Acupuncture Relief Project: The First Year

I can't say enough good things about the Acupuncture Relief Project.

The project, which just celebrated it's one year anniversary, has finished the first six weeks of practitioners in Nepal, and now a new group is on the way in to treat. Acupuncturists from all over the US are taking time out of their lives and practices to come to Chapagoan, Nepal and treat at a free clinic.

Here is a short excerpt from the blog:

One year ago, November 11th 2008, the Acupuncture Relief Project (ARP) helped open the Vajra Varhi Natural Healthcare Clinic, in Chapagoan. The day before the doors opened we sat around wondering if anyone from the village would even show up to our clinic. How would this community embrace us and our strange medicine? Now a year later the ARP has provided over 10,000 acupuncture treatments to this rural Newari and Nepali village. The clinic continues to grow and serves upward of 400 patients per week. Some walking up to 5 hours to reach the clinic. In addition to acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, the clinic now has practitioners who practice Tibetan herbal medicine and homeopathy. The clinic has also hosted two dental camps.

Recently, ARP has joined up with Saathi Samua Care House and is now treating people with HIV and those who are trying to rehabilitate from drug use. Check out this short video of practitioners in action in this clinic:

Saathi Samuha: Acupuncture Relief Project Partnership

ARP is open to practitioners, and is always in need of donations, no matter the size. Go to their blog and have a look at the beautiful photos and see the faces of people they have helped.

Acupuncture Relief Project in Nepal

The practitioners for the Acupuncture Relief Project Leave for Nepal this Saturday!

We are busy checking last minute arrangements and packing our bags for Nepal. Team A leaves Saturday September 26th and our clinic in Chapagoan will begin treating patients again on October 4th. Please stay tuned for updates and stories of our progress.

In the meantime please enjoy this short "kick off" documentary. If you appreciate the work we are doing please forward this video to your colleagues, friends and family. Please ask them to sign up for our news blog at http://www.acupuncturereliefproject.org

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zr0san75-gU[/youtube]

Safe travels to the group- we look forward to hearing about your journey!

Acupuncture around the world

Photo by misscaro

I recently found an interesting article on the World Acupuncture Blog comparing Japanese style acupuncture to Chinese style acupuncture. The blog mostly discusses the advantages of Japanese style acupuncture, and even has a video treating children! I love the idea of using the red balloon for a distraction when treating children, and I also feel it's important to let the kids "help" and be able to see what is going on.

And on that pediatrics note, Chinese Medicine Notes wrote a great post about learning to treat children with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)- I can't wait to hear more about this, as I feel a lot of parents are more ready that ever to treat their kids without using too many drugs.

The Acupuncture Relief Project is doing really well over in Nepal. They have posted pictures of them treating - up to 10 hours a day! They are busy, but are enjoying being able to help so many people.

The Acupuncture Relief Project has arrived

Photo by Garret Fabian: www.acupuncturereliefproject.com

The latest news from the arrival of the acupuncturists in Nepal is online! The Acupuncture Relief Project has set up in Kathmandu and have officially started this incredible project. Go to their website to see other blog postings and subscribe to their blog. You can even donate to these wonderful OCOM grads who are making a difference in Nepal.

(From www.acupuncturereliefproject.com):

"We are adjusting well at the Gompa. The building is quite nice and even has marble flooring throughout. They builders just added a rather large reception desk that really puts a nice touch to the main room on the first floor of the clinic. We live in the second floor of the building and on the rooftop there are two spacious decks to see the surrounding view from. Next to our building is the monastery proper which is often filled with the groans of instruments. There is one smaller building adjacent to the monastery which is where classes are held and where we also eat all of our meals with the monks, or ‘mini monks’ as we affectionately refer to them as. During meals we can always look up to find many sets of eyes gazing at us.

Tomorrow we will be heading out into the community to meet with some other people to answer questions they may have and to raise awareness of our clinic. We will also spend half of the day working with the three nuns who will be our interpreters. We gave the nuns treatments so that they might have an idea as to what acupuncture is like much to the chagrin of one originally very hesitant nun. Tuesday our clinic will officially open and we’re hopeful we will see some brave patients grace our doorstep.

The commute between Kathmandu and Chapagaon is quite a wild affair. It might be 10-12 miles in total but it can take 60-90mins. travel time. There are very narrow roads that have seemingly no driving laws whatsoever. We will be coming up to Kathmandu on weekends to enjoy hot showers and restaurants and we are very excited to have food choices upon returning to the city! We’re gearing up to head back to Chapagaon now, stay tuned for more."

Update on the Nepal Acupuncture Relief Project

My friends at the Acupuncture Relief Project begin working their way to Nepal next month, and open their clinic in November! They are now in partnership with the Rangjung Yeshe Shenpen health care project, which is a:

"..volunteer-based, non-profit organisation established to alleviate poverty and address social challenges principally in Nepal. Founded in 2004 by Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche and working under his direction, Shenpen focuses on helping the poor and disadvantaged gain access to healthcare facilities, education, shelter and employment opportunities and to improve the care and treatment of animals."

They are still taking donations on the website (don't worry- there is a tax ID number!), and plan to post frequent blogs about the clinc and what's happening in Nepal while they are there. They are also hoping to set up the clinic so that other acupuncturists will be able to volunteer their time in coming years. I can't wait to hear how it goes!

Clinic Survival Guide

My friend and recent OCOM graduate Andrew Schlabach, LAc, just finished printing an amazing acupuncture reference book called the "Clinic Survival Guide."  It's a complete book full of amazing acupuncture diagrams, and the information is compliled in a way that it's easy to find and carry around with you. Andrew did an amazing job of putting the information together, and I recommend you check it out (www.alloneplanet.com)- click on "What's Inside" for a peek at the graphic design talent. Andrew is also one of the founders of the Acupuncture Relief Project, which is getting underway very soon!

My apologies about the delay in postings! Apparently graduating, applying for licensing, and re-connecting with friends and family (long ignored due to the intense masters program!) took a little longer than planned. Look back for more postings this week! I'm hoping to connect with my classmates in China (who leave Friday!) who are planning to blog about what's going on in the hospitals there, an eventually with the grads in Nepal in the fall.