Sherina

Orphan Babies, Clinic Babies....

2010-02-07T06:04:00.000-08:00

Santino and Lyka are brother and sister. I'd adopt them both if I could!!!!!
Jasper and Santino.
Young mother with her first baby.
More babies with cute hats

Moms and Babies

2010-02-07T05:45:00.000-08:00

Baby hat knitted by my mom's friend Christine! Thank you so much!!
This big baby girl weighed over 10lbs and was a shoulder dystocia!! Stuck for about 5 mins!!!
Posterior baby! Born face up!
Young mom and her baby.

International Beauty Contest

2010-02-07T04:56:00.000-08:00

I was asked to judge an International Beauty Contest. The contestants were quite extravagant, hard to judge!
The other judges were quite serious!! he he he
Jenn and Karina came to see me there after!
Some of the judges, artists, and contestants of the contest.
A poor 10 year old boy in the hospital. Jenn is sponsoring his leg surgery. (Notice how 'clean' the hospital is!!)

2010

2010-02-05T03:24:00.000-08:00

A Pastor's wife delivered on New Year's Eve. She had high blood pressure and the constant fire works going off didn't help to lower it! First baby of 2010 for us!
My recent trip to Manila to get our new students. We took a big ferry boat cuz it was the only boat going to Calapan that day! Jenn my ever safety conscious roomie, made us all wear life jackets!! This caused a lot of attention cuz no one else ever wears them! They were quite dusty when we put them on! It took 20 mins to figure out how to do them up! The crew was all watching and laughing. As there were 4 of us 'white' ladies, we were asked to visit the captains area and be in lots of pictures!!
Me, Alexis, Christie and Jenn enjoying some sun on the boat deck (while being photographed many times!! he he he
Finally being able to see my 'kids' from Manila!! Christian, Shaira, and Revy!!

2010-01-24T21:26:00.000-08:00

This is Micha!! She is the 1 1/2 year old daughter of my friend Crisel. Crisel, Micha and her new baby, Joy, are living in my house. Crisel is a young widow. Her husband passed away in June 2009. I've known Crisel for almost a year now! She's like a sister to me! Just before baby Joy was born Crisel had come to talk to me about leaving her children at the Ruel orphanage as she had no where to live anymore and no job and no money!!! She was in tears and beside herself!! I couldn't even imagine being forced to give up my own children because there was no way to feed them and no one to help me!! I told her to come stay with me, have her baby and we would figure out what her options are. I love having them here! They are like family to me! But it is an added responsibility as I'm now providing for a family of 3!!! Still praying about their future!

This is Santino!! I love him to bits!! I'd adopt him if I could! He's one of the babies at the Ruel orphanage. He's now 6 months old!!! So sad that I don't get to see him as much as I'd like!
This is Crisel's baby Joy!! She's a darling!! How could we ever give her up!!!
This is a mom, Eleanor and her son Rodenson who delivered with us in Nov 2009. Eleanor lost her previous 2 babies at 1 month and 2 months of age to jaundice. Rodenson had an unusually high bilirubin count so we've been monitoring him for months and he's been in and out of hospital!! They have no money, so we've been paying all medical bills!! Just last week his bilirubin count went down to a normal level!!! Thank you Jesus!!! :)
I don't know how to rotate the pic sorry!!! he he But I was SOOOO excited to receive a box of medical supplies from Doctor Janice as well as a few treats from my sis and family!!! The boxes are only about $100 to send and are quite large! My address is:

Sherina Tatum

c/o Ruel Foundation

Brgy Masipit

Calapan city

Oriental Mindoro

5200 Philippines

(he he he if anyone's interested!!!)

2009-09-26T21:55:00.000-07:00

Visiting a young mom and her baby at their home. The baby was super cute except for all the poo exploding from his diaper!!
The baby was only 2500 grams. So tiny. The mom, had 2 other boys and also 2 miscarriages, and she's only 21!!!!

This is Rose our newest Midwife. She's holding baby Otto! He's the baby who was stuck! His head was out for 8 minutes before we could get the body out!! This rarely happens but was our second shoulder dystocia this month!! I named Otto after my Grandpa who passed away the day Otto was born!
This is Nicole, one of the babies at the orphanage. She's just over a year! I love to go and cuddle with her any chance I get!!

2009-09-24T04:06:00.000-07:00

2009-09-10T00:26:00.000-07:00

This was the birth with shoulder dystocia where the babies head was out but not the body for over 11 mins!! Thank you Jesus this baby made it alive!

This mom is so very sweet and was so appreciative of me visiting her and praying with her.

Jason, Theresa, and I took the midwives out for dinner. Jen's beside me, then Tabea, Grace, Myrna and Jen's husband, Joks.
This is the cleft lip and palate baby. They are still deciding on a name for him!
This is him also!! He's so cute!!

This and That

2009-06-16T21:08:00.000-07:00

Weighing a baby.
Doing the new born exam.
Baby Louie was born Oct 24, 2008. He was born with a bilateral cleft lip. He was operated on Oct 2009 at Provincial Hospital.
Our midwife Myrna doing a home visit.
Checking the baby's skin color and cord. Skin looks a bit yellow. Thankfully there's lots of sunshine here for the babies to do natural phototherapy.

Calapan

2009-06-16T19:58:00.000-07:00

Birth Clinic here in Calapan

Me and Jen, one of the Filipino midwives. She's also due in Sept.

My kitchen, except the cupboards are chocolate brown now thanks to Jen's husband!

Wow my place is a mess!

My house is the one with the red roof.

Wow its been a long time since I've updated this blog! So...... where to start...... I'm living in a new place now, Calapan, it's still on the island of Oriental Mindoro. It's about 2 hours from Puerto Galera, where I was before. Mercy In Action has started a new birth clinic here in partnership with an organization called Ruel Foundation. Ruel Foundation rescues abandoned children and malnourished children. There are currently 10 children living at the Ruel House. These kids need love so bad so whenever I have time I go and hold them. Ruel also coordinates operations for children with deformities. Baby Louie, with the bilateral cleft lip, is waiting for surgery when the next team of people come here, hopefully this October. If you wanna know more about Ruel, check out there site at:

www.ruelfoundation.com

So the clinic here is Calapan just officially opened a few weeks ago and we are starting to get really busy. In this area, 70% of the women deliver their babies at home because they cannot afford medical care. The doctors we've met here have all been very supportive of our clinic. One even said he would send us any poor women that he knows of! The Philippines has one of the worst maternal death rates and the government is getting flack for not doing more about it. One woman dies here every 2 hours!!!! It is so important to have good relationships with the other government health workers. One of the doctors stopped by Theresa's house last week and we had such a good chat with him. We were even able to talk to him about some of the new evidence based practices that we do and he was very amazed!

Theresa and Jason are running the clinic here in Calapan. They are an amazing Canadian family. Theresa is in the same program as I am for midwifery. We're trying to help each other study, but so far we've been so busy with the clinic that we haven't had much time! We have a birth on average, about every other day now. But I did hand in my first official assignment last night!! Most of my time has been spent training the Filipino midwives here and the 2 new students. When you teach, you just learn so much more! So its been good, I'm learning lots! Its just not the same as where I'm at in my studies!

I have my own little apartment here in Calapan. I got my friend's husband to paint it for me. It was kinda ugly and stinky when I first moved in, but its getting better now. I have 2 bedrooms, so if anyone wants to come here for a visit!!! Hint hint hint!! LOL

But actually, I might be back for a bit soon. My grandpa has been diagnosed with cancer and I really want to see him before he dies! There's a few things that I am trying to work around. Jen, one of the midwives here is having a baby the beginning of September. Also Jason and Theresa will be going back to Canada for a few months at the end of September and it would be helpful if I was here to help with the clinic while they are gone. Its hard to be so far away from family and those you love, especially when you don't know how much time you might have left with them!

So, hopefully that gives you a bit of an idea of where I'm at right now. Thanks for the continued support and encouragements! Lots of Love!! <3>

2009-04-03T22:50:00.000-07:00

2009-04-03T22:27:00.000-07:00

Another happy mom!

Baby Louie. He still needs to gain another 1 kilo by the end of this month so he can qualify for surgery!!

Tammy, Ran Mae, her mom Mary, brothers Paul and Justin and me. She had a very hard time breastfeeding so we went to her house for an hour almost every day for 10 days!!

Busiest Month Ever!!!

2009-04-01T22:30:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy this month but yet I have been so aware that many of you have been praying for me and my patients! Thank you so much!! Your prayers mean so much!! There are so many stories I could tell you about events that happened this month that I hardly know where to begin! I have learned so many valuables skills and there have been many intense moments! I would greatly appreciate your continued prayer for me, my health and the safety of my patients, especially the little babies! My back went out 6 days ago and I have been in and out of excruiating pain!! I finally broke down and took the reccomended pain medication available here at the clinic. My bed is not ideal for my back pain but I'm doing the best I can. Trying to sleep flat on my back with my legs bent. But I'm praying God heals me cuz its very difficult to properly care for patients with my back like this. The transportation also doesn't help on the small tricicles!!
I'm very excited that my parents will be coming to visit me April 21!!! I'm excited for them to get to see what I do here and visit some of my patients:) My parents are putting together some donations to bring me so if any of you feel so inclined to donate supplies or money, that would be awesome!! :)
May I will be starting my official academics for Midwifery!! I'm excited to keep learning. There is still so much I want to know!
I will try to upload some pictures but this connection isn't great so it might not work.

2009-02-28T00:14:00.000-08:00

Another baby safely brought into this world! Thank you Jesus!
This mom delivered so fast. She had felt like pushing in the tricy on the way to the clinic. Baby was out before I had time to put my second glove on all the way!! I got to name him too!! I named him Josiah!! He was so small but so very cute!!!
This was my first official catch from last Nov 14th!! So nice to see them again but they both have really bad coughs right now:(
I really like going to see the families for the postpartum visits to their home. Such a priveledge to see how they live. So poor!
Doing the new born exam.

