Tuesday, Feb 23

On the day of our departure:

If you go exactly half way around the world from Hilo, you’d probably end up somewhere on the border of Botswana and Zambia.  The Swahili Coast of Kenya, where we’ll be by Saturday, isn’t so very far from there.

This trip will be an interesting combination of projects and people.  Our main hosting agency is The Omari Project (TOP).  I first met the staff of The Omari Project (TOP) in December 2007, and it’s been a great collaboration.

One of the trip’s missions will be two trainings in the NADA auricular acupuncture protocol.  The first of these will be in Malindi, which is pretty comfortable stomping grounds for us at this point.  The second training will be on the island of Lamu, a UNESCO world heritage site.  Each training has 20-25 people expected, though there’s usually some attrition along the way, but I have 50 manuals in case of a full house.

Another of the trip’s missions will be for a couple of Big Island folks providing NADA support  along the coast, first to clientele of the local heroin detox organization and then at  the  Maulid celebrations on the island of Lamu.

The NADA protocol is the application of five fine gauge, sterilized, one-time use stainless steel needles in each ear which are retained for up to one hour while the client – in most cases – relaxes quietly in a comfortable chair.  Clients usually sit together while undergoing the treatment, and in every population I’ve worked with, there are common reports of improvements to general well-being in terms of sleep, digestion, stress and anxiety levels, and even reductions in things like domestic violence.

Although the protocol was developed to address addiction issues, it is now being provided to populations with a variety of conditions including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  For this reason the Kenya trainings are offered to hospital and public health staff as well as to addictions personnel.

A moving part of my last trip was meeting up with a woman who’d been a pregnant addict the last time I’d seen her in May 2008.   She has now been clean almost two years, and is volunteering with The Omari Project.  She took part in a massage workshop offered by an Irish service group I was facilitating for, and she gave me a very lovely massage.

The third piece of the NADA puzzle for this trip is that two of The Omari Project’s staff are earning their ‘trainer’ stripes.  Several of the staff have been providing NADA treatments on a regular basis since May 2008, and they have a level of expertise in this locale and with this population that is unique.  These two particular staff members will co-teach the March trainings with me, after which TOP will be able to share this technique with other agencies and organizations.

On our way back through Nairobi, I will be meeting with all sorts of remarkable people who are doing interesting things in the field of healthcare, and with whom I would love to explore collaborative potential.

But for now, with the sound of the surf crashing against the rocks and the occasional chirrup from a coqui frog, Kenya seems a long way away.