Week in Manila

Last week Saturday I made the trip from San Agustin to Manila. This trip involves a 2 hour jeepney ride, 7 hour boat ride, 2 hour bus ride and then 20 minute taxi ride. I arrived in Manila at 4am Sunday morning.I will spend the rest of my time here in Manila. Around 11:30 the Kleyns picked me up from the CERV office and we went to church. It was such a blessing to worship with the saints here. The church here has two worship services. Between the worship services the members of the congregation visit while the children attend catechism. After church we (the Kleyns and I) brought some members of the congregation home and then returned home. On Monday Sharon and I went swimming with the Smit children and Tricia at Faith Academy. Well I did not go swimming but everyone else did. I have some infected bites on my legs so I was not allowed to go in the water. Oh well I got some sun and reading done. At night we went to the Smit home for Carl's 4th birthday party. Today Sharon and I went shopping for groceries and tonight is Bible study night. Well that is all for now.

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday Ed!!!

I had a quiet Sunday yesterday. I went to a Four Square Baptist church. It reminded me of Praise and Worship at school. It really made me miss them and the girls at school. Sundays are one of the hardest days of the week. I really miss going to my church at Doon.

Greetings from Boracay!

Hello Everyone that reads this. This is a post by me Beth and its probably going to be a long one. But Ill break it down into sections.
1. Boracay--Right now I am in Boracay. This is a resort town south of San Agustin. I arrived here on Saturday July 17. We (the other volunteers and I) are here for my birthday, renew visas, and to see the sights. My day started early at 4 in the morning. I have had to take several modes of transportation in order to get here. First a 30 minute trike ride from Carmen (a barangay of San Agustin) to San Agustin. Then a 2 hour jeepney ride to Looc. On the jeepney ride we fit 30+ people and 20 sacks of broken coconuts. They use the coconuts to make soap and oils. From Looc we got on a small boat and traveled for 4 hours to Boracay. I then spent the rest of the day swimming and lying around on the beach.

2. Typhoon--Andrew thanks for your concern about the storm and I. It missed were I was staying. We just had two days of a steady rain. The storm did pass through Manila. Kleyns and Smits were with out power for 48 hours but other wise all right. It was the lowest catorgory storm.

3. Transportation--In the Philippines I have experienced many modes of transportation. They are all over crowded and would be deemed unsafe in the States. Did you know that motorcycles can fit 5 adults? or a trike can hold 15 people? Jeepneys also are interesting to ride in. Basically there is no limit to the amount of people that they can hold. People just hang on to the sides. I wish i could post pictures of them but I guess you will have to wait until I return.

4. Church--I have been unable to attend church as of yet. In San Agustin there is only the Roman Catholic church. Last weekend I tried to attend a Protestant church but no one showed up at the time on the sign. Tomorrow I have found a Bapist church in Boracay to attend and the service is in English which will be nice. I hope that everything works out. I am really looking forward to the last weekend in July when I get to attend our church there.

5. Carmen Feista--Thursday and Friday (July 15 and 16) I attended a feista in Carmen. This was in honor of their patron saint Mary. Thursday night was a cultural show. The native dress is so wonderfully designed. We also got to see traditional dances. Friday morning started early with Mass. It was all in Visayan so I did not understand what was going on. It also did not help that I do not know much about Mass to begin with. After Mass we met the Bishop (I think). He took us to the area where the contest was to be held. My friends Kristi, Nicole, and I were asked to judge. This contest was a dance contest after the Sabwagan tradition. This is a ritual where the people throw flowers to a statue of the Virgin Mary in an act of gratiude for her goodness. (Yes I know there is a lot of false theology in this but I am a guest of honor and sometimes you just have to go with the flow). After the contest we got to have roast pig. It was so good. I ate way to much. Later that night we went to the beauty pageant. Once again we where guest of honor. It ran pretty much like ones in the states.

6. Cleaning the river-- Part of my job is working in the public health office. One of the projects that we started on is cleaning out the river that runs next to town. It is so full of trash and weeds and dead animals that it is not running anymore. This was not something I was looking forward to. There is glass everywhere and no one has proper shoes. Most workers were wearing flip-flops. We took down a tree with machetes that should have used a chain saw. This is going to be an on going project with a cleaning of the river every Thursday. I wish there was a way for me to get out of working it but there is not.

7. Public Health--Other things that I do in the public health office is clinic visits in the morning and immunizations. During the clinic visits I take vitals and try to get the chief complaint. This interview process takes place right in the waiting room. There is no privacy here at all. Immunizations is a process that takes place during the first week of every month. It was a week of crying children. I am glad it is done.

8. Hospital--I am learning so much in the hospital. Hands on experience is the best way to learn. This is also a really tough place to be. They have so little. No xray, no blood transfusions, no surgery. We only use gloves to deliver babies. Delivering babies is something I really enjoy. Which is a good thing because there is another baby born pretty much everyday. Even though I am done with my OB rotation at school I had not seen a delivery yet. Well very quickly into my time here I got the chance to see one. Well I also delivered (caught) the baby. Talk about learning on your feet. Here it is normal for the nurses to deliver. The doctors only deliver if it is the mother's first child or there are complications. I also have had the opportunity to practice my IV skills. Here it is very important to get the IV in on the first try because if you do not you have to use the same needle--not sanitary at all. I my first chance to practice my skills was on a dehydrated 3 month old. I was so glad to get it in.

