Monkey Brain Musings

 May 22, 2025 Hello again! Those of you who have been on this journey with me since the beginning (my first trip to Haiti in 2014!) know that the closer I get to a trip, the more you will hear from me. I love keeping you up on the progress and planning part of my volunteer work. It makes me feel like we are all in this together and also fills a much-needed void now that my parents are gone. My mother was quite the traveler and adventurer, and she led by example, which is why I often enjoy the planning as much as the trip! First, I would like to thank Mary (Bozie!) for the generous gift card to Staples. As I write this blog, I am actually taking a short break from organizing all of the training materials in preparation of printing. I would also like to thank Kathy, Arnold and LeeAnn, for their constant support and generosity. Which brings me to my next bit of news. Rachel and I had a wonderful phone call this week, planning for the trip, and discussing changes and progress at the bi...

5/13/2025 Hi Folks! And just like that, we are halfway through May already! My flight to Uganda has been booked for June (Yeay!), leaving Seattle on June 13th and returning July 3rd. The cost of flying has increased (especially on the more direct flights), so I'll be switching planes multiple times on each trip, making for some long travel times. I won't be flying through Istanbul or Dubai this time, sorry friends, but I'm excited to get back to the birth center.  I have completed the Phase 2 Week 1 training curriculum and will probably start working on the Week 2 curriculum while I'm there and once I've seen what works and doesn't work about this one.  I cannot begin to express my gratitude to my wonderful friends and followers. 😍 I have received so many donations of yarn and knitting tools (Thank you Diane, Nan Marie and Marci!) along with the financial donation from Bev, that I believe my knitting kits will be complete, once I finish sewing the bags.  I have...

 Hello, friends and followers! How about a little update? In theory, I should be writing this while recovering from my knee replacement surgery...however (and this may come as NO surprise to anyone working in healthcare or dealing with our broken medical system in any way), my surgery was denied after multiple appeals and a peer-to-peer conversation with my surgeon. Insert expletives here. My biggest concern was how this may affect my trips this year, but I will shift the short trip up from July to June, hopefully having the surgery in July and keeping my plan to return again at the end of September for a longer trip. I was hoping to use my recovery time to create the Phase 2 curriculum (and the knitting tutorials), but I will make that work between my shifts at the hospital and my bi-weekly Physical Therapy.  My walking group kindly dropped off enough mint tins that I have been able to make 12 knitting kits, complete with darning needles, stitch markers, paper rulers (repurpo...

 Hello dear friends and followers! Many of you have reached out to me, concerned about future trips and funding, considering the dramatic and horrific changes being made within our current government. I have much to catch you up on but let me begin by letting you know that the primary funding for MHI (Mother Health International) comes from an organization based in Australia. As of now, our funding and training programs are secure!  so, let the catch up begin! For those of you just joining us, and those of you that need a recap, I am now working directly with Mother Health International ( Mother Health ) and Rachel Zaslow. Here's a brief introduction and profile... Dr. Rachel Zaslow's career as a Registered Midwife in Sub-Saharan Africa spans 20 years with a focus on strengthening maternal health care systems in resource poor areas. Her area of expertise is in developing midwifery models of care that blend clinical excellence with culturally specific practice for improving hea...