Sometimes I think God's sense of humor is a little skewered... All you have to do is look at certain animals in creation to realize that... but I'm talking about in our own personal lives... for example, Joe and I... I think it's interesting that we went from being a seriously independent American family... then on this crazy journey with another family to get our children out of Africa (which resulted in living together for almost 2 years... 13 kids, 4 adults)... then to going to a school on the other side of the world with a bunch of single girls just entering 'life' (they were great by the way... it was just different!).... then to moving to a village out in the mountains of the Philippines with no other Americans within normal reachable limits.... seriously... weird sense of humor!
I have to say that at times I really miss that deep connection... that relating to someone who is going through something similar, the same interests, etc... When we lived with the other family in Alaska we had both just brought older adopted children into our home, we were living together, etc... so there was usually someone who could 'relate' to what you might be feeling... but here, every day it's a struggle to just have basic conversation with your neighbor....
But today I was blessed as the neighborhood got together to play games for Tylers birthday... we had 3 legged races, leap frog, wheelbarrow races and a water balloon toss! I think the adults had as much fun watching as the kids did playing. And I realized that once again... God has met me where I am, in this place... to help ease the lonliness that comes upon us once in awhile. We have a great and amazing God don't ya think!?

Yesterday Joe was sick with a nasty bug and so I had his chores on top of my own... plus Dr Sam and a couple team members were headed back to Davao so we needed to get them across the river... so I drove... and since I was driving that far we figured I may as well get a few supplies up in Alabel. The river 'road' had a brand new route and it wasn't packed down yet... and it was difficult to follow... but we made it across... Then came the mountain road... I was unable to get the jeep out of 4 low, so it was slow going... but I made it... I got the things I needed at the market, refilled the 4 water jugs and headed back in. This time I was able to get the jeep into 4 high at least which made it go a bit faster... About 3/4 the way over the mountain in a village where we sometimes have done outreaches and often get patients from... I was flagged down by a woman I had seen the day before at the clinic while her husband had surgery on his testes... She explained that he wasn't able to sleep because he was in so much pain. I went and checked on him and he was definitely in some major pain. I told them I could give them different pain relievers at the clinic, but they would have to pick someone to ride along and then they could borrow our horse to return home in. (It's about a 4 hour hike, but an hour or so on horse... oh yeah, and the rain was starting). A couple boys were picked and they excitedly took their places in the back of the jeep. It was definitely God's providence for them to be there... since I was alone I wouldn't have been able to keep my water bottles upright on the way through the rivers... but they made sure they kept them all standing for me! They quickly got the meds and then we got the horse ready and out they went.... and we haven't seen the horse since! lol. I'm not worried though... I know that returning borrowed items isn't a super high priority here... if they don't come back by tomorrow we'll probably drive up that way and bring it home. Today was my turn to be sicker than a dog... Tonia and I both had some sort of flu bug, just manifesting in different ways... I couldn't sit up or stand without walking like a drunk person from the spinning world... thus causing the stomach to revolt! Tonia had a huge headache and felt sick as well... thankfully it seems to be a 24 hr thing and we are both feeling better this evening. Again it was God's hand at work that there was no horse chores last night or all of today! Such a huge blessing on a tired, sick, family! I love it when God works these things out!

You know what 'got' me today? I tended to a little boy who was not quite 2; who had the cutest little 'please don't hurt me' smile... I used ointment on his many infected bites all along his feet and legs... then I turned to cleaning up his multiple boils on his head... Now anyone who has had a boil knows they hurt like the dickens... but this little guy was so patient... and so undisturbed by the whole process... what made me so sad was that he was just used to being in pain.... His mom said he'd had those infected legs/feet and head for more than 9 months... basically half his life... he didn't really even know what it felt like to NOT live in pain. This just stinks... and I was happy to give her medicine and instructions that hopefully he will start enjoying pain free days.
Another patient is a mom who has brought her little girl to us maybe 4 or 5 times...I wrote about her before... The little girl is 7 (although she looks about 4) and has a very high possibility of having TB of the skin. If you look back to how long ago we started working on getting this little girl her test... you can see how long and frustrating it is to get things done here! We were able to find out that to read the test would be between about $5 to about $11 US,it seems like nothing to us right? But the mom is struggling hard core to come up with that money in just a couple days... we told her that we would front the payment on what she couldnt' and then she could just keep a balance.. she was so thankful that hopefully soon she will have answers for her daughter. So if you think of her.. the little girl is call Pamela... and tomorrow we will scrape her owies and insert a needle into her back... no fun for any kiddo! Pray for wisdom and pray for answers soon!
And now... after seeing my 19 patients before lunch time (to only see 2 after the doctor actually arrived)... I am heading to BED!

