Updates from Philippines outreach Spring 2006

Here are stories and pictures from the spring of 2006. I spent four months that spring in Kalinga, a northern province of the Philippines. I was a student medic with Mercy in Action.

Back in Boise - now what?

Tuesday, May 30, 2006, 12:29 PM

I've been in Boise for almost 2 weeks now and I'm finally able to upload website changes so you can see them! Thank you for your patience the last six weeks or so.

I'm back home but this journey is far from over. I've joined the staff of Mercy in Action and will helping teach and facilitate mission medic classes in Boise this summer. The first of September I'll return to the Philippines as a leader with the next group of medic students. I'm also working part-time as a pharmacist this summer, thanks to the amazing flexibility Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center has shown me.

I plan to work with Mercy in Action for a long time and I'm excited about the things God wants to do through me and the people I lead and teach. Thank you so much for your prayers during my time in the Philippines. Please continue to pray for me and the rest of the Mercy in Action staff as a new batch of students arrives next week!

Manila

Saturday, May 13, 2006

It is HOT in Manila. May is the hottest month of the year and Manila is significantly warmer than Tabuk. I often wake up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat despite the fan blowing directly on me.

Some of my time in Manila was spent helping out at the Mercy in Action maternity center. I'm so impressed with the work the Mercy in Action midwives do here in Manila. Women from "Welfareville," a slum near the clinic, receive free prenatal care and delivery from young midwife missionaries who care about them personally and get involved in their lives. My job was just to take vitals, draw blood if needed, and observe as much as possible. What fun!

Our medic team held several medical outreaches into poor slum areas. Sometimes we worked with a local church to set up feeding programs and hand out de-worming medications. Other times we held full medical clinics for those who cannot afford other healthcare. The number of needy people in Manila threatened to overwhelm me. A few days ago, sitting in a hot, sticky building with no electricity (and therefore no electric fan) surrounded by mothers waiting for us to see their children I prayed "God, I just can't do this anymore. I want to go back to America today!" He reminded me to focus on the person in front of me and what I could do for them. One at a time, God wants to bless and care for people through me. What a humbling thought.

Today was our last medical outreach. Tomorrow is graduation and we fly home Wednesday!

Hiking

April 2006

The trails into these mountain villages are absolutely spectacular, but the hiking has been TOUGH. The tails are very steep and narrow. We literally climbed over a mountain range to get from Sumadel to Dananao I'm totally amazed God has called me to serve Him this way. My pictures don't do the view justice, but they are beautiful. Soaring mountains, deep canyons, waterfalls, and green rice terraces with rock walls built centuries ago...

Lisa's Grandmother

April 2006

Lisa is a young Filipino from a small resettlement village here in Tabuk. She is the teacher for the small school in her village and completed some training with us so she can be a health worker in her village. She's become a friend of mine.

Her grandmother lives in one of the mountain villages we hiked to this month. For more than 60 years this elderly woman has been a spirit medium for the village. The spirit world is very real to village people
and many routinely consult the spirits through a spirit medium when
they or their children are sick. Sacrifices of chickens, pigs, and even caribou demanded by the spirits often deplete the resources of already impoverished families.

Lisa and her mother and father are Christians and have been praying for
and sharing with her grandmother for years. But every time Lisa's grandmother would walk into a church or try to read the Bible or sing a Christian song, the spirits would "try to kill her." Sometimes through
a severe headache, sometimes by throwing her on the floor unconscious, always by tormenting her dreams at night.

We showed a video in each of the But But villages our first night in the village. It is the story of the prodigal son, filmed in the
cultural context of the But But people with But But actors and in the But But dialect. It was created by a young man from one of the resettlement villages working with Vernacular Video Ministries (a ministry from the U.S. with a branch here). It is an EXCELLENT film and communicates the Father heart of God so well. In Lisa's grandmother's village, we showed the film in her backyard because she has a flat,
open area there.

Because it was so close, Lisa's grandmother hobbled out and watched the film. Lisa said she was praying through the whole film and the next morning she excitedly reported to us that her grandmother had watched
the entire film and following gospel presentation with NO attacks from the spirits! The next day a group from our team, along with Lisa, went and talked with her grandmother and helped her pray to accept Christ. God has completely transformed this woman and we felt so privileged to be part of it. He has protected her from all spiritual attack and dreams since then. This will have a powerful effect on the whole village!

Pastor B

April 2006

Pastor B is a middle-aged Filipino who lives in the mountain village of Dananao. He accepted Christ after meeting a missionary in a nearby town about 10 years ago. Since then, he has returned to Danano, started a church, and then pioneered several other church starts in villages near Dananao that are even more remote. He walks miles and
miles up and down hills each week visiting the different churches. When first entering one of the villages several years ago, he was shot in the chest and abdomen. He lives in a tiny house similar to the rest of
his village and earns money working in his rice fields.

