There and back again...

Wow, I think I'm having culture shock again!!

I came home Wednesday, July 20th after traveling for 26 hours!! In my travels- I met a Baptist Filipino taxi driver that is 52yrs old and working to put his 3 kids through college.  Also, I met a 34yr old Korean name Joshua, who is a Presbyterian and who was headed to NJ to take his lawyer's exam. (Did you know that in Korea you are one year old when you're born?)

I haven't written in a while so I'll do a quick recap of my last 2 weeks in the Philippines:
 I continued to stay at the clinic until right before I left. My internship ended July 15th and two new girls came to do their internship.  I had a lot of down time the last week or so because there weren't any births. I helped with prenatals and postpartum, worked on my Tagalog, talked with the midwives, went to the market, did first aid care to the guys, gave a little baby antibiotic shots( he had to have them 3 times a day), read some good midwifery material, and enjoyed some sunny days at the beach and the river! =)

When I got home from my nice long airplane rides it seriously was like having culture shock!  Just being able to drive our own car away from the airport was just weird. I'm use to being squished beside other people all crammed into a Jeepnie. Our house seemed so big!!  I will never complain on the size of a house in the states again!

My first morning back I had cereal with REAL milk!  When I got hungry in the afternoon I had CHEESE on some HOMEMADE bread!  Wow, the things we American's take for granted....

To kind of sum everything up --- I have been gone a month and 20 days. I have seen terrible, hard, life-changing, wonderful, amazing things. I have performed 64 prenatals, 8 postpartums, 7 new born exams, and assisted with 6 births. I learned how to start  an IV (and actually did on a real live person!), suture, apply an anti-shock garment, give shots, feel the position of a baby, use a pregnancy wheel, use Doppler, preform a newborn exam, prenatal, and postpartums and SO much more!!   I have given antibiotic, Hep B, vitamin K, and tetanus shots.

 I saw the huge need for health care workers, but even more for Spiritual care.  I prayed with the ladies I did prenatals on, but the language barrier was hard. (Though several of them new minimal English)

I made several new friends, learned SO much, saw so much, and will remember so much! My life is forever changed.

Signing out from her last blog posting,
 Miriam True

PS.  My plane ride on the way back was Manila-Tokyo, Tokyo-New York, New York-Nashville, Nashville-HOME!! =)

PPS. A word of warning to travelers- It is hard to exchange Filipino pesos in the Tokyo airport and everything in the Tokyo airport is like 4x the cost as it is in the Philippines and about twice as much as in the States. =)

Photos of our trip

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150715715015024.701263.8998400
23&l=ad22ff7ffb&type=1
   Copy and paste this link to your browser to see pictures of our trip!!! (for some reason just clicking on the link doesn't work...)  One more blog post to come!\
 
    Here's another album of pictures =)
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150715860140024.701316.899840023&l=15d9f02ae6&type=1

