Agriculture training at RLC- Part 1 Goat raising

Last week I went with 4 other girls for agriculture training at RLC.
I really enjoyed and learned a lot during the goat raising class

We learned about milking

I love the fun personalities of goats :) This doe decided to get up in my face, I didn't mind :)

Fast effective milking is a learned art that I hope to become good at one day

One my way to be a good goat milker

Weighting the milk 

Guess what I am about to do???

Castrating a young goat

It takes some concentration 

And proper technic  

I didn't find it too hard and... kinda fun

If you would like to give it a try, this is how you do Bloodless castration;
1st. Cut the tip
2ed. push one testicle out, use the razor to gently cut through the membrane
3rd. Pull a tightly fastened membrane off the testicle and push all the membranes back into the testicle sack
4th. Twist the testicle 5 times, make sure to count, so you don't for get
5th. Rip the testicle from the goats body
6th. repeat with testicle #2
7th. Clean with a mixture of gin, ginger and turmeric
8th. Return the newly weathered goat to his pen

Finishing up

Anyone up for mountain oysters??

HELP ME!! 

Brenda giving the final pull

Kelly is proud of her first castrating experience 

Eileen did a great job as a city girl getting dirty doing farm work

Juniper was a natural 

Count them up. How many goats did we castrate?

Getting instructions on how to de-bud a one week old kid goat 

This one was a lot harder for me than the castrating, but I did it!

Finishing up

The freshly de-budded kid, he was sad

I gave him a little loving before returning him to his pen

Learning about hoof trimming. I had done it a little bit before, but I learned I had not been talking off enough of the hoof 

The stand of de-budding 

Our instructor was a good teacher out in the barn

We learned about mixing feeds & growing crops to feed your dairy goats 

Soybeans 

Salt & shells 

The grain before mixing 

mixing the grains back and forth 

The farms grain storage for their own animals and to sell to local farmers

A pretty nanny goat 

These animals are great for small farmers and their milk can bring a malnourished child back to health  

For the first two weeks they live the kids with their mothers.
For 2wks to 3 months they put the kids in their own pen during the night so that they can milk the does in the the morning and return the kid back in with the mother during the day.
After the kid is 3 months old it is weaned and the nanny gets milked twice per day 

Nubin does
We were told they are the best tropical milk goats

Feeding and housing animals in a tropical country is much different. You can plant hedge rows and cut and feed your animals from them year round. The barns are on stilts for air ventilation and for easy cleaning.

I have dreamed of having milk goats for a long time. My time at RLC gave me renewed vision for my future ministry in Africa and how milk goats can fit into that vision. I am excited to see what the future holds!   Part 2 of RLC training coming soon

Born in the bathroom

I was first up on rotation last evening. The first labor that arrived was a early twenties G1 (first pregnancy), she was smiling as she walked through the door and briskly went to the CR (bathroom) to pee & wash. I then ushered her to one of the beds, to take her vitals, listen to baby's heartbeat and talk to her about her labor.

When did your labor start, I asked her? "oh last night, but just like period cramps, but this morning there was some blood and that is why I came," was her reply. I explained to her about the mucus plug, she had no signs of contractions, but I asked again about her labor pains. "Oh, the pain from last night is less now." Smiling to myself I gently explained that for your first baby early labor can talk a long time and that she needed to go home and just go on with life like normal until her contractions came and were about 5 min apart, then she could return. "OK, I think I am just a little excited, because it has been a week since my due date." What a sweetie :)

Later on, three hours before shift change around 7pm I tell another student that my fully needs to come before 8pm. This way she can have her baby and get to postpartum before I have to go. About 20min later a labor comes waddle in and she was not smiling. She tells us she is waiting for her husband, who is coming very soon and I think to myself, "well she must have a little time," and have her go to the CR. I start filling out paper work, as I wait for her. All of a sudden the bathroom door flies open, she is standing with her legs apart with a shocked look on her face. The baby is coming NOW!

I rush to her while pulling a glove from my pocket onto my right hand and about take down my supervisor as she is racing in the opposite directions for gloves. I managed to have the one glove on by the time I walked the 7 quick steps over to the CR. The head was already about 8 cm visible and I had no time to pull on the other glove. I just reached my hand down to support the quickly emerging head. It always amazes me how fast your mind can work, because mine sure was. I was thinking about the ungloved hand and the fact that I can't hold a slimy newborn with one hand above a tile floor.