9. Food-- The food here is amazing. We have fish and rice for almost every meal but it is so good. I am trying to learn how to cook so I can bring back the taste to the States

Well Im all typed out and its nearly time for supper. Thank you all for your prayers and concerns.

We received an e-mail from Sharon today. The typhoon missed the area where Beth is located. She had told Sharon she wanted to experience one, but she missed out on this one. Today (which could be yesterday) she is judging a contest of sorts at the fiesta. Sharon says the Filipinos do not like to lose face in these contests. On Sunday she attended a RC mass. She wished that she knew more about what was happening. I don’t know if that was a language problem or a religious one. That’s all for now.

More from Beth's Mom

This is Monday morning, July 12, in the U.S.A. with additions by Beth’s mom. Beth called us Sunday morning to chat a bit. It was good to hear her voice. She had gone with other volunteers (I think) to the island of Romblon, which is the main island of the Province of Romblon as far as I can figure out. Romblon is known for marble. Here in Minnesota we have the red quartz rocks in the fields and mine for it. There it is marble lying around. Many foundations of buildings are made of marble. They stayed at San Pedro Resort. It was a lovely place and not crowded with tourists. She went snorkeling. Sunday she found a Protestant church to attend but upon arriving at the posted time and waiting a bit no one showed up. So she had a tough Sunday.
She is actually working on the island called Tablas, which is just left of the island of Romblon when you look at a map. Sharon reports that on Monday morning she was going with other volunteers to inspect the river in advance of a meeting with the mayor and captain of the barangay(neighborhood) to discuss cleaning up the river.
Last week she cared for a three-month-old with pneumonia who was dehydrated. She had to put in the IV and got it on first try, which I gather is not easy to do on a dehydrated person. Sharon reported this morning that the baby is doing better.
Beth was sounding excited and like she was really enjoying her work there. From Sharon’s comments Beth is struck by the state of poverty the people are in just mostly because of where they are living. She is finding out what being poor really means. When we think we are poor here in the states we are really rich in contrast.

July 1-7

This is Beth's mother speaking. I think Beth has very little internet conections. By tract phone she has contacted Sharon Klyn in Manila and she has e mailed me information. As of this Sunday morning, July 4, we know that she has arrived safely on the island of Romblon. It is a very small mountain island and one of the poorest places. The map shows a road around the edge of the island and a few more in one place. The ride from Manila to Romblon took 20 hours by bus and ferry. The bedroom on the ferry was crowded and hot. That is all I know. I am thanking the Lord for her safe travels and praying that He will keep her safe and well there. I am sure she is having quite an experience and learning a lot about life. If I hear more via Sharon I will add on to comments. Barb Hunter
July 4, 2010 11:23 AM

(This is Beth's Mom again with more information via Sharon) Monday morning for me but now it is Monday night for Beth. The only church on the island was RC so she spent her day reading and sleeping. She has her Bible and some devotional books along. Beth had her first day at the clinic on her Monday. The language barrier made it very hard. On her Tuesday morning she worked in the clinic, then in the hospital and is on call for deliveries at night. She said they had brown outs all day(no electricity. It must not effect the hospital much as they have no machines (can't afford any)and do not do surgeries or blood transfusions. She says she is in what they call a town but they serve the surrounding villages also--about 2300 people.
July 5, 2010 2:21 PM


Wed. Beth's mother speaking. In the middle of the night we woke up to the phone ringing. It was Beth. She is enjoying herself. She has been involved in a delivery of a baby. (I don't know how much). She has done a vaccination clinic (made 35 babies cry) and blood pressure clinic. It seems like she works clinics or in a clinic in the mornings, in the hospital in the afternoon and is on call at night. In the last comment I said the wrong number of people it is 23,000 not 23oo. She is in a town the size of Doon but much more compacted. The name of the town is San Augustine. It is in the province of Romblon but not the island called Romblon itself. She did remember the name of it. The ocean is beautiful. She is intrigued by the fishing boats. she loves the food (told me where to find a recipe for something in one of her textbooks upstairs). The only food she hasn't enjoyed is a dessert dish. She and another volunteer live in a home of a host family. She has her own room. The island has dogs and roosters running around all over the place (we could hear one crowing). She said the health organization has worked hard there on rabies so that there hasn't been a known case in four years. It seems like everyone knows (except the old) some English but only uses it when they need to. When there is a brown out (no electricity) there is no running water. They wash their hands with alcohol. They use a stethescope for hearing baby's heart beat. The way she has to do things there would never pass in the states. She would never be able to get all the experience she is gaining there in the states either. Her voice was full of excitement. She see seems to be enoying it emmensely. (I knew she would).
July 7, 2010 6:47 AM