Manila Miracle

It's been a while since we arrived home from Manila on the 2nd of April. Grant went back a week later because a big group of patients were coming from the island of Mendoro. They were to be operated on that week in the Cranio Facial Clinic that is owned by Deseret International Foundation. The building is a mini hospital that has the dental clinic that Grant built out when we arrived here. The building has really not been utalized and was just being used on Fridays for about 1/2 day. Grant was totally amazed when he went back. They had the two operatories ready to go with a/c no less. The third floor rooms were ready for patients to spend the night after their surgeries. It was like night and day to what had been going on there. We are calling it a miracle. They did 27 cleft patients that week and I think 7 or 8 more the next week. Grant came home tired but very happy with how things were going there. He is now getting ready to go back on the 21st for another two weeks. I have had to stay home because of health problems. I have what my doctor is calling COPD caused by my RA. I need to be on oxygen full time and we are in the process of figuring out how to treat my symptoms. I feel good but get tired so have to take it easy. I am hoping that I can get back to Manila some day because I am missing it. But it is good to be home with my family and I know that is were I need to be right now. So our plan is for Grant to continue to go back and forth for two week periods and do the surgeries. I hope to go back this fall or winter to enjoy that great weather again.

Yacht Trip/Cooking Class/Coming Home

The two Grant's

Mike, Shiella, Grant, Susan, & Grant

Lunch on the Deck

Grant just relaxing

Just hanging out!

Grant Pace's yacht at Subic Bay

Cooking breakfast in the Galley

Sailing down the coast of Luzon

Cooking Class Raffel

Farewell Surprise Party

Last thursday morning we went up to Subic Bay with Mike and Sheilla our neighbors to go sailing on Grant Pace's yacht, the Puerto Galera. He was taking it down to Puerto Galera on the island of Mindoro. He named his yacht after this port. We sailed from Subic Bay in northern Luzon to another port south and spent the night there on the yacth. We went a shore for a swim and dinner at a very nice yacht club The next morning we were off to Puerto Galera.

The crew of three plus Captain Grant got going early. We arrived early afternoon and again moored at another yacht club. We went into town walked around a very interesting port city. We had dinner at a local restaurant and hotel. The next morning we left in a rain storm to catch a ferry to Batangas. That was quite an experience and a little scary as the ferry got hit by some big waves. Mike and Sheilla's driver and car were waiting for us and we rode home to Manila in about two hours. Our ferry ride took over an hour. I needed to be home to get ready for the R. S. cooking class I was teaching that afternoon. I had about 25 women sign up to learn baking skills and entertaining ideas. We had it in our little apartment but it worked out great and was so much fun. Grant even helped and we had a raffle to give many things we won't be taking home with us. After, Sheilla and Mike came and got us and said they wanted to show us something on the 6th floor of our building. So we went with them and when we got down there they took us into the party room and everyone yelled surprise! It was people from our ward that came to say good bye. We were totally blown away and surprised! They had all kinds of food and a big cake. Then they told us all the things they liked about us. It was quite touching to realize that we would be missed. For those of you who have not heard we decided to come home earlier than we had hoped. For a long time we had been wondering what to do. Grant had built out the clinic and then after that he just did not have much to do. We kept saying let's just give it some more time. We had even bought our tickets for coming back from being home in April. The people at the clinic were quite sad but they understood because they know the building just gets used one half day a week. Anyway we have kind of a compromise that they will group patients together and actually start using the building for the surgeries. Grant will return every two months to help do the surgeries. We fill good about things and think this will be for the best. If we can get them to use the building it will be a great accomplishment. See you all soon.

Asian Women's Conference

Beautiful Manila Temple
Grant practicing with "silver heads" for Ballywag District Conference
Krisann and Robyn riding the out door escalator to our hotel at mid level in Hong Kong
Having lunch in Stanley Market after a full day of shopping
Robyn has to be admitted to the hospital in Hong Kong
The building with the steeple is the church building where they held the Women's Conference
We worked on a service project of tying quilts when we arrived Thursday evening
Some of my friends from Manila. We went to the Hong Kong Temple Friday night.

