As we prepared to leave the Philippines, we made plans to buy gifts for people back home, our sons, our family, and friends. It was a sweet way to start bringing our minds and hearts closer to the fact that our time here was coming to a close and our time to enter back into our lives in America, our home country, was nearing.
We also made sure to spend time with those we love and served with in Olongapo. To say all the things we were thankful for and all the ways we loved them and the mission.
During my time there teaching, we were able to gather maternity professionals from many different institutions, hospitals, and local birthing homes.
This was not only a goal of ours but a blessing for future connections and partnerships.
Our goal in our Mercy in Action-sponsored birth clinics is to create a community of shared knowledge with collaborations and integrations with many different places where births are happening.
Our overarching mission is to see a world where no mother or baby dies due to preventable causes. While we know death comes to us all at one time, it should not be happening on the day of birth.
As we gathered together to learn about the importance of labor comfort support in creating better outcomes, we were, as a team, able to make connections with places we have been trying to for years. Communication can be difficult in the world of maternity care, and this was a time when those difficulties seemed to melt away.
I have received invitations to come back and teach on this subject more. Our team and I are very hopeful for these connections.
I am personally humbled by the opportunities that were opened for our staff, including me, to have a platform to teach more on evidence-based care guidelines that can help prevent complications BEFORE they even start.
As I said at the beginning of my blog and in my time serving in the Philippines, it is the task I feel I have been given – creating better outcomes for mothers and babies around the globe by working within existing medical systems.
As I write this, I am on the last leg of the journey home. Reflection has been a friend of mine throughout the long journey home. My heart is filled with gratitude, love, a bigger vision, and a deeper understanding of God’s heart for the poor.
I will return home to my loving and supportive family, my home, my pets, and with an adventure in a land I have loved for so long.
I cherish every moment of the times my husband and I have had there and look forward to returning again!
Now, if you have ever traveled across the globe and through time zones, you know that reverse jet lag (when you fly back in time!) can be a doozy. Luckily, I have been able to get some good sleep on the plane rides, but we will be giving ourselves time to move slowly, return to a pace that is normal for us in the States, and spend special time with those we love.
I am thankful for the opportunity to keep this blog, as it has helped me reflect more deeply on all that I have experienced and learned.
I will end with a quote that I love: “You can have an experience, but if you do not reflect on it, then you have not learned anything.”
Thanks for reading and following along with my journey and my life’s work of helping create better outcomes for mothers, babies, their families, and communities.
Ingat! (That means “take care” in Tagalog!)