Things have been busy here at the clinic! The first week we were having lots of births and the next week we had to do a lot of transports to the hospital! I've been learning lots through every experience. I've now delivered 8 babies as the primary midwife. One was just last night. But this week has been hard too. An older man came in the clinic who had been bitten by a poisonous snake. I was helping the doctor and we did all we could but the man passed away:( I was doing chest compressions and we were giving him blows of oxygen but we did not have the anti venom for the snake bite:( So sad!! I want to get some!! This did not help the fear I already have for snkakes!! Some of the women we live far up the mountains and we have to hike up there are visit them!! I'm going to need extra prayer for peace and no fear! There is one woman who lives in the area the man got bite and we might have to hike to her house in the dark if she goes into labor in the middle of the night!!! Ah!!! But overall I'm really liking being back here. Terri, Vicki's sister is teaching a 6 week course on childbirth education on our prenatal days and that is going great! The women, and me and the Filipino midwives, are learning so much and its fun too:) We are having more and more come every week!
I am just about done with my application for school. I'm applying to the National College of Midwifery so that I can become an official midwife! All that's left is to send in a cheque for the tution. This will be an online program. Most of the textbooks are here from schools that Vicki has run so I'm so priveledged to be able to make use of them!! I'm really excited to start studying:) Lots of Love to all of you!!! <3 <3 <3

Feels like home :)

2009-02-13T19:00:00.000-08:00

It's home here now!! I'm loving it!! This week there were 4 births! Some were a bit complicated but when I whispered the name of Jesus, I could feel His calming presence and all the babies and moms are alive and doing good!! I'm learning a lot! Not just about midwifery, but also about ushering God's presence into my daily life! There could be the most complicated situation, but when you feel God right there with you, He takes away your fear and fills you with His love and peace! It's amazing!! I know this is the place and the time that God has called me to! Thank you to all for your continued support, prayers and encouragements!! There is a definite battle and I need your help to keep fighting! Fighting for my quiet time, fighting for the women, fighting for the things that are on God's heart!! I love you all!! Happy Valentines Day!! I hope God's love is so real to you this week!!! <3 <3 <3

My first week back in Puerto Galera

2009-02-06T08:05:00.000-08:00

My very first day back to the island I went straight to the clinic to help with all the prenatals and that night there was a birth and I delivered the baby. A beautiful baby girl named Jenelyn. I went to the home a few days later to check on the mom, Arlyn and baby and both were doing well. I was able to give Arlyn some help with breastfeeding and I can’t wait to visit her again to see how she’s doing with that! Breastfeeding is the absolute best thing you could ever do for your baby!!!
Thursday is the day we go to Sabang and do prenatals for the women living in that area. It happened that I had to go alone there and do all the prenatals!! I found out when I was finished that there had been 15!! Which was a lot for me and it was my first time doing prenatals by myself. I was a bit nervous and had to use my broken Tagalog a lot!! But I was amazed that I could understand most of what they told me!
Thursday night we had to transport a mom in labor to the hospital in Calapan, which is 2 hours away. We had been monitoring the FHT for a few hours but they were decreasing and bright green poo particles coming out in the fluid were telling us that the baby was in distress. The parents were very concerned for their baby but also extremely worried about how they would pay for the transportation and hospital fees!! The look on their faces broke my heart and I gave them some of the last of my pesos!! They were so grateful!! The mom, Anna, had tears in her eyes! I heard this morning that she was able to have a natural deliver and so far the baby is doing fine. When they are back from Calapan, I will go visit them and do a check up. I’m praying that God will provide the money for the fees that they will have to pay to the hospital. The burden of that often weighs on families for years as they struggle to somehow pay down the debt. Last year there was an article in the Manila newspaper about 4 babies who were held at the hospital until they were 8 months old because their families had no money to pay for delivery!!!! Things like this just should not happen!!!!

This morning I got to see baby Louie. He was born last November and has a bilateral cleft lip. He was only 2000grams, about 4.4lbs when he was born. His deformity makes it hard for him to nurse properly. We have a surgery lined up for him thru Operation Smile, but he needs to gain a certain amount of weight. This morning his weight was up to 4100grams. But he still has a ways to go!! It was so fun to hold him and see him laughing and smiling at me. I could tell that he has some other developmental delays as he’s 3 months but still cannot hold his head up on his own.
This afternoon I went to 2 pregnant girls homes to check on them. It was so fun to visit with them and their families. I had been having a lonely, rainy, sad day afternoon and it was good to get out and hang out with a fun family. One of the girls lived half way up the mountain. It was quite the hike in sandals in the rain up the slippery, muddy terrain!! On the way back down I was so sure that I would end up sliding down the mountain on my bum!!
It’s so good to be back here and I know this is where I am to be for this time, but I have been struggling with loneliness and today I spent a few hours crying. I would love pray for God’s joy and just for friendship, someone I can talk to and share how I’m really feeling and pray with! I’m missing all my friends and family back home and all the love and support you all are to me!!
Lots of Love to you all!!!

Back in Manila

2009-02-02T19:55:00.000-08:00

God’s definitely prepared the way for me to come back to the Philippines. From a compassionate lady, working for Korea Air, letting me take an additional third bag for only $60 when it would have cost $240, to the customs officials in Manila waving me thru with a smile, even though I had been really honest and checked that I had goods to declare!! Some of my friends, Jonas and Rachelle and a few others from the Baptist Church picked me up from the airport. It was so nice not to have to haggle with a taxi driver and worry that he wouldn’t know where I was staying here in Manila!!

The kids here in Manila were SO excited to see me!!! They missed me even more than I thought!! The screaming welcome that I got was so loud that I’m sure everyone in the area heard it!! Good thing they didn’t know I was here til the next day cuz I arrived at the clinic at 2am!! I don’t think the neighbors would have been very happy if they screamed then! Ha ha

So thank you all so much for your prayers and all the items that were donated!!

I love and miss you all already!! And I’m missing the cold weather too! It’s still so hot here!! Ha ha

Lots of Love, <3>

Sherina

Changes!

2008-10-19T22:35:00.000-07:00

The 3 adorable girls that I vacationed with.
The YWAM family, Joel and Grace and son Paul. They now have their new addition, another baby boy!! :)
Mom Elena, and baby Christian and family. Elena still has really high blood pressure but other than that they are all doing great!
The last baby I helped deliver in Manila. Also baby Louie.
Mom Shirly came back for her birth certificate with her baby Louie. I got to hold him lots!!

So there's been a few changes that have happened in the last few weeks and now that I have a free moment, I thought that I should let you know what's going on in my life! I had a mini 4 day holiday with another Canadian family that's living in Manila. We came to the island of Mindoro to a beach resort very near the clinic where I was planning to work at in November. I had a great time with them. We hung out on the beach and I got to spend lots of time with their 3 adorable girls and their Uncle Joey!! They were all such a blessing to me and took care of all the financial aspects of the trip! While I was here I met with Terri who is overseeing Mercy in Action while her sister Vicki is in the States. We decided for a few reasons, that it would be best if I came to the island sooner than originally planned. So, she came back with me early on the Friday morning and then we left Manila at 4am to come back to Puerto Galera! It was quite a fast decision so I wasn't able to say goodbye to everyone but I did manage to say goodbye to quite a few of my friends. It's such a different atmosphere here on the island. Its so peaceful and quiet and the air is so clean!! And the beaches are gorgeous and there are mountains! Saturday, my first official day living here, we had a birth that kept us up all night! I was already quite tired from little sleep the past few weeks and 2 very early morning trips the 2 days before! There were a few moments in the birth room where I didn't know how I was going to stay awake!! But I did! And guess what?! It was another boy!!! So funny that I have yet to see a girl!! But they have many more births here so I'm sure it will happen. I'm starting from scratch with my training but I'm already feeling like I'm learning so much more here! It helps too that there are experienced midwife teachers who speak fluent English! So I saw my first tear and sutures! I got to assist Kate, the midwife in charge here right now, while she stitched up the 2nd degree tear! It was at 4am and it was so hot and the tear looked like ground meat to me but she was able to piece things back together and stitch it up so that it looked normal again!! Amazing!! I also learned how to do some back massaging and pressure on the back to help with some of the pain the mother was feeling during contractions. The mother wasn't too keen on doing the breathing exercises and in the end she ended up pushing the baby out too fast when she was asked to slow down, which was probably one of the reasons that she tore! Kate was so great at explaining everything that was going on. She went through all the forms and explained each thing that we look for and why! I feel like I've learned way more in one birth here than in the 7 that I saw in Manila!! I think I'm really going to learn a lot here! It's going to be busy and maybe not that much sleep, but the knowledge and experience is going to be great! Kate has such a neat way of interacting with the women too and I'm really enjoying watching her and learning from her! We went on a postpartum visit yesterday and it was so neat how it was just like visiting with a friend over coffee but yet she got all the information that she needed to fill out all the paper work after!! She's also very knowledgeable about topics such as breastfeeding. I thought I knew a lot about it before, but now I know even more! Breastfeeding is one of the best things that you could ever do for your baby, but yet so many mothers think that they have no milk and then they buy formula!! One of the most challenging things is trying to encourage mothers to breastfeed!

So, I'm settling into life over here in Puerto Galera on the island of Mindoro. I miss my friends back in Manila, especially my roommate DJ and Ate Imelda but I know I'll see them again when I pass back through Manila in December. I'm living with Terri in Vicki's house for a few weeks until Vicki and Scott come back from the States and then I'll move into the clinic. The clinic is just a 5 minute drive or probably about a 20 minute walk away. And the beach is about 10 minutes away too!:) So that's what's new with me!! I would still love to hear bout things back home and how you are doing!!

Oh, and thank you so much to everyone who prayed for my friend Sara!! She is doing better than I would have ever expected!! She emailed me and told me exactly what happened. She ended up going through labor and delivering the baby even though he was already dead :( She is still at VGH for a few more weeks going through extensive treatment for her leukemia! She has a curable kind though so that's good. When her white blood cell count comes back up she will be able to move back home but will continue going 5 days a week for chemo. So please continue to keep her in your prayers!

