*Note this story is in Waray
“Diri gad gud makuri an kinabuhi san manaram,” pamalandong ni Carina. Ikaupat na niya nga pasyente yana nga semana. Disi-noybe anyos la an babaye ngan nag-aandam panganak san kanya suhag. Kalmado si Carina nga ginpatapod an babaye. Permi makuri para sa mga panhinsuhag, kadaramo san kahadok nga natuyok sa kanra huna-huna, pero maaram si Carina san kanya ginhihimo. Sobra na siya dekada nga manaram ngan nagbagaw siya sa tingog nga ginba-id sin eksperyensya, “Kaya mo ini, adi ak.”
Ginkuha niya an maglanhod nga tualya ngan iginhanig sa gutok san babaye. “Magigin komportable ka sini samtang ginhuhulat naton an bata,” ginpatapod ni Carina an pasyente. “Mangungusog na ak?,” kalmado na an babaye. Naghiyom si Carina, “Diri pa, kinahanglan ta pa maghulat. Matiano kun istoryahan mo lugod ak hiunong sa im asawa?”
An pag-istorya nakakabulig permi pagpakalma sa mga iroy, ngan maupay nga parapamati si Carina. An batan-on nga babaye ug an iya asawa nagkawat tikadi sini nga parte san nasud, an ira kag-anak waray abuyon san ira pag-asawa. An asawa pira na kabulan nga sige an panhanap sin trabaho ngan kinadto sa syudad pagsari kun mayaon didto bisan la nano. Sa sunod pa ini nga semana ginlalauman nga mauli ngan nagsusubo an babaye nga waray ini didi sa katawo san ira anak. “Ah sugad siton permi im lalauman sa kaasaw-an,” nagtawa si Carina. Nagtawa liwat an babaye, kaagsuban nadaug gud an pagtawa kontra sa kahadok.
Maaram si Carina nga magigin makuri ini nga panganak, ngan maabot pa pira kaoras antes mahinabo an ungod nga trabaho. “Maupay na la kay gin-andam ko ngatanan,” huna-huna niya sa kalugaringon. Maupay gud permi an andam.
May kun nano nga mahulos an tigda nga nahulog sa sugbong ni Carina ngan an iya pagginhawa tinuko sin madaliay. Naghiyom siya. Diri ni Carina poyde pakulawon an babaye sin bisan nano nga senyales sin kadahok, unob na nga makuri an panganak bisan waray ginkakabarak-an nga sugad sini.
Mamingaw si Carina nga namuyayaw sa kalugaringon tungod sa kahingalimti niya san suha. Bangin nabayaan niya sa traysikol pagtipakadi. “Waray na gamit an kabaraka siton sa yana,” huna-huna niya. Aada pa sa kanya bag an bina-id nga lasa san kawayan. Maupay gud permi an andam.
“Sige, may sasarihan kita yana, piyong la ha? Ngan ayaw pagbuklad tubtob magsugad ak,” mas seryoso na yana an tingog ni Carina, pero nabulang pa gihapon an tigaman san eksperyensya. “May problema?” May senyales sin kahadok an tingog san babaye.
“Ah waray, waray problema. Mayaon la ak angay panginanuon nga peste.” Ginserra ni Carina an mga mata san babaye, maupay la kay nagpipinangulaw la ini sa kanya bug-os nga gab-i. “Ipadayon la pag-istorya hiunong sito im asawa. Halaba pa an kagab-ihon.”
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English Version
“The life of a midwife isn’t so hard,” Carina reflects. She’s seeing her 4th patient this week. The woman is only 19 years old and preparing for the birth of her first child. Carina speaks calmly and reassures the woman. It’s always difficult for first timers, so many fears going through their heads, but Carina knows what she’s doing. She’s been a midwife for more than a decade and she speaks with a voice sharpened by experience, “It’s going to be okay, I’m here.”
She grabs the warm towels and puts them underneath the woman’s back. “This should keep you comfortable while we wait for the baby,” Carina reassures her patient. “Should I push now?” the woman is calmer now, Carina smiles, “Not yet, we still have to wait. Why don’t you tell me about you husband?”
Talking always helps the mothers calm down and Carina is a good listener. The young woman and her husband eloped to this part of the country, their parents didn’t approve of their marriage. The husband had been trying to find work for months and went to the city to see if there was anything there. He was expected back next week and the woman is disappointed he won’t be here for the birth of their child. “Oh you can always expect that from husbands,” Carina laughs. The woman laughs as well, humor wins over fear most of the time.
Carina knows this is going to be a hard labor, and it will take a few hours before the actual work will happen. “It’s a good thing I prepared everything,” she thinks to herself. It always paid to be prepared.
Something wet suddenly falls on Carina’s shoulder and her breath stops for a moment. She smiles. Carina can’t let the woman see any hint of fear, childbirth is already hard enough without worrying about something like this.
Carina silently curses under her breath for forgetting about the suha. She must have left it in the tricycle on her way here. “No use worrying about that now,” she thinks. There’s still the sharpened piece of bamboo in her bag. It always paid to be prepared.
“Okay, we’re going to try something, so just close your eyes okay? And don’t open them until I say so,” Carina’s voice is sterner now, but the edge of experience still shines through. “Is something wrong?” The woman voice has a hint of fear.
“Oh no, nothing wrong. I just need to take care of a pest.” Carina closes the woman’s eyelids, thankfully she was looking at Carina the whole night. “Now just keep telling me about that husband of yours. We have a long night ahead of us.”
=———————————–=
*Pomelo fruit
*Waray is the fifth-most-spoken native regional language of the Philippines, native to Eastern Visayas. It is the native language of the Waray people and second language of the Abaknon people of Capul, Northern Samar and some Cebuano-speaking peoples of eastern and southern parts of Leyte island. It is the third most spoken language among the Visayan languages, only behind Hiligaynon and Cebuano.
Written by Karl Gaverza
Waray translation by Jeremy Evardone
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Translation Copyright © Jeremy Evardone
Inspired by the Wak-wak entry in Creatures of Philippine Lower Mythology. Ramos. 1971.
Wak-wak (Surigao) Illustration and Watercolor by Nightmaresyrup
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