News from Miriam

Tuesday, July 5, 2011, 11:59 PM

It’s been a while since my last posting! Let me catch everyone up to date!  I moved into the clinic about a week and a half ago, so I wouldn't miss anything =) It's been fun staying with the midwives and hearing Tagalog all the time. I'm picking some up, slowly, but surely =)  The biggest news is that Liz went home! WAAAAA!! We already miss her! =(  A group of us took her back to Manila (a 3 hour  bus ride) and spent two nights there. We went to this awesome market that was inside. It had tons of vendors with clothes, jewelry, furniture, carvings, chimes, etc. So cool! Things are a lot cheaper here than in the states! I would l have gotten lost in it! HUGE!! And of course our hotel had to be right across from a Starkbucks-a nice treat.  We saw this chocolate castle (like Willy-Wonka!), but didn't go inside. Maybe when I go back we will. John said it was really cool. It’s kind of like a chocolate factory.  Monday morning John, Kelsey and I took Liz to the airport at 2AM. Liz was pretty nervous, but calmed down a little by the time we had to leave her. I found out later she threw up a little before she got on the plane. =/  She doesn’t do early morning real well. We went back to the hotel and slept in and then caught the 3:30 bus back home! I ‘m so glad we are staying in Olongapo because Manila is too big and busy for me! ( 14 million people)  BEST PART OF THE TRIP WAS THE HOT SHOWERS!!!!!!! Oh, I can now ride in a taxi without getting over charged! =)  I assisted with a labor on June 29th. I was in charge of keeping up with baby's vitals before and right after birth. Then I kept up with the Mom and baby's vitals every 15min for an hour then every hour until we cut the cord (about 4 hours later).  She gave birth to a maganda bata babae (beautiful baby girl-- spelling might be a little off, but I can say it!) at 11:25AM and they named her Princess.  I got to go to the  postpartum visit the next day and mom and baby were doing well. Mom had to be reminded to wake Princess up to nurse her and not to cover he umbilical cord. She and her family live by the land field (city dump), but they live in a nice concrete house.  Today (July 6th) and yesterday I got to assist with two more births!  Yesterday the mom was in labor for about 5 hours at the clinic. She came in and was dilated to  3cm with irregular contractions.  She was a small lady from 12th Street ( the slums), this was her 2nd child.  She delivered at 3:53 PM and had a little girl also. They named her Jenelyn. I again was in charge of baby's vitals during labor and right after.   Jessica (a lady that is a nurse from El Paso that is helping out and learning) and I did the newborn exam together and I cut the cord.  She was a small baby at 4.5 lbs, but nursing good!  The birth that happened today was super fast! Well, she had been in labor for a while, but when she came in it went fast.  We were doing prenatals and she comes in holding her stomach say she's in labor. Cecille (the Filipino midwife who has  been one for like 25 years) checked her and she was fully dilated and 100% effaced.  She literally gave birth like 15min after getting inside. Another girl =)- Charmee was what they named her.  Jessica and   I kept up with mom and baby's vitals    Getting a lot of experience in!!! Yay =) Okay, so other news.  My first visa will be up the end of July/first of August and instead of renewing it, I decided to go ahead and come home. The cost was more than triple the cost I had planned for and my internship will be over.  So after prayer, and talking with mom and Dad, I decided to go ahead and come back early. Mom was so disappointed =) When I bought my return ticket through a Christian travel agent I got one that could be flexible without a lot of hassle. Bummer thing is, now I'll have to help with tomatoes! =)

Miriam's Update

Hey everyone!
 Whew! It's been over a week since my last posting and we've been busy!  Plus it's been a pain to get in and out of the property because of all the rain. 
    
This past week, in my midwife internship, we learn several different skills.  We learned how to suture on a chicken breast which was way awesome!! =)  I would love to take a more intense class of it.  We did different shots, vacuum extraction, and nasal gastric feeding tube...Probably more, but my mind isn't remembering them all! 

 One evening that I was on call at the clinic, I had to walked through the rain and knee-deep river water to get out!!  (The water wasn't moving)  Good times =)
   
I was able to be a part of 3 births this past week!!  And they all happened within 13 hours! =)  The first one was at 2PM, then 1:30AM, and 4:10AM.  I almost got baptized with amniotic fluid with one of the births. Glad I have fast reflexes =)
 
 For one of the births I was able to cut the chord, which was awesome!!  I had watched a couple be cut and explained to me and then I got to do it!
  
I'm now staying at the clinic (about a 25 min walk from the property) so I can always be around for births, prenatals, and postpartum visits.  My internship is over on July 15th when 2 other interns come in, so I want to get in as much as I can in my last two weeks.  I'll probably be able to help with some things after that, but only if the other interns aren't there for some reason.    

Three of the girls who were here for the intense two week training left yesterday and I already miss them!! They were super neat girls!  Allison is heading to Australia to do the YWAM midwife program, Nadia is headed to Thailand for 6 months of YWAM training and then to India indefinitely, and Amy is going back to Taiwan to finish up teaching English in several different schools there... Had super fun, good times with them all!
  
This next week is the last week I have with the other intern, Kelly. She's 37, has 3 kids and is very awesome to be around!  Her and her husband want to move to China and she wants to use midwifery there as a ministry.
     
A lot of our things are getting moldy out at the property because of the rain and humidity and just not being able to dry out.  I cleaned our money off yesterday cuz it got moldy. =/  But we're dealing with it =)  The washing lady either must hate us or love us for bringing her so many clothes! =) I better sign out for now!
 Miriam

News from Liz

I now define a lot of rain as not just two or three days of non stop, but six. I have never seen so much rain in my life! It has slowed all our outside construction work down a bunch, but we are able to get some things done at the other established clinic so that's good!

