Saturday, March 10, 2012

Last Minute Souvenir Shopping

The gentleman on the left is the owner and 'hatter'
Dave wearing songkok  trying to look serious
This last week here in Penang I also spent 2 evenings taking the bus downtown and then walking quite a bit to locate some special souvenirs: Trying to identify handcrafted items that are truly Malaysian is not so easy because of the strong cultural presence of both India and China here. I finally decided to get David (husband) a handmade hat/cap, called a 'songkok', as, due to his bald head, Dave has developed a real collection of hat specimens.  The renown 'hatter' for handmade songkoks in Penang owns a small shop on Jalan King (Jalan is Malay for street) in the historicGeorgetown area part of town.
After getting the hat, I headed to the Chinatown area of the city.  In a small shop on Jalan Campbell, I finally located a tiny very plain clay teapot set for daughter-in-law Sarah. I kinow - it's a chinese teapot, not Malaysian, but Peiching, one of my colleagues, drinks her tea in her really adorable and beautiful clay teacup every day at work, and she explained how the clay teacup is important in preserving each tea's special taste - each teacup is specifically used for only one type of tea - that way you never get the flavors of various teas mixed up or tainted by old residual flavors remaining in the cup. (I also learned this week - from Aussie friend Craig - he learned this from a recent tea tour expert - that perfect cup of tea is made from using the tea leaves multiple times - pouring hot water over the leaves and letting it steep for just 7 seconds before pouring it off into your cup - the best tasting tea comes on pouring # 3or 4, - you can use the same tea leaves maybe a total of 6 times before the tea tastes too weak, and the first 1 or 2 pourings the tea tastes more bitter.....)  Anyway - the first tea shops I found had very beautiful pots but were priced way out of my budget range ($100 U.S. and upwards), but several shops later I made a successful purchase.  A few shops later to locate just the right tea assortment.....  Then on to Pete's gifts:  I struggled with this gift - what to give Peter?  Why, something to eat, of course!  So I picked up some Malaysian chocolate, and some specialty green bean paste biscuits (once again, Chinese, I'm sorry to admit).  I was non-plussed (sp?) with  Pete's reaction to the filled biscuits "they aren't very sweet". - but perhaps it was more due to the fact that they got really squished during transit here, rather than to the actual biscuit's taste.
I am ending this entry at this point since I haven't dstributed any other gifts to other family members yet......

The Botanical Gardens of Penang

Malaysian national flower
entrance to the Botanical Gardens
My final days in Penang have been really hectic with so many tasks still feeling 'unfinished'.  I have spent all of my time here in Penang with so much work to do for WABA that I have had to try to cram in all of the 'extra curricular' stuff in small bits of time here and there.  Malaysia is a beautiful and fascinating country.  So much to see....
The large waxy flowers of cannon-ball tree
Canon-ball tree
'Mr Sureesh', my taxi driver, decided that I really needed to see the Botanical Gardens in Penang before I departed.  So after work on Tuesday, even though it was overcast and rainy, he drove me to the botanical park on the way home from the WABA office.  Since he was waiting for me, I of course didn't want to take the 2 hrs necessary to walk the entire grounds - but I did spend about 20 minutes walking around one 'loop' of paths.  Really beautiful (and mosquito -y!).  One very interesting specimen:This Couroupita guianensis tree has rather unusual flowers, they grow directly out of the main trunk, a condition termed as “cauliflory”. The large fleshy flowers last for weeks and exude a strong fragrance that attracts insects for pollination. The cannon-ball tree can grow up to 20 m tall. The species is deciduous and will shed all of its leaves during the dry season. The fruits are huge, brown in colour resembling cannon balls, hence its name. Within the fruit are many small seeds. The cannon-ball tree is a native of South America.
Next time I come to Penang ( and I do so hope that I can return some day), I plan to spend a full day at the gardens enjoying all it has to offer.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Sunday Excursion

