News/Events

On behalf of everyone, my deepest gratitude.

Phuntsok

Latest News: A Letter from Jinpa

June 24, 2010

Dear friends,

Still touched by the outpouring of love and compassion that enabled us to run the first Naturopathic Earthquake Victim Relief Clinic in Haiti, I have since been asked over and over again, "So — when are you going back?", and "So — did you manage to find money to keep the bonesetter working?” At first, I could not even imagine that such an incredible project could happen again, but then more and more people offered to come back with me and help, and gave me more donations. I am surprised to see that, in such a short-lived world, full of distractions, entertainment and new disasters, Haiti is not yet "long-forgotten". The media forgot, but you have not. As I opened my heart to the possibility of organising a second trip, things just continued to pull together.

We are therefore proud to announce that we will be returning to Haiti in September with five highly-trained natural healers, who can each see about 150 people per day, joining two Haitian healers, to offer a clinic for about 8,000 poor people, most of them destitute children. Please join us in our efforts to fundraise whatever we still need in order to cover the running costs of the clinic, most of which consist of the modest wages we pay to the local clinic staff, including the medicine preparers, translators, drivers and local healers, as well as the costs for renting the Jeep.

Where we are now

The outcome of the poll on our website as to whether we should focus on going back a second time or keep the local herbalist and bonesetter Oliama working was clear: everyone agreed that both elements added something essential, and that both should happen. And thanks to your help, they are! Oliama has continued to see many of the patients who came to the original clinic, working out of his house, in an underprivileged area. He is offering free services as a midwife to help destitute women give birth, and has made house calls to those so badly injured from the earthquake that they cannot walk. This is the hallmark of our clinic: we go to where the sick are. Up to now, we have already raised 25% of the total cash needed to run the clinic again, and have received several large donations of natural medicines. We received a huge wave of positive feedback, with many eyes moved to tears by our stories, and, to our surprise, several articles were even published about the clinic.

Publicity received

Much to our surprise, the clinic received publicity. Besides our lovely website, created as a gift to the Haitian people by Andrea Lemon, our efforts were featured in the last email newsletter of the Flower Essence Society with up-to-date unpublished stories. Another article was published in Homeopathy Today.

Making a difference

I was amazed to hear that doctors who went to Haiti with conventional medical relief teams felt that their work had made no difference, and was not received with gratitude by the people. This was not at all the case of our clinic. However, the usual help organizations had pitched sterile, camp-like, military tent cities far outside of Port-au-Prince (right beside the military camps, in fact). We, on the other hand, went to where the sick were, finding the destitute children amidst the rubble heaps they call "home", and speaking to them in their own language. How would an illiterate child of five, from an impoverished, broken home and suffering from devastating malarial fever, be expected to get onto a bus or into a taxi and travel for two hours to reach such a menacing-looking place, surrounded by armed soldiers? However, they were able to stand in line when all of their neighbors lined up and they could see the doctor from afar.

The September clinic

When we return to Haiti in mid-September, we will come with a larger staff than the last time, which will enable us to extend care to a greater number of the miserable and sick people who are pushing and shoving in line. The main reason for us returning only by that date -- and not earlier -- is that July and August are the hottest months in Haiti, when people try to avoid being out in the sun during the day. We cannot expect sick people to stand under the beating sun for hours in a noisy line in that kind of heat. We will return once the intensity of the heat abates. With us this time will be Jinpa and Julia, from the original clinic, as well as naturopathic doctor, herbalist and bodyworker Cynthia Thomas, from Minneapolis; herbalist, bodyworker and bonesetter Gabriele Simon, from New York City. A week later, they will be joined by herbalist and bodyworker Sandra Lory, from Barre, Vermont, and locally-based Oliama and his sister Eliane, both herbalists, bonesetters and midwives in the Afro-Haitian tradition. We are grateful to have such experienced healers joining our team. Oliama is convinced that Julia is some kind of powerful magician or goddess for making all of these things happen! Based on what we are hearing, people are still very sick; some are dying from one day to the next, due to malarial fevers, while others are suffering a lot of heart troubles since the shocking earthquake. In addition, infections are spreading, including eye infections which can lead to near-blindness.

Improved strategy

Despite the overwhelmingly positive response to our last clinic, we felt that one thing required improvement: many distraught patients asked, “Now that you are leaving, where will we get a refill of this medicine that works so well?” We realized that, in a sense, we were creating another model of dependency on foreign help. This second time round, we will therefore offer educational classes for those who wait in line, including discussions about which weeds to use against common colds, how to boil guava leaves to treat diarrhea, and how to inhale the smoke of dried eucalyptus leaves to cure a cold. Since we had very good success with essential oils, we will make a point of using locally-made Vetiver essential oil as much as we can, so people can buy it locally if they can afford it.

We also learned that our employing the local herbalist, midwife and bonesetter reminded many people of their local alternatives: “Oh, I forgot! — I also have a bonesetter in my neighborhood — maybe I should go see him!” We are thus trying to increase Oliama's visibility and prestige to enable the Haitian people to reconnect with their own naturopathic traditions. As a result of the first clinic, Oliama has received a small but steady number of clients who have some kind of livelihood, and can contribute a 50% co-payment for the treatment.

Jinpa's father

My father, now 86 years old, is still in Haiti, living in a small tent we brought for him when we visited in March. However, the living conditions inside the tent, given the climate's extreme fluctuation between hot and cold temperatures, and the fact that he has to get onto his knees each time he goes to bed or wants to rest, are too much of a burden on him. Luckily, during a recent visit from the earthquake damage engineers, it was determined that my father's house does not have to be torn down after all, but can, instead, be reinforced by adding new pillars for support. I will try to do all that is needed to get him back into a room with a bed. We are still working to ensure that he receives a visa for the US, so that he is able to leave the country in case of another catastrophe.

This is it, in a nutshell!

Please do whatever you can to support the next Haiti clinic. You can find the list of what donations in kind are most useful, a photo gallery from which to select photographs for fundraising, as well as information regarding donations on our website under How to Help.

Much love to all of you from your brother,

Jinpa