6/21 - Langan

Got up at 5 am under the mosquito net, and after showering, we all ate a delicious breakfast of Rice, Ampalaya (bitter gourd) & eggs, plus the treasured '3-in-1 coffee'.

Looking down from the top floor of Ate´s house-steep stairs!!

I love their Christmas Decor....and aren't the curtains lovely?

Breakfast Table

This is how they keep flies from the food that is not refrigerated.

A Buchid toilet. You dump the water into the 'Squatty Potty', & it flushes by the pressure.

A Buchid Shower

Jordan & Christina

Mary or more affectionately "Mother Duck"

We visited the school, and watched Maribel teach her Kindergarteners....

Maribel's Class (see the moms helping their kids??? Isn't that sweet?)

Maribel teaching 

A Rooster - isn't he pretty?

Filipinos love shoes....guess they're just like us!!! :)

We Left Ate' Mary Jean's house at approximately 9 am, and arrived at the first village: Langan, at approximately 11 am, via MotorBike!! I rode on the very back this time, & at first it was quite interesting-especially when we went over bumps, but after a while, I got the hang of it, & could relax (good thing, since I was on it over 2 hours!!)

Ate ´Jane's brother - one of our drivers

Genevive & her baby - all decked out for the ride!! 

Rice Fields

This picture was taken 1/2 hr. into the drive: Looking at where we're going (one of the back mountain ranges) 

A deep pit/cave on the side of the road (pic doesn't do it justice!!

You can't really see the ducks, but the Natives made ducks out of materials, & put them on poles, lining their whole village. If you look very closely, you can see them on both sides.

Beautiful Waterfall (Pic does NOT do it justice!!)

Goats and Kids!!! (I so want to milk one!!!) 

Looking back at where we came from: we did a semi-circle in the mountains 

Unfortunately, the Bike with the luggage on it got a flat tire, and so they got there around 12 pm. Since there was nothing for the rest of us to do, we all slept --off and on-- at our Host's house until 1:30 pm, when lunch was served: containing Rice, Pankit (noodles and vegetables), and Bananas.

Genivive and Baby

Bananas (the ones that are missing - we ate :D)

At 2:15, we started the 'Clinic'. First though, there was Welcome and 'Introductions'. The way 'Introductions' worked, is that each person was asked to give their name:

(ako si Sarah = my name is/I am Sarah),

age, and marital status. Then, after we stated them, Ate' would repeat them in Minobo, with such inflection, we just KNEW what was being said!! (something to the effect of "This is Sarah, she is 18!! - can you believe it??? - and guess what??? She's SINGLE!!! Did ya'll hear that???" Of course, the crowd of all ages went ballistic as each girl was introduced.... :) Ah well, the joys of being a single girl!!  "≠"

The place we conducted our Teachings & Prenatals

The crowd of people (even the men showed up for this unusual event!!

Ate´and Gen preparing for everything

 After the introductions, we conducted 2 health teachings skits: Filipinos love 'Drama'. The first skit was on Basic Sanitation, and we acted it out, as if it were a day, with Christina as the Mom, Jordan as the Dad, me as the Kid, and Mary as the Translator. We started and ended it with getting up/going to bed, the important highlights were: Teeth Brushing, Washing Mattresses/Bedding, and Hand Washing (to the tune of Happy Birthday). Afterwards, we asked for volunteers to wash their hands with us.

The 2nd one we did was on Danger Signs in Pregnancy. Jordan and I took turns in acting as pregnant women with - Preeclampsia, Edema (me), Anemia (me), Fetal movement, and Fever. The Filipinos really enjoyed that. :)

Buntas (pregnant) Jordan being checked for a fever

Buntas Sarah - being checked for Anemia

What a belly!!! :)

We then conducted the Prenatals, Baby Checks, Checkups, and Vaccinations. Since Jordan and I are limited in our Visayan, we did an essembly line process: First, Jordan and I did all the vitals (b/p, fundal height, FHT, etc.), as well as some charting. Then, Christina would take their history, ask any questions, etc. & then they'd go to Mary, who made sure that all their needs were taken care of before they were dismissed. Ate´ and Genivive did baby checks, checkups, and gave vaccinations.

Jordan conducting a Prenatal Exam

Children LOVE pictures....actually, everyone does!! They BEG for them!!!

The Ulitawo 'guarding'  the building.....yeah right!!! ;p (PS. They ASKED for this picture to be taken!) 

A sweet buntas couple who asked for their picture to be taken

The Village Health Worker

During the middle of our examinations, it started raining, & by the end, it was raining really hard. All of us took turns taking showers at the Health Worker's home (where we stayed the night). The shower was located out in the CR (comfort room or bathroom). They actually had "running water"!!!

Actual Running Water!! How cool is that??

Ate´ preparing the mats for bed

Ate dinner at 7:30pm, after preparing the mats for bed. We had Rice, Chicken, Veggies, and a Fried, Breaded, Eggy Eggplant Dish!!!

The electricity (rare) that they had went out, & the generator wasn't being reliable, so we ate by candle light. Isn't it neat??

While preparing for bed, Christina & I looked over at the wall, to find a nose peeking through!! It was a rat!! I wanted to take a picture of it, but it didn't look thru again...too cool!! (Though, of course, you can imagine what we thought about the rest of the night!!!) LOL