Well - my last Sunday in Penang was spent in the very best way possible - first in church, and then with
Contemporary worship at Wesley
Christian friends!Walked down to Wesly church just in time for the 11am service.  Enjoyed the music especially - and of course, - worshiping with brothers and sisters in Christ!  the message was the 2nd of a series on "Covenants".  this week was text about Abraham and circumcision as sign of covenant. 
The vegetarian buffet at the Centre of Fine Arts
There was another young Australian joining us at church - 'Sam' (I never asked, but I assume her full name is Samantha....) is about 25 yrs old, cute blond.  is part of Australian royal Air force military police.  has been in Penang for 3 months and returned home Wednesday march 7th.  anyway - Sam is single and Craig and Narelle invited her to come over from the base on the mainland to join us for church and then for an afternoon of driving around the island.
Sam is a vegetarian so I took all of us to the Asian Center of fine Arts (might not be the correct name!) which is a Hindu related place where they run a vegetarian restaurant as part of their ministries.  They don't charge for the food - donations accepted.  Lunch is a buffet.  Sarah Amin (my boss while here) took me there this past week - it was awesome! Lots of different spices - I recognized some of the foods, like 'lady fingers' are really okra.  Also, for example, they offer several kinds of rice so that, if you are doing some type of spiritual praying or 'cleansing', you don't eat onion and garlic because they stimulate your digestion..... So, when Craig and Narelle were trying to decide where we could go that would be guaranteed vegetarian, I knew the Perfect Place!
After lunch Criag and Narelle drove us down to the other end of the island, stopping at this HUGE shopping mall called QueensBay".  very modern.  It was surprising to see a TGIF restaurant and lots of other American stores.  I found a map of the country at a large bookstore.  Glad we stopped there,  but wouldn't go back on a regular basis, I don't think.
Then we drove on, across the rest of the island, driving up and over the mountain ridge that runs straight along
A fishing village
the island - to get back over to the Georgetown portion of the island you either have to drive over the mountain or all along the coastal perimeter.  I'm not sure how high the mountain range is (I'll check that out), but it was certainly cooler up on top - we stopped at a nice shaded overlook.
For a small island that has been colonized and 'over-westernized' for over 200 years - the island is remarkably wooded - lots of undisturbed forests  - perhaps the mountain range has something to do with the remaining forests?
Sam had never been to see the famous temple Kek Lok Si that I was fortunate to visit the first weekend I was here.  So we swung by the temple just as it was closing.  took a photo of me with a pig statue - we think that 1957 was the year of the pig.....
We dropped Sam off at the ferry so she could head back to the airforce base.  Then Craig and Narelle swung by and dropped me at my flat.  another tiring, but very enjoyable day.


Monday, March 5, 2012

Part 2 of Saturday - Batu Ferringhee

While the weather continues to be hot and humid - the rain has been coming earlier and earlier in the day so, rather than having a downpour at 9 or 10pm, it has been getting really dark and threatening at all sorts of times, and I've been caught in a downpour walking home from the market more than once these past few days.
Such is the case for us on Saturday.  Narelle and Craig Collas picked me up at my apartment just as I returned from the MMPS meeting at the Y., and we headed off for a night at Batu Ferringhee - the beach resort area of Penang Island.  Joining us was an Australian medic, Simone, who is one of the single women posted here in Penang.  She has been here a few more months longer than Narelle and Craig.  She is a cheerful sort and a fun addition to our group.   Anyway - by the time we had driven down to the beach area, about a 15 minute drive due to the (typical) heavy traffic, the skies were gray.  By the time we finished dinner - we ate at a Lebanese restaurant along the main market road, it was raining.  So, unfortunately, no great beach photos.
A great view of my feet being knawed on!
However, we had fun nevertheless.  First we tried the 'Fish Spa'.  Apparently this practice comes from Viet Nam.  The 'hot tub looking' small pool is full of small fish.  Following a quick rinse off of your feet, you sit down on the edge of the tub and stick your feet into the pool.  the fish start nibbling on your feet almost immediately, eating away at dead skin, etc. (or such is the theory).  It was a little creepy, I must confess.  I don't know what kind of fish -  they looked like regular fish that you would have in your goldfish bowl - not piranhas, anyway...  But I had a small raw blister area on the side of my foot where my flip flop had rubbed me during a walk home in the rain the day before, - and the fish really like to pull at the edges of skin around the sore.   I don't think I'll do that ever again....  But afterall, who knows when I'll be asked if I want a 'fish spa' again?
Craig & Narelle  experiencing the Fish Spa
After some delicious Lebanese falafel, kafta, and tobouleh dishes, we walked up and down the market.  there must have been close to 1000 different stalls of tourist-type beach stuff, mostly made in china, I would bet.  I couldn't decide what to purchase for all of my family members back home (Phew - all of you folks can breathe a sigh of relief!) so I settled for a pair of unusual salt & pepper shakers, some small chinese purses, and some artistic postcards/notecards. 
We finished the evening with some coffee at one of the resort hotels.  Huge cups of frothy local-style coffee plus sugar crystal stix (too cute to put in the coffee!). 