Another person to pray for is Ate Cecil. I would go to her clinic in Manila on Friday mornings and help her with her prenatals. Her father was quite sick with TB and he just passed away yesterday. Her mom is also not that well and Cecil has a young son as well. So just pray for God's continued provision and comfort for this family.

I'm also a bit sick right now. I think its just a cold but I'm feeling really achy and headachy and miserable!! And its so hot here and the power goes out often so then no fans!! It was out most of the night last night! But that seems like such a small thing comparatively!! lol

Miss you all!!! Lots of Love!!!

Please Pray for my Friend Sara Moore!!!

2008-10-09T00:36:00.000-07:00

Please pray for my friend Sara!!! She and her husband, Jay, have just lost their baby and found out that Sara has leukemia!!! She is a really close friend of mine and its so hard for me to hear about this while being so far away from home!!! I am sitting at the internet right now and I can't stop my tears!! Thanks for all your prayers and support. Thanks to all those who have emailed my new email account, sherinajoy@gmail.com It's going to be a slow process getting updates out again but I will try. I'm a little low on funds too so if anyone is feeling overly generous or has extra cash they don't know what to do with, I won't turn it down!!! lol :P
Love you All!!!!

NEW EMAIL: sherinajoy@gmail.com

2008-09-29T22:53:00.000-07:00

MY OLD EMAIL ADDRESS: sherinatatum@hotmail.com has been taken over by a hacker!!! :(
MY NEW EMAIL ADDRESS IS:
sherinajoy@gmail.com
PLEASE EMAIL ME THERE IF YOU WANT TO KEEP GETTING UPDATES.
I'm really sorry for any worry or inconvinence this may have caused you!! :( It's been pretty upsetting for me too as I had over 300 contacts and over 2,00o personal emails!! I've spent most of today changing passwords and creating new email accounts. Please email my new gmail account cuz I'm really sad that I've lost your address!!! :( :( :( :( :(
Thank-you

First Birth at Ate Cecil's

2008-09-19T02:37:00.001-07:00

Baby Marvin

Doing the Neonatal Exam
Taking his measurements
Trying to find his pulse!
Checking his stepping reflex!
He wasn't enjoying the exam!

So I tried to comfort him!

Eye Ointment

Vitamin K Injection

Bath Time

I think I should put an explicit lyrics warning on this!!! Oh, it’s not a song! Ok, explicit description!! Don’t read before eating!! :P LOL

DJ shook me awake this morning to say that Ate Cecil texted and asked if we could come to her place to help with a labor. The Patient was 6cm already so we tried to hurry. I had a really fast shower and while I was packing my bag, Ate Cecil texted again that the patient was now 10cm!! We ran out the door and started looking for a taxi!! In the hurry I forgot my hair brush and water!! The 2 things I really wanted to bring!! When you see my hair in the pictures you’ll see why I wished that I’d brought my hair brush!! Ha ha ha!! We got there before the baby was born, but unfortunately we also made it in time to help clean up all the poo that the patient was pushing out!! A few times I had to tell myself, “No, you will not throw up!! Deal with it!!” Because of the lack of supplies, the soiled sheets and absorbent bed pad are not removed until after the baby is born so the smell stays the whole time!! And the baby is born on top of the poo!! L If I had known some of these things I would have tried to bring more of the absorbent bed pads with me!! Another thing is that laundry is done mostly by hand so it’s a lot of work to wash extra sheets and bed pads!
Baby Marvin made his appearance at 9:18am this morning! He had an unusually short cord that was wrapped around his neck, but we were able to slip it off! His mom needed a lot of encouragement to push out the shoulders and it seemed to take forever! Ate Cecil waited awhile for the cord to stop pulsating before I got to cut it!! The idea is that the baby will receive the rest of the blood and nutrients from the placenta if we wait to cut the cord until after it has stopped pulsating! For this to be effective though, the baby needs to be held lower than the cord. So the baby was lying on the same bed pad that was covered in poo and blood and then he peed and pooed to add to the assortment of bodily fluids that were pooled there!!! Kadiri!! That means gross in Tagalog!!
After I cut the cord, I clamped and cut the baby’s cord and then I got the baby!! I was going to catch the placenta but it was taking a long time to come out so I opted for cuddling with the baby while Ate Cecil took over with the mom! After 20mins and the placenta didn’t seem to be coming at all, I suggested that the baby breast feed! They agreed so we helped the mom to hold the baby. Breastfeeding helps the uterus to contract and push out the placenta. If the baby isn’t able to breastfeed or in the sad event that the baby died, L the breasts can be manually stimulated to help the uterus contract. This also works well during labor. The baby didn’t seem to keen on feeding that much at this time so I got him back while they tried other positions for the mom. The placenta finally came out over an hour after the baby had been born!! The placenta usually comes out within 5-30 minutes after the baby and 1 hour is about the longest you would want to wait! All the women are given a shot of pitocin after the baby is born to help their uterus contract and help prevent hemorrhaging, but sometimes this is not enough. When the placenta comes out, it is checked carefully to make sure that no pieces could be left inside the mom. If that happens, the body will bleed and bleed to try and get rid of what it considers a foreign object and then the mom could bleed to death!! Hemorrhaging is one of the top 4 reasons why women of child bearing age, are dying in the world today!
1 woman dies every minute of child birth or related causes somewhere in the developing world!!
This is an insanely large number!! Learning about this is one of the reasons why I wanted to be here studying about childbirth! To help prevent these unnecessary deaths!!
This is the number one need in the developing world today!!!
Just thought I would share that because it’s something that I am passionate about! And until studying Primary Health Care at the University of the Nations, YWAM, Hawaii, last year, I was unaware of how high these statistics were!!

Back to Baby Marvin. He got a brief bath and then I did the neonatal exam. He was perfect, no abnormalities. But he really liked being held and disliked me injecting him with Vitamin K and measuring and weighing him!! So I cuddled him lots after to make up for it!! Thank you, Lord, for another baby brought safely into this world!

This is some information I found on the WHO website which I pasted at the bottom!! Please check it out!!!

WHO / MPS
Every day, 1500 women die from pregnancy- or childbirth-related complications. In 2005, there were an estimated 536 000 maternal deaths worldwide. Most of these deaths occur in the developing world and most of them are avoidable.
(1) Improving maternal health is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted by the international community at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000.

Where do maternal deaths occur?

The incidence of maternal death is inequitably spread throughout the world reflecting the gap between rich and poor. A woman's lifetime risk of maternal death is one in 75 in the developing regions, compared to one in 7300 in developed regions. In Niger one in seven women dies of pregnancy-related complications. By contrast, in Ireland a woman's risk of maternal death is one in 48 000. (2)

Developing countries account for 99% of all maternal deaths worldwide. More than half of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, one third in South Asia.

Why do mothers die?

The four major killers are: severe bleeding (mostly postpartum haemorrhage), infections (mostly sepsis), hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (usually eclampsia), and obstructed labour. Complications after unsafe abortion cause 13% of maternal deaths. Among the indirect causes (20%) of maternal death are diseases that complicate pregnancy or are aggravated by pregnancy, such as malaria, anaemia, HIV/AIDS, and cardiovascular diseases.(3)

WHO / Marie-Agnes Heine
Most maternal deaths are avoidable as the medical solutions to prevent or manage the fatal causes are well known. Skilled care at birth can make the difference between life and death. For instance, if unattended, severe bleeding in the third stage of labour can kill even a healthy woman within two hours. An injection of the drug oxytocin given immediately after childbirth reduces the risk of bleeding very effectively.
Sepsis, the second most frequent cause of maternal death, can be widely reduced if aseptic techniques are respected. The third-cause, pre-eclampsia, is a common hypertensive disorder in pregnancy, which can be monitored. Although pre-eclampsia cannot be completely cured before the delivery, the administration of drugs like magnesium sulfate can lower a woman's risk of developing convulsions (eclampsia), which can be fatal. Another frequent cause of maternal death, obstructed labour, can be prevented or managed by skilled birth attendants. Obstructed labour occurs when the fetus' head is too big compared to the mother's pelvis or if the baby is abnormally positioned. A simple tool to identify problems in labour early is the partograph, a graph of progress of labour and the maternal and fetal condition. Skilled practitioners can use the partograph to recognize and deal with slow progress before labour becomes obstructed, and, if necessary, refer the woman to caesarean section.

Why do mothers not get the care they need?

WHO / Jim Holmes
In 2006, only about 60% of deliveries in developing countries were assisted by a skilled birth attendant. This can be translated into 50 million home deliveries that were not assisted by skilled health personnel. The coverage ranges from 34% in Eastern Africa to 93% in South America. (4) The coverage of antenatal care varies too. In Peru, 87% of pregnant women had at least four antenatal care visits, whereas in Ethiopia the coverage was only 12%. (5)
There are many reasons why women do not receive the care they need before, during and after childbirth. In some remote areas, there may be no availability of professional care. Or, if available, the care may not be good. In other cases, the women may lack access to health facilities, because there is no transportation available or because they cannot afford to pay the costs of the transport or the health services' user-fees. Also cultural beliefs or a woman's low status in society can prevent a pregnant woman from getting the care she needs. To improve maternal health, gaps in the capacity and quality of health systems and barriers to accessing health services must be identified and tackled at community level. http://www.who.int/making_pregnancy_safer/topics/maternal_mortality/en/index.html

Baby Christian

2008-09-13T05:48:00.000-07:00

Grace is taking Elena's blood pressure in their one room squatters hut!!
Elena's close friends and family and some of her children were in and out in the few hours we were there! It was crowded, hot, and smokey!!
Cuddling Baby Christian!
He's so tiny!
He's so light colored he almost looked like a 'white' baby!

Don't mind the bags under my eyes!! For some reason babies like to come in the middle of the night!!

Auntie Imelda is giving the Vitamin K injection while baby Christian cuddles beside mom!

