Cambodia

Back in Cambodia!! It's always an adjustment getting used to the weather! It is still the end of moonsoon season so it rains a lot!! Feels like a humid sauna!! LOL We are in the capital city of Phnom Penh. It is very noisy, dirty and busy! Lots of traffic! Gives a whole new meaning to the term, traffic jam! lol It is pretty common to get respiratory infections here because the air is so dirty. One of the girls on my team has had a couple scary asthma attacks:( We are still in school so we have classes every day all day long! This week is childbirth and neonatal care with Vicky Penwell. She has been a midwife for 30 years and has opened many clinics in different countries in the world! I think it's really neat that she is here teaching us because when I was 15 I went on a missions trip to Mexico and worked with her in a clinic! She currently lives in the Philippines and has helping to deliver over 12,000 babies in poverty areas! She is a wealth of knowledge! I would love the opportunity to shadow her and see what she does! She has told us some stories that I will never forget!!! She is probably one of the most amazing people I have met! I am loving this week of classes!! It is stirring up even more all the passions I have for pregnant moms and babies! We heard the statistics for how many mother die in childbirth related causes!! Most of these deaths could be prevented if there were more trained birth attendants! Simple things like showing the moms that their babies need to be dried off when they are born, kept warm and breast fed would save about 30% of the babies that are dying!!! People like Bill Gates have started programs getting ladies in North America to knit caps and blankets for babies to help save lives!! It's so hard to think that something so simple could make the difference in the HUGE number of babies that die every year!!! I could keep going with all the facts and sad stories we are hearing about, but it would be really overwhelming! I have spent a lot of time crying this week! One of the nice things about this school is that we get to cry, pray and learn all at the same time! Very holistic learning! lol

We are being very well fed and housed here in Phnom Penh!! We have 4 local girls who cook most of our meals during the week! They even cook my food special without garlic because they know I'm allergic! They are so sweet!! One of the girls is married and 5 1/2 months pregnant. We did a prenatal exam on her and bought an instrument so she could hear her baby's heartbeat! It was the first time that she had heard it! She was very touched! She is going to bring her husband so he can hear it too!

Next week we are learning about AIDS. We have already learned that AIDS doesn't kill near as many people as diarrhea or malnutrition though!! It is actually a really small percentage but seems to get all the media attention. That's one of the nice things about coming to a developing country, you can see for yourself what is really going on and not just what the media wants you to think!! We will also get to work in a hospital here and do some clinics in the slum areas!!

Thank you for reading this and for your prayers, support and encouragment!!:)

The above pictures are from our day on the river cruise. The first one is of raw pig on the back of a motto!! Anyone hungry?! lol The second one is me on the boat. Sorry it is sideways, couldn't figure out how to turn it! The third one is a river shanty town. It was so poor! The fourth one we were having dinner at this restaurant and it started raining so hard!! We had to run for cover!! But it was a beautiful view until then!! The fifth one is of one of the palaces here! I hope you enjoy!! Love, Sherina