 The rain also provides some fun when we took a walk about three miles or so to the McDonalds one night late. We were completely drenched, but had a good time.

I have given up on clean clothes; they never stay that way so I'm just embracing the mud. :)

Mim has gotten to see several births which is awesome!! I'm sure she'll post about it later. She even got to cut the cord at one of the births.

The last couple days we've been putting tile in at the clinic, helping with other random things, and taking a wall down outside and putting a new one up.There is plenty to do, just rain slows everything down.

The river by us is super flooded. We can't take our baths there anymore because it is so flooded. The other day, when the water was very high, a 15yo boy died trying to cross ... more later

Good News from Miriam!

June 15

Hey everyone! Wow, we've been gone from KY for two weeks already! In some ways it seems really long and other ways really short!

Praise the Lord we are all doing a lot better!  John L came out of the hospital Monday night and went back to the property today. John M decided to rent an apartment in the same complex as the directors, just to have a place to shower, relax, and get on the internet. It's very cheap.  He wanted it also to be available to anyone they know who might need a place to stay but it's been the sick bay the last couple days.  =) 

I'm feeling a lot better too after pretty much sleeping all of yesterday and drinking lots.  I'm still not 100% but quickly getting there.

 They've had 3 births in the last 3 days at the clinic! All mom's and babies are doing really well! PTL.  I didn't get to witness any of them, but I'll be able to do follow up visits with them. This morning I did several prenatal check ups at the clinic. It's really cool feeling the position of the baby and hearing the heart beat!  So amazing the life God is growing in their wombs! =)

We have several women that will be giving birth soon and I hope I'll be able to be there for them!  I might go down and spend the nights at the clinic, so I don't miss them.  They had 3 moms give birth within 10 min of getting to the clinic and I couldn't get there in time. =(

The boys hut is just about done and they are glad to be getting out of their tent. Some things got wet and it hasn't been the nicest living place. =)  I'm sure we'll be building them a set of bunk beds also.

Things are kind of settling back down and hopefully we can get back to some kind of schedule.  There are still things we need to buy/do to fully settle in....

I'm super excited about this next week!  Seven other ladies have come to take an intense two  week seminar and  the other midwife intern and I will be a part of them also. I've missed several of the class room studies, but I'll be able to do more of the hands on skills this coming week.  We're going to learn several things, but two that I'm really looking forward to are suturing and starting IV's. =) =)

We've only been here a week and a half and we already can tell how spoiled we are in America.  Here if anyone goes off the property and using a "real" bathroom we go back and tell everyone what we got to do! And I love how little things like going to McDonald's or getting pizza or a soda or ice in our water is a treat now that we're here, where back home those were normal occurrences.   I pray I'll never take little things like that for granted again. =)

PS. McDonald's here is way better quality than the States.  And for a cheaper price!
    Signing out for now! Miriam

Learning to Trust

 This is Pam writing the update.

The team is having a few opportunities to learn to trust the Lord ( aka problems). We here at home are learning too. :)

One of the team, John Langham, got sick and had to go to the hospital. He evidently had an intestinal infection that required IV's and antibiotics. He is on the mend and was released from the hospital today.

Then yesterday Miriam got sick . Here is what she says:

"I woke up at 3 a having horrible diarrhea and nausea. I was super weak and kinda achy. The rest of the group went to midwife class at 7:30 and I went to sleep for a little while. My diarrhea stopped around 10AM but still had other symptoms. Levi brought Liz around 12 and I took some charcoal and my nausea was better. They stayed and entertained me for about 3 hours then went back. They got me water and soft drinks and crackers. I was able to eat some crackers( they have some super amazing ones here) I went back to Scott and Vicki's apartment around 5PM with one of the midwives and have been in and out of sleep since then." I chatted with her this morning( which is night over there) and she is doing OK .She is still having stomach cramps and is weak but she didn't need IV's. She is staying at the director's house and Liz will be her nurse for the night.

 The team purchased a scooter to get around on the island . Yesterday Levi and Liz were on it and this is what Liz said happened:"On way home we hit a tricycle. Sorta like motorcycle with a side car. It was turning stupidly in  the street.It was wet and we couldn't stop,so we hit it. But it's a huge praise because there were no major injuries!! Just a sore neck for me with  a bruise on my side.Levi's knee and ankle are  scrapped a bit. But we were good and so was the  bike. So praise God!!"

