Need a Good Laugh?

Some of my pictures from the mission trip to the Philippines don't exactly have a complete story behind them, or maybe it is too long to tell.  Some of them say it all.

This was a bakery that we stopped at to pick up treats to take home.  Very famous in the PH, 

it is over 100 years old.

 This was at the last banquet in Cebu.  Tita Tess, me, and Yvonne.  Bernard had beautifully done Tess' makeup, (he is kind of a professional), and she looked about 25.

Looks like Christine did have her camera available to photograph me during the lizard eradication experience.  I think I referred to myself as being pretty tough.  How tough does that look to you?

The banquet after the lizard experience.  There was live 60's music from The Flat Tires.  

It was awesome!

Do.  Not.  Ask.

Okay, if you are Filipino, you already know.  

Dang it.  I can't stand it.  I have to tell you.  Apparently, these eggs are a delicacy in the Philippines.  Seems like they were duck, not chicken eggs.  They have a tiny, partially developed fetus inside.  You are supposed to drink the liquid ("It's loaded with protein, Liz!") and quickly consume the 'whatever it is' inside.  They said, "don't chew because you won't like the bones."  

--  Absolutely not.  Not even maybe.  NO.  --

But they went and got these especially for me to try.  I graciously thanked them, and if I offended anyone, I am truly sorry.  I assured them that it would look and be a whole lot funnier going down than it would coming back up.  Plus, how did everyone think I had stayed so healthy this far along in the trip?  It was by not doing things like this!  They found three other volunteers.  That was very lucky, because I had no problem watching surgery, blood and whatever else all day long, but something about consuming 'whatever that was', made me a bit nauseated just thinking about it.  I could barely watch the others do it.  Christine was a rock star.  She did it and never even flinched.  Tough woman.

Dancing at banquet.  I am absent because someone had to get this on video! 

For the newbies --

Click the triangle in the center to play the video.  

Click the squarish symbol on the bottom right to expand for more excitement.

Kinda hard to keep it from blurring when these kids were moving so fast!

The guy in the orange pants came with the disc jockey group.  I thought it was a brilliant idea to bring along a fun dancer to get the party started and get people out on the dance floor.

Believe it or not, I still have more pictures... and more stories to tell.  Mañana!

Need a Good Laugh?

End Is In Sight...

These were some of our last views of Bogo City and Cebu.

Many areas were cleaned and picked up, but it was such a large and devastating storm, it's going to be ongoing for quite some time.

Wow, we had such a wonderful group!  I can't even find the words to tell you how great these people are!  Front, Vicki (nurse), Irma (nurse), Dr. Lillian, and Dr. Yvonne -- back, Vanessa (nurse) and semi-eye-doctor Ted.  Okay, seriously, Ted is a businessman from Atlanta.

You knew it was coming... the daily picture of Luz, and her daughter, Samantha.

Some of the "cool kids", Samantha and Rommel.  :)

These kind of "squat-down-in-the-hall-and-have-a-meeting" events occurred several times in several areas every day.  There were always unforeseen circumstances, or last minute changes in the day's schedule.

Dr. Christine brilliantly used her flashlight app on her telephone to see in patients' throats.  There was lots of improvisation.  Imaginations were stretched.

On the last night in Bogo City, we were special guests at a grand opening of a new vacation resort.  It was well attended by the locals, and our small group thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  There was an exciting sky lantern launching.  It represents good luck and prosperity, and everyone is to make a wish as the lanterns are released.  

The pictures were impossible to get clearly in the dark, but you can get the idea.  Most everyone was a rookie.  Several of these lanterns caught fire before they even left the ground.  It was lucky that no one suffered any burns.

Samantha, in her pursuit of medical school, was invited by one of the surgeons, Dr. Fred, to assist in surgeries on the last day.  I wasn't able to capture everything she did with my camera, but I saw her work in hernia surgeries and several different kinds of cyst removals.   She was in the operating room most of the day, and I am pretty sure they would have dismissed her if she was in the way or no help.  Lucky girl.

Using steady hands, she must have impressed her mentors, because they let her participate in so many different ways.  I was really happy for her!  We're nearing the end of the road.  I think about this trip everyday.  I wish I was there, or anywhere, doing this again and again.

