The long wait is over!

After three months of waiting for the school to review our applications and let us know if we are going to be accepted, we finely got a email from the director of the school! Are you ready? Our whole group was accepted! We now have a date of departure and we are really going! I am very excited but also very scared. We will be leaving on May 31 and coming home Aug 31. It is beginning  to feel real, the last month I was pretty sure for some reason that we had not been accepted and were not going but then came the call from the midwife, that we had be accepted and that we better get ready to go!

Here is so information on the island that we will be staying on

Location

Davao City is approximately 588 miles (946 km) statute miles southeast of Manila, 971 kilometres (524 nmi) by sea.

As of 2010 built-up areas used for residential, institutional, commercial, and industrial purposes represent about 10% of the total land area. Under the approved land use plan built-up and settlement area will cover 15% of the total area, while agricultural will be maximized with 67.19%. The remaining 17.68 will be devoted to forestry and conservation.

Climate

Davao City is typhoon-free due to its location. The city enjoys a weather that remains balmy all year round. It is characterized by a uniform distribution of rainfall, temperature,humidity, and air pressure. It has no pronounced wet or dry season. Weather predictability makes it highly conducive to agricultural production. Temperature ranges from 20 to 32 degrees Celsius and average rainfall is up to 2,000 mm yearly.

Language

Bisaya is the most widely spoken language in the city, while Tagalog comes a distant second. though, a local "dabawenyo" dialect is also spoken by a few.

Bisaloglish, an informal mixing of the above languages, is spoken as well. English is the medium of instruction in schools and is widely understood and spoken especially in the business community and for all official documents. Other notable languages are Hiligaynon and Ilocano

A local Spanish based creole, Chavacano, a treasure of the cultural heritage from the Spanish era, is also still spoken, mainly by immigrants from Cotabato and Zamboanga.

Religion

The largest group is the Roman Catholic at 80% of the population, other Christian groups such as Protestant churches (Evangelicals, Born Again, Ang Dating Daan, Kingdom of Jesus Christ) comprise 18%, and the remaining 1.17% belong to other non-Christian faiths (Islam,Buddhism,animism)

And here is some information on the school that we will be going to Newlife International School of Midwifery is a Christian school for direct-entry midwife students. Although our school is based on a U.S. curriculum and standards outlined by the National College of Midwifery the entire training is actually done in the Philippines. Most of our students are from the United States and Canada. However, other countries represented include South Africa, England, Denmark, Jamaica, Ireland, China and Switzerland.

We are a Christian mission organization comprised of approximately 70 individuals who come from a variety of denominational and non-denominational backgrounds. The overall team is comprised of missionaries (married couples with families as well as single individuals) and a wonderful group of Filipino Christian workers.

Newlife International School of Midwifery is operated as an extension of our birthing center, Mercy Maternity Center, which is the largest charity-based birthing clinic in the Philippines serving almost 20,000 patients (prenatal exams) annually. Families living in severe poverty conditions that cannot afford quality health care comprise our primary target group. All services provided at the clinic are free of charge. We simply desire to show women God's mercy and kindness in a practical way as Jesus taught. The hands-on and deeply relational skill of midwifery is proven to be a powerful avenue to bring God's love and kindness to suffering people.

Last year our staff and students delivered approximately 1,500 babies. More than 17,000 babies have been delivered at our clinic during the past 15 years.

Newlife International School of Midwifery is unique in that student tuition fees go directly to fund Mercy Maternity Center. The clinic is self-supported and funded by the tuition of students enrolled in our school. Therefore, knowing that each student's tuition is directly serving impoverished families, enrollment in Newlife International School of Midwifery can be deeply fulfilling. Each student actually functions as a 'missionary' while they are studying at the school that is located on the mission field. Basically, students can earn a degree while serving the poor in addition to learning how to be a missionary.

Well that is all for now but I will try and blog more often and keep you up to date to what is going on, we are on the fast track now!