One of the ways we care for our children at the little children's home is by providing an opportunity for caregiving students to do their practicum with us before they go overseas to work. This provides our children with extra love and attention. (This is Senon checking out the water from the walk way.)

One of these students, Alan, invited us to their family resort this week in Binangonan. All of the older children went, as well as a few of the neighborhood children and some of our staff's family.

It's so very important for our children to have these kinds of outings, exploring the larger world and learning to be comfortable in different kinds of surroundings. (Here Nika's just getting used to being in the water.)

Camiguin Island is five hours off the far, northern coast of Luzon (the main island of the Philippines, where we live), on a little banca--a dugout boat with outriggers. From September through February you watch the skies carefully for maybe one day in a week when it's safe enough to make the crossing. And it's from there that three courageous community healthcare workers have come to learn midwifery at Shiphrah (Exodus 1) Birthing Home.

At six o'clock this morning, Jing (seen above), Helen, and Carol attended a birth with Lornie, who was their midwife instructor. Alathea is the first girl in a family of four boys. Her parents had promised their good friends, who have been married for 15 years and have no children, that if they gave birth to another boy they would gift him to them.

Jovina was divided during the birth: truly, she wanted to bless her friends with a child, but she did not want to give up her child either. She had come think they wouldn't have another girl because their second child had been a girl, and then died after three months.

When Alathea was born, it was sheer wonder. They had not even prepared a name, and had only a few clothes on hand -- because in their minds, this was not their child. Amazingly to me, along with being delighted to receive the gift of a daughter, Jovina was also sad for her friends. We had the wonderful opportunity to talk to them about the possibility of adoption for their friends. The Philippine government is developing an excellent program to help local families adopt.

What Carol, Jing and Helen will learn about midwifery here will only be written on the margins a textbook. But they will go back to their island much better equipped to serve the surprising needs of the families there.

Brian Zimmerman is well on his way to becoming an Eagle Scout. He contacted us a while ago asking if there was a project he could undertake to help Shiphrah (Exodus 1) Birthing Home.

One of the things we do a lot of is receiving donations and supplies that will be distributed to people in need. But we often struggle to store them safely and in an orderly manner. We suggested he could build a shelving space that would help us better meet the needs of the families we serve.

He headed it up, coordinating cooperation by other scouts, and his dad, Daryl, came out with him today to finish the assembly at the home. It looks great, and it's going to be a really big help. Good job, Brian.

Rey

Rey Cunanan served as HELP Mission Driver for 11 years. He died from liver cancer on Thursday, April 17. He would have still been our driver had
he not lost a foot to diabetes.

He began his driving career driving the
family jeepney in Manila when fares were measured in centavos rather than pesos. There was not an inch of the city he didn't know. When on an emergency transport, facing blocked traffic, he found open side streets and alleys that boggled the mind. The midwives trusted him implicitly and
knew when Rey was at the wheel, everything was going to be OK.

Rey was well-known to our tlc families. Speaking excellent English and comfortable with foreigners, he helped squire many a family to InterCountry Adoption Board, various Embassies, and on sightseeing trips around Antipolo and Manila. He had a wonderful way of welcoming people and making them feel at home. If he wasn't helping new families, driving birthing home transports, Rey was taking tlc kids to schools, to doctor appointments, to embassies for visas, to immunizations, and a whole host of other day-to-day
things that one does in the day of a life of a mission.

He loved both people and animals. He was the life of any party; screamingly funny, outrageously ribald on occasion. He graced one of the mission Christmas parties dolled up as a hip-swinging, belly undulating exotic dancer. Dennis introduced him as Miss Rizalia, or something crazy like that. Brought the house down. Give him a karaoke and he was set for the duration.

Rey's home was a veritable zoo. In the entrance was a huge fish tank,
sporting several varieties of very big fish. Hanging from the
trees were a number cages of birds. He had the usual
compliment of dogs and cats, but, also a couple
of most interesting chickens that were more dog than
chicken. They would toddle after Rey, waiting at the door
patiently until he came out of the house.

He had a special friendship with tlc washlady, Lucy. And, it was particularly Lucy that he asked to see in, what turned out to be his final moments. The photo of he and Lucy was the occasion of Lucy's 20th anniversary as a HELP mission worker. She is weeping as she has just looked at the artificial foot that Rey had as a result of the amputation. They were dear friends.

Rey is survived by his wife of many, many years, Gennie, three daughters, two sons, and several grandchildren as well as siblings.

Even after he retired, Rey stayed in touch with the mission. We were always guests at his birthday parties, his children's and grandchildren's birthdays and baptisms.

We will miss you, Rey. Neither heaven nor earth will be quite the same.

Orienting to Serve at Shiphrah

For the past two years Shiphrah Birthing Home has joined with
St. Paul University's School of Nursing to provide a place where
their students could gain real, hands-on maternal care experience.
It has been and continues to be a thoroughly delightful relationship.

St. Paul's students come from a far higher social strata than
do the women we serve at Shiphrah. To orient them to
consider how they will need to relate to the women we serve,
to accord the women the dignity and respect of real
personhood in an environment of sheer hospitality, we've
created a learning session that is not unlike our learning
sessions with our "buntis"(expectant moms).

Learning needs to be fun and so we begin to build relationships with a game called "Fruit Salad", a variation of Musical Chairs. Students were scrambling fast to not be done out of a chair.


