I was in the Philippines documenting on going relief efforts by Direct Relief post Typhoon Hiayan. Even with all the devastation of peoples lives and livelihoods. People rebuild, babies are born, and life goes on. This little guy was only about an hour old and he still had the umbilical cord attached along with the placenta. I was privileged to be there for the umbilical cutting. He was born in a clinic that Bumi Sehat Foundation along with its founder Robin Lim set up in Dulag on Leyte Island an area that was destroyed by the typhoon. Inside the clinic are a series of tents where, women go through labor, babies are born, mothers recover, midwives live in, medicines are stored, and healthcare is administered. Amazing women who work there on 24 hour shifts, every single midwife a rockstar.
The devastation had been cleaned up in some areas and some areas not really. In Tacloban fishing boats were washed ashore during the typhoon and no one knows when they will be moved. So people have restarted their lives right under the boats. With children playing around them, meals being prepared, and homes being constructed.