Last week I went to Hong Kong for the Asian Women's Conference and Grant went to Davao. We have a clinic in Davao and Grant went down there to see if he could be utilized better down there. They have a nice clinic down there and although it is in the Muslim area it is a pretty safe city. But by the time he got his license there our time would be pretty much over, plus we would have to move and get settled there. But he was happy to see what is happening down there. I had a great time at the women's conference. There were seven of us that went over from Manila. There were probably about 200 women in attendance for the conference. We had a service project and great speakers too. I loved being in Hong Kong again. We arrived on wednesday walked along Nathan Road, went to the Peninsula Hotel for high tea and watched the laser show from the Kaloon side that night. We stayed up late playing games and the next day took the bus out to Stanley Market. My favorite place to shop. It was lots of fun because we had no husbands that made us leave when we didn't want too. The Conference started Thursday at 5 pm with a service project and then speakers at 7. We again stayed up late that night playing games. Friday we had speakers, lunch and breakout sessions where you could choose your class. We went out to the Hong Kong that evening and then back to the hotel. That night we did not play games because Robyn was not feeling well. Early the next morning we were very concerned about her and got some of the Church members over there involved. A doctor who works for the Embassy and another priesthood holder came and gave her a blessing and quickly admitted her to the hospital. She had to stay there for several days. One of us stayed back with her and they just got home wednesday. They think she has dengay fever. It is kind of scary because she is the 3rd person I have known that got it recently in Manila.

Grant and I both got back about the same time on Saturday night. The next day we went with some of the senior missionaries to the District Conference in Ballywag. Grant and two of the missionaries sang at the conference. They sounded great.

INFANTA SCREENING

Our delicious dinner made by Melonie and Maricar the social workers

Melonie and Maricar on the left

One of the little patients that will be coming to Manila

Some of the little patients at the screening, notice club feet.

Beautiful drive to Infanta

Catch of the day. One of four big tuna's they caught that day.

Always interesting trucks to see.

We saw this little girl taking a bath as we drove along.

Last week we went to Infanta for a screening with Manny (director of Mabuhay House). We work with the social workers up there and they get the word out that we are coming to look for patients. Infanta is about a 3 hour drive from Manila going east and north until you come to the eastern shore. So we are on the western shore of the island of Luzon and they are on the eastern shore. It was a very beautiful drive and you always see interesting sights along the way. When we arrived we were met by Melonie and Maricar who are social workers for the government. It was a busy town and I thought very nice. They took us for a snack and said they would be bringing our dinner to us later because the place we were staying had no services and all the places in town close at 6:30 pm. I thought that was kind of strange. We stayed in a fairly nice resort right on the ocean. We were the only guests as it was the middle of the week. They came back later with a dinner for us of fish, rice, and mangos. The fish was really good. We ate out in front of our little cottages. It was only when we got back to Manila that I found out why everything closes at 6:30. I guess this is a dangerous area with political fractions that don't get along so people are just home and the town closes down at night. We didn't feel scared so I guess it was good we found out after the fact. The next morning we went to the large covered pavillion that each area seems to have. It is used for basket ball games (very popular sport here) and large gatherings. Lots of people were there and we had to listen to the political talks by the Mayor and others before we could start the screening. We found some patients that our organization can take care of. They will be bringing these patients down to Mabuhay on Monday. It was fun for me to help out with the screening and we will get to go to more of these in the future. Grant is going to go to Davao on friday and check out our clinic there and I am leaving for Hong Kong on wednesday to go to the Asian Womens Conference. I hear it is cold over there (60's). We are used to 90 so it will be a shock to our system. I am going with about 10 women from my LDS ex-pat group.

Young Single Adult Hawaiian Party

We had the young single adults over for a party at our building. On the sixth floor of our building we have a party room and a pool area so we decided to have a party for them. It was a Hawaiian theme. Everyone seemed to have a good time eating pizza, swimming, doing the hula, and playing games. We even had a performance by one of the girls who is quite a good gymnast. For the last two weeks Grant has been involved with Project Hope. They are doctors from America, Britain, Australia and the Philippines who were here doing cleft lips and palates. They did over 300 surgeries and Grant learned some good techniques. We are leaving on Wednesday to travel about 4 hours away from Manila to hold a clinic screening for finding qualified patients for the foundation here in Manila. That should be interesting. Then next week I am going to the Asian Women's Conference in Hong Kong. There are about 8 of us going from our LDS ex-pat group here. We are also looking forward to coming home for a short visit the first part of April so hope we will get to see some of you then.

Nicole at Mabuhay House

When I was over at Mabuhay House today I took some film and pictures of Nicole. She has come in from one of the Provinces. Before we left Salt Lake we were at church and met some friends of the Adamson's. They were visiting from Bermuda where the Adamson's had served a mission recently. Don and Diane told them what Grant was going to be doing and they were very excited to meet us because they had a relative with a daughter that needed some surgery in the Philippines. They felt like the Lord had a hand in meeting us and getting to find out about Deseret International Foundation. I think so too since it was just before we were leaving and they just happened to be friends of our friends. Now little Nicole is here in Manila and will soon be having her surgery. She is a very sweet little girl and very friendly. She likes the Mabuhay House. Thanks to the High Priests in our ward at home that have donated money to pay for the hospital costs of the surgery. We will keep you posted on how she does.