End Is In Sight...

By Now, Well Acquainted

Did I show you how much our group decreased in size when we went to the island of Cebu?  Well, there were 21, but here are about 2/3rds of us.  I see several faces missing.  I will try and track them down...

Upon arrival in Cebu, we were met by the local entertainment, Bernard.  He thought he was hilarious holding up this sign for us, like we wouldn't be able to pick him out of a crowd!  lol!  Notice how obedient he was to stay behind the green line (barely).  There was a bit of confusion, so he had to meet us there by flying over on a different flight.

 This is Irma and me right after arriving in Cebu.  There was a problem with her luggage -- it was kind of a big problem.  She didn't have any.  I could tell you about this hilarious shopping trip that we went on in the airport in Manila before we left to pick up a few necessities.  But you probably wouldn't think it was as funny as we did.  First stop, Victoria's Secret.  Oh my gosh, you have never seen such a large group of grown women laughing so hard ever in your life anywhere.  We thought we were particularly funny.  No alcohol involved.  We got a few critical items -- all at the airport, and headed off on our three hour bus ride to the northern part of the island.

The scenery was different than the scenery around Angono and Manila, but it was still all so beautiful.  I would have liked to have gone on a three hour tour on a boat like this....

My daily picture of mother and daughter, Luz and Samantha.  So photogenic! 

I don't even care that this guy, who is clearly sick, is photobombing this picture.  It is an actual depiction of things that happened 24/7 while we were there.  I was so SO fortunate that I did not get or feel the least bit ill while we were there.  For a few days, members of our team were dropping like flies.   Some said it was flu and were sick the whole trip, some said they thought they had food poisoning because it lasted such a short time, ... who knows?  I was a walking pharmacy, and I took my prophylactic antibiotics and washed my hands 9000 times a day.  You've seen me wearing gloves, a mask, sometimes a gown, even a hair cap -- all very attractive, but hey!  I wasn't sick!

And here we have Christine (left), Ted (center), and Yvonne (right), with some of our people "on the ground" in Cebu.  Many, many people had to work together to make this mission trip come together.

These were the angels sent to help us in Cebu.  Let me tell you, these 16 nursing students and their director were absolutely the bomb.  They came as early as we did.  They stayed as late as we did.  They did WHATEVER we asked.  They translated.  They could read and write English, so I credit them for our group being able to see as many people as we did in Bogo City.  They all looked so young to me.  Many were married and had families.  I am pretty sure they were all in their last year, maybe last semester, of nursing school.  These people were beautiful and genuine to the core.  There is no way I can explain to you how special they were.  *tear*

One day, as I was dying for something other than white rice, I begged Bernard to risk his life and take me across the street to see if we could find a cold drink.  We grabbed up as much as we could carry, a bit more than you can see here, and shared with everyone.  I think I gave the lady about $3.50 USD.  That's about 25,000 Philippine pesos.  No, I'm kidding, but everything is so cheap!

I wanted to share some fun pictures with you today, and even though we are a bit out of order, I hope that you can feel the delight and blessings that I felt every day there.

By Now, Well Acquainted

State of Oklahoma reppin in the PH

One day was designated as an Outreach Day, and the team members from both the doctors' and the nurses' associations in Kansas City sponsored hot lunches, new shoes, goodie bags, and stuffed animals, for a school whose children had been displaced by Super Typhoon Yolanda.  They raised money for a year in advance.  They collected toys, snacks, new flip flops -- and I was lucky enough to get tapped to go help deliver the surprises.

We took about a 30 minute ride to the school, which was up on top of a mountain.  Probably due to the elevation on the island, the school suffered a lot of damage as well as homes in the area.  Much of it had been repaired, but the school was far from the shape it was in before the storm.

The picture below shows some of the books that they were able to "save" from the water damaged buildings.  As we touched the books and tried to open them, you could tell, they were headed for the trash.  It was so unfortunate.  They had very few supplies anyway, and it was awful that they had to lose those books.  Here's the deal.  You can't just send them some more books.  When you send things to places under circumstances like this, the things don't always go to where you send them.  They have a way of never finding the final and expected destination.

