Archive for April, 2010
Haiti’s first impression
Saturday, April 24th, 2010Beth Cole and I will be arriving in Haiti April 26h for a two week stay. We will be treating people there for pain and trauma, and hope to find a venue and the logistical framework to provide a training. We are traveling with over 30,000 needles along with other treatment supplies, manuals in English, French and Creole, and personal supplies like a tent, first aid kits, rain gear. We have been fortunate to receive help, guidance and support from friends, family, and colleagues all over the world.
In preparation, I have been reading and watching anything I can find about Haiti, a fascinating country with a rich history. There is an excellent overview of the earthquake’s aftermath and some of the history and evolution of how aid and interference have been applied here at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/haiti/ . I’ve downloaded Creole lessons, with the somewhat fantastic idea of becoming conversational in this language to facilitate our work and training. I’ve also downloaded Mountains Beyond Mountains, about Paul Farmer who is the rock star of healthcare applications in Haiti.
When I was returning from Kenya and passing through Miami on my way to the NADA conference, I struck up a conversation with a woman in line behind us. She was just returning from Haiti, and was my first sign that life would soon be taking me in this direction. She spoke about the warmth and beauty of the Haitian people, who have surely suffered more than their fair share in recent and distant history. Her enthusiasm and dedication to her volunteer work at an orphanage there, and obvious love for the Haitian people, has been a common theme of those I’ve met who have been to Haiti, and I look forward to experiencing the reality of being there.
Reflection
Saturday, April 24th, 2010Acknowledgements:
Beth and I have been working together on various projects in East Africa since 2007. We’ve done relief work and trainings at a variety of venues in Kenya and Uganda, and find that our working styles complement and ‘synergize’ well. We met up at the NADA (National Acupuncture Detoxification Association) annual conference in New Orleans last month, which I was able to attend on my return from working on the coast of Kenya. We also met, and were inspired by the usual stunning array of NADA superstars and heroes who are doing amazing work all over the world. Among these was Julia Raneri, who had just returned from another trip to post-earthquake Haiti.
Julia is the Ground Operations Manager for Acupuncturists Without Borders in Haiti, which has mounted the profession’s biggest relief effort to that country, sending in teams of acupuncturists who have provided thousands of treatments to alleviate pain and suffering for physical and psychological trauma. Julia and her AWB colleague Diane Eggleston have been an invaluable source of information including how to most effectively provide service, local contacts, procedures for interfacing with the UN and local government, and how to personally prepare ourselves to maximize our usefulness there.
Also at the conference, we met Emmanuelle Mouy and her colleague Dr. Gilbert Grossman, of NADA France. Emmanuelle has been pivotal in helping us to translate our slimmed down NADA manual into French. On the internet, I found my way to Marie-Therese Laminet of NADA Switzerland who had published some documents about NADA that she was generous enough to share with us. And rounding out the French manual translation team, Dominique Druguet, a friend of mine who is something of a renaissance man (dentist, farmer, world traveler) has been very patient with my late night, last-minute translation and editing requests.
For the Creole version of the manual, we relied completely on people I’ve never met, but who were referred to us through folks like Emmanuelle who brought on board Genevieve Greveche, who did the bulk of the Creole translations, and Philippe Moutama who helped with editing. Leila Laraque graciously joined our efforts through messages passed through Pascale Piquion, Jennifer Walker, and Ryan Bemis of NADA. It really has been incredible how this network has developed.
Louise, from Imagik Office Equipment in Florida, has provided printing services for our projects several times, and again came through by printing the various versions of our manual for this trip.
Naturopaths International is our host organization. They are allowing Beth and I to tag along with their team of doctors who will themselves be providing service in Haiti by taking in medical supplies and setting up a mobile field clinic in Port-au-Prince in collaboration with Grass Roots United and Burners Without Borders. Their level of organization and preparation is impressive, and allows us some peace of mind in regard to security, lodging and logistics.
