House of Hope

This evening we were invited to a birthday party at the House of Hope here in Davao City.

 

This is a place we had heard about and I definitely wanted to visit. Children with cancer who are patients of the Southern Philippines Medical Center are using the House of Hope as living facility. So, when a new friend of ours invited to the party, we were happy!

 

Due to our western punctuality, we were the first people to arrive. I enjoyed walking around & making friends. This really is a place of joy and hope.  Some of the kids were right in the middle of cancer treatment and others remaining after treatment for tests. Sweet bald little heads & tired bodies, but they still giggled & carried on.

 

They were anticipating the party….good food, entertainment and visitors. The neat thing about this party was that our friend’s son was the host.  You see, 13 year old Louie and his 16 year old friend decided to share their birthday celebrations  with the kids at he House of Hope. What a great idea. They did not disappoint either, Louie and his two brothers led some songs. Boy, Filipinos love to sing!!!!!

 

 

As we were leaving  the 16 year old hostess was giving each of the kids a special goodie bag. What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday night!

Davao Jubilee Foundation

 

I love going on little “field trips” with L. It was a delight to visit The Davao Jubilee Foundation  with L & Dr. Reyes.

More & more people are hearing about the Tebow Cure Hospital and many are expectant & excited right along with us. The Operations Manager, Cheryl, was such a joyful & encouraging hostess. The programs and services that the Davao Jubilee Foundations offers are manufacturing of Prostheses & Orthoses, Physical Therapy, Clinical PT Internships as well as Hearing & Vision screening. There are plans in the short term to start to manufacture wheelchairs as well. It was so interesting touring the facility but the most wonderful part was meeting the team that are committed to rehabilitate people!

Casting area

Workshop

Outdoor Physical Therapy Area

Indoor PT Area. There were interns there and Dr Reyes checked over the patients. Each of the three men were missing a leg.

I just get so happy and inspired to see people being helped. Loved meeting these young professionals and hearing about a wonderful project. I am looking forward to return to The Davao Jubilee Foundation to blow some bubbles and hangout with some kids!

A Work in Progress!

We are settled back in the Philippines after a nice long vacation in states. We had a few weeks before school started so we went to the Hospital to check on the progress. It is coming right along. I have lots of fun reminiscing about the project in Niger and the first days of being there. This building is quite different but the cement smells the same and the feelings of great expectations are all the same too! The the grittiness if some wonderful and new being constructed. Can’t explain how excited I get when I enter t his place, already!!! Hope you enjoy these pictures, feel free to ask questions. As you will see the rooms are labels but there are no windows or doors. The kids were a little freaked out getting too close to wide open spaces….it is a 5 story building after all!

The exterior of the Tebow CURE Hospital Davao Philippines

The lobby is looking quite inviting! Maybe it I am biased by the sweet inviting faces?

 

Kitchen

Leron’s office

Some views from the inside looking out. See the rooms are tagged with their number and purpose? Exam rooms, radiology, nurses station, wards, play area, lab….and the list goes on throughout the building.  So exciting!

 

This big room will be used for training and larger group gatherings…chapel? This is quite a larger “open space” Drew took care not to get too close. Ha!

      

Here are some views out the window….some of our guys hard at work, stairwell….elevator shaft!

The sloped entrance at the rear of the building….pretty steep!

Operating block…little dusty. We traded the red sandy dust of the Sahara for the dark volcanic dust of the Philippines….

Lots of butterflies looking at these pictures, whether it is seeing my kids close to large openings in  the side of the building or navigating the sloped walkway instead of stairs or the thoughts of all that will go on here when we open! Lots of people to meet……I am beyond excited! I am watching a dream come true with my eyes wide open. Stay tuned. There are many wonderful things to come!!

Introducing Dr FISH

Yesterday, I tried something new. A new friend of mine suggested that we take our girls out on a date. I was thrilled & with REAL ITALIAN gelato in the equation, it was a yes for sure! Our destination was the Fishiology Fish Spa. We went to meet Dr. FISH…..and that we did! 

  

The thought of putting my feet in a tank with these little fish to eat the dead skin off was not too threatening, right? They were just little fishies. Here was my view.

 

I am thankful that I only signed up for 20 minutes….the sensation was somewhere between tickling & having electric current running on surface of my skin. B said that it felt like “a thousand tiny kisses”. There were times, I thought I could not take it. It was quite a strange sensation.

 

I giggled ALOT. It was such a treat just to sit, relax & talk & enjoy being together. I am thrilled for the next adventure!!!  Oh yeah, my feet are amazingly smooth & I had 2 flavors of gelato, chocolate & white chocolate caramel. YUM. It was quite a wonderful experience. Definitely something to repeat….funny feeling and all.