When at the hospital over 3 years ago being treated for his gunshot wounds he
was also diagnosed with ulcers, arthritis, and a heart condition. These are health problems he still struggles with today but he sees no point in going into town to seek medical care he cannot afford. He has
episodes of chest pain followed by numbness in his hands but continues
to hike long, steep trails to disciple converts in villages where no one else will go.

Mountain Tribes

April 2006

People living in these tribes hike 2-4 hours over steep terrain, then ride a jeepny for several hours before reaching any town. Large towns with hospitals and health facilities are even further away.
Many of the people we met were head-hunters just a few decades ago and
have the tattoos and gongs with jawbone handles to prove it! They are so excited when we arrive, especially in the tribes where this ministry has never been before. One village said they only remember one other medical outreach - over 3 years ago. Many of our elderly patients in that village had never seen a doctor. Many patients in other villages told us their last medical care was over a year ago when the last Mercy in Action team came.

The people of the mountain villages are extremely proud of their cultural heritage and traditions. In two villages they butchered pigs for us. In Dananao they killed it about 8pm and we finally ate at 2 am after hours of native dance and songs and sharing. It was a huge event and the whole village was there.

To the Mountains

Monday, 4/3/06

Wednesday morning we leave for one month in the mountains. We'll be
hiking between tribes with all our stuff in our backpacks. I'm really
excited to spend time in the tribes and a bit nervous at the same time.
Here are some things you can pray for:

1. Hiking/travel safety - we'll be riding on crowded jeepnys up steep,
narrow roads and hiking up some steep trails

2. Protection from illness - food prepared in villages, mosquitoes &
malaria, spending the day treating children with colds and coughs...

3. Gospel presentations - a group of Filipino friends are traveling with us to help with translation during clinics and to show a film and present the gospel each evening. Please pray that our message is clear
and people come to know Jesus as Lord.

4. Tribal wars and conflicts - none of the villages we are visiting are
currently at war, but please pray that the pattern of murder and
revenge stop. I've met too many widows whose husbands were killed
because of tribal conflict.

5. Stamina - hiking, seeing patients and overseeing the pharmacy all
day, the film and worship each evening, then sleeping on the floor
before doing it all again the next day. Please pray for energy and
stamina so I can run this race well!

6. Clinical wisdom - choosing medications to bring, differentiating
serious from non-serious diseases, recommending treatments, discerning
who needs limited medications most...

We finished our 3-week health fair in the resettlement village of
Dananao Friday. Last week we held vacation bible school each afternoon
in addition to the morning health teachings. Over 160 kids came the
first afternoon, and the next day there were 60 new children! There
were moments of chaos but the kids grinned and laughed the whole time
and we had a blast. Many children accepted Christ this week. What a
great way to end our month of health teachings in this village! Our new
friends there seemed really sad to say goodbye. They've told their
relatives in the mountains about us, so our arrival in the mountain
Dananao tribe is eagerly anticipated.

I read 1 Thes during my quiet
time this morning and this verse really sums up our ministry in
Dananao:

1 Thes 2:8 "We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with
you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had
become so dear to us."

I probably won't be able to send updates for the next four weeks, but
please send a quick note when you think about it. I'd love to have a
bunch to read when we find a large city again! Thank you so much for
your prayers, and also for your notes and texts. Prayers are essential
if we are to have an effective ministry here, and news from home lifts
my spirits and makes me feel less disconnected from my "other life."

Baby Shania

Monday 3/20/06

In the hospital last week I met 2-month-old Shania and her mom
Christine. Shania was born at 28 weeks gestation (3 months early). She
weighed only 500 grams (~1 pound) at birth and 2 months later she
weighs only 1kg (2.2 pounds). Working in the NICU at Saint Alphonsus in
Boise, I got used to seeing tiny babies like Shania survive and thrive.
But those babies required round-the-clock care, specialized equipment,
and medications that are not available here. Shania is the only baby in
the "NICU" here at Provincial Hospital. The NICU is really just a tiny
room with a bed where her mom sleeps and an isolette for Shania. Her mom
is her main care giver. The nurses take vital signs and give vitamins
via her naso-gastric tube a few times each day and a doctor usually
rounds daily. I think Shania is alive because of prayers. It is a
miracle she has never had a serious infection and her lungs keep her
well-oxygenated despite her prematurity. Her mother is with her
constantly, and I think the touch and stimulation do a lot for her.