So I’ve now had 5 healthy baby boys!! I don’t know why there haven’t been any girls yet!! Ha ha ha!!! So no babies named Sherina yet! Baby number 5 was born this morning at 1:34am!! He is our first baby that we have helped deliver from the new ministry area in Marikina. We received a text yesterday around 5pm that one of the ladies was in labor so we quickly packed a bag of supplies and hopped on a jeepney heading there! It was rush hour weekend traffic and the jeepney was so crowded and it was so hot and I was not feeling good L I hadn’t gotten that much sleep the past few nights and I get really motion sick and in the jeepneys you have to sit sideways. I was so tired that I actually passed out for like 10 mins and when we got off I was so out of it! But I woke up fast when we entered Elena’s home. A crowded, squatters hut with one dimly lit bulb! All her closed friends and family were there, coming in and out of the door. Elena is 44 and has 6 children. They all live in one room! Their bathroom is a hole in the floor in the same room with just a curtain for privacy! I prayed that I didn’t need to use the bathroom while I was there! Grace, (she and her husband Joel have been working with YWAM for 5 years and live in Marikina) was there and had been monitoring Elena’s vital signs. Her blood pressure was 160/90 when her labor started but by lying on her left side and drinking lots of water it was down to 120/80 within the hour! She was only 4cm when we got there and after evaluating the situation and her condition, we decided to take her to our clinic. But right before we left we got another text that there was another woman in labor nearby!! DJ went to go check it out! She came back a few minutes later saying that she was only 1cm and it was a primi so it could be days or even false labor. So we left her there but took Elena. We had to walk for about 20 mins to find a taxi. Elena and 2 of her friends, me and DJ and Ate Imelda all squished into a small cab. I was sandwiched right beside Elena! I felt bad for her! In so much pain and squished in a cab! But she was still laughing and positive!! We had only been in the cab for a minute when we were almost in an accident!! Two jeepneys almost sideswiped us on both sides at the same time!! After a few more close calls like this it was obvious that our driver was not the most competent!! I just prayed that we would get there safely but quickly!! When we finally arrived back at our clinic, I was so tired!! But it was so much more relaxing here with more space. Elena and her friends each laid down to relax for a bit before the baby came! I walked down the street to say hi to some friends for a few minutes and then got some dinner, I was starving! And then I cleaned up the kitchen and went upstairs so that I wouldn’t be keeping Elena and her friends awake. Upstairs it was so hot and I hadn’t had a shower to cool down. (And I kept getting texts from this lady, Marge, but that’s another whole story!!!) Finally after trying to get some sleep and not being able to, I went to go have a shower. Just when I was about to fall asleep, Ate Imelda knocked on the door to say that it was time to get up!!! Ha ha ha!! I hadn’t even slept at all yet! I was so tired!! Elena was still smiling and in a good mood but I could tell that she was in more pain now. She was only 8cm so it still wasn’t time for her to push yet, but within 30 mins she was fully dilated! It’s so hard to try and keep the patient relaxed during contractions! The natural tendency is to tense up! We spend so much time breathing with them and helping them keep a position that makes it easier for the baby to come out! It only took her a few pushes and the baby came out! He was the smallest baby yet! It was so nice to see a mother that really loved and wanted her baby!! Even though she already had 6 other children!! (I don’t know why it’s so hard for them to understand about family planning!! Ha ha) For some reason this little baby pooed a lot!! And it was so hard to get it off him!! Stuck to his skin like glue!! I had to rub and rub with cotton and baby oil! But it was worth it cuz I got to cuddle with him after!!

Baby Louie

2008-09-03T08:19:00.000-07:00

Suctioning the poo out!! Gross!! LOL :P

Eye Ointment
Vitamin K injection
Listening to the lungs
Isn't he cute?!! :)
Minutes after birth
So cute!! I don't know how anyone couldn't love him!!!

4am Saturday morning, Auntie Imelda knocked on our bedroom door to say that Auntie Shirley was here in labor! I had only fallen asleep at 2 so I was kinda out of it but when I went downstairs I woke up really fast!! Auntie Shirley is 36 with 6 children already. She labors are usually fast so we knew that we didn’t have much time to get ready. I got to do an internal exam, IE, for the first time! So crazy to feel the baby’s head before it comes out!! Auntie Shirley’s blood pressure was a bit high so I kept monitoring it and trying to get her to drink lots of water. Within the hour the baby Louie was out!! I was the one to ‘catch’ the baby this time!! So crazy!! The water hadn’t broken and the baby was born with a membrane covering it that had to be ripped open so he could breathe! He was also born covered in poo so we did a lot of suctioning to try and prevent it from going into his lungs. As soon as the cord stopped pulsating I clamped and cut it! I was a bit worried cuz a lot of blood came out a few minutes after the baby came out but before the placenta. But this is normal. I also delivered the placenta! They taught me to wrap the cord around the clamp and hold firmly on the uterus while gently wiggling the cord. When the placenta came out we had to examine it to make sure no pieces were missing that would be still inside Auntie Shirley and cause hemorrhaging! Meanwhile, the baby was being cleaned up and examined and then we gave him Vitamin K injection and eye ointment.
I kept monitoring Auntie Shirley’s blood pressure and pulse. Her blood pressure was going down so that was good. We gave her baby Louie to breast feed. He was such a hungry baby, wanted to eat all the time!! After he was fed for awhile, Auntie Shirley wanted to rest so I held baby Louie!! We had found out that Auntie Shirley hadn’t wanted to be pregnant and had tried to have an abortion by taking cykotic (some type of pills that makes the uterus contract to expel out the baby) but it didn’t work. The pregnancy before this one when she took the drug it did work! I was really upset to hear that! She had taken the drug when she was 2 months pregnant so baby Louie might have some birth defects because of it but to me he looked perfect! These drugs are quite expensive but people will pay the money if they can manage to save up enough because they really don’t want to have a baby. Some girls take so much of this drug that they themselves die! As this is becoming more known in the drug stores, they are trying to control who has access to this drug but even if it’s not available in the drug store, some form of the drug is available on the street! My heart broke to think that this adorable little boy wasn’t wanted and I tried to encourage mother and baby bonding for the rest of the time that they were here at our place!! I pray that she really comes to love her baby!! And that there are no adverse side affects to baby Louie because of the drugs!

Possible new ministry location

2008-09-03T00:12:00.000-07:00

Taking our new patients medical histories.
This is Grace! She is pregnant too and also a midwife!

This was our examination bed!! A small dirty covered hut!! Very cozy!!

I came home one night to Auntie Imelda coughing and so sick she couldn't sleep! I laid my hand on her back and prayed for her and then continued to pray for our whole ministry there!! I had been trying to think of ways to encourage us to pray together more! The next morning I woke up and this couple was sitting downstairs on the couch. They were Joel and Grace, former YWAMers!! Grace is pregnant and had heard about our clinic so they had been trying to make the trip out to get a prenatal check up but they live a ways away. They both have worked in YWAM for about 5 years and have a heart for Tibet!! They are making plans to live there in the next few years! Grace is also a trained midwife. They both have a heart for the poor and told us about many pregnant women they know that live near them and have no prenatal care! We were excited to go there and see the area. Joel said he would arrange to have some of the poorest women gather together for a prenatal check up. After Joel and Grace left, Auntie Imelda, DJ and I prayed and talked together about the possibility of going to this new place. Auntie Imelda told me that the night before when I had put my hand on her back and prayed for her, the terrible pain that she had been having left!! She told me she thinks that I have healing hands!! I told her, wasn't me, it could only have been God! But the fact that God would use me to heal someone or touch someone is totally cool!! And Exciting!! I felt like God prompted me to pray for her so I did and I guess He wanted to touch her!! Very cool!!:) So cool to see what happens when you pray!! :)

So Thursday, Auntie Imelda and I went to Marikina and held a clinic in a very primative location! We had 10 pregnant women/girls! Joel said there are many more but he wanted to limit it for our first visit. Now the challange is that its too far for these women to travel to our clinic for their labors so Joel and Grace are praying with us about renting a small apartment or a room near there for the women to give birth in! The place where Joel and Grace live won't let them have women give birth there so that's not an option like we had originally thought:( I think everyone is looking to me to come up with the money to fund a clinic in this new location. But its one thing to start a clinic, but who will keep it going when I'm no longer here?? I don't want to start something only to have it fall apart in a few months! So it requires lots of prayer!! We are scheduled to go again tomorrow!! It means getting up at 6am and traveling by jeepney for at least an hour!! It means breathing in lots of pollution and exhaust and having no bathroom for most of the day! Its tiring but the women there are so appreciative! So please pray for this new place! Its hard to start helping the women but not be able to deliver their babies! Everything seems to be so much more complictated here than it would be at home!!

2008-08-25T02:05:00.000-07:00

Yummy papayas!! I usually buy a bag of them at the market for 80 pesos!!
Auntie Cecil's clinic. Her dad, mom and niece. They are so short I feel like a giant!! But they are so sweet!!!
Checking up on Rockell and baby Razal!

Baby Updates

2008-08-17T01:36:00.000-07:00

These are some of my friends from the Baptist Church. They took me out for lunch last Sunday!
Baby Simon, can you see how yellow he is?? :(
Rafel, Baby Simon's mom, wasn't cleaning his umbilical cord properly!! So we had to show her again!
This is where baby Simon lives!! One burnt out room!! They have no money! The mother-in-law gives the family of 6 food so they can eat!!!!
This is Ritchel and baby Axcel. The first baby I helped deliver!! Both are doing great!

So no more births yet:( But we have traveled to check up on the babies that I helped to deliver. Baby Simon is a little bit yellow. He might have a slight bit of jaundice. So we are keeping an eye on him. Baby Axcel is doing good. Gaining weight. He just has a bit of a rash. I think its just heat rash. He's gaining weight and him and mom are doing good. We got several new patients from that area because they saw that the baby is doing good! I've been doing a lot of prenatals!! And a lot of reading on some of the different medical things that I've come accross.

One of my friends got me a ticket to go to Sonic Flood, so I went to their concert with some of my friends from the Baptist church. It was good but Chris Tomlin was better! I think it was a bit crazy for my conservative Baptist friends!! lol Today I went to the Vineyard church here! It was really good!! I love the worship still at the Vineyard!! Felt just like home! But then I got a text from the Pastor at the Baptist church wondering if I was sick!! lol Nice to know that people care about me and miss me!! So I'm going to attend their young peoples service at the Baptist church this afternoon. I'm going to try and download some pictures if it works this time.