Next, we move into a more serious vein, working with an image we call "The Paanakan Woman". We ask the students to simply describe what they see, reflect on what her struggles might be, the meaning of what they have described, and most importantly, what they have in common with her. It is always a revealing discussion, both for the students and for us.


We wrap up the orientation with the students creating and then sharing a skit in which they are to show us how they will welcome a woman who comes to the Birthing Home. It's a lot of laughter interlaced with just a wee bit of seriousness and often an amazing amount of speedily developed creativity.

Full Circle

As a parent of grown children, there is nothing better than the sense of satisfied wholeness that floods the heart when your children return home to visit. A similar sense of completion ensues when tlc families return home after many years to visit the birth country of their
children, to visit their roots at the little children's home.


These past two weeks we welcomed two wonderful returning families; from Norway the Fossey-Sandbakks with Jonas, Jostein and Maria Ellaine, all tlc kids, and son Daniel. They brought beautiful pictures of their lives in Norway, sports, friends,
mountains, family, and snow!













And from the Netherlands, the Bettink family bringing their son Samuel who had been with us at tlc nine years ago. Also with them was son Bryan from another home in the Philippines. They are on their way to Leyte to pick up their new daughter.




On both of these happy occasions we shared lunch in our home as we had so many years ago when all of our kids were younger and some, grandsons Aubrey and Auden
weren't yet born.

A Shiphrah Morning

Welcome to a typical morning at Shiphrah Birthing Home. Women begin to arrive for
the Childbirth and Motherhood classes sometimes as early as 7 am.

Shiphrah Home Manager, Helen leads her "Cheeky Girls" exercise session. It wakes us all up...gets the blood flowing and best of all, brings smiles.





Each class is a response to questions the women have asked at the beginning of the course. In these pictures, you're seeing our class on Childbirth. In the skit, we're answering the questions that the women have asked earlier. I play the mother-in-law who is full of superstitious beliefs which reflect many of the women's questions. Helen is the pregnant mom, and midwives Lornie and Bhel play the parts of the midwife and the husband respectively.








Following the class we move inside. New women are interviewed, a practical welcome to Shiphrah during which we can begin our care and friendship.










For ladies who have prenatals scheduled, it's weights and measures time.














Natalie is a missionary studying to become a midwife. All of our midwives serve as instructors.
Dina is the teacher on this day.









Meriendas (snacks) are sold by some of our former "buntis" (pregnants)and friends. The fishball vendor pushes his "meals on wheels" up the hill every prenatal day. He does a brisk business.



Morning at Shiphrah. Mothers, babies, families.

X-Tra Special Kids

Francis is our first X-tra Special Kid.
He has glomerulonephritis - kidney
disease. We met Francis when he was 2
and in a charity hospital with a huge foot
wound that would not heal. With the help
of the U.S. Embassy Club, American Women's
Club and many others, we were able to get
needed surgery and, in the early days, help
with frequent hospitalizations for Francis. His kidneys are fairly stable
and now, 11years later, he leads a pretty normal life with
minimal help. Without huge help in those early two
or three years, Francis would not have survived. In the picture,
he's with his mom, Annie, and his baby sister, Pauline. His
Dad, Roger, works as a taxi driver. Francis
loves to draw and hopes to be an engineer someday.



Twins Grace and Mercy have been our X-tra Special Kids
for the past 5 years. Now 14, they were diagnosed with
lupus....Systemic lupus erythmatosus...SLE when they were
only 9. Many around the world have helped us stand with
their family to help with the impossible costs of care. Their
father works as a janitor for less than $100 a month. Their
mom sells vegetables door-to-door for $2 a day. These are
good people.
Recently Grace was admitted to a medical study program
that will pay for her medical costs.We are waiting for news
of Mercy's acceptance. We will continue to help with the transportation to get the girls' to their treatments. I'm including two photos, one, when we first met the twins, and the most recent, with their mom, Letty. Grace is always on the left and Mercy is always on the right.

Carmina (Carmi) Macaventa is our neighbor. She is 16 and
will be graduating from high school this year with honors. A
wonderful girl, Carmi has dreams of going on to college and
becoming a businesswoman. She spends hours at our kitchen
table working on her homework with her best friend, Jhing,
our cook, Belen's daughter. All those dreams are now in question.
Carmi was diagnosed with retinal pigmentosa right after Christmas.
She will be blind before she is 25. We are determined to walk
with Carmi and her family, finding ways for her to go on to
college, fulfilling her dreams. Her dad is a tiler and her mom
a homemaker. They have very little income, but are, again,
great people. We celebrate New Year's together every year as we
gather in the street that runs in front of our homes and welcome
in the New Year with all sorts of rockets, firecrackers, and sparklers.
She is our newest X-tra Special Kid.

Edith

Edith retired early this month. Besides
being a careworker, Edith is a pastor. As a pastor, she
has held her share of sick children while they slept in her arms,
changed endless diapers, helped with the mountains of
laundry and painstakingly mended,sometimes late into
the night, well-worn baby clothes to make sure
our tlc little ones always looked their best.



She saw the care of the children as her pastoral calling for 17 years she has worked at the little
children's home. Just after the first of the year
we bade Edith a very fond farewell. God speed, Edith.
Well done, good and faithful servant.