I'm most worried about her nutrition. Her mom feeds her expressed
breast milk through an NG tube, which is GREAT, but she does not get
enough or her body does not absorb enough. She is not gaining weight
very fast and looks malnourished and bony with loose flabs of skin
(much different from similar babies I've seen in the U.S.) Please pray
hard for this baby and her young mother. Christine rarely leaves the
room and her husband can only visit occasionally. We've tried to bring
her entertainment and give her breaks. I've stayed with Shania while
Christine goes to get a Coke or visit friends. It is a bit nerve
wracking to "monitor" a tiny preemie with no monitors to tell me when
her oxygen stats drop or her pulse changes. My biggest job is usually to
keep her from squirming out of her cloth diaper and messing the whole
isolette :-)

How's Jennifer?

Sunday 3/19/06

Mom says she is often asked "How is Jennifer?" so I thought I'd help
her answer that question.

The simple answer is I'M DOING GREAT. I'm where God wants me to be,
every day I have the chance to help poor people both physically and
spiritually, and I'm having a lot of fun in the process!

The long answer is a bit more complicated. Sometimes I'm tired. Often
I'm frustrated and disappointed when our efforts aren't enough or God
seems to not answer our prayers. Sometimes little things like big hairy
spiders in my shower or waiting 2 hours to use the internet drag me
down. Other little things like discovering a piano at a cafe and a bakery that sells brownies are such sweet blessings that
they lift my spirits for days.

This past week I've seen lots of joy and lots of sorrow. Here are a
couple of examples. They're pretty long so put your feet up...

I met a 3 year old boy last Wednesday who came into the hospital 3 days
after he started seizing off and on. His family didn't bring him in for
3 days because they are afraid of the hospital (people die there). They
have no money so he was on a bed in the hallway. He had a respiratory
infection that had spread to meningitis and the nurses (who are GREAT
at the provincial hospital here in Bulanaou) took a special liking to
him. They gathered appropriate leftover IV antibiotics from patients
who were discharged and gave them whenever possible. They put his bed
right in front of the nurses' station and were quick to point him out
to us ("rich Americans") so we could bring more medicine. His father
had to continue working and his mother was home with his 2 month-old
brother and other siblings, so a 7 year-old sister was the only family
member with him. He needed to be transported to a larger hospital with
more specialized pediatric services, but his family could not pay for
it. We supplied some of his medications and prayed a lot over him that
day. His labored breathing on the respirator still kind of haunts me.

When we returned the next morning we learned he had died early that
morning. I'm really sad that he died and that so many more like him
will die. I'm sad that God chose to answer our prayers by calling him
home instead of healing him. I'm sad because I know his family was not
at all surprised that he died after going to the hospital. I'm sad
because one more mother has lost a beloved son. Some days are just
hard.

That same day I met baby Rae (3 months old). She was in the hospital
for pneumonia and I was helping the overworked nurses take morning
vital signs. Rae's grandmother speaks English well so we talked for a
while. Rae's mother is a recent widow. Her husband was shot "because of
jealousy" (I'm not sure what this means but revenge and robbery are
common causes of death in young men here). The next day I returned to
visit with Rae's family and saw that she was much improved. Four days
after entering the hospital she was alert, breast feeding well, her
breathing was back to normal and she only had a slight cough. Her whole
family (including grandparents on her dead father's side) gathered at
the hospital to pool money to pay the bill so they could take her home.
I went to visit them Friday in their village (the village where we are
holding our health fair). They were worried because Rae had not slept
well that night and not had a bowel movement in 5 days. They showed me
her medications and I explained the side effects, including
constipation and altered sleep patterns from one. We talked about safe
treatments for constipation and cough. The next morning everyone was
all smiles. Rae had pooped and slept through the night. They asked
about why I am in the Philippines and we talked a long time about the
Savior I serve and how much He loves them.

Our group also spent a lot of time with a grieving family this week.
The family has a fair amount of money (the father is a school teacher)
so they are building a well to share with their neighbors. This well
will have an electric pump as opposed to a hand pump. This is the first
time this village (or any village we know of) has put in an electric
pump and there is a lot of excitement surrounding it.

After we left the village on Thursday, the unthinkable happened. While
testing out the pump, one of the men working on it (Arthur) was
electrocuted and killed instantly. He was the oldest of 6 living
siblings and left a wife and six children (ages 1-14) fatherless. When
we returned Monday morning the funeral and wake were over, but the
village was still in shock. We found our role was to grieve with them,
express our sympathy, and pray. The siblings and children of Arthur
came and we surrounded them and prayed for them, both corporately and
individually, for over an hour. It was a powerful time and God brought
a lot of good from it. The family was really grateful. Yesterday a
Filipino from a nearby village told us they had heard that the white
people from Mercy in Action spent a whole morning praying with a dead
man's family.

Father, please move mightily in this village and area. I
love these people so much and want them to know You and Your comfort
and peace and provision and hope.