I miss you all!! Keep the emails coming cuz I love to read about how you are doing at home!! I've been a bit homesick for the first time this last week:(

Love and Prayers

Sherina

Baby Simon:)

2008-08-09T02:10:00.000-07:00

Baby Simon's Mom, Rafel. I brushed her hair and put it up out of the way.
Baby Simon, minute old!! Starting to turn color!! He was so blue!!
Don't we look tired!! lol Ya, it was an exhausting birth!
Isn't he cute?! Ya, I think it's upside down! But took so long to load so I'll just leave it!
Cuddle time! My fav!!

Ok so I'm going to try to keep this short and sweet!! LOL Ya right!! Well, I'll try to cut out some of the gross details! lol So another miracle happened in the wee hours of this morning!! Baby Simon was born! It was the scariest delivery so far! (In the 3 that I've seen!! lol) The mom gave up pushing at one point and his head was stuck and he wasn't breathing! But we encouraged her! Quite aggressively, and helped to guide his shoulders out! My instinct is to cuddle the babies and quiet their cries but I know that its healthy for them to cry. Helps to clear any fluid they might have in their lungs! So after some crying, I get to cuddle them!! Baby Simon's mom, Rafel, was the second pregnant mom I met here! She is the one who's blood pressure has been a bit high. It was 150/100 for most of her labor. It would go down temperarily when she would drink water, but then go back up. And she was in labor for about 36 hours!! So I didn't sleep last night!! I'm pretty tired right now!! I think after I write this email I will go try and have a nap cuz we have one more pregnant mom that's due anytime! Miss you all!! Lots of love, Sherina

Second Birth!!

2008-08-06T05:25:00.000-07:00

Baby Razal!
I held him lots!
And lots!
He was just too cute!!
Couldn't put him down! lol

Cutting the umbilical cord.
Checking the hips for any clicking sound during the neonatal exam.
Cleaning him up.

Putting eye ointment in. Giving him a Vitamin K injection:(

So Monday, August, 4th I assisted in my second birth!! I think it was just as exciting as the first one! It was mid morning and I was out back doing a mound of laundry when, Rockell arrived in labor. Her mom, brother-in-law and nephew all came with her. Her brother-in-law stayed outside but the young boy was inside the whole time! She lied down on the bed and tried to be so brave but every time a contraction came she would grab the edge of the bed and cry. She looked so young and alone and her mother was doing nothing to comfort her so I sat beside her and took her hand and she squeezed it every time there was a contraction. Auntie Imelda told her how to breathe threw them so she and I would breathe together. If she forgot I would start breathing to remind her. Her labor progressed very quickly and it wasn’t long til she was sitting on the birthing chair pushing! One concern we had is that her blood pressure was very low-88/60! She was so weak that she had a hard time pushing and at one point said she couldn’t do it! But we encouraged her and she did do it!! It was only me and Auntie Imelda to deliver the baby as DJ hadn’t yet come back from taking someone to the other clinic on a different island. So I was much more involved this time, although I still don’t feel like I know what I’m doing! If I was by myself I think I would still be quite scared! Lol The water hadn’t broken yet and this time instead of getting peed on, every time she pushed she had a bit of a bowel movement!:( The smell was so bad that I had to tell myself just to deal with it. Then the water broke and splashed all over the floor! And then the baby’s head appeared, and one more push and the baby was out! Another baby boy! I had to help clamp the umbilical cord and cut it. I took the baby and dried him off and got him cleaned up. I clamped his cord close to his belly button and cut it. Then got cotton with baby oil and wiped off all the blood and slime and a bit of poo!:( Gross! But babies are too precious to care what they are covered in!! lol He opened his eyes right away and was very alert. He kept wanting to look around and see everything and he looked at me quite a bit! It felt like such an honor to be the first thing the baby sees when he opens his eyes! I did the entire neonatal exam! I even put the ointment in his eyes and gave him an injection of Vitamin K in his thigh. Then after he had been fully examined and cleaned up we gave him to his mom to breastfeed. Then came the job of cleaning everything else up! That’s the not so fun part! When I checked on the mom and baby a little bit later, I saw that the mom was asleep and the baby was moving around and kept kicking off his blanket. So I picked him up and held him close and cuddled and sang to him for over an hour. Until the mom woke up and then I gave the baby back so she could feed him again. I think I held the baby almost the entire time he was here while the mom was resting. Seven hours after the birth, the mom and baby went home, escorted by some younger siblings and the grandma. They bundled the baby up and set out in the dark in the pouring rain to their house. I think I described their house in one of my first emails. This was the first place I went after arriving here. Rockel was the first pregnant mom that I got to meet. So cool that I got to be the one to help deliver her baby.
Today, a day after the birth, DJ and I went to go check up on mom and baby. They are a bit worried about the baby as there is a slight chance that the baby might have swallowed some pooL So they are advising her to take him to the clinic to get some antibiotics. Then today I found out that the mom is concerned because she doesn’t have any milk! I explained about colostrum, and how it is thicker, yellow and sticky and is what the breast milk is for the first 3 days. I told her that its very healthy for the baby and that colostrum is full of antibodies to help the baby fight off infections and diseases. I also told her that the more the baby sucks, the more milk will be produced. I was sad to hear that she had been giving the baby a bottle! I hope that she really took what I told her to heart and that she’ll keep breastfeeding!
I really need to learn Tagalog because I find it so challenging to not understand what is being said. And it doesn’t get translated to me very often. And if it does and I ask some questions because I’m trying to understand, then people get a bit frustrated and tell me that it’s not important! So I’m trying to pick which questions I think are really important and just ask those! Like today for example: we had a pregnant lady and her husband come to see us. It was the first time that we had met them and I was asked to do the medical history and first prenatal check up. But the lady, Sonia, doesn’t seem to understand English so I keep looking at DJ to translate for me! And some questions Sonia just didn’t seem to want to answer so then her husband would answer for her. I was getting a bit frustrated because Sonia was going on and on about some things and I was supposed to be taking down all the notes but nothing was being translated to me. So then I would ask only to be told that the answer was no. None of the details were translated!! So annoying! I decided to quietly hum a worship song and kept smiling sweetly at Sonia to get rid of my frustrations! In the end I think she really appreciated our help. But I still think that it would be so helpful to learn more Tagalog!! I’m not sure how to go about doing that! I try to ask lots of questions and I’m constantly asking how to say things in Tagalog and then I write them down and try to repeat them as often as I can. I’m going to see if any of the young people that I’ve met at the Baptist Church next door, want to teach me for fun! That seems to be my main challenge right now! That and I’ve started not being able to fall asleep and then waking up in the middle of the night after only sleeping a few hours! I was sleeping on the same schedule and didn’t seem to suffer any jet lag my first week here that I thought I wouldn’t have a problem sleeping. Maybe it’s just a weird week and it will pass! At least I’m feeling a lot better! Thank you so much to all of you who have been praying for me!! I can totally feel the support and encouragements from ‘home’!
So we are waiting for one more mom who’s due anytime! Then they aren’t expecting any births for about a month! The next mom is Rafel. Her and her family are the ones who live in the slum area that burned down! We went to visit her again today because she was supposed to have come last week for another check up but she never showed up! Probably because of all the rain and stormy weather! People don’t like to go out then. We convinced her to come to the clinic today. I was shocked again at the place where they live! I really can’t understand how anyone could live like that! But I know that they are doing the best that they can! I think some of her neighbors were surprised to see a foreign person visiting her and quite a crowd gathered outside the doorway of her place. One of the guys there was holding a cute, young girl and tried to tell me that I could have her! The poor thing was probably so confused because (I think it was her dad) was telling her that I was her mommy!! I just smiled at her and told the dad I couldn’t possible take her cuz he would miss her too much!! The sad thing is that I think a lot of people there would give their kids up just like that!
So Rafel did come tonight and her blood pressure is still too high!! She has supposed to have been on a strict protein diet and to have been drinking lots of water! I gave her a glass, finished the exam and then took it again and it was much better! But if it doesn’t stay down we are going to have to send her to the hospital to deliverL She’s praying it stays down cuz I don’t think she can afford it! And maybe also cuz she likes us?! Lol
Well, I think I’ve probably sufficiently bored most of you by now!! Lol If this is too much info but you’d still like to get an idea of my week, then just check out my blog. I’ll put up the pics of the new baby!!:) He’s so cute!! His name is Razal!!
Lots of Love,
Sherina

A less exciting week

2008-08-03T04:18:00.000-07:00

This girl was so cute with her colorful umbrella and huge eyes!! She kept calling me auntie!
Once I started taking pictures, the kids just kepting wanting more and more! I think they're a little lacking in attention!
These 3 girls were 'my girls'!! Hope I can see them again!
They stood right outside the truck til I left! Even tho it was pouring rain!
Big kids and little kids wanted to get a picture with me!