MMPS

With less than 1 week left of my time here in Penang, I have entered the 'last time...." mode.  So, here is how I spent my last Saturday here in Penang......
Spent the morning preparing my presentation for the mothers & babies at the local Mother-to-Mother Peer Support group - a breastfeeding support group started with one of the previous ILCA/WABA fellows.  Apparently some of the moms requested that I talk to them about how to make more milk for their babies - low milk supply is a common problem for mothers everywhere, it seems.
I'm sure that there are many reasons that women in Malaysia don't achieve exclusive breastfeeding rates recommended by WHO and health experts worldwide - returning to full-time work within 3 months of delivery; heavy marketing of infant and child (the companies here really push the "growing formula" products for toddlers and preschoolers because they are banned by law to advertize infant formula) formula; cultural expectations, lack of support from family and friends.  There are the same reasons that women in the U.S. don't achieve WHO recommendations.
One key piece is new mothers' lack of knowledge with what 'normal' breastfeeding behaviors are, and what healthy growth for a young infant should look like. Many times new mothers start feeding their infants formula because they mistake normal breastfeeding behaviors for indications that the baby is unsatisfied with breastmilk.  So I focused on explaining a little of how the process of milk production works (the 'supply and demand' process), and a bit on the importance of getting off to a good start in terms of 'building a big factory'.
MMPS leaders were very welcoming
The MMPS group meets from 3-5pm on the first Saturday of every month in a pre-school classroom of the local YMCA.   I had actually attended their meeting the first Saturday I was here (the first Saturday of February) but the gathering that month had been fairly small - maybe 8 folks.  This month the leaders had advertized my 'talk' on their Facebook page, and so there were quite a few first-timers in attendance.
The meeting went pretty well, I think, although I worry that I did too much talking and not enough listening,,,,,  there were over 25 moms, babies, and expectant moms, plus a few dads and one or 2 grandmoms.  A few of the new mothers were having some breastfeeding problems for which they asked my insight and assistance. 
I walked to and from the YMCA (where the meeting is held) and I arrived a little bit ahead of the group, so i was able to check out the hostel arruangements there at the Y.  The facility is very nice - secure and clean.  rooms have air conditioning, showers, internet access.  But no cooking facilities.  I was thinking that I wouldn't mind staying at the Y if I were to come another time to help WABA.  But the 'no cooking' could be an issue.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