Tabuk Mission Life

Saturday, March 11, 2006

I think I've mentioned how much I love our mission house in Tabuk. It is home here and I love coming back to it. Today I thought I'd describe for you a day off at the Tabuk house.

I woke up this morning thinking how much I love our electric fans and windows with screens. I laid on my top bunk for a while watching geckos run around the ceiling eating mosquitoes and spiders. Rhoda and Zeny, two of the Filipino Mercy in Action staff members, are already in the kitchen cooking pancakes. They've had a little trouble this morning because they set off rat bombs while we were gone last week and found a dead, maggot eaten rat in the cupboard this morning. The pancakes are delicious - thick and made with lots of sugar.

After breakfast I head for the CR ("comfort room" - sort of like a
shower stall with a toilet in it) for a shower. We have two CRs in the
house and two in a building beside the house. I prefer going to the
separate building because they're a little bigger, used less often, and
one has a toilet seat!

I'm constantly changing shoes here. To go out to the CR I change from
my house slippers to my outside sandals at the door (our attempt to
keep the dirt and grime outside) then into CR slippers when I reach the
CR (because the floor is always wet). I step in, close the door, and
kill about six mosquitoes (a skill I'm perfecting). Each room is
screened in so I shouldn't have to kill any more while showering. There
is running water but it is cold and you have to fill a bucket to flush
the toilet. I'm learning to appreciate that cool shower and the chance to
wash off all the sweat and dirt and mosquito repellant and sunscreen.

Laundry is next. Today is a nice sunny day - I try to avoid cloudy days
because it is so frustrating to have clean clothes rained on. Despite
some excellent instruction by my home stay family in Picok, I'm not very
good at hand washing clothes. Therefore, I really appreciate our washing
machine. You have to refill the basin with water in between cycles and
move the clothes between the wash basin and the spin basin several
times each load, but that just gives me an excuse to sit and read while
waiting!

Lunch is rice with chicken and vegetables, dinner is rice with fried fish. Our Filipino staff members cook delicious food, but I'm not sure I'll ever get used to eating rice at every meal.

There is an internet cafe at the hotel in Bulanao (~10 minutes by jeepny from our house). I love going and reading e-mails from you, plus the hotel is clean and decorated beautifully so it is fun to be there. It gets dark at 6pm each night. Because of tribal conflicts and general crime in the area we make sure we are home by dark. Dinner is a huge family affair. Twice a week we have a time of worship after dinner. Other evenings usually consist of games or movies. (Did I mention we have a TV/DVD player? As long as the power is working, that is...)

Dananao Community Assessment & Health Fair

Wednesday, March 8, 2006

For the next 4 weeks we'll be in Tabuk working with the various health units here. We're all on different rotations. At the hospital we help out by taking vital signs, sitting with patients, praying with families, and playing with children. At the Rural Health Unit we see patients using the IMCI method and help the staff with immunization days, prenatal check-ups, and whatever else they need help with. We also take turns shadowing two local doctors at their offices (we usually help take vital signs and pray with patients while there).

This seems like a lot to do... but our MAIN activity is in the village of Dananao. Dananao is a resettlement village of ~180 huts crammed into a small area. Pigs roam everywhere, rain creates mud and standing water, and most of the families are extremely poor. We did a house to house community health assessment last week and learned almost half the village uses the irrigation ditch (wastewater from other villages) for bathing and washing dishes/clothes. For the next three weeks we are holding a village Health Fair every morning. A different group of us goes each day to present health and bible teachings using skits, activities, and posters translated into the local dialect. Our focus is young children and their mothers. We've specifically targeted mothers of underweight children. Each day a few of them help us cook the mid-morning snack (a nutritious mini-meal we serve in the middle of the fair to help teach nutrition principles while feeding hungry kids).

I'm really enjoying putting on this Health Fair. We're attacking diseases at the root by teaching basic principles like hand washing/sanitation, hydration, nutrition, and community cooperation. We're working in the village for almost 4 weeks so we have time to build relationships and trust. I love planning and organizing, and the final bonus is that I get to play with kids and feel like a celebrity every time I walk into the village.

San Fernando Beach

Saturday, March 4, 2006

Today was a big treat. We finished the IMCI course yesterday and our bus back to Tabuk doesn't leave until tomorrow. We'd heard rumors that the ocean was only 2 hours away, so we piled on a bus and went in search of the beach! No one had been there before so the day was a fun adventure. We ended up in San Fernando at a small resort. The water was warm, the sand was not too littered, and the sun was bright and hot (we're a little sunburned but happy)!

