Today I gave my presentation at the hospital. It went great! I wish I could have recorded the faces of my audience as they looked at photos of many different birth positions. They were enthusiastic about the new information and various ways of birthing. However, they couldn't believe that 99% of our births occur in hospitals and only 1% in homes and birth centers. This is their current goal in Peru and they were astounded when I told them that many CNMs in the US are working to get normal low-risk birth OUT of the hospital where more risky interventions and infections can occur. I'm not sure what the statistic is in Ucayali, but Anita says that about 30% of births are in homes attended by family members or traditional birth attendants and the rest are institutional. My audience also couldn't believe that studies show that birth is as safe in homes and birth centers as long as their is a CNM attending. They LOVED my stories of the water births I have attended. Thank you to Joy and Geri for sending me GREAT photos and sample presentations. I used many of the photos and the powerpoints gave me great ideas.
After saying goodbye to my sweet Josefina doggy at the hospital and all my friends, I rushed back to the house to get ready for the anniversary celebration at Monte de Los Olivos. Janneth put a beautiful braid in my hair.
Arrived for the festivities and had no idea that I would be in the hot seat! I sat in one of the prime seats, on display with all the official head honchos of Ucayali. The governor gave a speech, then the mayor gave a speech, then another somebody made a speech, then Anita made a speech, and then… They passed the microphone to me!!! Oh! So, then I made a speech. I wonder what I said…
The community named me Godmother of the Casa de Espera. What an honor!
In addition to it being the 23rd anniversary of Monte de Los Olivos, it was also the last weekend of Carnival. Each year every community or neighborhood of Peru plants a tree to be decorated on the last Sunday of Feb Carnival and each year everyone dances around the tree at 6pm and takes turn cutting it down with an axe. The decorations include Tupperware plates, cups, sievs, candy, rice, and more. As the tree hits the ground, everyone runs to grab the decorations. It’s reminiscent of piñata parties when the candy hits the ground so do all the kids.
We danced the night away and by the time we wanted to go home, all the motocar drivers were too drunk to take us, so I spent my first night in my little jungle house.
Photos – My captive audience at the hospital. Presentation at hospital. Preparing for Olivos anniversary later that morning, Me with all the officials at Olivos, Tony Tan (Godfather and former governor of Ucayali) and I breaking the bottle of champagne to initiate the Casa de Espera, Anita and I, the decorated tree we cut down, me dancing with an axe in my hand…
No comments:
Post a Comment