So praises with prayer request and lots of opportunities to learn to trust our heavenly Father!

Miriam's Update

I'll try not to repeat what Liz has already told everyone. :) We made it here after a long time of traveling.I am so thankful I have a straight flight home! Everyone was super tired and jet lagged. Our bamboo huts never looked so good! :)

Yesterday we finished Liz and my bunk beds and those are nice to have :). We put bamboo across to put the mattress on. I wanted one of the Filipino guys to show me how to strip the bamboo, but from what I got out of his gesturing, he wouldn’t let me because he thought I'd cut a finger off:)

The Filipino guys working on the guy’s hut (the guys are in a tent right now) are really nice! Two days ago, after we got a bad storm and everything was slippery, Liz slipped getting up onto our porch. Well, just like that they all stopped what they were doing and built a step up to our porch! (Nicer than some American guys :))

So far, I haven't seen a birth, although there have been a couple at the clinic since we've been here (the clinic is about a 5 min drive from where were staying). I did get to do several prenatal checkups. We went to the city dump yesterday and checked on a newborn and did several prenatals (checks on pregnant women). The newborn and mom were fine.(2 days old). They lived in a small house made out of cardboard and wood.

Then we went to a lady's house and used it to so prenatals. We had to ask the ladies several questions, take their blood pressure, hemoglobin, pulse, listen to the baby's heart beat, and feel the position of the baby. It was so weird doing prenatals across from a huge garbage dump. You kinda forget where you are while you're doing them.

We live on the side of a big hill with Jason and Theresa and their 4 girls and Jen and Jokes and their 2 boys. Jen and Jokes are Filipino. Oh, and Jen and Theresa are midwives. They are very nice families!

Jason and Theresa live above us in a concrete and bamboo house and Jen and Jokes below us.

The bathroom is at the bottom on the hill and quite a walk! But at least we have running water,sort of! The toilet you just have to pour water down for it to flush. It is not like in the states where you'd pour it in the back thingy. You have to pour it in the actual bowl. It works. :) Baths are in the community water hole in the river :)

I have to sign out now!
Miriam

Updates from Elizabeth

Day 1 --- So we just left Houston and praise God I am not sick and I pray it stays that way!! But even though it is hard God showed me how much I just gotta trust Him and nothing else because He's all I need. Completely all I need. I was nervous and anxious but just prayed and prayed and He gave me peace that passes any understanding I'll ever have :)
Really excited about what God can do on this trip and how He can use, even me, if He wants to. Well, got on the plane and wanted to go to the bathroom. I got back to it and was looking around cuz I had no clue how to get in!! A man was standing there so I was like "uh, Liz, don't look like a hick!" I figured it out:) Liz

Day 2---- ( on flight to China) So I'm not even sure what day it is.. I sat and thought for a while but in-between almost throwing up I can't think of it. Surrounded by Chinese people who can't understand me when I say, "I need stomach sick pill"  is not so fun... But they've faithfully delivered Sprite to me so I won't complain. :) but I think I'll kiss the ground when I get off!!:) I have been having to pray a BUNCH to stay with it and  not throw up or fear this whole newness  --So that part is good! I've done a ton a bunch of things in last 24 I've never done... Flying, new states.. And seeing more Chinese people then ever :)

 June 8th

Hey everyone! 

 Mim and I have arrived in the Philippines and are finally where we will be staying! :) PTL!! I have never been on such a long trip!!! Was NEVER so happy to arrive and sleep sleep sleep..

The weather here is crazy hot, just like we knew it'd be. I never knew how amazing a fan was until we got one... after the first couple nights, it was a dream. :)

   We're living on the side of a hill in a bamboo hut.  The bathroom has no roof, and the shower is aka the river. It's a bit different than home. :)

The first day here we walked to a tribe up the river from us and they did a small medical clinic for them. Then yesterday I helped put my first nipa (sorta like a palm/pineapple tree leaf) roof on! :) We sewed it on with something like fishing line. They were "shingles" about a foot wide and two foot long. It was pretty hot work and we didn't last quite as long as the Filipino's did. :) But the boys will be thankful for a nice roof that doesn't leak as soon as it's done! :)  So I can add that to my resume.. :)

Today it has been raining some and the boys are making bunk beds for Mim’s and my hut. Jake and I dug out some steps from the hill we have to climb. I'll be in shape just from walking up and down the hill to the bathroom and river!