Garth Van’t Hul was a Peace Corps Volunteer in West Africa with me a million years ago. He is now working for CARE, and has lived in Haiti and been there after the ‘quake, so he had some very useful insights into what we can expect and how best to prepare.
Donation of materials has come from far and wide. Ruchira Ananda is the founder/director of Abha Light Foundation in Nairobi and has provided us with various medicinals so we can stay healthy, and to bring to the people of Haiti. Huynh Quang, the dynamic spearhead of NADA Vietnam has provided bead boards (for putting together acupressure beads). ACP has also donated needles, as have a number of people from the TCMCH community.
Other friends and family are providing other items and services to make my trip smoother. My sister Sara, who has been helping me with preparatory errands and moral support, will be taking care of my son Judah while I’m away. Rick Cole, Beth’s husband, is doing the same sort of preparation support for Beth in Florida, and has generally been a facilitator for our trips. Pamela Perkins is a long time friend who somehow has a knack for donating supplies that come in extremely useful in my travels. For this trip she is providing things like my sleeping bag and water filter.
Of course, none of this would be possible or happening if it hadn’t been for the vision and dedication of NADA’s founder Dr. Michael Smith, who has developed this simple and effective protocol so useful for such a broad swath of health issues. We are thankful for this opportunity to bring it to the people of Haiti.
contributors to TCMCH NADA haiti project
Saturday, April 24th, 2010Contributors to TCMCH's NADA Haiti project Translations: Emmanuelle Mouy, NADA France Dominique Druguet Geneviève Greveche Dr. Gilbert Grossman Marie-Therese Laminet, NADA Schweiz Moutama Philippe Laurent Leila Laraque Materials : Abha Light Foundation, Kenya ACP Medical Supplies Inc. Eileen Cheng, Hawaii Huynh Kim Quang, LAc Louisiana, NADA Vietnam Kim Gitzel, LAc Hawaii Krisztina Samu, Hawaii Pamela Perkins, Hawaii Rick Cole, Florida Timbelyn Pahio, Hawaii The Traditional Chinese Medical College of Hawaii Services: Imagik Office Equipment Sara Yarberry, Hawaii Vida de Cafe Logistics : Garth Van’t Hul Julia Raneri, AWB Diane Eggleston, AWB Naturopaths International
TCMCH Dean Receives Award from NADA
Saturday, April 24th, 2010
TCMCH Academic Dean Megan Yarberry was honored at this year’s national NADA (National Acupuncture Detoxification Association) conference for her “Visionary Leadership and Creativity”, and was presented the award by NADA founder Dr. Michael Smith.
The conference celebrated NADA’s 25th year with the theme “Recovery, Rebirth and Reunion,” and was held in New Orleans, where NADA played an important part in the area’s post-Katrina healing.
Conference participants came from all over the world to discuss their use of the technique for treatment of addictions, as the protocol was originally designed for, as well as disaster relief, sickle cell anemia, mental health, and post traumatic stress disorder. A group of medical doctors from NADA Germany discussed their findings in obstetrics, first responders from Katrina described their first experiences with acupuncture and subsequent conviction in its usefulness for post-disaster settings, and Susana Mendez described a fascinating collaboration between her agency which supplies NADA, and the Texas police force, the FBI, and homeland security as they search for serial killers who prey on prostitutes plying the trucking routes in that part of the country.
Janet, from the Philippines, described their post-flooding response, and Quang introduced his father who is holding down the NADA fort in Vietnam, where volunteers are encouraged to come and participate in various clinics. Tomas – who provided a training to staff at The Omari Project last August (Omari is another TCMCH project) and his colleagues from Ireland talked about their experiences at public health clinics in Belfast.
At the conference, Megan met up with her colleague Beth Cole, and they began planning a trip to Haiti where they will be providing acupuncture. They also met Julia Raneri who is the Ground Operations Manager for Acupuncturists Without Borders, Emmanuelle Mouy of NADA France, and other key persons who have been contributing toward the success of the upcoming trip.