Randomness

This is what happens to those who wish to NOT get wet after the water babtism... sorry folks... if some of us have to get wet... we ALL get wet (well except us mom's who were holding the cameras!)... :)

Tyler and his new found buddy

THe guys worshiping and jamming... it was a blast!

TWINS!

First off... I should put in this disclaimer that no... I am NOT pregnant with twins... didn't just give birth to twins and didn't even deliver twins! That being said... it was still an exciting day!
Since we bought our goat a month ago... people have been telling us.. "hapitna manganak"... meaning it's just about time for her to give birth... so we've been waiting.... then they started telling us it was probably twins... and the wait continued... Then today... my neighbor tells me that the goat won't give birth that day since her 'ahem' wasn't swollen up yet... okay... and another friend in the village says "maybe in December"... so I take the goat for a little walk to eat the weeds in the garden... we will be working out there so I can watch her.
While in the garden... covered in mud and dirt (me from weeding and Joe from hauling fence posts)... we hear the cry of a child... Brian is holding his leg where blood is oozing from between his fingers... a quick looksy and we haul him up and head for home... Since our hands were so muddy we applied pressure above the wound to get it to stop bleeding while we trekked through the mud towards home. Of course by the time we got home we had a following of 20 or more kids and even a curious adult or 5... plus patients waiting at the clinic... While Joe washed up the wound I washed my hands and tried to get the ants out of my shirt... then held pressure while Joe did the same... (I should just mention that ant bites are VERY distracting... even when suturing your own child). We set up and injected the anesthesia... which feels about like 50 red ants biting you... once applied though... Brian's response was "wish I could see better"...
After suturing and seeing the rest of the patients Joe headed down to get the horse from where she was tied out (and the other goat) while Tonia headed to get the goat from the garden... She comes running back saying "It's TWINS"... and we all ran to go see.... sure enough she had JUST given birth and we carried the wet little guys back home (again with a following).... we had lots of advice from... "don't let the kids touch the goats tail or the mom won't nurse it"... to "put oil on their butts to make the poo come out easier"... It's hard here to decipher what is 'old wives tales' and what's good advice... but it made the neighbor feel better to do the oil thing... and as with any young... best to keep kids away for awhile.
So... that was just a couple hours of another day in the life of our family here in Kihan... at the end of every day I ask myself... "was that really just ONE day!"... seriously.. I do! lol...
We are blessed!

Today was a good day... we are recovering from nasty head colds... our good friend from Davao was here visiting and brought CHOCOLATE (ssshh)... I was able to walk down this morning to assist the municipality midwife with her prenatals. The midwives hired by the government are basically like traveling nurses... they come, they see, they immunize... they leave. This gal is here for only 2 days a month.... and boy is she kept busy with all the TB meds to hand out and all the areas immunizations, plus prenatal appointments... plus a malnourished kids program. No wonder she can hardly spend more than 2-4 minutes per patient. So we agreed that starting next month I would basically take over the prenatals while she did the immunizations... Sweet! She is a big advocate for the women delivering at the clinic and tells each one to make sure she comes to the clinic... everyone is scared... this is their first time exposed to white people... besides modern meds... but 2 lovely ladies are brave enough to start coming to the clinic for prenatal check ups and have now seen the birth room... so they were telling all how nice it was... "even an electric fan!"... :) Also since the death of the lady giving birth to her first just a couple weeks ago... I think the women are more apt to start paying attention more and maybe one will eventually "break in" the clinic. Most likely I figure I'll get called out on some emergency first... but we'll see....
Anyway.. like I said... a good day... Joe took our friend and the Reach nurse up to Buena Vista (the next 'village' over) to take out the last of the 'itlog' guy's stitches... all 3 guys are doing well and now we have a better idea of the recovery time for these guys.... good to know since there are 3 more guys we know of with the same problem.
We've had lots of rain... which means lots of mud... and clothes not drying... but we did get the sun peaking through long enough today to dry a bit of clothes... enough to get us through. We got a horse bit and bridle made for our new horse... weirdest thing... the bit is made of rope! But hey... it's better than the bent piece of rebar that it had previously... Now to make a saddle... this includes stuffing a rice sack full of palm leaves... sewing lines down it... and nailing some wood together... seriously! (I'll take a picture of the finished product!) Besides an unexpected quick trip to the city (the rain was coming down to hard to send the visitors home on motorcycles)... and Levi n Tyler being mischevious and purposefully 'losing' the hamster... and our goat having a couple 'fainting' spells... it was just another ordinary day in the Germain household! Come visit! :P

Ponder with me if you will...