IMCI Course

2/23/06 - Thursday

Now that I'm feeling better I should tell you about our class (the
reason we came to Baguio for two weeks). IMCI stands for Integrated
Management of Childhood Illness. It was developed by WHO (World Health
Organization) and Unicef to train primary healthcare workers in
treating children under the age of five. The course teaches a
systematic method of classifying illnesses so you can logically decide
whether or not to refer a child to the hospital and/or how to treat
them. I just wish patients in the real world were this cut and dry!
This is the first healthcare course I've taken where there are no grey
areas - there is a right or wrong answer for everything.

The course is taught by Filipino physicians and nurses. They've gone
to a great deal of effort to set up this course specifically for us
this week, so we are trying hard to be good students despite illness.
(Actually, most of us are feeling better today). One of my favorite
things about this course is our rotations through the local government
hospital and clinic. Every day we spend 2 hours in each place and are
assigned our own patients. We interview their mothers and fill out
appropriate forms before presenting to one of the doctors. The detailed
process and repetition gets tedious, but I'm learning valuable things
about the Filipino healthcare system and standard treatments here.

Illness Attack

2/22/06 - Wednesday

I'm having a tough time writing this because I know you don't all want
to read a blow-by-blow retelling of our diarrhea stories! Basically, I
started feeling sick to my stomach Monday night and by this morning
most of our team had reported either having sinus problems, headaches
or intestinal problems. I've felt GREAT for the past four weeks so
being sick again has been hard. It turns out this bout of diarrhea is
from an amoebae I picked up somewhere (going to a private lab for a
stool exam costs less than $3.00 here). Starting antibiotics (Flagyl)
and knowing what is wrong have greatly improved my outlook and
attitude.

Please pray for the overall health of our team. It looks like three of
us picked up this amoebae and almost everyone else is not feeling well
for one reason or another.

Baguio City

Sunday, 2/19/06

We got on a bus in Tabuk at 4:30 yesterday afternoon and arrived in
Baguio at 3am this morning. We're pretty exhausted but everyone made
their way to the mall and tourist district today. The lure of Pizza
Hut, McDonald's, and clothing stores with our sizes was just too much.
(I went for the food). Baguio City is a beautiful city in the mountain
district of Luzon. It sits on top of a mountain (it seems you have to
either climb or descend stairs to get anywhere). Lots of trees,
spectacular views, and cool weather make it a popular tourist
destination for Philippinos. We are here for a two-week medical training
course. I'll tell you more about that once it starts.

This coming weekend will be the Flower Festival. Parades, dances, and
lots of great things to see, I hope. Right now I'm appreciating some
western style food but not the crowded streets, markets, and malls. I'm
just not a big city girl!

Kalinga Days

February 15, 2006

The last few days were Kalinga Days here in Tabuk. Kalinga is the name
of this province. Kalinga Days is a cultural celebration complete with a
fair, cultural dances, a parade, and lots of craft booths. A few of us
went yesterday afternoon. We stuck out as tall white foreigners walking
around the fair, but it was fun. I caught a couple of mischievous boys
daring each other to reach out and touch my white skin, and kids are
always commenting "Americana!" to each other as if we don't know what
that word means! One of the dance groups invited the girls and me to
with to join them in their cultural dance (in front of thousands of
people!) We politely refused. There is a limit to making a
spectacle of my big American self... and it is hard to imagine an
authentic cultural dance with uncoordinated white people in it! Today
was a good day to be tall. There were huge crowds everywhere but most
of the time I could see over everyone's heads.

Heartbreak on Valentine's Day

February 14, 2006

A few stories really broke my heart the past few days. This Valentine's
Day I'm praying God's love reaches into places where what I have to
offer seems to fall short.

Charito brought her teenage son to the see us because he recently
started having seizures. The doctor was able to see him but we do not
have any anti-seizure meds in our supplies, so they will have to go to
town and buy the meds. Charito is very scared for her son and does not
know how she will afford the medications, much less the lab draws and
continuing medical care he will need.

A 12 year-old boy came yesterday to have a tooth pulled. It was so
rotten that the top crown came off and the root was left behind. He was
a really brave little guy and sat there for almost 45 minutes while our
field dentist worked on his tooth, but he was not able to get the root
out. It is the only tooth he was not able to pull all day and this was
pretty frustrating. Please pray for this little boy.

Another woman saw us because she is loosing her sight - most likely due
to glaucoma. She is a young woman, pregnant, and very scared. She will
be dependent on friends and family members to help her care for her
family. Village life is not very conducive to physical handicaps. She's
been referred to an eye doctor but again I don't know where the money
will come from.

I talked with a Filipino friend of mine today and learned the
following story. She and her siblings were all able to go to school
because her father worked hard as a rice farmer and had several large
fields. She has been able to finish her education and has a good job in
healthcare. Then her mother caught malaria and they sold some fields to
pay for treatments. Her father had ulcers and again they sold some
fields to pay for treatments, leaving the family with one field.
Shortly after this her father was in a car accident and died after 5
days in the hospital. They sold half the remaining field to pay the
hospital bill, her brother dropped out of high school to farm the
remaining 1/2 field with her mother, and my friend is now the main
financial supporter of her family. She uses most of her paycheck to buy
rice for her family to eat. She is a beautiful, bright, caring girl
with a lot of weight on her shoulders.