Please be praying for Mim and John Langham. Mim is sick with a sore throat and headache and John has been sleeping most of day with a bad headache and feeling bad (maybe from too much sun).

 I was able to come to one of the family’s houses today to get on the internet. So far it's been a good trip... if you skip the 3 days of travel I wanted to die on. :) I'm looking forward to what God can do with me the rest of the time I'm here! :)

 I pray you all are doing GREAT and loving Jesus more every day. :)  The Philippines is a great trip to come help, and it makes America look like heaven. :)

   Love you all!!! Liz

Take off in 3 1/2 days!!!!!!!!!!

WOW, it's already here!!! Seems like a couple weeks ago we decided we were going! =)
   Liz and I have yet to pack anything, but that's what 5am mornings are for the day you leave, right?  Haha, Mom would so kill us!!  We're planning on getting everything done tomorrow and Tuesday. Wednesday we drive up to IN because we're going to spend the night with John and Kelsey before we fly out Thursday.
     I'm pretty sure our whole group has their 2nd suitcase full of donations and that will such a blessing to the Filipinos! I'm super excited we are able to bring so much stuff to help with the ministry! Thank you everyone who contributed!
      This will be my last posting before we leave!!!  I'm hoping to be able to post every couple weeks over there and upload pictures, but we'll see what happens!  Everyone please feel free to email me and let me know what's going on state side!! (mimjtrue@yahoo.com)  I might not reply , but I'd love to hear from everyone!!!
      I thought I'd put our flight info on here, for anyone that's interested =) (probably no one, but =)  Okay, our flight leaves IN at 3:30 with a 2 1/2 hour flight to Houston.  From Houston we have a 3 1/2 hour flight to LA. Then our longest leg of the journey is from LA to Guangzhou Baiyun China -13 or 14 hours. From China we have a 2 hours flight to Manila.   Total, with flights and layovers, we'll be traveling for about 36 hours!!  We leave Thursday, June 2nd at 3:30 and get there Saturday June 4th at 6pm.!!  We lose a day going and gain a day coming home! Weird huh?
     Bye USA!!!  Hope to hear from all you guys while we're gone!! 


     We would really appreciate you praying for us each day while we are gone. Pray especially for Elizabeth while we are flying. This is her first time flying and it's a long one!! Pray for jet lag issues too. Pray we might have chances to share the Lord with people on our flights.

Thanks for Your Help!!

These are the items we have received so far along with financial contributions

We really appreciate friends and family who have sent contributions for our Philippines trip!!

Some people have asked us if we are going to send out a letter asking for contributions. No, we won't be sending one out. Some of our friends may be doing fund raisers before we go to help raise some money, but we aren't personally. We want to leave it up to those who feel led to give ...  to give. There is a need for money for materials for the clinic being built and the every day operation of the already existing clinics.


We are getting excited about the trip. Time is flying as we prepare for it. Please continue to pray for us to be prepared physically and spiritually. 

WE HAVE TICKETS!!!

Yesterday was a hectic day of finding flights and working with everyone to get passport info all together, but we got it done and we are set to go!    The dates are- June 2nd to July 3rd for Elizabeth and June 2nd to Aug. 17th for me!  The other travelers did not get a return ticket as of yet.
  Just wanted to type out a quick post to let everyone know !

