This photo is from the Shrine Room of the Red Inn in Kagbeni, Nepal. Whenever we sat there in meditation I was filled with a deep sense of stillness and the thickly alive energy of the earth around me. It was a kind of peace, and one I wish to share with you and all that we touch through our infinite selves. Happy Holidays!

A nutshell of what GAHP has been up to:  We now have regular sites on Bali, in Nepal, and also in Navajo Nation Land, as well as working with Latino immigrants in the Rockies.  We have visited both international sites this year, and we have made 3-4 trips to each of our domestic sites.  We also held our first ever GAHP weekend planning retreat, and we have many more volunteers coming on board, whether acupuncturists, tui na practitioners or site managers.  GAHP is growing, and we are limited only by our ability to grow as quickly as we are needed. Stretching and showing up no matter what has been the theme of ‘09.

So it turns out that having a full-time job plus a couple of part-time ones too, including running a small grassroots international aid organization, does not leave much time for blogging.  It breaks my heart, really, because I have so many stories to tell, so many beautiful faces to share with you, so much goodness to show that people everywhere are working to make our world a better place.

I have a week off for the winter holidays, so I hope I can catch you all up with what GAHP has been up to.  It has been an amazing year for us, and I am grateful for the opportunities it has brought me, on many levels.  So, for now, wishing you all a Happy Christmas Eve and looking forward to sharing some of the people and places of GAHP ‘09.

The next day we went to a small village nearby.  The dirt road that led us there was little better than a footpath, but somehow the jeep made it.  We ended up in a family compound surrounded by green rice fields.  Truly beautiful!

Since we were only going for the day, we packed up just enough supplies to last.  Thanks to many visits to the container store, and collapsible camping plates from Paragon, we had mobile kits for each practioner to carry from patient to patient.  There was just enough space for needles, cotton balls, alcohol swabs and a small garbage.  

We took out our travel packs of sundry bags and created our treatment space in the courtyard of our host’s home. Villagers soon lined up for treatment.

Because of the lack of a road, this village had really no easy way to get medical help.  One of our first patients was a young man who came assisted by family members and on crutches.  He had been in a motor scooter accident and broken his neck.  We later learned that Frank had treated him 1 1/2 years earlier.  At that time he was mostly paralyzed and his family assumed he would die.  Frank was overjoyed to hear how much improvement he had.  We also saw a noticeable improvement from our intervention.  With just two acupuncture treatments his life was completely changed.

On a lighter note, we also learned later that the raised platform area we had used as one of our treatment “beds” was actually the household altar, and final resting place for members of this extended family when they pass on!  Another cultural lesson for us, but in the end the villagers didn’t seem to mind.

At the end of the day we packed up, loaded back into the van and rode off, content with our day’s work.

One thing we have learned in doing foreign aid work (and domestic, too!) is that even the best made plans can change in a moment.  So it was not a great surprise to arrive in Sanur only to find out that our scheduled trip to Karangasam was canceled due to some political delicacies.  However, the best news was that we had a green light from the health agencies in Bali to proceed with our work.  So all we needed to do now was arrange some sites where we could treat.

Bali 2009 Team (Dan photograping)

We called on our old friend Victor and headed up to Kiliki to see what we could manifest.  The group met to discuss options.

We decided to split up into two teams.  Frank, Grainne, and Mimi would head to the north of the island to scout potential new sites.  Two possibilities were a Buddhist temple, and a small clinic in Lovina treating primarily survivors and children from the sex trade.  Grainne and I quickly packed up a kit of supplies and off they went.

Meanwhile Victor and Ketut put out the call to the local village, and within a very short time people started appearing for treatment.  We had about 30 people to treat that day, a perfect amount to get us back into our skill set and over our jetlag.  We treated all ages, from babies to grandmas.  Even Victor and Ketut got up on the treatment table.

Julie and Katie get rolling.

We were lucky to get all three of our translators, Maye, Agus and Chrisma, back to work with us again.  Their language skills and endless enthusiasm make our work possible. The team came together, as Chrisma and Maye translated, we were able to treat everyone, do an herbal inventory from supplies left over from last year, and get back up to speed. 

Patients of all ages…

the aftermath... thanks to our sponsors and donations, we carried over 400 lbs of needles, herbs, moxa, estim machines, cups and first aid to the people of Nepal!

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The preparations for any GAHP trip are enormous.  Every team member plays a role in getting ready, whether organizing 1st Aid supplies, carrying supplies in bags that weigh more than the person, coordinating sites, seminars, equipment, you name it, we do it.  This trip was no different: we worked until the final hour getting ready.  Who’s great idea was it to schedule one of our training seminars the weekend before we left?  Ours, no doubt!  We had a great seminar, and somehow Dan and I managed both to attend the classes and pack feverishly so we could give 50 lb bags to team members traveling directly to Nepal.  All of us at one point or another said how much we were looking forward to the 24+ hour plane trip… just so we could rest!

Daniel Altschuler teaching about infectious disease

Ziplocs make an ideal herb storage

There’s always lots of upfront work to do preparing for a GAHP trip.  This time we had the added challenge of needing to get supplies to Nepal “carry ready” to go up to the mountains.  Thanks to Graham Williams of CiloGear, we had fun packs and duffles  and stuff sacks to play with.

Back in the US, and up at 4am to see the sunrise over Prospect Park. Amazed at how the trees have filled in while we were gone. The season has turned from late winter to early summer. I’m back on the web after many days of no access in Nepal, and looking forward to update you all on our trip. It was a huge success, with nearly 2,000 patient visits in 10 working days. Meanwhile, here is one of my favorite photos from Nepal. Beautiful.

When we scheduled our Spring 2009 field trip, we weren’t sure if we could actually treat in Bali—all depended on the paperwork going through. So we decided to tack on another destination: Nepal. Well, it’s sort of nearby, as continents go…

We were invited to go there by a patient of Frank’s who is from a small mountain village in Mustang. The plan is to divide up into two teams. One will work in the Kathmandu Valley area, where there is huge need and great poverty. Populations of Tibetan refugees, Hindu and Muslim Nepali are all here, with no regular healthcare. The second team will trek up into Mustang. There we will work out of small villages—treating both the residents of these villages as well as many others who will trek down from other, even more remote locations.

A very ambitious plan in just one week!