Oh the rain!

Over the past week we have had some substantial weather. The rains have come to Davao. A few days ago I was riding a motor bike to the store to buy groceries. It takes about 5 minutes on bike to get to the store from where we live. About halfway there the rain started pouring down and it came fast. My driver and I were stuck, the only thing we could do was to continue straight ahead. When we got to the store we were both soaked. I was very thankful I was wearing a black shirt cause I still needed to shop. When rain like this comes the city floods in a matter of minutes. Davao does not have good drainage. Our neighborhood in particular is one of the worst. It is very common to have standing water midway up to your knee after an evening down pour. It makes life a little more of an adventure here, especially if you are out stuck somewhere. Life most of the time gets put on hold until the rain stops cause transportation is very hard to find.

As far as clinic news goes, seasons are changing around here. We are having a midwifery class graduate at the end of this month. It is exciting seeing another class reach completion. Are other students who are now half way through their training are going on their 1 month break in the next couple of months. So many girls are leaving, some are coming back and a new school will be starting this August. During the summer months when we have so many girls leaving, we invite midwifery students from the states to come and intern at Mercy. We have 6 women coming to help out during the summer months. The first two will arrive at the end of this month.

I am also excited to update you about baby Kian. He came into the clinic for a check up this last week and he is already finished his corrective cast therapy. He only needed 2 casts to correct his foot. His doctor said the club foot was postural. This is great news. He should be fine from now on.