We tried to organize the shoes, the meals and the gifts, but the odds were not

forever in our favor 

on this day.

The kids were able to pick their own new flip flops.  There were almost 90 kids, and if anyone has suggestions about what would be a good way to pass those out in an organized fashion -- please share.

Here's where the language barrier was helped by the local nurses helping us.  We asked the children to form a single-file line.  I think they were just so excited, this was as close as it was going to get.

Every single child was exactly this same amount of PRECIOUS!

I told you how big NBA basketball is in the Philippines.  When I saw this child wearing a knock-off OKC Thunder jersey, I thought two things. 

 A)  Cool - better than a Lakers jersey.  AND

B)  I have to fix that for next year.  Gotta round up some OKC duds.

No, I did not bring this toy for this little boy.  I was shocked to see what he was holding.  Really?  A Pistol Pete?  Whaaaaat?  Many things that I learned on this trip will be filed away in my 2015 mission file.  And I definitely learned a lot.

These kids were playing on a makeshift teeter totter.  Dangerous things and possible injuries surrounded them.

Can you believe this wood plank with rusty nails was just a few feet away from where the kids were playing?  I've got a story about a man with gangrene that required an amputation while we were there.  He stepped on something and didn't get proper medical attention, and it developed into a worst case scenario.  It is a story I absolutely cannot tell on this blog.  But I will tell it to anyone who wants to hear about it.

And here were some of the great nurses, who came with us to the school.  Their skills as interpreters were greatly appreciated.  We had some free time at the school, and we thoroughly enjoyed visiting and hearing about their backgrounds and future plans.  They were so lovable!  I'm going to come back in and add their names when I am sure I have them right...

Reyjohn taught me a lot about the culture of the Philippines.  They all looked so young.  I have no idea how old they are!

And look!  He's taller than me!

And so was the nursing director!  It took me nearly a week and a half, but finally, I was finding some people that didn't make me feel like I was a giant.

State of Oklahoma reppin in the PH

Mango Cake Buffet

Two of our team doctors were able to get our bus driver to stop by their aunt's house and the family home that they had visited forever and ever while growing up.  They were certainly partial to the island of Cebu, and it was easy to see why.  This was a beautiful island, with lots of gorgeous coastline and more incredible Philippine people.

I don't know about you, but if a giant tour-type bus pulled up in front of my house, and people started getting out, I might have a melt-down.

This is the family home belonging to Dr. Christine and Dr. Yvonne's family, and it is now inhabited by her aunt.  You could tell that it had been there many years, and it had been so well taken care of that it looked like a work of art.  And the yard!  Oh my goodness.  It had a fabulous fenced-in private yard, and I don't mean like any yard close to where I live.

Right.  Orchids growing all over the yard... volunteer.  Many other beautiful blooms that I can't name, but the home and the grounds were unbelievable and impeccably kept.  So I told you that the giant bus pulls up in front of the house, but I didn't tell you the street was skinnier than most driveways.  While the girls went up to the house to visit their aunt, we snapped a couple of pictures, and she (their aunt) insisted we drop back by on our departing day.  She wanted to make a mango cake for us, and she knew we had to go right that moment, so Yvonne and Christine promised we would drop back by on our way to the airport.

Apparently in the Philippines, mango cake means, Mango Cake Buffet.  The mango cake is right below the cake in the top right corner.  There were cakes, there were cookies, there were muffins, there were breads, there was fresh fruit, there were sugared fruits, there were flans, and of course, she had coffee and other drinks.  Did I mention she has a bakery?  This was such a treat.  I mean it.

  This picture is a reenactment of a photo taken -- well, I don't have to say when the original was taken, but it was taken when Christine (left), and Yvonne (right), were young girls, maybe 4 & 3, or maybe 5 & 4.

Mango Cake Buffet

Bogo City, Cebu

Several of the group members had relatives on Cebu, so it was a bit of a treat for them that we could go there.  Family members of the group visited us all week.  Sometimes, they even got put to work.  