In a matter of seconds of arriving to the mother, I was calling head out, baby out and yes using that ungloved hand, there was not another option. Happy to feel the baby squirm in my hands I suddenly noticed a cord wrapped around his neck. "OH" I quickly thought, "None of my catches as of yet have had a cord wrap, nor has their mother been standing up!" I am pretty good at jumping into action when I know it is up to me to fix the problem. I quickly turned baby one way, nope wrong, then turned and flipped him the other... actually I am not quite sure what I did, or how many times it was wrapped, but I got it unwrapped. By this time my supervisor arrived, also with only one hand gloved and the baby was crying. She quickly cut the cord and we transferred baby and the shocked, but happy mama to a bed.

This was the mother's third baby and all came fast from what I hear. She delivered the placenta with no problems and two hours later after nursing her baby and drinking some water & milo, jumped out of bed, instructed her husband to clean up some drips of blood and marched to the CR. What a strong mama! What a fun crazy birth! What a treasure to be able to be a midwife! Have I mentioned that I love being a midwife? :)

Baby Andy

Ata Ermie my supervisor, baby Andy & I 

My first labor story

I have been hesitant to write birth stories on my blog. It is hard to know how much and what to share. But I know that (or at least I think) you would like to hear some of my stories. Be advised, I am a midwife :) (I have purposely left the mother's name out for her privacy)

Once you start catching babies it is like an addiction, you just want to keep doing it again and again, no matter how busy or tired you may be. It had been nine long days since my last catch, when she walked in the door. a pretty girl of 20 years old in labor with her first baby. She smiled at me, but I could tell she was in pretty active labor. After taking her vitals, listening to baby's heartbeat and palpating the position. I did an i.e. to assess dilation. She was 9cm with only a lip on top left to go and I confirmed SROM (that her water had already broke).
She wanted to lay on her side in bed, but I told her it may take a long time for her to complete dilation if she didn't do some exercising. The best being hands and knees. She tried it and didn't like that position. Next was the birth ball and she found this position much more comfortable. I stayed with her, helping her breath through her contractions and rubbing her back.
About two hours later she started feeling "poopy" this can mean that she really does need to use the bathroom, but more likely it is time to start pushing. After talking to my supervisor we advised her to do a trial push and when she pushed the baby's head was right there. She ended up pushing for a little over an hour on her side. Her contractions were strong, but short. I encouraged her through them, telling her what a great job she was doing. In between she would rest, then right before she started pushing again she would make eye contact with me and smile. It was beautiful.
Slowly her baby's head crowned and she slowly and beautifully pushed her 7.7lb baby boy into the world with only a tiny skin split. It was a beautiful birth and what an amazing gift to watch a woman become a mother for the very first time. Her baby boy was extremely cute and started nursing right away, his mama was beaming with joy and pride at her son.

If you look at the pictures on the left he is catch #11 :0)

Little blessings

Romeo & his new owner Ellen

Art & Creativity

One of my recent assignments was Art & Creativity. There was various parts to the assignment, one of which was doing a art project. Below are pictures of what I did :

Crochet Placenta

Complete with membranes 

Uterus & cervix 

I would make some changes to my next ones, but I am pretty happy with the results

I had fun doing this project. I found a pattern for the uterus, but made up the placenta. I would make some changes to my next set. I would to make a compete set (click on link below for example) and eventually try selling some. Birth teaching set 

It's 1am

I am currently visiting the main school of Newlife, in Davao City (Davao City Philippines for more information) for a month. Life here is much different. There are 20 students (I think) and the clinic has about 150 births per month (the clinic where I live has 20-25 births per month). A high volume of birth ='s shift work. I have not done shift work since 2008 when I worked as a CNA (certified nurses aid) at a local nursing home in my home town. At the nursing home I mainly worked the 3 to 11 shift, here we work all three shifts, but because of our school load only 3 shifts a week. This is why it is 1am and I am writing a blog :)
Here in Davao I am enjoying spending time with my classmates; We went to a movie, ate ice cream and laughed. Davao is a much larger city than where I live. You can call in McDonalds or pizza, there is many shopping malls, one of which feels like you have reentered America. The ocean is close by and I hope that I will at least be able to stick my toes in before I head back to Tabuk. However, most of my time here will be spent on shift, working on my assignments or in class.

