Glory Reborn

Two very long jeepney rides and a bit of a hop skip and a jump from our house, along a small, slanted street is a building called "Glory Reborn." It might look humble; from the outside you'd never guess that there's a good chance there is a baby being born inside, since an average of 50 babies are born there every month, and over 2,000 have been delivered in the past seven years. Inside, we are greeted by a beautiful lady, Hillary. She came to Cebu from Texas in 1999 for a missions trip. She came back in 2000 and has been here ever since; after completing her midwifery training, she started Glory Reborn seven years ago. Now she juggles gruelling 12 hours shifts at the clinic AND her first year medicine studies at one of the Universities here in Cebu. As she ushers us in, she apologizes for her appearance; she's been up the last 24 hours rushing all over Cebu to every health care facility and blood bank to find some blood for a patient; in all of Cebu, there is none of the type she needs. One blood bank was out of all blood whatsoever of any type. A blood bank. We tell her she doesn't need to apologize- she looks a lot better than we look after a good 10 hours of beauty sleep. We sit down on two of the three cots and she says usually at least one of them is full, but it's been a slow day. There were six births the night before. As we talk, and ask her questions about her ministry, our eyes get gradually wider, and we are simply fascinated with what she has to tell us. She sees a side of life which in Canada is usually joyous and exciting; in the Philippines, birth is not always what it should be.

A little while ago, Hillary delivered a woman's 15th baby. There were complications simply because her body was not in good shape. This is very common, Hillary tells us. These women don't take care of themselves and simply don't have time to recover fully in between births. I mean don't you think having one baby a year for 15 years would at least wear you down a little? Hillary is very excited because just this January, it became illegal in the Philippines to have home births. Again, very different scenario than in Canada. No competent midwife, caring husband, a warm bath, candles; nope, you're just squatting on the floor of your shanty, with all your relatives and most of your friends all around you and watching through the windows; the witch doctor will be the one to saw the umbilical cord--with a rusty knife. If you don't bleed to death at once, it's more likely than not you and your baby will die of infection.

Day before last, Hillary delivered a baby from a 15 year old. "What!" we cry in horror. Fifteen! Calmly, she tells us it was the girl's third. She had delivered her first when she was 12. My brain still can't process this. My sister is 12. The worst thing is, a 15 year old giving birth here is common. How on earth does this happen? we ask, baffled. She tells us many young mothers live in the Red Light district. We've heard of this place, it's downtown, some of the kids we know live near there. Hillary says she prays these girls will let their babies be sent to an orphanage; if they take them back to the brothel their masters take their babies and sell them to anyone who wants them-- for 1000p. That's something like 25 bucks. You can get a good Canadian steak meal for that much. And these are human beings, precious and loved by God. How do these girls get there in the first place? we wonder. Hillary says that brothel owners go out to the countryside and tell the parents of young girls they have a good job for them in the city, as a saleslady, or a waitress, and give the parents a few months wages in advance. Then they take these young girls to the big city, get them hopelessly addicted to drugs, and then they are stuck there. There is no way to leave, or get out. If they escape and are spotted, they can be shot. What about the police, we ask, aren't they doing anything about this? Hillary smiles. When she goes to visit the girls a couple times a week, she says there are cop cars lined up all along the street. They might even get free service. Due to the fact that Hillary sees quite a bit of darkness on a regular basis she replies sadly, "Welcome to the Philippines, it's so corrupt."

But, is there good news in all this sadness? Yes, there is. Through Glory Reborn, mothers are being given pre- and post-natal care, are being taught better health care, are being counselled by Christian counselors, and most of all are delivering their children safely. Praise God, even in such a place of spiritual death, the light of Christ still shines, and may it be that these children born in this little building will one day spread the good news to this needy nation of the Philippines!!

To GOD be the Glory.

AmberKay