Today ended the "no babies" streak. We had 3 births in the clinic! Unfortunately Mel and I missed all three. Ironic, no? They were so fast! The first mom Mel missed the birth because she was only 5 cm (haha, yeah right) so Mel went to listen to a song. During that 3 minutes the baby was born. Mom number two came in right as I was leaving the clinic for lunch. She wasn't sweating or anything so we told them to keep us updated so I could come back for the baby. 10 min later we get a call that says she was fully dilated when she came in and the baby is already out. Baby number three came in when mom was about 8 cm and me and Mel were at the mall with Hilary and David. So obviously we missed that one too. We're hoping for some more that we can actually help with soon. haha!
Despite the missed births our day wasn't completely lost. Mel and I went to the dump site with Father Heinz tonight. The dump site is where thousands of people in Cebu live...and it's exactly what it sounds like- a dump site. Under our feet was yards upon yards of trash that has been dumped there over the years. And this is where these people make their life. The trash is their livelihood. We went and gave out cookies to the kids and then we did meds for all the sick people. Mel got to do the nurse stuff while I took to playing with the kids. It's amazing how taking a picture and showing it to them makes you their favorite person. It was just so hard to see it all. I'm still working on getting feeling back to that part of my brain so I can process it. I know that I can never pretend like I knew what poverty meant again. We complain about losing our jobs and living on less than 20,000 per year while these people make their homes at a trash dump. And they don't even want to leave there because they know that at least when they're at the dump they can find food and live. If they weren't there they wouldn't know how to survive. Father Heinz was telling us that he held a mass there the other day and one of the kids prayed "Dear God, thank you for the trash. Amen." Talk about feeling convicted for being selfish and greedy. And these kids are so beautiful. Jesus created these children to be His own and this is how they have to live. It was so much fun being able to just play with them and show them some love. I would love to go back everyday just to be there for them. They all know my name by now. :D I think we'll make this a weekly visit along with the Red Light district. I just feel like this is where we're supposed to be. We can't reach out in any better way. Jesus has made anyone who can smile a missionary. We can show love in ways that are so simple. We get to lead by action while we're here. We get to look at a child and communicate through our eyes and faces how special they are. It's an awesome gift to have! I feel so blessed to be able to be here this summer. Jesus said he was going to open my eyes and I know I can never go back after this. Once your eyes are opened to the world and how simple it is to bring some joy you can't really close your eyes again. It is a harsh reality- like being blinded- but it's beautiful. Seeing through the eyes of Jesus is so beautiful. I definitely want more. :D
Love you guys so much! <3
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