-Being 19 yrs old... and NEVER having celebrated your birthday... not in any way, shape or form...
-Bringing a baby into your home whose mother (your relative) died of childbirth... no father of baby known... Baby full of all sorts of sores...
-Beginning a walk at 7 am in hopes of getting medical help for your baby who is struggling to breathe (and has been struggling all night)... and 5 hours later finally reaching medical help...

These are made up stories... this is real life here. The 19 yr old is one of the boys from the guys home that our friends run and just came to help us build and do other chores around here... One of the health care workers here really did just bring in a baby into her home whose mother died in childbirth within an hour after giving birth... And a mom/dad and grandma all showed up around noon at the clinic after walking with their baby who breathed like it was drowning (pulling himself up to suck air)... after a neb treatment, antibiotics and instructions on feeding the baby breast milk only (NO Coffee Mate!!)... they began their 5 hour journey home...
I live here and there are many days I can't comprehend it... Simple things we take for granted each day... medical help, available meds... and just simple LOVE... who of us can even fathom the emotion felt when you get your first birthday cake at 19 and a whole party of people singing Happy Birthday to you!!! (Thank you to our friends who sent the 'instant' birthday cakes and icing from the US!)
This morning we topped off the visit from our friends from Davao with an awesome baptism of one of the guys and then a full round of everyone (except for us moms who were holding cameras) being ran down and thrown in the river!
God is SO good... with a refreshing visit JUST when we needed it! :) Thank you for all who pray for us... knowing others are lifting us up before the throne is a huge encouragement! And thanks to all who support us financially... Without you... this would not be possible!!
God bless

Just one of those days... or ?

I can't decide if my impatience today is because it's just Monday... or if I'm just too demanding... The morning started normal enough... we were thankful the power came back on so we didn't have to start up the generator... Then it was almost time for breakfast and I saw the kids sitting playing with toys/reading books... I asked them if their morning chores were done (the ones supposed to be completed BEFORE breakfast)... oh... um... we forgot (AGAIN)... It's not like this is anything new... they've had these chores for months now. Sigh... then our helper (who is the wife of the man who donated the land for the clinic).. didn't show up AGAIN for work... again she didn't inform us that she wasn't coming today... this after we just had a chat with her two weeks ago that if it happened again she wouldn't be working for us anymore! GRRR... Then came time to start school and my little student decided that he was going to throw a tantrum about school today... off to his room... then another child (Joe's student)... decided that it wasn't fair that he was ALWAYS the last one done... never mind the fact that he dilly dally's around and finds every excuse in the book NOT to work on his schoolwork... it's just NOT FAIR (according to him).... then I sat down to get a couple records offline and it takes more than 5 minutes to load any page that has content on it... and I'm irritated all over again at our promise of FAST, RELIABLE internet! Sigh... I think I need a time out in my room for an attitude adjustment... if only I had a room! (our bed is in the living room)... but things will hopefully be improving as we are headed to town for the first time in a couple weeks to get groceries and pick up the next REACH nurse assigned for this week... oh yeah... and he's bringing us a box from the US!! YEAH!!
Sometimes I love being a mother of many... but other days... I'm thinking that Bermuda sounds like a nice place to run away to!
Forgive my venting.... but those that are moms will understand these days! Guess I better go... Meggie just informed me that Levi spit in her face! OI!!!

Life in this crazy household

I'll try to update... but kids are now bugging me to have their internet time! Yeesh.. when did they get so big!? Course it doesn't help that currently our internet is slower than dial up! Joe has been testing it... wow... slow as in!! But... we are thankful for the connection at least... and are working with the company to resolve the issue of slow speeds (as it is advertised as HIGH speed internet!) *Joe tested it several times throughout the day... currently we are getting 15.9 KB/second download and 2 KB/sec upload.... hmmm...
Anyway...
Here are a few pictures to share with you of the past little while...
Watch out for our masked man Zorro! (The kids love the 50's hit of Zorro and always love to dress up... Meggie calls herself 'The Senorita'... OI!!!)

YEAH!!!

Guess who has internet!!! Guess we won't be 'real' missionaries anymore... considering we have water at least 50% of the time... electricitity 80% and now internet! Oh well, when I took my bucket shower in the pitch black last night I felt like a 'real' missionary! :) Glad to be back online!!!