Me and Karen at the Passion Conference.
My young fan club at the concert! They kept walking by me all night saying something that my friends translated for me, meant Barbie! Silly boys!! They were so excited to take a picture with me! For such a large city, I sure haven't seen very many western people!
The conference was really good!
Chris Tomlin did most of the worship.
Me and boyfriend!! Just kidding, mom!! A street vendor outside the concert. We were waiting in a long line for almost 5 hours before we got in so had to do something to pass the time! lol

So, this week has been really boring compared to my first week here! And on top of that I've been a bit sick:( Caught a really bad cold from one of the patients last week so I've been feeling really miserable! Doesn't seem right to have a cold in such a hot climate!! lol Since being sick I have found out some interesting beliefs the Filipino's have in regards to being sick. First they think I'm sick because I was out in the rain! And I'm not supposed to eat mango when I'm sick cuz it will make my throat itchy!! The Philippines has amazing mangos so I usually eat at least one everyday!! I tried to say that I didn't think that would happen to me! And if I exercise and I'm all hot and sweaty, I have to wait til I cool down before I can shower!! So gross!! All I wanna do is have a cold shower! But I'm trying to listen to what they tell me as much as possible! This week has also been slower because of the weather. It's been really stormy here!! Thunder, lightening, strong winds and lots and lots of rain!! When the weather's like this people don't like to go outside. So the Friday morning clinic got cancelled and we had fewer than normal patients visiting us at our place. One lady, Rafel, is due soon and has really high blood pressure. She has no money to deliver in the hospital but with her health the way it is, the midwives are hesitant to deliver her baby at our place. I'm a bit concerned about her. I just pray for her and if we haven't heard from her by Monday, then I will see if we can go track her down! So the most exciting part of my week was the weekend. Friday night I went to the Passion conference that was being held here in Manila. I'd never heard of it before but its been going on since 1997. Right now they are in the middle of a world tour, going to major cities all around the world. They will be in Vancouver at the end of Oct I think. Chris Tomlin was the main worship leader. And there was a really good speaker too. Lui Gigliano (not sure how to spell his name!!). There were 8,000 people there. Mostly all Filipinos!! We worshipped together, and prayed together and you could really feel God's presence there! It was powerful! I'm really glad that I had the opportunity to be there! Then on Saturday afternoon I got the opportunity to go to a nearby mountain village with some people from the Baptist church that I've been going to. They have a children's ministry there with about 150 kids. They teach them songs, Bible stories and feed them. It was really neat to go and see all the kids! And they really seemed to like seeing me too!! I think I have some new friends. I hope I can go back and see them again!!:)Well, that's about all for this week. I'll try to put some pics up on my blog of the concert and the kids. Hopefully I'll be feeling better next week and I'll have some more exciting things to write about!Love and Prayers, Sherina

Auntie Cecil's Maternity Clinic

2008-07-25T00:37:00.000-07:00

At Auntie Cecil's Clinic I got to do all the vitals for the prenatal exams!!
Some of these pregnant moms are so young!!
It was fun listening to the baby's heart beat and palpating for the position the baby was in!!:)

Today was fun! We traveled to another poor area when another midwife is working. She has a cute little clinic in a very dirty, poor, slum area. It took us a bit to get there cuz of all the traffic. Every Friday they hold a prenatal clinic and all the pregnant ladies in that area come. I got to do all their check ups today. So I weighed them all, took their blood pressure and pulse and checked them all for edema. Then was the fun stuff! Measuring the fundal height and finding the position of the baby and then listening to the fetal heart tones!! Many of them were young girls and it was their first pregnancy so they were a bit shy and nervous. I got to pray with each one of them. Hopefully I will see most of them again next Friday. There are 9 pregnant ladies that are due anytime. One is 41 and a half weeks already!! So maybe there will be another birth soon!!:) DJ went with me to this midwife, Cecil’s clinic, but next week I would have to try and find it on my own!! DJ is going to another island for a few days next week, to visit at another maternity clinic. I tried to pay attention on the way back so hopefully I will be able to find it againJ Cecil’s elderly mother prepared food for me and DJ in their really poor hut, so we had to eat a little. It was good but I was a bit nervous cuz the kitchen was really poor and dirtyL But her mother was so sweet we couldn’t refuse her!
Each day something interesting happens! So much to try and keep you informed about! But I am trying my hardest!! For most of you its probably already too much info!! But I know there are a few, like my mom!! Lol, who really want to know everything!! I try to put up a few new pics on my blog site every time I email so if that’s all you want to see that’s cool too!
Thanks for all your responses!! I love it!!:) Miss you all!!!

My First Birth!!!

2008-07-25T00:07:00.000-07:00

My first birth!! The baby boy just minutes after being born!
I got to do his vitals and help with the neonatal exam!
It was hard work!! Can you see the sweat?? lol Gross!!
Mom and baby about 2 hours after the birth!! This is Ritchel the same lady I was doing a prenatal exam on the day before!! She's so sweet!!

Wow! What an exciting evening!! One of the pregnant ladies that we visited yesterday in the squatter area arrived at our place early this morning in labor. She had contractions all day and it was taking forever! I finally ventured out to the internet in the afternoon to send you all the email I wrote last night and then I hurried home so as not to miss anything! I was so hungry and when I got back we started cooking soup. It was going to be a few hours before it was readyL I went upstairs to do some reading and then they called me and said, “It’s time to push!” Ritchel wanted to sit on the birthing chair so she was in the squatting position. That is one of the easiest positions to give birth in. I got to wear a pair of sterile gloves and helped hold her leg during contractions. A few times she peed on us! It only took a few hard pushes and the head was out. I was praying like crazy cuz I didn’t see the baby moving or hear it breathing or anything and it seemed to take so long for the rest of the body to come out! I know the enemy is always out to kill, steal and destroy and I was not gonna let him have this baby without a fight! One more push and the body slid out and was laid on the mom’s tummy. The umbilical cord was clamped and cut and then the baby was handed to me!!!:) It was a little boy. If it had been a girl they said they would have named her after me!:) Awww! I wrapped the baby up and held him close and sang to him. He was covered in blood and slimeL But I didn’t care! It was so precious to hold this newborn baby!! He quieted right down as I sang to him and didn’t start crying again until we had to clamp and cut the cord about an inch from his belly button. But I sang to him again and he stoppedJ I wiped away as much blood and slime and then we gave him to his mom so he could start breast feeding. It took a few tries before he latched on but he was really hungry. If the placenta had not already come out, breast feeding encourages the placenta to come out but it also helps the uterus contract back. While the baby was breastfeeding I listened to his lungs and heart. He sounded healthy. I took his respirations and pulse. Then came the mean part of injecting him with Vitamin KL He didn’t like that. After a good bonding time with mom we did a newborn exam on him. He passed with flying colors! Such an incredible experience!! And she made it look pretty easy. People say that maybe I’ll change my mind about wanting to have kids after seeing this but I think it’s only made me want them more!! Just a few things missing for that tho!! Lol
The crazy thing bout tonight was, just after the baby was born, the thunder and lightening storm got so bad that it knocked out the power! It was so loud that I kept jumping every time there was a clap of thunder! It just added to the excitement of the evening. I enjoyed a cold shower in the dim candle light. Oh and then later, when I was dishing out some soup, I met the mouse as he jumped off the counter by my bowl down to the floor by my feet. I was so proud of myself cuz I didn’t scream or make any sound. I was perfectly calm!! But if he comes to my bed right now I think I will freak a little!! Lol Tomorrow we have to be up early to travel to another clinic to do prenatal exams so I’m gonna try to get some sleep. Might be kinda hard cuz its so muggy and hot!! Just wanted to share a bit of my eventful night with you while it was still fresh in my mind! Even tho I don’t think that I’ll be forgetting this night for a long, long time! Lol
Thanks for all your prayers!! Keep them coming cuz where this family lives, every day could be a struggle for the newborn baby and for the mom!!

The Squatters, Another slum, July 23, 2008

2008-07-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

This is Ritchel, she is due any day now! It was really easy to find and hear her baby's heart tone with the doppler.
Measuring her fundal height.
Mary Ann is in the middle with the yellow shirt on. She has been pregnant 6 times but lost one baby at 6 months gestation:( She didn't believe she was pregnant til she heard her baby's heart beat with the doppler!! Hopefully now she will stop drinking beer! The other lady, Chonchita, is her neighbor. She is 30 and this is her 4th pregnancy.
This made me laugh when I saw it!! I don't know if you can make it out but there are roosters under the rice! Chicken n Rice anyone??!! lol

Today we took a tricies, then a bus to a nearby slum area. They call it the squatters. So many families make shift homes in such a small area! It took some doing to find the lady that we were looking for. She is a first time patient of the midwives so this was the first time that they met her. Her name is Mary Ann and she is 30 years old. This is her 6th pregnancy!! She lost one baby at 6 months gestation but the other 4 are still alive and she is in her 19th week gestation with this pregnancy. We did a complete medical history, took her vital signs and tested her blood for anemia. I got to measure the fundal height and use the Doppler to hear the baby’s heart beat. She said that she didn’t really believe she was pregnant this time til she heard the heart beat and she has been drinking beer at parties. We strongly advised her to stay away from alcohol and gave her some prenatal vitamins to take. She was really friendly and even sent a neighbor to buy us soda and crackers to show her appreciation. She fed her 1 year old baby and 3 year old daughter orange soda too!! L DJ and I are planning to teach some parenting courses and nutrition and prenatal care are some of the topics we will cover. We are going to plan out the course and then go invite mothers from the slums to come to our place. Hopefully we will get a good turn out and that the ladies will take what we teach them to heart! While we were in this slum area we also did follow up visits with 3 other pregnant ladies. One of whom is due any day!! They are all so appreciative of the free care. Most would have no access to any prenatal care without the service of Mercy in Action! It is so important for these poor women to have regular prenatal check ups to catch high blood pressure and other serious complications and to detect any stress the baby may be in early enough so that a referral to the hospital could be made before its too late! Midwives, DJ and Imelda, are just beginning to become known among the poor areas here. Many pregnant ladies or their families are skeptical of the free care and are often advised to seek the services of a local witch doctor, called a Helo. But as the women start to talk of the good care, prenatal vitamins, and around the clock availability of the midwives here, their ministry is starting to grow. It was really touching today to be able to pray with all of the ladies. I really felt like a bond was startedJ I’m excited to get to know them more and be there when they have their babies! It’s so hard to play the waiting game! I now have a cell phone for emergencies so that if I’m out, DJ or Imelda can text when a pregnant woman comes here in labor!! It’s an experience that I don’t want to miss!! So it was another interesting day! And at the end of everyday I try to help DJ and Imelda with cooking dinner. They are trying to teach me a few new words in Tagalog each night. They always laugh at me as I try to pronounce them and get it wrong! The hardest one for me to say is: Do you need any help? Which is: Ka ee la ngan mo nang too long? We’ve laughed about this one for 3 days now!! But I’m determined to learn as much as I can!! And when I’m not learning Tagalog, I have my head buried in a Labor and Delivery textbook. I only have about 30 of such books to read in the 4 months I’m here before I go to the southern island!!
I know that I’ve probably been writing a bit much right now but don’t worry; it will probably get less and less!! The more familiar I become with the culture here and the more that I learn my way around, the less time I will have to write! Lol So enjoy it while you can! :P
So far I haven’t even been home sick or cried silently into my pillow!!:) Thanks so all of you that have responded to my emails. That helps a lot!! I miss you all!! And I can’t thank you enough for all of your continued support, encouragements and love!! Means so much!!
Love and Prayers,
Sherina

Manila, Philippines

2008-07-22T00:20:00.000-07:00

This is Rockell and her husband Ron. It's her second child and she is so appreciative of the care!
This is one of the alleyways we walked thru. They got a lot narrower and dirtier than this!! lol
This is the other lady who lives in the slum area that had a bad fire! They live in the charred ruins!!!