Please don't get discouraged. God is bigger than all suffering and for
every bad story I have good ones of how God has used us to encourage
people and build them up. He uses medications, prayer, medical
procedures, and sometimes just a back rub or encouraging words. There
are big problems here and they are impossible for me to cope with
alone. Please pray that I continue to love and allow myself to hurt and
suffer with others. Please pray also that I don't internalize this
hurt, but rather turn it over to God at the end of each day.

Pinukpuk Medical Outreaches

February 14, 2006

We're back home in Tabuk today after Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday in
Pinukpuk. We held clinics in two villages where we've never had
outreaches before. We got there in time for church Sunday, then held a
clinic all afternoon. I was assigned to the pharmacy - which was nice
because we had a Filipino doctor with us for the day and her
handwriting was difficult for others to decipher. The next day we hiked
an hour up the mountain to another village and held a clinic all day.
One of our staff members is trained in field dentistry and does teeth
extractions on our outreaches. I was his helper for the day. Numbing
mouths, pulling teeth, sterilizing equipment, and reassuring
patients... actually very rewarding because dentistry is a huge need
here and by pulling bad teeth we relieve a lot of pain and suffering.
At the end of the day we hiked the hour back down the mountain and had
an evening worship service before collapsing from exhaustion!

Goiters, Colds and UTI's (San Pedro)

February 11, 2006

Friday afternoon and Saturday morning was our first medical outreach as
a team. We set up a temporary clinic in San Pedro, a But But
resettlement village about 30 miles from our house in Tabuk. I'm amazed
at how spread-out things are here. Tabuk is really a region - a
collection of small towns spread along the highway. Off the highway
down long dirt roads are villages and resettlement villages. It took us
about an hour and a half, crammed into our jeep with all our medical
supplies and bed rolls, to reach San Pedro. The road was pretty bad and
we prayed it wouldn't rain. Rain can mean being stuck in the village
until the road dries out!

It felt really good to be holding a clinic. I helped organize the
pharmacy and did some quick problem-solving when we realized the
plastic bags (for dispensing pills) were left behind. Origami paper
envelopes substituted nicely.

Each clinic the students rotate between stations: Check-in, Check-up,
Pharmacy, Wound care, and Dentistry. I was in "check-up" Friday. This
meant I worked with one of the staff members to examine patients,
diagnose, and prescribe therapy if available. We were happy with how
healthy this village was. Lots of minor cold and coughs, lots of
arthritis, and just a few more serious respiratory infections and UTIs.
We saw one lady with a huge goiter from iodine deficiency and I pulled
3 huge black insects out of a 6 year old boy's ears when working at the
wound-cleaning station Saturday. Overall, this village has clean water,
some families use CRs (outhouses), and pen up their pigs so they tend
to be healthier. It was a hope-filled outreach and I thoroughly enjoyed
it.

The Medications Come Out!

Feb 8, 2006

Today I spent a few hours helping our Filipino director sort through
medications from the cupboards here at the clinic. We were trying to
decide what to take on our first outreach. I enjoyed this so much! Since arriving in the Philippines I've learned a lot about the culture,
agriculture and language. I've bandages some random wounds and give
some medication advice (mostly to teammates). But today I felt like I
really got to start using my gifts as I sorted medications and made up
a chart of uses, doses, and side effects for the rest of the team. What
can I say? I'm a pharmacy geek and I love this stuff!

Leaving Pikok

Tuesday, February 7, 2006

Today we finished our home stays and headed back to the Mercy in Action house in Tabuk, It felt REALLY good to get clean and eat an American style meal (BBQ pork
and potato salad!)

This week was a great experience. I got very close to my family and it was hard
to say goodbye. But the week was also a difficult one. The lifestyle in this
village is extremely hard and the culture, language, and food were very
difficult to adjust to. As the week wore on I was able to communicate more, help
out around the house, and feel at home in the village. I really started falling
in love with individual people and this people group as a whole. I can't wait to
start holding medical clinics in the various But But villages (including this
one) and giving back to the people who served me so much this week.

Church in Pikok

Sunday, February 5, 2006

I've been to church services in several poor countries spread around the world
and I'm always impressed with the offering time. There's no somber passing of
the plate here - offering is a time of singing and dancing and doing a little
jig all the way up to the front before placing money in the basket. Truly
joyful, sacrificial giving.

The service went on for 3 hours and was filled with impromptu testimonies,
songs, and laughter. At the end one of my teammates offered to pray for people
and my team spent the next hour praying with the villagers who came up.

