Saturday, January 29, 2011

January 15-23, 2011

A week that will live in infamy? For a few families... yes.

1 week ago today I, along with 3 other Peace Corps volunteers (Abby, Kate, and Kristen; Claire another PCV helped out on the 15th), were on our way to pick up the medical team of Faces of Tomorrow. Faces of Tomorrow, for those of you who don't know, is an amazing organization based out of the California Bay Area that makes yearly trips to countries like Ecuador and the Philippines in an effort to give free Cleft and Lip palate surgeries to those in need. This year they made their first trek to the Philippines and I got to play a small part in the amazing thing that these people do.

On the 15th we picked them all up from the airport, and off stepped 30+ Americans to the sounds of a marching band, seashell made lei's and of course a huge banner welcoming them to Tag(bilaran), Bohol. It was exciting to watch them enter thinking oh man that was a 20 hour flight, bet their jet lagged, bet their dying of heat, bet they have no idea what awaits them. To be an insider peering at the outsiders was a new experience. Little did I know the next week was going to show me how much I have changed and learned since arriving 5 months ago to the Philippines.

The 16th was the first day of the mission and it was a whole day devoted to screening patients. It was on this day that we were to identify the patients that would be undergoing surgery and/or getting Obterators from the dentists the next week and also to get a feel for what the entire team was in store for. I don't think anyone was expecting what we saw. By 8 am there was a steady crowd of people entering the building, I was in charge of getting the patients that had already been evaluated by the doctors from the basement to the 4th floor for a visit to the speech pathologists and then back down to the basement where they were told to wait to find out if they would be helped. All in all, 200+ people came to be screened and many had never had an operation meaning their cleft lip and/or palate had never been fixed, a good portion had only ever had one operation (either lip or palate), and others had been operated on but still had various speech/eating/aesthetic problems. All ages were represented from babies to adults. The end of the day the announcement was made that 55 surgeries would be done all on kids no older then 11 years old and about 30-40 obterators would be made by the dentists for those who didn't make the cut to qualify for surgery.

From the 17th to 21st the surgeries took place. There were 3 operating rooms and each room was assigned 4 surgeries a day. Cleft lips take about 2 hours and Cleft palates take around 4 hours. While the doctors were downstairs operating the fourth floor, where we were placed, was busy as well. The nurses up on the fourth floor were in charge of overseeing the patients after they had been brought up from recovery. It was there that the newly operated on patients finished recovering over night till they were discharged the next day and also where the patients for the next day would have to sleep the night before. As you can probably imagine the fourth floor was pretty chaotic particularly in the morning and in the evening. The afternoon was generally the known as the calm before the storm. This was the time we used to play with the kids that were left to make sure the newly operated patients were comfortable and also to talk to the lovely staff of the medical team.

Everyone we met that week was amazing. Not only are these professionals in their respective medical fields but they are some of the most down to earth individuals I have ever met. Never did I expect to walk into an Operating Room and hear Akon, Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry blasting through the small speakers in the corner. Or did I expect to talk to nurses who had a 3pm silly hour. It made me really happy to see people enjoy their work and do good things in the world. It also made me think about a career in the medical field... But luckily I have two years to think about it.

When Sunday the 22nd, discharge day, finally came around it was exciting to see the lovely faces of all our patients, the smiles from their parents. Many of the kids served will get a chance at a normal life; they will be able to go to school and not be judged based on their physical appearance. It was truly one of the most fulfilling things I have ever done. I encourage everyone to look up Faces of Tomorrow, help them in their efforts and help other medical missions much like them. Your help won't go unnoticed.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

With the start of a new year,

Comes a new blog post.

I have in fact been on a very windy road of emotions these last couple of weeks. Christmas has passed, New Years is now done with and the last stretch of school has begun.

Christmas in the Philippines, well what can I say other then it was as most people cautioned a low point. The 9 days leading up to Christmas include a lot of caroling where young and old alike come to ask for money or treats, but mainly money. They sing a few x-mas songs in English a few in Tagalog and then a thank you song when you’ve given them what they want. Its great the first few days then you realize it's the same groups coming and you feel a little cheated. It also includes 4 A.M. mass, you heard me right. Tons of devoted Catholics wake up at 3 A.M. each morning to make their way to church and sit in pews, chairs, or stand along the sides. It is really quite a sight to see, I know very few people back home who would actually make it to church that early. Christmas Eve you attend midnight mass and if possible that one is twice as full as the ones leading up to it. You then make your way home to stay up till midnight. My celebrations included some delicious deserts and lots of Videoke with my host family. We then went to sleep and all woke up at random times the next day but in time for mass at 10 A.M. on Christmas day. After mass we went to the mall to finish buying presents for various family members. That was a big surprise that first of all everything was open and second that so many people were still at the store. After buying what we needed we came home and spent the rest of the day lounging around in the true spirit of Christmas.

My experience was I would say typical and definitely not anything to crazy but it was still sad throughout the day to think if I was at home I would be doing this, eating this, able to go here. I was really nostalgic for past Christmases but did enjoy how sweet my host family was and how helpful they were in trying to keep me busy. The next day things got a lot better. I was able to call my family through Skype and so that really helped me cope.

New Years was a very different experience. A large amount of the volunteers from Negros Oriental/Occidental, Cebu, Leyte, S. Leyte and Bohol all met up for a weekend trip to Panglao, Bohol. White sand beaches, crystal clear water and Americans, What more could you ask for? It was a lot of fun and a good break from a rough Christmas. Although it was still hard to be away from family and friends being able to celebrate among people whom you can talk to about your experiences was extremely therapeutic.

Upon returning to site I realize now I only have a few months left before the school year in the Philippines ends in March. January means the end of the third grading period and tests, while February means the dreaded NAT and RAT*. March means preparations for graduation. In all of that I have to figure out how to implement PACA** and teacher trainings, which I was told, work best at the beginning and end of the school year. As well as help the teachers with strategies to help review for the tests so that students are prepared and of course Co-teaching. I really don't mean to make it seem like my life here is hard. I am actually looking forward to all of it because it means I'll have things to work on. Also, you should know a lot of the other volunteers have just as much to work on if not more.

So is the fabulous life of a volunteer.




*Also known as the National and Regional Achievement Tests, these tests cause a lot of headaches since they basically decide funding and put the teachers in jeopardy if their students don't pass. They have also been known to come with mistakes and difficult wording that would confuse even a native English speaker.

* Participatory Analysis for Community Action which basically means you use different methods and tools to figure out what your school, students, and teachers need so that you can create or improve projects.