We traveled by bus to the northernmost part of the island, Bogo City.  The ride was long, and in places, the scenery was beautiful, but around the next corner, trees were flattened and you could barely tell that homes had been destroyed and blown away because nothing was there.  When homes are made of corrugated tin and tarps, you can easily understand why they wouldn't have a chance against 190 m.p.h. winds. However, I was most surprised that the roads were brand new and had already been replaced.  Many of the trees toppled by the storm had been removed or were in the process of being moved for reuse of some kind.  We were told that many areas of the Philippines had been inundated with help and assistance.  Our group wanted to go somewhere that hadn't been helped.  Our local contact hooked us up with a hospital in Bogo City, and you could certainly tell that they hadn't seen much assistance there at all.

I don't have a lot of detailed pictures of the devastation, because we saw most of it as our bus was swiftly traveling up and down the mountain roads.  My pictures were pretty blurry, and that is unfortunate.  I'm pretty sure you have seen on television and elsewhere the damage that this storm caused.  By the way, in the Philippines, the storm was called Super Typhoon Yolanda.  Apparently, Haiyan, is the universal translation for Yolanda.  Or maybe it's the English word for it.  Anyone is welcome to correct me here...

Many of the trees and bigger pieces of debris have been cleared from most areas, and for the storm to have happened in early November, it looked to me like a lot of progress had been made.

Here we are upon arrival at the CGA Mountain Resort -- from left to right, Bernard, me, Samantha, Dr. Sharma, and Dr. Christine.  I had new roommates; they were Samantha and her mother, Luz.  We kept making jokes about it being a "resort," due to the fact that there was no hot water, and there was only one accessible electrical plug-in in each room.  No telephones - lots of things were different.  But really, we weren't complaining.  We just thought we were so funny in pointing out the different meanings of the word "resort" at home and the meaning of the same word in the Philippines.

We didn't have much time to get changed and get ready for the welcoming banquet.  I told you, a banquet nearly every night!

Bogo City, Cebu

Mission - 2nd Stop - Cebu

 The second week of the mission trip was planned quickly and added to our itinerary in order to help some of the victims of Super Typhoon Hayian.  As most people know this typhoon hit last November 8th, killing over 6,000 people and affecting over 14 million.  Those numbers are staggering to me when you think about the geography of the Philippines.  It consists of over 7,000 islands, but only a few are able to accommodate any number in the millions of people.

Even though our group has shrunk to 21, we packed lightly because we had lots of supplies and meds to carry.

The enormous Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport won my heart over when they had hundreds of televisions inside, all playing U.S. NBA basketball.  Whaaaaa?  I quickly figured out that during the rest of the trip when I needed to communicate with a local or even a child, all I had to do was start talking about basketball.  I even caught a couple of Thunder games!  
  We board, and we are all sitting together at the back.

Here is one of my "take-off" pictures.  I can't help it.  I shoot pictures out the window of planes everywhere I go.  Until I am interrupted by this... an announcement.  "We need a doctor!  Is there a doctor on board?"  I am sitting near about 5 or 6 doctors, and they all look at each other like, "are you going to go?"  "I don't know."  "Do you want to go?"  

Dr. Sharma (yellow and white) receives the hero award, because he gets up first, and heads to the front of the plane where the small commotion is occurring.  Yvonne and Christine follow.  Everyone is quiet.  We can't see the patient or any action, other than people talking.  The cute gray headed lady is a well-renowned dermatologist who is with our group, and she was the first to get there.  I guess she was sitting closer, and we didn't see what was happening.  It turned out that a child was experiencing a febrile seizure.  This sometimes happens in children who are younger and have a high temperature.  Usually non-life threatening or unlikely to cause permanent damage, they are treated with acetaminophen and the child is kept safe and slightly restrained so they don't hurt themselves.  This type of seizure lasts a few minutes or less.  Upon arriving in Cebu, we were all escorted off the back of the plane, so that emergency personnel could come quickly in the front.  Later, Christine and Yvonne made the comment that, "doesn't this happen nearly every time we get on a plane?"  All I could think of was, well, I want to be sure and be on a plane with a bunch of doctors if I am going to have some kind of medical emergency mid-air.  I haven't even started talking about Cebu and our experience there.  It was a wild day just getting there.  More to come.

Mission - 2nd Stop - Cebu