After dinner tonight I sat with my host mother as she slowly sounded out words
from a newly published But But translation of one of the New Testament books.
She's probably only had a few years of formal education so reading is difficult.
How I wish I could discuss those words with her. My But But is limited to
phrases like "What is your name?" "Do you have children?" "How old are you?" and
"Where are you going?" (the standard greeting when walking by someone). I think
discussing biblical truths in But But will take a while.

My Family in Pikok

Saturday, February 4, 2006

I'm staying with a wonderful family this week. My house dad ("ama" in But
But) and mom (eya) are Wigan and Irjah. Cindy, Joel and CJ (their
daughter, her husband, and their 1 year-old son) also live with them. Wigan and
Cindy both speak some English. They got very dressed up for this picture.

Each morning Cindy and her mom are up early starting the fire in the kitchen hut
and making preparations for the day. They spend much of the day in the rice
fields. It is planting season now. I've gone to the fields with them some days
but I'm afraid I'm not much help. My rows are never straight and my back tires
of bending over :-)

They come in for a "rest" between noon and 2pm (for the women rest time usually
consists of cooking lunch, walking to the spring to do dishes/laundry/collect
water and letting the babies breast feed before heading back to the fields). It
gets dark at 6pm and they do not have electricity, so after dinner by kerosene
lighting we go to bed early.

I wish I could describe in words the feeling of walking around this village.
Sights, sounds, and smells are very different from my home. When I walk to the well I'm almost always stopped by someone - "mangan tao" (let's eat). This isn't just because I'm white. Everyone is expected to enter and leave other
homes all the time, and they always leave with food in their belly.

Meals consist mostly of rice and beans, and that's what I ate three meals a day for
the past few days. My family served eggs this morning and is butchering a
chicken for dinner - a big sacrifice for them and I nearly cried when I heard this. Giving, sharing, and
relationship-building is a huge part of this culture, and eating their food with
gusto is an important way of showing respect and friendship.

Pikok Resettlement Village

Wednesday February 1, 2006

This week is our "homestay" week. Each team member spend the week living with a
different Filipino family to learn their language and culture. Today is my
first day with my family.

The medic team is staying with But But people in a resettlement village called
Pikok. Pikok is way outside Tabuk atop a small hill with rice fields in the
valleys below. The village is not very big but no one can tell me how many
people are here because there are so many children (~300 I think). Electricity
just arrived last month (December 2005) and a well was completed last summer so
there are now 2 clean water sources (hand pump well and a spring). The people
grow rice on terraced rice fields for a living. Here they can grow 2 or 3 crops
per year, which allows them to sell some of it. The tribes in the mountains grow
only one crop per year - just enough to feed their families.

Tabuk Mercy in Action House

Tuesday January 31, 2006

We arrived in Tabuk this morning about 10am. The bus from Manila to Tabuk is a
really nice passenger bus (although they were a little overwhelmed by our
luggage and medical supplies). It is a 10-12 hour ride here. The bus leaves
Manila about 10pm and drives north all night. The seats recline A LOT, the air
conditioning blares (I was told to leave out my sleeping bag and I'm glad I
did!) and there's one TV/VCR if you bring your own movie. One of our leaders had
some movies with them for this reason so we subjected the whole bus to Zorro for
the first few hours of the trip.

The Mercy in Action house in Tabuk is great. It will be our home base for the
next few months. Running water, electric fans, and space to unpack - all things
I'm coming to appreciate more and more. The house is surrounded by plants and
flowers with a gazebo out back. It is only a short tricycab ride to the market
and internet cafe. Despite all this, I woke up from my nap this afternoon to a
big wave of homesickness. It hits every once in a while - a huge urge to pack up
and return to my comfortable home, job, mild weather and food I'm used to. Then
a new adventure comes along and God reminds me he has a bigger plan in all this
than my personal comfort.

The Medic Team

Monday, January 30, 2006, 2:44 PM

I am adding a picture of the Medic Team so you know who you are praying for and what they look like. Be sure to check the photos from the home page as I will add photos Jen sends to me there also.

Thanks you all for you love and support.

Karen (Mom)

Worship with the Kids

Sunday January 29th, 2006

The kids at IFL have developed an amazing worship team using donated equipment. It is really fun for us to sing with them because most of their songs are from Praise and Worship CDs last year's team left them. They are especially big fans of Delirious. We packed very light for this week so don't have many new CDs to leave with them, but I hope to mail some later.

Watching these children worship God and pray fervently is so amazing. Each of them has a horrible story in their past but love and hope now radiates from each of them. I've honestly never been in a place more joyful. I wish you were here to see and experience it!

