Sixty Days of Service: Arrival!

Hello Everyone!
I arrived in Davao yesterday (Thursday)! It was a long flight and I was probably awake 48 hrs before I ever went to bed. We were welcomed by the missionaries with a nice breakfast and then began orientation. They tried to keep us up all day so that we would get on the correct sleep schedule. We also went to the mall to pick up a few things we would need. If you imagine traffic in Mexico that is what our voyage to the mall was like. Then in the mall it was about the same. The mall looked like shopping for gifts the day before Christmas. People were everywhere and there is not really a personal bubble rule. It was quite the experience and by the time we picked up the 3 items we needed we were exhausted and ready for bed. We all got about 12 hours.

Our living conditions are pretty good. The girls just moved out of their dorms and got two houses. Both houses are in a gated/guarded community. Each house is also gated. They are very warm but we have a lot of fans going. We will cook supper together every night and breakfast and lunch are on our own. We are very lucky and will have a Filipino cook come in on Mon, Wed, and Friday to cook us supper due to the students rigorous schedules.

Today we started our day around 8am with a little more orientation. We walked to the clinic and saw where we would be volunteering. We will be working an 8-12hr shift three days a week followed by a day off then beginning again. We usually work a morning, afternoon, night then off a day. The clinic provides prenatal check ups, labor and delivery, and infant check ups. The clinic also does outreach teaching and travel into small communities to teach several topics. Most of the students here are finishing up their first or second year. Those who are finishing their first year will be leaving the country to take a mandatory one month break. Those who are graduating our finishing up time in the clinic and studying hard for their boards back in the states.

Tomorrow I will be shadowing a shift at the clinic and will start my first day on Monday. There is a process to be able to catch a baby I am working towards. First I need to watch 5-10 births. Second I will be charting 5 births. Third I will be assisting with 10 births and when the staff feels I am ready I will catch the baby on my own. The clinic is run under Filipino midwives with the assistance of the American missionaries. The missionaries are more in charge of the curriculum aspect of the midwifery school. They too work several shifts a week in the clinic supervising the students.
This clinic is well known in the city because there is so much poverty. Patients only are charged for the supplies needed during the delivery. Examples would be IV's, pitocin or vit K shots. Of course no one is turned away and exceptions are graciously given. To put everything into perspective a newborn should have a Hep B shot right away when they are born. In the Philippines it costs about $7 USD. The problem is that most of the clients at the clinic only make 80-100$ per month.

Fun Fact for the day:
Iowa does not have humidity I promise.

That's all I have for today. I'm sure I will have more details about the clinic throughout this week and I will give you more details about the culture in the next post. Let me know if you have questions.
Thanks!
-Kelsey