It is hot!! I actually slept pretty decently last night but I work up so lethargic because of the heat! I wetted my hair down but it dried so fast! DJ, my roommate, and I cleaned the upstairs room we are going to be sharing. I completely sweated thru my shirt! I have a double foam mattress on a wooden frame. I thought I was going to break it when I first sat on it! Lol We lugged my heavy bag upstairs and then I tried to unpack it! Lol But there is not really anywhere to put things. All my clothes are so wrinkled from being rolled up in Ziploc bags but there aren’t any hangers so I laid them all out on the back of a chair! More than half my stuff is still in my bed which I stuffed under the bed. The upstairs room is way hotter than downstairs!! DJ and Imelda, the midwives, are busy cleaning and cooking downstairs. I’ve asked them several times if I could help or if there is anything that I can do, but I think they prefer to do it themselves. Or maybe they think I won’t do it right! Lol Probably right! I think I’m gonna start having about a minimum of 3 showers a day! The cold showers feel so nice! They actually heat up water on the gas burner and have warm showers! I feel like I should be doing something useful right now but I guess it’s going to take more than a day to fit in! So maybe I’ll go ask again and if not I’ll take a shower! Lol
So I went back downstairs and it was lunch time. They teach me new words in Tagalog at mealtimes but unless I write them down I can never remember them! Lol My new words are fork, spoon, plate, cup, rice, rice accompaniment and delicious! Which are: tandori, kotchari, palot, basso, gainin, oolum, and masaram! I’ve already learned: how are you (Kumustaka), thank you (salamat) and tired (pogod). After lunch we went to do some house calls on pregnant ladies who are due any time! We walked to the nearby slums to check up on these ladies. We turned down an alley that was about a foot n a half wide, and trekked thru the garbage and sewer water that flowed thru the alley. It smelled great in there too! Lol Everyone we passed looked at me like I was crazy to be walking down there! After winding around on many alley ways, we called out at this door way and a neighbor let us into the house. It was very dark and the ‘house’ was about 6 feet by 6 feet. A mother, her 3 daughters 2 of their husbands and 4 soon to be 6 grandchildren live there! They were so appreciative that we had come! DJ and Imelda told them that I was one of their sponsors and that’s how they are able to receive this free prenatal care. The one pregnant girl seemed so young and it was her second! They were really shy but curious about me so they managed to ask me a few questions. The first one is how old are you and the second is are you married!! LOL Both answers seemed to shock them! They were probably barely 20!! I felt so privileged to have been welcomed into their home. It was so neat to see first hand the work that is being done by the midwives here! I’m excited to witness the birth of their babies and start a relationship with these womenJ The second lady that we visited lived a few blocks away in a part of the slums that had been burned a little while ago. 320 families that lived there had their homes burned down in a bad fire. This family still doesn’t have their home rebuilt and they live in the charred ruins!! It was quite shocking!! They have one bed with a matt and burned dresser. I’m not sure where they even cook. They have 2 children with another one due any day!! I couldn’t even imagine living in such a situation!! We took this lady’s blood pressure and listened to the baby’s heart beat. Her blood pressure and been up a bit last time and she was worried that DJ and Imelda might refer her to the hospital if it was still high. She was so happy that it was normal today! I have no idea how people live like that! I don’t think they have the money or means to rebuild their house. And now they are bringing another life into it! Breaks my heart! I wish there was more that I could do for them!! Its hard cuz the slums are everywhere here! But I believe that people that God brings across your path are the ones that you are meant to help! I’m just not quite sure what that’s going to look like right now. But I’m excited to make friends with these ladies and families!!:) Ahh!!:) I just had a nice, cold shower! Feels so much better! I’m going to do a bit of reading and then hopefully go to bed early. These births could happen at any time so you have to get rest when you can. I’ve got a lot of textbooks to read in the next few months and I’m trying to read up on labor and delivery as much as possible before the first one. I’ll try to put up the few pictures that I’ve taken of where I live, the alley ways and the 2 ladies.
Love you all!!!
Sherina

Random Photos from the Jungles

2007-12-28T11:38:00.000-08:00

Angkor Wat

2007-10-21T22:45:00.001-07:00

This is Ankgor Wat! There are over 100 temples there! It would take forever to see them all! These temples were built over 600 years.
This was one of the places that Indiana Jones was filmed. There were so many tourists there that it was hard to take pictures.
This was outside the local hospital there in Siem Reap. Dengue Fever is a day biting misquito and I got several bites while we were there so I really hope that I don't get it!!
Well in 2 days we are off to the remote villages until Nov 18. I probably won't be able to update this before then. Thanks for your continued prayers:) God Bless!!

Phnom Penh

2007-10-17T23:36:00.000-07:00

This is Vicki Penwell and I at our team dinner!! She is one of the most amazing people I have met!! She lives in the Philippines and has started midwife clinics and other health clinics in several countries! I would love to go and work with her!!
This is Jodi, Steph, me and Seang at the Khmer wedding we went to! Jodi was my roomate in Kona. Steph is one of my teammates from Hondurus. Seang was my translator last time I was in Cambodia, when I was in the town of Battambang. He came down for the wedding and it was such a nice surprise to see him!!!
This is Kom Saut!! He is an AIDS orphan at the AIDS hospital that we went to. He was so serious the first day we were there, but the next day I got a few smiles out of him and the last day he was laughing!! He is so sweet!! It broke my heart to leave him!! I want to take him home!! But AIDS children are not allowed to be adopted outside of Cambodia:( See you in heaven, Kom Saut!!:)
I went to see the Killing Fields this week! That was emotionally heavy!! But it is essential to understand what the Cambodian people went through in the past! This is a picture of the many, many heads that were uncovered in the mass graves from the people that the Khmer Rouge killed!! Now the majority (about 80%) of Cambodians are under the age of 30 because 30 years ago, the Khmer Rouge tried to kill off most of the people! They especially targeted those that were educated! Cambodia continues to struggle to rebuild it's economy. The children and youth are the future of Cambodia and many of them do not even have enough food to eat each day!!
On our way to one of the orphanages we worked at we would have to take a ferry accross the river and we would pass this floating village. The river rises about 12m every rainy season but these people's homes float so they don't flood like many of the other homes!! There were also whole villages of 'house boats'!! So many of the people live in such extreme poverty! Now that our official training is done, we are focusing on providing health care to those who don't have access to it. This often involves doing teachings on basic life saving things such as hand washing, oral rehydration solution to prevent deaths from diarrhea and dehydration, (the solution is just water, sugar and salt!!) and breastfeeding! People in Cambodia have traditions that they have been practicing for generations that are often quite harmful. One of the latest ones I learned about, from the director of a hospital we have been working at, was discribed to me as the 'baking mom'!! In the villages, right after a woman has had a baby, they build a fire under the stilts the house is on so that the heat and smoke from the fire go through the wooden slat floor boards and cook the mom! They get this idea from the concept of when you cook meat it stops bleeding!! In reality, the woman's temperature rises which increases her heartrate and makes her pump out more blood!! Also, the baby often dies because it cannot fight the heat and the smoke to breast feed! This is just one of the ideas in the villages here in Cambodia that is increasing the mother and baby mortality rate!! It is so sad!! As we are preparing to leave for the villages next week, I am wondering what other things we will encounter! I don't think there will be internet access there, but I will update this as soon as I can! Some prayer requests for the next few days and weeks would be: for safe travels as we take a bus up to Siam Reap to see Angkor Wat and then back to Phnom Penh, for team unity and health, and safe travels up to the province of Ritana Kiri and around to the 20 some villages we may treck to when we are there, also for protection because some of the local people in the church up there are being persucuted for their faith. I am really excited to be going to the villages!:) I pray that God opens the doors to go to all the places he wants us to go to and that those we meet see his love through us! Love and Prayers, Sherina!!! :)

Cambodia

2007-10-04T03:47:00.000-07:00

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

My Last Week in Hawaii :(

2007-09-16T11:43:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that I will be leaving Hawaii in less than 3 days!! The past 3 months have just flown by! I am really excited to be able to come home for 4 days!! I hope that I can see as many of you as possible! My plan is to be at Pacific Community Church on Sunday Sept 23.
This last week of school has been really, really intense and stressful, but I have learned so much! We had an EMT from Seattle area teach us about Emergency Medical Treatment. Several times a day during the teaching lectures, there would be people screaming and we would hear loud sounds and have to rush outside to find some people bleeding and badly hurt! I have to applaud our patients and the make up team, because they did such a realistic job! I think my heart rate has been double for this whole week!! The last scene we had was a 2 car accident with 7 casualties! It was so realistic that we had a huge crowd of bystanders and a nurse who rushed over from a nearby apartment building. Our staff had tried to warn as many people as possible without any of us students finding out about it. We had to do triage, treatment and transport for all of the casualties. They had even called 911 to let them know that they were doing a 'mock' accident because apparently they get called every year!! This week was so intense that many of us resorted to tears! We understood why our teacher came a day early and took us out on a fun boating adventure to go snorkeling and bond with us! And that day of snorkeling was probably one of our funnest days here! But during the week, we sure learned how to work under pressure!! So even though I have learned so much at this school, I still feel that there is so much more to learn! I am excited to be able to use what I do know to help people in Cambodia and Thailand. I am flying to Cambodia by myself :( on Sunday Sept 23! We have recently learned that in one of the remote northern provinces of Cambodia, where we will be going, they are have just started to persecute the Christians there for their faith! If you can pray for us that we would still be able to impact those whom God has for us there and that he will protect us and keep us safe! There is still a possibility that we may go to Myanmar (Burma) which is a lot more dangerous, so just pray that God opens the door for that if it's his will. Several of my team members have been feeling sick this week:( Jessica has a respiratory infection so pray that God heals her quickly!! One of my staff, Tom, has flown back to the mainland to be with his sister as she has surgery for cancer. He is planning on rejoining us in Cambodia. Pray that God uses this time to restore their relationship and that he restores Tom's sister to himself! Our school leader Freidhelm's mom is dying of cancer in Germany and he is still torn between coming to Cambodia or going home to Germany to be with his mom. Freidhelm is currently at a big YWAM health care conference in India with another one of our staff. Pray for clear decision for Freidhelm and for his mom's healing and relationship with God. My roommate Jodi has suffered from migraine headaches for 10 years. Last week during a counseling session here on campus, she felt God delivered her from those headaches!!! But since then has been suffering from mild headaches everyday so we are praying for her complete deliverance!! Also pray for continued unity among our team that we may go out full of God's love!!:) Thank you so much for all your continued support, encouragement, prayers and love!! I am attempting to add some pictures from this week of the day snorkeling and also the traumas we experienced in class. Hope to see many of you later this week!! Love you!!!

