In late November, 2009, I traveled to Champagoan, Nepal in the Kathmandu Valley to join 3 other acupuncturists, a Tibetan herbalist and a homeopath to volunteer at the Vadra Varahi clinic for 8 weeks. 
The clinic is located next to and run by a Tibetan Buddhist monastery for the village and surrounding areas as well as for the young monks living next door. 

Treatment was done in a community setting with up to 10 patients in a room together.  Often, friends or families would come together for treatment.  It was great to see the community healing together: sharing stories, laughing and commiserating about their common problems.  For many, it was the only feasible health care available, as hospitals and western medicine clinics are too expensive to provide care to most villagers whose main source of income is farming.  The per capita income is an average of $470 per year--this is drastically below the international poverty line. 

I treated a wide range of patients with conditions including post stroke paralysis, arthritic knee and back pain, insomnia, headache, muscle weakness, frozen shoulder, toothache, gynecological problems, and digestive disorders. 

While acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine are foreign treatments to Nepal, the patients had patience for our treatments and explanations.  As an American practitioner explaining Chinese medicine to Nepalese patients through an interpreter, it wasn't easy.  Luckily, the treatments often spoke for themselves as we worked through problems and resolved aches and pains.


For more information about the Acupuncture Relief Project, visit:
http://www.acupuncturereliefproject.org

To soften the language barrier, we worked with a tireless team of interpreters.  They were our friends, guides and co-workers.  Without them, the work wouldn't be possible. 

While the work was rewarding, it wasn't warm.  I learned that the warmth of community and compassion can really make up for a lack of heat--it has to!

The most impressive thing about the experience was hearing stories from my patients.  Some patients walked for over an hour to reach the clinic.  Others rode their motorbikes while partially paralyzed to get there.  All of them had remarkable things to share. Getting to know the community through providing health care was one of the most fulfilling things I have ever done.