21st Anniversary Celebration at PMC

It's been almost 1 week since I last posted something - mostly because I've been swamped with WABA assignments.  Pretty boring as a blog entry for all but the most die-hard lactation consultants, I'm afraid.  WABA staff wanted to put together a special handout commemorating their 21st anniversary and thought that it would be really good if we could launch the handout's release at our anniversary event scheduled for today, 28 February, at Penang Medical College.  So, in addition to having to put together a stimulating yet academically respectable powerpoint presentation on  the "Evidence for a Life Time of Health" (the research behind breastfeeding's benefits), I was asked to help put together a front-&-back document on "21 Dangers of Formula"  (21 dangers for our 21 years as an international breastfeeding advocacy organization).  Needless to say, it took me a LOOONG time to search via George Mason University Library's research databases for published articles of research studies on all of the 21 dangers. I bet I downloaded and carefully reviewed over 150 articles before including over 50 citations in the final document.  I must say - I am pretty proud  of the final publication.  A young reporter from the regional newspaper, The Sun, was there covering the event and he was very interested in my lecture as well as the 21 Dangers publication.  (His wife is still  breastfeeding their 1 yr old).  Anyway - I think that he plans to do an article for the paper - we'll see.....
As far as the actual event goes: there were about 75 folks in attendance including about a dozen teens involved in the youth action division of WABA, a dozen student teachers from a nearby teachers' college, nurses, government nutrtionists, med students, assundry medical professors, and even some from the general public. Several other speeches related to WABA and breastfeeding advocacy were delivered prior to my lecture, and Aida (WABA staff person) led the teens in a dance routine especially put together to commemorate the day.  So it was already 4pm by the time I got up to speak (the event was scheduled to begin at 3pm but actually started at 3:15 - 'Malaysian time').  I was VERY conscious of not talking too long- but I tried to get the audience to interact with me some, and I tried to intersperse my lecture points with entertaining illustrations....  The usual 'Nancy Forrest' type of lecture, judging from the photos that our IT person Sam posted on our organization's Facebook page. (note my facial expression as I speak)  I think it went fairly well - people graciously said so, anyway.
the Youth performing their dance entitled
"Feed the Future"
We ended with a big chocolate cake for everyone to enjoy. It was delicious!  (Even though it gives its' eaters blue tongues & lips! )

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Seberang Jaya Government Hospital, Penang

 I've passed the half-way point of my 6 week stay here in Penang.  And the many tasks I've been asked to do seem to continue to loom in front of me no matter how many things I accomplish.  Yesterday,
standing room only @ my SJH lecture
21 February, was my big debut as lactation lecturer at the district government teaching hospital located on the mainland about 15 km (actually, I have no idea how far it is from me!) from our office.  Seberang Jaya handles 7000+ deliveries every year - almost double what INOVA Fair Oaks hospital handles back home in northern Virginia where I work.  We (Pei Ching, nutritionist from the WABA secretariat, and I) were invited to observe the labor and delivery staff's newly established practice of placing newborns skin-to-skin on their mother's chests within minutes of c/section deliveries.  So Mr Suresh picked me up at my flat at 6:55 am so that I could catch a ride across the bridge to the hospital with one of the OBs, and PeiChing (who lives on the mainland) met me at the OR at 8am.  We were able to observe 2 deliveries and accompanying 'skin-to-skin' experiences - both times the infant was delivered, wiped dry and placed skin-to-skin high up on the mom's chest (above the sterile field barrier) for several minutes before mother discomfort (not infant) caused the infant to be moved to the infant warming table on other side of the OR room, weighed, and given its routine immunizations and vit K shot.  Placing babies skin-to-skin within minutes of birth is one of WHO's recommendations to improve 6 month exclusive breastfeeding rates and decrease infant mortalityrates.  We also were privileged to see one of the mothers reunited with her newborn in the recovery room, approx 30 minutes following the delivery - the baby was placed at her mom's breasts and nursed well for more than 30 minutes.
my lecture - note the IT person(the sole male)
My lecture was scheduled for an hour during the regular monthly meeting time whent all of the OB and pediatric staff gather for policy updates and continuing education events.  My presentation included 3 brief breastfeeding videos embedded into my powerpoint.  Getting the downloaded videos to play for the lecture required the assistance of the hospital's IT person - the guy ended up staying and running my entire presentation for me - so he got to hear a whole lot more stuff about breasts than he ever imagined possible!  And, of course, he had to deal with me - a lecturer who can't stand still or stay in front of a microphone!  At one point I accidentally stepped directly on top of the on/off button of the power strip for the entire presentation - shutting everything off and necessitating a 're-boot'.  "Sorry, Sir.  It was an accident."...
The lecture room was packed - standing room only.  I think there were 60-75 people there.  Although I tried my best to engage them, I couldn't get the participants to offer much information or to ask questions.  But after the lecture, SCN (special care nursery) staff came up and requested that I return in a few days and teach them and mothers of premie patients how to implement Kangaroo Care ( placing stable premature infants skin-to-skin on their mom's chest for several hours every day to enhance their growth and health).  I'm not sure that I can squeeze another such program into my schedule, but I plan to at least send some helpful articles and handouts to them on the topic.