Stories about people I've met

Saturday January 28, 2006

We spent much of our time at IFL getting to know the children - playing with them, praying with them, holding them, and learning their stories. Here are a few stories I heard:

N. is 18 months old. His mother died giving birth to him. His tribal tradition dictates he should have been buried with his mother, but a pastor in the village begged them to give him to her. He was 2 months premature and required hospitalization for several months before coming here. Yesterday he started running a fever again and is back in the hospital.

M. lost his mother, father, and siblings when (we think) Muslim extremists attacked their home. He also lost his hearing in the explosion. He has his own version of sign language but I had fun learning to communicate with him.

G. is a beautiful young woman who's become a good friend of mine. She's 35 years old and from a tribe near where we'll be. She's been a missionary within this area for most of her life. She married an American missionary about 10 years ago but he left her after a flare-up of psoriasis/rheumatoid arthritis left her horribly crippled. Now the steroids and other treatments she uses to help with the pain are causing a bad skin reaction and making her hair fall out. We talked and prayed a lot together and I left her with some medications. Please pray that they work!

F.A.I.T.H. gardening

Thursday January 26, 2006

Much of our time this week is spent learning FAITH gardening. We've played in the dirt a lot. Yesterday we tilled our garden plot by hand because that's what we'll do in Kalinga when building a demonstration garden there. We've created potting soil from mango leaves and worms, repelled pests with neem leaves and oregano, castrated piglets and butchered a goat!

Orphanage and Agricultural School

Tuesday, January 25, 2006

Sunday afternoon we took a van about 1 hour south of Manila to Laguna. We stepped off the van into a paradise of lush vegetation and clean air. We get to stay here for a week!

IFL (Institute for Foundation Learning) is a Christian mission organization started by an American we affectionately call Auntie Pat. The center here in Laguna is home to over 80 children who are orphans or have parents who are unable to care for them for one reason or another. They started an agriculture program because they needed to feed the children and now train missionaries from around the world in agriculture and wise land use. They've also developed an excellent school system and the preschool/kindergarten program is rapidly spreading throughout the Philippines and Asia.

I have a phone!

Wednesday, January 25, 2006, 11:22 AM

I have a cell phone here in the Philippines. You can call or text message me for 20 cents.

Just dial: 011-63-918-518-2513.

Love you all!
Jen

Faces of Manila

Saturday, January 21, 2006, 1:42 PM

Travel here was amazingly smooth. I had a really short layover in L.A.
so there were some stressful moments, but in the end I was at the gate
just as they started boarding. It was a huge relief to walk up to that
gate and see all my teammates there!

It is wonderfully warm here - about 80 F with enough humidity to make
the middle of the day uncomfortable. Manila is crowded with people -
somewhere between 12 and 16 million (I guess a census is hard to take).
Pollution is bad. But people are BEAUTIFUL and I'm having a blast.

My first few days have been a bit blurred but here are a few memories:

Welfareville - the huge slum near the clinic where most of the

patients live. It is hard to describe such a dark, dirty place filled
with happy, welcoming people. We spent several hours just walking
around there today.

People standing on the side of the road with handkerchiefs held

across their nose and mouth because of the pollution.

Children begging "Brother Josh" and "Brother Jack" to play basketball

with them.

A young father holding his baby boy as they wait for their one-month

check-up at the clinic.

A huge modern mall (I'm told the biggest in the world) with people

waiting every 100 feet to help you (or prevent shoplifting, I'm not
sure which).

The grin on a little boy's face this afternoon when I remembered his

name (Ben - the only western name I was told today).

Tomorrow we go to an agriculture school so the next update won't be for
a week or so.

God bless,
Jen

PS Click on Picture to Enlarge

Packing to Leave

Wednesday, January 18, 2006, 2:52 PM

I just finished the last of my packing - with 45 minutes to go before
leaving for the airport. Must have been all the help I got from my
parent's dog Peek-a-boo.

Today is the day that keeps on going - I was up at 5:30 this morning
and will chase the sun across the ocean well into the "night."

Hopefully my next update will be from Manila. Good bye!

Introduction

January 8, 2005

Wow. Creating my own website is a new experience for me - and so far very fun. Thank you for reading about what I'm doing and praying for me. Please, God, work through me (and even in spite of me) to bless many people in the Philippines.

Yesterday my dad and I packed my furniture into a storage locker. Suddenly this feels very real - I'm renting out my house and trading my soft bed and lovely red couch for a sleeping bag and bed roll. I'm leaving a state-of-the art hospital to practice medicine where there is no running water. And I'm so excited I'm having trouble focusing!

I would love to hear from you! My e-mail address is jenboyd711@yahoo.com

Philippines Fall 2006

For stories and pictures from our Philippines medical outreach Fall 2006 click below.

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Last update: Thursday, October 16, 2008