Generosity

Dear Friends,

Here is a report back from last night’s event. First of all, a big
thank you to all who turned out last night despite the rain and slippery roads to come to the GAHP fundraiser!

All through this experience of preparing to do foreign aid work I have
been so touched by how many people out there really want to help make the world a better place, and the generosity of people’s hearts and actions in support of this
project. I have received great support and advice from folks who
have done similar trips to Africa and Southeast Asia. Folks have
contacted me wanting to donate who don’t know me at all but believe
in the cause. And there have been countless words of support and
inspiration.

Last night Hand To Hand members helped me set up a wonderful evening.
We had homemade treats to eat, and I made 2 Chinese herbal teas for
folks to try. I set up a table with needles and herbs and patents and
cups, moxa and linaments to show the kinds of things we will carry
with us to Bali. I showed the documentary “Journey To The West” (a
wonderful film about Chinese medicine and culture and it’s
transmission to the western world) and we did a short qi gong session afterwards including self-massage and partner tuina massage to sample some of the techniques we might be doing with developmentally disabled
children in East Bali. I also spoke about how it can be even more difficult to offer free care here in the US than abroad, but that I am
always thinking on how to bring this work back home.

My goal was to raise enough funds to cover transportation needs and to get
supplies to bring with me to use and leave at the clinics in Bali.
And I did! We raised cash and donations of acupuncture needles and Chinese herbal patents–I haven’t even had the chance to sort through them all (thank you
Valerie!).

I can feel the support of all of you for me in doing this work, and I
can also feel our collective desire to reach out and make a difference
in people’s lives. Serian was moved to hear about what we are doing
because she knows her Tanzanian community needs this kind of care back
home too. And, yes, she wants to help us set up a visit to Tanzania!
I think everyone left the evening feeling better
about their ability to positively impact our world.

Also, an amazing small world story–I sent the flier to my east coast
friends and one of them sent it to her friend who sent it to her
friend Shanti who just moved here and is a midwife and is going to
Bumi Sehat next week (thanks Brooke!)! She came to the fundraiser
tonight and is psyched that we are going to join her in Bali. She
will be at the clinic for 3 months. And a friend Terry/Tara brought
who is an acupuncture student may be around to assist us in the clinic
in December since she is planning to travel to Thailand this winter.

So I wanted to share with you all the powerful connections being
created by us all.

And, if you still want to donate, it’s not too late! Funds collected
will go towards purchasing more supplies to bring to the clinics and
on the ground costs to transport supplies and create educational
programming for the clinics. You can send checks to me at 164 Prospect Park
West, #2L, Brooklyn NY 11215. Yes, my new address in NYC! If you
have ideas for future sites for GAHP or would like to get involved,
let me know!

Thanks everyone for your support spiritually, financially, physically,
and everything in between. I look forward to sharing more with you
about this and future projects with GAHP.

Hello world!

As most of you know, I am in the final preparations for my aid trip to Indonesia this December with the Global Alternative Health Project. This is a group started last year by Frank Butler and we are launching a pilot trip to Bali to work in local clinics bringing free Chinese medicine to populations with very little if any access to health care. We will be working with a birthing clinic in Ubud (www.bumisehatbali.org) and The East Bali Poverty Project in Tulamben.

Those of us traveling to Bali have been preparing through extensive training in infectious disease, pediatrics, wilderness first aid and obstetrics. We will be working local clinics and leaving behind sustainable care in the form of herbs, supplies, training and treatment protocols. Already we have seen amazing results from Frank’s trip there two years ago. Children who had been stricken with meningitis and encephalitis and who were completely unresponsive and expected to die are now engaging with their parents and able to walk. A major part of this effort is to teach simple but extremely effective (and cheap) methods to parents and community members so that they will continue to benefit from our visit after we leave.

I am holding a fundraising night on Saturday, November 10. It will be an opportunity to learn more about the project, see “Journey To The West”, a documentary on Chinese medicine and its influence both within and outside of china, and to have a short qi gong lesson/practice. Lots of education, lots of fun and lots of good people. Come out and support a great grassroots cause. Please invite your friends!

the event will be held at H2H with sliding scale donations–no one turned away for lack of funds. all proceeds will go directly towards the project. Those of you who are acupuncturists, consider donating needles, moxa, herbs, etc.

I will be sending a flier soon with more details. Please save the date!