More Info

Hey everyone !
   So, last weekend our group got together (some in person and some over Skype) in IN for a meeting.  John Moore (the leader) had gotten together some things to talk about, but also we had been writing down questions to ask as we thought of them over the past month or so.
    John started out by telling us a little about the culture and warning us of some things NOT to do!  For instance when you are motioning to someone to come to you it is considered very rude and crude to motion with your palm up. You have to have your palm down or sideways. Don't ever ask for a napkin at a restaurant!  Public restrooms are called CR's (Comfort Rooms) and cost 1 or 2 cents to use. They don't have toilet paper or toilet seats! Pick pockets there are really bad. We're going to have to use a money belt or just be really careful. John said it's always a good idea to carry money in two places and it's considered vain for women to wear long pants.
   It's not really dangerous where we are going, but John said we will have the "buddy system" in place. No one goes anywhere by themselves, which I'm sure eases my Mom's mind. =)  John also wants everyone to have a cell phone to keep up with all the team members by texting.
    As far as housing goes, John would really like to build some bunk houses on the property where the clinic is going to be.  That way we'd save the money for rent and also leave an asset for the ministry to be used for other groups who come to help or whatever they need them for.  We will most likely rent something cheap when we first get there while they build the bunk houses, then move into them.
    We're looking into hiring a Christian Filipino women to buy and prepare our food. The main reason for this, is when a white person goes to the market or stores the Filipino will charge you a lot more than they will a native. So, we could pay a native women to buy and prepare our food for less or the same as us going out, buying it and preparing it ourselves.
    We talked about how to bring money over there (travelers checks come with a pretty high fee), how much we can pack =), what the cost of food and living will be(food will probably be $50 a month and not sure about living).  We discussed where we're going to fly out of ( looking like our two best choices are Chicago or Los Angeles).  Also, John warned us that the plugs over there are all 220 voltage, so you have to make sure whatever you plug in will handle that much power or you can fry things. We talked about getting visas and how to go about that. Visas will cost us around $30-$50 each month.
     We are going to buy our tickets in about a week and the date is most likely going to going to be June 1st, though it won't be set until we get the tickets.
    After going over several practical things of the trip John just challenged us to be totally focused on our mission.  To be praying about every decision we have to make as a group and praying that God will teach us through all this and grow us closer to Him!
     We are all going to have an extra suitcase to bring supplies over with us to help the Mercy in Action Ministry.  My little sister Anna has already been knitting little baby hats(they give every new born a hat and baby blanket) and Mom has already found little blankets and some hats from Goodwill.  I'm going to write out a list of things we can take with us and if anyone can donate items or funds to buy some of these things that would be awesome!  I'm going to be writing pharmacies in our town to see if they might donate some medical supplies.
  -Gloves (sterile and non-sterile)
  -Gauze pads
  -Chux underpads
  -K-Y jelly
  -Prenatal or multi- vitamins
  -Iron pills
  -Sutures
  -1cc and 3cc syringes
  -IV needles
  -IV tubing
  -Alfalfa tablets
  -Goldenseal capsules
  -Red raspberry leaf tea
  -Shepard's purse
  -Chord clamps
  -Hats
  -Baby blankets

  Signing out,  Miriam

Green light!

Okay, Hey Everyone!

  I've never had a blog so this is all new to me. I wanted some where to share some exciting things that are happening in the True household!  

    This summer Liz and I are going to be going to Olongapo, Philippines! We heard that John and Kelsey Moore, a young married couple,were planning on taking a trip to the Philippines to work with a mission group called Mercy in Action. http://www.mercyinaction.com/ The goal of Mercy in Action is to set up midwifery clinics(for women and children's health care) in different towns and villages. They usually rent a building to set up their clinics, but have felt a calling to reach the Aeta tribe. They will be building a clinic in the mountains, since there are no buildings to rent. 

    John and Kelsey are going down to stay indefinitely and encouraged others to come down to help with the process of getting this clinic started.  Mercy in Action also has asked them to have a garden and for the girls that will be going to work with the children of this tribe in some way.  I'm super excited because I will get to be involved in the midwifery/medical side of things. I will be doing a midwife internship for several months (still deciding on how long)

     Plans are not set for when we will leave, but it will be sometime mid June. I may be gone for up to 3 months. Liz will be gone for a month. 

     Some of you reading this will already know the people going on this trip, but most of you won't so I want to give you the names-- John and Kelsey Moore, Levi Langham, Orissa and Miji Mora-Kent, Jared Lindsey, Elizabeth and Miriam True. There are a few others still praying about going too.

   If you want to help you can pray for us as we prepare. Pray for us to have the funds we need to travel there, to live there, and to build the clinic. Pray for us to be ready spiritually and physically. Pray especially for John as he heads things up. Pray we will learn the lessons the Lord wants to teach us while we are there. Pray that we will be able to reach this tribe for the Lord.