanky restaurant, Acaba. The restaurant is part of a very exclusive resort that reminded me of Kukio in Hawaii. The food was unbelievable. It was owned by a renowned sous chef from Los Angeles and his Filipina wife. We had risotto with prawns and a fresh greens salad with arugula, beets and feta. I still have no idea how they get this food because I can't seem to find anything but white bread and Mountain Dew. We also had hummus (best hummus I have ever had), french green beans, and an amazing plate of desserts featuring ice cream, chocolate mousse, cream brulle, cheese cake and cookies. We were in heaven. We arrived home completely content with a slight sun tan and full bellies.
So happy I even managed to sleep for 9 hours- that is a feat in a bedroom that is about 100 degrees with the sound of roosters beginning at 4 am!
I hope you get a chance to check out the photos- more soon. Off to a two hour Church Service. Can't wait to blog about that!
After a 45 min long taxi ride with a lot of honking, abrupt stops and moments where we thought the car would break down we arrived at the gates of the Blue Water Resort. We immediately felt like we were in a different world. We were able to leave all the pollution and poverty and desperation behind us for a day. (Is that a good thing? Still not sure...). Lindsay and I sauntered through the beach huts and quickly explored the two large pools before racing to the beach to jump in the ocean. The beach is a large lagoon with a sand bar about 100 m out. The water was clear and turquoise. We changed into our suits and went on the hunt for a towel. Apparently day guests aren't entitled to towels so we had to bargain with a man who claimed to be the "boss" on the beach to get us towels. This is how our conversation went:
Beach Boy: Hello mo'm can I help you?
me: yes we are looking for some towels
Beach Boy: I'm sorry mo'm those are only for overnight guests.
Boss: Hey, Where are you girls from?
Us: The US
Boss: What are you doing here?
Us: We are volunteers. At a maternity clinic.
Boss: You hear that they are volunteers! Go get them towels! Volunteers (then some Tagalog). I'm the boss here! They will bring you towels.
We smiled and walked away. Only took thirty more minutes to get the towels. When the beach boy brought the towels he also gave us the business card of the "boss." Turns out he is the CEO of the police in some area. WTF? we still have no idea.
We swam (laid on our backs in the ocean and contemplated life) and then decided to sit on the amazing couches on the dock and eat some lunch and drink mango shakes. We played some board games and basked in the sun (with lots of sunscreen!). After lunch we digested, read, digested some more and decided to venture out to the raft. We saw some fish but mostly seaweed. We were greeted by lots of fishermen who offered to take us snorkeling or island hopping. We declined but are definitely bringing our goggles next time!
After our swim we laid on the beach for another 30 mins and then headed over to the Shark Pond to feed the sharks. There was a fairly large group of 10 people there to watch. Mostly Australians and Germans (not sure why there are so many Germans in the Philippines...). When the fish feeder man let the group feed the fish no one took him up on the offer. Lindsay and I, of course, darted over to him on the rocks and immediately stuck our hand in the bucket of fish heads and had at it. It appeared that the sharks were overfed because none of them seemed to be too hungry.
After our fish feeding we realized one of the pools had a WATERSLIDE. It was pretty crowded with seven year old Japanese children but we hopped on anyway. The dad supervising the group of 5 or 6 kids looked at us like we were nuts but whatever it was totally worth it. So worth it we did it four times....
After our day at the beach Hilary, David and Gina picked us up for dinner at a nearby really swanky restaurant, Acaba. The restaurant is part of a very exclusive resort that reminded me of Kukio in Hawaii. The food was unbelievable. It was owned by a renowned sous chef from Los Angeles and his Filipina wife. We had risotto with prawns and a fresh greens salad with arugula, beets and feta. I still have no idea how they get this food because I can't seem to find anything but white bread and Mountain Dew. We also had hummus (best hummus I have ever had), french green beans, and an amazing plate of desserts featuring ice cream, chocolate mousse, cream brulle, cheese cake and cookies. We were in heaven. We arrived home completely content with a slight sun tan and full bellies.
So happy I even managed to sleep for 9 hours- that is a feat in a bedroom that is about 100 degrees with the sound of roosters beginning at 4 am!
I hope you get a chance to check out the photos- more soon. Off to a two hour Church Service. Can't wait to blog about that!
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