Please continue to pray for me as I work hard at the tasks God has given me. Pray that God would give me the wisdom to learn how to be a good midwife, to retain the information I am studying, and to be able to do my assignments well & on time. Pray that I would be a blessing to my fellow students and the women I serve. Pray that I would make time to study the Word and that I will be filled up to over flowing with His love.

Also, please continue to keep Sudan in your prayers. The two countries are far from stable and many people, at this time most from the borders are deeply suffering.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support! *Tianne*

God's perfect timing

I know I talk about my animals a lot, but the truth is, I love them. God has used animals in big ways in my life, to show me His love, kindness and to teach me life lessons. You may have read, Unexpected friendship that I wrote last May about my beloved horse, Romeo.
When I said yes to God about serving long term overseas, that meant parting with Romeo. This was/is very hard for me, but with God's help I said OK. With my mom's help we started looking for a new home. The first was 6hrs away, this home had him a year and then they told me it wasn't working out. This was a blessing in one way because I got him back while I was home last year. It was hard because I needed to find him a new home again and the horse market is not very good at the moment. 
Romeo came home and a week later someone, who lives about 1 1/2hrs away came and looked at him, fell in love and agreed to take him over a month later so I could have more time enjoying him. I praised God. Wow how amazing, I didn't do anything and Romeo has a new home! 
Well, A month ago I get a email saying she can no longer keep him. I cried. Then I asked God, why? Then I worried and cried a little more and worried and somewhere in there I called my mom. My mom calmly told me that someone from my brother's church was interested in getting another horse for their family and to not worry, she would look into it and all would be  fine. Not worry? I live in the Philippines, it is the middle of winter in Michigan, really? Not worry?  Who gets a new horse in the winter time? I doubted, I prayed and I cried a bit more. 
My wonderful mom took the time to go with the family to meet Romeo. She wrote me after they got back and told me they seemed to like him and would let us know after they talked it over. I was on pins and needles. What would the answer be? The next day I received an email from the family saying that, Romeo was "Oh, what a love" and that they would be blessed to add him to their family and let their girls love on him! Wow God, you are SO amazing! Why do I ever doubt you? 

Romeo and I this summer

Romeo is now with his new family and they are enjoying getting to know each other. I am praising God for His faithfulness and love for me, in caring about the little "unimportant" things. It was a different path than I would have imagined for Romeo to find the perfect home, but God knew and His timing is always just right. 

The mighty hand and plans of God

It was a sunny evening my first year living in the Didinga Hills of S. Sudan, sitting in a dark hut listening to a young woman pushing on a rock when I witnessed my first birth. The light shown in through the small door when I saw the dusky blue body in the hands of the woman's local midwife, Regina. I was in awe! Then the whole hut went crazy and it took me a minute to realize why, the baby was not crying. The woman's mother called for Kim and I to come over and help. We didn't know what to do. But we tried and Regina tried and the seconds turned into minutes as every effort was given to stimulate the little blue baby boy to cry. He lay there limp. About the time everyone was giving up, his little chest began to move and He lived! Everyone praised God, because we all knew it wasn't because of something we did.

Fast forward to the next year. Regina the midwife is now pregnant. She has a older daughter and lost her second born after walking 26mile to get a Caesarean. This is her 3rd child and she has high hope that this baby will live. Regina goes into labor a month early and her mother comes to us nearly in tears asking us to come. It is Kim and I again and we rush down the hill. Regina says her water has broke, but she can still feel the baby move. We encourage the family to start walking to the hospital, reminding them of what happened last time. It takes 24hrs for them to come to the smaller clinic 10miles away in Nagishot. 

The local midwife checks her briefly and says she will deliver that night. She does. Again in a dark hut I am watching a woman give birth and I don't know what to do. The baby's hand comes out her vagina, limp. The baby is dead. They use their hands to stretch her vagina open so the baby will come. Regina's mother covers her mouth so she will not cry out and shame herself. Towards the end her husband enters the room, they are worried Regina will die. She does not. Then the baby comes, small, dead and they lay him in a gourd. Regina reaches down to feel for his pulse, even through he is clearly dead. They say not to cry, for he was not known. We cry anyway on our way home. He was known and he was loved.