ISLAND OF BOHOL

Wow, we have been on the go. We have had two of Grant's assistants from home with us to help train the gals over here. Leslie Bain, who most of you know arrived the last week of January and then Pyper came the next week. They were here for one week together to make it do able for the office back home. Now we still have Pyper for the rest of this week. We have tried to do some fun things while they were here. We took a little trip to Bohol where we stayed at the Panglao Island Nature Resort and Spa. It was a very beautiful and restful resort. While there we saw the famous Chocolate Hills, the tarsier monkeys (smallest monkeys in the world), lots of dolphins and beautiful coral and tropical fish. The situation at the clinic has it's ups and downs. Grant is running into restrictions on being able to do IV sedation and that has really slowed things down and put a whole new light on what he will be able to do. I am not sure how things will turn out yet but things have been hard to get going. Grant is having to be patient and that is really hard for him. The other problem right now is that none of the x-ray equipment is working. So things move slowly here but we have really met some wonderful Filipino people as well as Americans. We have also enjoyed seeing the country. It has so many beautiful places once you get out of the crazy Manila traffic. We send you our love and wish you a wonderful Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day is a big holiday over here. I tell you what the Filipino's really like to celebrate everything! Each little Baranguy (neighborhood) has all kinds of celebrations. We went to one friends area to see their Santa Nino (baby Jesus) celebration. It is something they look forward to all year. It might be bigger than Christmas and Christmas is very big. We are enjoying getting to know their culture better. They are a very friendly sweet people and yet they have their problems with killing off political opponents during elections and anyone who is an elected official has to have body guards. The judges and political system is all corrupt. The poorest people in America would probably be middle class here. We love this big mess though!

SMOKEY MOUNTAIN

HOMES AT SMOKEY MOUNTAIN







This is the new school they are building out of recycled box cars

The other day we went to an area they call the smokey mountain. It is actually a dump that they call smokey mountain because smoke comes off of it from the decomposition and people burning trash. It is really quite a shock to go there because people live on the dump and make a living by sorting through the garbage and selling what can be recycled. It is very sad to see the little children that live there in such conditions. The Government does not seem to do much to solve the situation. This area is not really that far from some of the most posh areas in Manila. It is like they are the forgotten people. Several years ago a lady was on a trip

here when she actually followed some children to the dump. She was so appalled that she went home to England and quite her job and came to Manila and started a foundation to help the children in the smokey mountain. She was the one that took us on the tour. Her name is Jane. She is in the picture above. She has got a school going there now and is building a new school right there on the dump. It is made from recycled box cars. It is going to have 1200 students. It was amazing to see the school they have there now with the children from the dump all clean and in their uniforms. I still can't believe that this place actually exists.

HAPPY 2010!

Diane enjoying a mango shake at the Red Coconut.

Mango crepes for desert yum!

Sand castle on the beach in Boracay

Red Coconut Beach Hotel Boracay

Sunset on the beach at Boracay

Looking out to the beach from our hotel the Red Coconut in Boracay

Boarding our flight to Boracay

Dinner with Elder and Sister Ko

Taking a trike to dinner in Palawan

Drinking buca juice in Palawan

Lisa getting the full service upon arrival!

Crocodile Farm

Putting away supplies that Lisa & Diane brought

Getting ready to go into underground river

Happy New Year to everyone! We just put Diane and Lisa on the plane early this morning for home. It is January 2nd here and they will arrive home just a few hours after leaving here according to the clock. It will really take them about 24 hours because of the time difference. We had a great Christmas with them visiting us. We only let them rest one day after arriving and then we were off to the island of Palawan. We spent Christmas there doing some island hoping, snorkeling, going into an underground river and enjoying Puerto Princessa. The crocodile farm was very interesting too! We flew back to Manila on the day after Christmas so we could take Diane and Lisa to church with us and see what our ward was like. Sunday evening we had a special treat of a Korean dinner at the Ko's. Monday we left for Boracay. Move over Hawaii, all of the Caribbean, and Gulf Shores you have been replaced. What a beautiful beach. It was truly like paradise. We stayed at the Red Coconut right on the beach. each day we went out on these banka boats and went island hoping and snorkeling. The sunsets were beautiful. The mango shakes delicious and we didn't want to leave. Try to come to this island some day. We flew back to Manila in a small plane again. It is just a short 30 minute flight to paradise! It was New Years Eve and we wanted to experience the new year in Manila. We had heard that you had to see it to believe it. They were right! Fireworks went on for hours all over the city. We watched from our balcony on the 27th floor. I am adding a clip so you can get a little idea what it was like. You can't really comprehend how massive and loud and noisy it is with out really being there. We had a wonderful holiday and we are not missing the snow and cold one bit! But we are missing you and our family. It was so fun to have Diane and Lisa with us but now it is back to work.

Fireworks on New Years Eve