Favorite Time of Day

Mornings are my favorite time of day. I seem to wake consistently at 6 just as it’s getting light, despite the fact that everyone else seems to get up about 4. My roommate and I each have our own routine which allows for some quiet time. I stretch out on my yoga mat to counteract the effects of my camping cot and then head down the valley for a walk. My village is alive with life and appears to have been for hours. The road is filled with motorcycles and honking sumo’s, school children, chickens and cows as it continues onto Hatauda and then to India. There is a constant smell of third world village and burning trash. It’s really my only alone time and I’ve come to savor it. My walk is filled with friendly namaste’s and the school children shyly calling out ‘hello’ and ‘how are you’. Standing at my spot looking down the valley I take a few deep breaths, taking in the moment and knowing I will look back and miss this. It’s beautiful and lush. This is important… And helps me deal with all the not so pleasant aspects of life here, of which there are pleanty. Back home breakfast is a little after 7 and always enjoyable with the most variety of our meals. Instant but hot coffee and fresh warm goats milk, rumor has it we get French press on the weekend. We sit outside eating mostly watching the rain and village life go by and getting ready for our day. My fellow practitioners, our interpreters and our house auntie are quickly becoming like family. Mornings are slow and we don’t have to be at clinic until 9.

Photos coming when the internet allows.

Goodbye Kathmandu, goodbye ‘luxury’ hotel

It’s hard to believe its barely been a week since I left Portland. My team converged in Kathmandu with a few days set aside for sightseeing with our local guides, eating and ‘luxury’ accommodation. Kathmandu is incredible and gives your senses and your lungs a full workout. After two days we happily piled ourselves and our massive bags into the sumo (jeep) and headed south away from the city into the jungle. Passing through monastery filled hillside villages I had my first glimpse of the snow capped mountains to the north, but that will come later. Racing up and down the windy jungle roads we held on tight. A flat tire, a broken jack and an incredibly bald spare added a little more excitement to the already invigorating ride. Tsering, our Nepalese ARP Liason, kindly pulled in front on his bike for speed control for the final 45 minute descent into Bhimphedi.
Bhimphedi is much hotter and more tropical than I had imagined. It’s a small village nestled in a deep green lush valley. Pretty tiny with a few roads extending off the Main Street. We were warmly greated by many of the interpreters at Auntie’s house where we will be staying. From Aunties it’s a short walk to a point that looks down the valley which will be perfect for a quiet moment each morning. The river below is good for sponge baths and laundry. The clinic is just a few minutes walk away. Our main clinic will be here with three practitioners and two others will work at a second more remote clinic in Kogate. I’ve got the best of both worlds and will be splitting my time between the two clinics. We are all still trying to figure out exactly how I will fit in, being the only PT among many Acupuncturists, but I think it will quickly become clear once clinic opens. It has already been pretty incredible working with the interpreters, I think we we all eager to learn and already forming a strong team.
The clinic is two sparse rooms. I’ll be in the smaller hobbit hole room with a plastic chair, massage table, Theraband and kinesiotape. A few of the interpreters eyed the Theraband, I explained what I studied and showed them a few exercises. They got excited. “Oh we need you here, we want to learn from you and you will have to do lots of teaching. We have three people who had a stroke and so many with back and knee pain.”
With one last day before we open, this morning I laid awake in bed listening to the pouring jungle rain, our interpreters laughing outside and drinking milk tea while the insects and roosters went early morning crazy. I’m in a small room with two others and many more people in our teeny home. People are so pleasant and friendly, there is very little alone time or private space which takes some getting used to. Walking through town the school children shyly run after us calling out namaste.
We have a few more classes today, final clinic set up, more trainings with the interpreters and then tomorrow we open. We’ve been told to expect a long line out the door waiting for us. It’s good to be here!

Counting down the days.

Fundraising complete thanks to family and many generous friends. Bags are mostly packed and weighed. Final coffees and beers with friends to say ‘goodbye for now’. And then, after nearly a year and a half of thinking about, dreaming about, committing to and finally planning, on September 13th I’m off. Off to a land I’ve always known I would visit and was patiently waiting for the right reason. I’m so happy it’s finally here.

Next stop Nepal.

I’m not sure if I found The Acupuncture Relief Project or if it actually found me. Regardless, I am very excited and a little nervous, but mostly just curious, open and ready for this next journey. Travel has always been an important part of my life. I’ve explored many areas of the world and through this experience, I look forward to spending more time in one area, being present and making a difference however small or large that may be.

I’ve been intrigued with The Acupuncture Relief Project since I first learned about it, and with time it became increasingly clear that it was the right next step for me. I have looked into volunteer programs many times before; however this one resonated with me on many levels. I have wanted to volunteer overseas for awhile, have always known I would spend time in Nepal and I am currently at a turning point in my professional career that brings me closer to working side by side with more holistic healthcare providers. Reaching out to past practitioners in the last few months, hearing their stories, why they chose to volunteer and what they have gained from their experience, has made it clear that this is something I want to do as well as something I am suppose to do.

This September I will join fellow practitioners to volunteer in Bhimphedi, Nepal. Like much of rural Nepal, it is an underserved region with very limited access to health care. People may trek for hours with the hopes of receiving services at the regional health post and many will have never seen a practitioner before. Our team will provide cost efficient primary health care services with trained local interpreters to treat a wide variety of conditions and diagnoses. My goal will be to treat 15 people a day, 6 days a week. I expect that this will be both one of the hardest and most amazing experience in my life. I believe this will be an incredible opportunity to help an underserved population, to grow both personally and professionally, and to deepen my knowledge and skills as a healthcare practitioner so that I may best serve my patients and my community upon my return.

After years working as a Physical Therapist I am ready for a new challenge, to move beyond a strict western medicine approach and to learn more about myself both as a person and a health care provider. Through both personal and professional, experiences I am increasingly aware of the effectiveness of working in a multidisciplinary team and complementary medicine.  It will be an interesting challenge to offer a skill in a country that doesn’t really recognize my profession. I am excited to work side by side with fellow practitioners in a new, very different and challenging setting. I can’t even begin to imagine how my perspective on health care will change and I look forward to experiencing how effectively we can treat with limited resources.