Fast forward a year. I am now a midwife student living in the Philippines and I have seen many women labor and give birth. I am learning what to do and how to help women give birth so that they and their babies will have a better chance of living. Birth is beautiful and birth is hard. I am learning how to prevent or notice potential problems, through good prenatal care. Every Wednesday I give prenatal care to women. Through my book learning I am learning the ends and outs of midwifery care. And through my time in the birth room I am learning hands of how to help women give birth as I work with experienced midwives.

I still have a lot to learn, but I feel even now, if I were to be transported back to these two births I would not be standing there wishing I knew how to help. I would be able to offer some very real, practical help. I know that come graduation in 2013 I will be ready to return to Africa to work along side local women to provide prenatal, labor & deliver, and postpartum care. While also building relationships and teaching about the saving love of Jesus.  

Bat it's what's for dinner

This evening while in the market I glanced over and saw these guys hanging on a line.  For only 200 peso I could have taken one home for dinner or maybe my next pet?

Fresh and tender bat meat

Their wings & mouth were tied shut, but I still wasn't too sure about getting up close

One of God's amazing creations 

Hi silly little bat, sorry you will be eaten soon

Friends until the end.  At least hanging them upside down was the nice thing to do

crazy feet

Do you want to eat this guy for dinner?

Pineapple cream of broccoli soup

I was already running a bit late on lunch, when I decided some of the chicken broth we had put in the freezer might add some extra yumminess.  I plopped it in and stirred as it quickly dissolved into the boiling soup.  A few scoops of milk powder, salt and pepper later, I decide a taste test was needed.  As the soup hit my tongue, it was sweet, yes, sweet.  Another test and still sweet!  What? cream of broccoli soup is not supposed to be sweet!  Suddenly I have a very slight memory that, Sara, had also frozen some pineapple juice in the same bags as the chicken broth.  Hoping I was wrong, but knowing I was not, I checked the freezer.  Sure enough there was a bright yellow bag of pineapple juice and hidden under it the darker chicken broth.  Shoot!

So what does one do when they are late with lunch and they goofed up?  First you must have a good laugh, then, deal with the problem.  In this case pour out the broth and add new.  It really was just a silly goof up, yet what about bigger goof ups, what should be done with those?  I have never heard of anyone who has yet to be successful with turning back time, so I think the same thing should be done have a good laugh (or a good cry), then simply deal with the problem and learn from the mistake.

I know in this life I will never be finished making mistakes, but Christ who has begun a good work in me will carry it on to completion until Christ comes back (Philippines 1:6). With each blunder and mistake, there is forgiveness and lessons to be learned, no matter how big or how small.

*She Sparkles* A to Z Memory Verse Challenge 2012

"*She Sparkles* A to Z Memory Verse Challenge 2012 starts TODAY! (& huge GIVEAWAY!)

I know it is already 8 days into 2012, but I still had not decided what the last one of my New Year goals would be (I always do 10). This morning I received an email from my Aunt Carol about She Sparkles blog that has a scripture memory challenge. Number 10 goal found! Scripture memory is an important part of growing in the Lord and I would encourage you to click on the link and join the the challenge.

It's a New Year!

When I look back at 2011 I am amazed at all the miles I have traveled, over 36,000 by plane and more miles by bus, train and car.  I visited 9 countries and 4 continents. I moved from Africa to Asia.

I said many goodbyes and hellos. I cried, laughed and sang.  I got to roll in snow, watch the trees bud, flowers bloom and feel the summer breeze.  I once again rode familiar paths with my best four footed friend.  I felt the kisses and hugs of my favorite little girls. 

 I stood beside my bosom friend as she gave her life to the man she loves. I caught my first baby. I felt very far from God and very close to Him. I was blessed beyond my imagination. 

Thank you Father for 2011 with all it's challenges, miles traveled, and winding roads.  I grew closer to You then I have ever been before. With anticipation I look forward the challenges and blessings of 2012.  

 "The LORD is my inheritance and my cup. You are the one who determines my destiny.
 Your boundary lines mark out pleasant places for me.
Indeed, my inheritance is something beautiful."

~Psalm 16:5-6