My Second Month

2007-09-04T01:04:00.000-07:00

Well August has just flown by! I've been so busy and computers and me don't get along very well so the few times that I have started to update this my computer has decided to act up!! Not my fault at all I am sure!! lol :P We have learned so many things in the last month that I am not sure that I can remember them all!! One of the main focuses was nutrition and the different types of malnutrition. We learned how to use a mix chart with staple foods such as rice, maize or potatoes and mix that with beans or eggs or sweet potatoes etc to make a complete protein. We studied some of the common deficiencies in Cambodia especially and what foods were available there that the people could eat to prevent those deficiencies. One of my favorite weeks was last week. We had a lady teaching us on how to do teachings in the villages. We weren't allowed to bring our laptops to class or switch on the AC and we had to do group presentations in village style settings. All week we had to sit and study on the floor! This teacher even made me cry with some of the tough questions she made us ponder but she ended up being one of my favorites and one that challenged me and made me think about some really hard issues! My group presentation was on breastfeeding. We talked about the importance of breastfeeding for the baby and the mother and why, especially the importance of giving the baby the first breast milk-the colostrum. In many cultures this is not done. This last week brought together our teachings on world view, cultures and some of the key issues we had been studying and how to present that in a village setting! It was really hands on and useful and we know have a valuable teaching to take with us to Cambodia.
The last few weeks there have been a few changes to our team. Our teammate and roommate, Jenni, went home so know we are down to 9 students and only 3 people in my room. It was hard to say goodbye to her and there were lots of tears! Funny thing is that her flight got cancelled and the airlines put her up for 2 nights in the Hilton hotel!! It is one of the most expensive hotels on the island!! (I think its like $500/night!) A few of us girls borrowed a car and drove out to spend the day with her! It was so much fun enjoying there beautiful beach and snorkeling! A wonderful last day with Jenni! We also lost 2 of our staff a month early because they had a huge conference to go to in India!! We are missing them but know that it is important for them to be there!! Another staff, Tom, might be leaving soon to go look after his aging sister who just got diagnosed with a late stage of breast cancer:( We will be so sad to see him go but understand the need for him to be with his sister. We are praying for her healing and would appreciate your prayers too! Her name is Kathy. Tom would then try to meet up with us in Cambodia as soon as he was able while his wife stayed with us. We are really praying that he does not have to go!! Tom's wife Cindy is my small group leader and I have had some dinners and talks with them and they are so wonderful!! I think that God has amazing plans for us in Cambodia and the enemy is trying to distract from that so please pray for this!!

I have not felt as tired this last week, (other than the day I stayed up til 2am doing my presentation!! lol), and have not gotten seriously sick other than 1 migraine headache, so that is very good!! Most of my teammates and staff have gotten sick with stomach problems and diarrhea:( I would really appreciate your continued prayers for my health especially as we head to Cambodia!!
The first week I was here on of the staff mentioned that one of our teachers would be the school leader of a midwife school in the Philippines. My heart started racing as soon as I heard about that program!! We will not be receiving this teaching from her until we are in Cambodia and I was just going to wait and talk with the teacher then about the midwife school, but my roommate Jodi, who is also very interested in the program, ended up looking it up online and found out that we only have a few weeks left to apply for the next school which starts in March!!! So we have both emailed for application forms to be sent to us and are anxiously awaiting the reply!! 2 years is at times sounding like a long time to me especially when I would love to get married and have a family, but if its what God is calling me to-I want to do it!!! This program that we are inquiring about is 2 years in the Philippines. It gives you the certification to deliver babies in North America. It is primarily based out of a hospital that delivers about 1,500 babies a year!! I am really excited about the prospect of getting this training! Mothers and babies are so close to my heart and I would love to be able to make a difference in the number of mothers and babies that die from preventable deaths!!:( Please pray for me about this as it would be a big commitment for me!!

My outreach fees for going to Cambodia and Thailand are due next week!!! As of the moment I still owe over $3,000!! (American:( I know this is where God wants me to be right now so I am willing to put this on my creditcard and try to pay it off when I come home but I would really rather not have to do this! If any of you feel it on your heart to partner with me in sharing God's love in a practical way with the poor and needy, I would soooooooo appreciate it!! You can send a check to my parents home address (they prefer it not be posted on this site as anyone can read it, but email me or contact them and we can get that too you!:) Or you can send a check to:

Sherina Tatum #388

University of the Nations

75-5851 Kuakini Highway

Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

96740-2199 USA

I will be home for 3 days!!! Sept 19 until Sept 23. I am in one of my friends weddings so I will be very busy but I would love to see as many of you as possible!! I will be at church, PCC, on Sunday Sept 23 before I leave. Feel free to email me as well if you would like to see me and I will see what I can do!! (Or if you want to give me money!! lol I am getting desperate!! lol:P)

My email address is: sherinatatum@hotmail.com

Thank you so much for reading this!! I'm sorry it took me so long to do this update!!:( I love you all and miss you all!!! Thank you for your prayers, support and encourament!!

My First Month In Primary Health School!!

2007-07-27T19:59:00.000-07:00

Well, school has been so intense that it has taken me until now just to create this blog! I've never done this before so I hope it turns out.

This is a picture of all of the students and staff in my school. We are quite a small school but that has enabled us to bond very quickly. I really like all my classmates and the staff.

All of us students have the breakfast work duty so we get up between 4:30 and 4:45am Monday through Friday to make breakfast for the whole campus which is only about 300 people. I'm finding it hard to get up so early and with all the homework and evening meetings it is also hard to get to bed early enough so I am very tired!!

We have covered many topics in school so far. I'm finding the school very interesting but there is so much information coming at us each week that I can't retain it all! So far in the 3 weeks of classes we have covered the following topics:

Water & Sanitation where we learned how many preventable deaths there are from water and sanitation issues as well as different ways to make a water filter.

We learned the 8 Keys to Primary Health Care

We learned about the main diseases which affect developing countries which are:

Malaria, Polio, Tetanus, TB, Pneumonia, Typhoid, Pertusis, Diphtheria, Mealses, and more!

We learned how to recognize them and ways to treat and prevent them.

We have learned the anatomical names for parts of the body and Greek and Latin Medical Terminology such as gastrectomy, thrombophlebitis, and epigastrium to name a few!

We've had a crash course on Pharmacology which entailed knowing the generic names for drugs, dosages, ways of administering the meds, side effects, and contraindications.

We learned about different world views such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Voodoo, Wicca, Communism, Islam, Basic Gnosticism and Biblical. We learned how each religion views a man, the universe, god, nature, history and death. We also learned how to see lasting change in a community and culture and how to work along side the people and get the most information about their village and way of life.

We have also learned about massage, and pregnancy, and child growth and development.

We have extensively studied the muscular system, skeletal system, the eye, ear and respiratory system. We can recognize, treat and prevent many common illness found in these areas.

We all have stethoscopes, and blood pressure cuffs and ear, nose and throat lights and know how to recognize a normal eye, ear and throat as well as the signs of most common diseases.

We can take your respirations, heart beat and blood pressure.

We have extensively studied about dehydration, malnutrition and diarrhea. We can instruct on how to make re hydration solutions and how to care for wounds.

I feel like I am leaving out so much of the stuff that we have learned but I know by know that most of you probably aren't still reading this anyways!!! This is just to give you an idea of the intensity of the program!! Every weekend we have a test on all the information from that week. We also have book reports due, presentations, homework assignments, and personal journals that are read by our small group leaders.

My average week goes like this:

Wake up at 4:30, get ready for the day.

Work duty from about 5:20-7:40. Back to the room to change and pack all my school stuff. Hike down to the bottom of the campus (about 7 mins straight down 90 some stairs!)

We have worship, intercession, devotionals, or Bible study from 8-9.

Then from 9-noonish we have class. Lunch is usually about 40mins, then back to class til 3 or 3:30. Then hike back up the 90 some stairs, go to our room, study, go to dinner, study more, and go to bed, usually around 10 of 11!

On the weekends there is cleaning, church, homework, studying, test writing, and journals.

I have only been to a beach twice!:( I don't even have very much of a tan, one cuz at 3 when we get out of class it is already cloudy and preparing to rain, and two cuz we don't have time!!

I am loving everything that I am learning but it does get a bit overwhelming!!

If you think of me I could really use prayer for sleeping more, and continued health as many of the students have been sick with different things. Also one of my classmates still needs money for school and the deadline is next week!! I too will need to raise some more money for the outreach part of this program. I think I still need just over $6,000!!! Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and for your prayers and support! It has got me through some tough times here but I know this is where God wants me and it is so worth it!!!