We’ve been very busy in the past month, bringing acupuncture and other healing treatments to asylum seekers and refugees at the US-Mexico border. AWB volunteers offered treatments in Brownsville, TX-Matamoros, Mexico over the weekend of January 24th-26th, and a team of seven volunteers just returned from a week-long service trip in Tijuana, Mexico. We did hundreds of treatments at the Espacio Migrante clinic, Prevencasa clinic, and in multiple refugee shelters throughout Tijuana. This is AWB’s fourth trip to the CA-Mexico border, and this time, we trained six midwives and other health professionals to do NADA treatments so that they can offer ongoing services in clinics and shelters.
The health status of many asylum seekers in Mexico (including many people from Central America, Haiti, and Africa) is increasingly precarious because the Mexican government stopped providing health insurance coverage for migrants on January 1st. Refugees will have to rely on services provided by clinics like Espacio Migrante and Prevencasa (sponsored by the Refugee Health Alliance), more than ever. Uniquely, these two clinics provide integrative care, including natural therapies like acupuncture and herbs. On this trip, AWB volunteers also reorganized the entire drug pharmacy and herbal pharmacy at Espacio, so that practitioners could access what they need more effectively.
We also joined the InnSpot, an AWB-affiliated Military Stress Recovery Project clinic based in San Diego, to offer treatments at the US Deported Veterans Center in Tijuana. The Center, run by Hector Lopez, Lupita Cibrian, and Robert Vivar, provides legal and social support to US military veterans that have been deported from the US. In the words of one supporter:
“These (soldiers) grew up in the US, went to school in the US, played high school sports in the US, and paid taxes in the US. They did not join the military just to become citizens, as many of them felt like they were already citizens. They joined the military because they felt like it was their duty, and the fact that they were deported after serving their country is incomprehensible.”
– Journalist Mike Tork
Mayway Corporation in Oakland, CA has donated significant amounts of herbs to our Border Project, and is the sponsor of our AWB’s Military Stress Recovery Project clinic program. Mayway’s help has been pivotal in starting and growing our work with refugees and veterans and we are very grateful. Deep appreciation to the CA Endowment, Kurt Chilcott, Pat Simpson, those who have donated, and all the volunteers who have worked tirelessly to help make this work possible!
With your help, AWB will continue treating people in Texas, California, and Mexico over the next months, and hopes to start a project at the Arizona-Mexico border soon. For more information contact Carla Cassler at director@acuwithoutborders.org.
Report from Puerto Rico’s earthquake zone: AWB clinic #3 Penuelas 02/01/2020
From AWB Trip Leader Ramon Serrano:
It’s when the sun goes down that the terror begins. Another sleepless night for the 171 people still living under tarps in the makeshift community inside the towns’ athletic stadium. The tremors continue every night and now can be calculated by the uncontrollable shiver, almost to the exact degree, by what is now a collective human Richter scale. Of course, many have their smart phones dialed directly into the seismic activity but take a reluctant pride in being able to identify the source of their nightmares in such a precise manner. “El de anoche midio 5.4”
Sra. Ramirez is a 34 year old Social Worker, native of the town, who when the Earth convulsed on January 7th, took the lead in the relief effort. She begins her work every morning, seven days per week at 6 a.m. in the camp’s ground zero. She herself admits that because of her own personal trauma, she is only able to sleep 2 hours per night. She says that aside from the 171 people living in the camp, at least to thousand of the towns’ residents avail themselves of the social and medical services on a daily basis. The camp includes a host of voluntary agencies willing to provide everything from psychological counseling to pharmaceuticals. Her primary concern is the fear factor. When I asked her how many in the camp had lost their homes, she replied that many of their homes had been damaged but were still livable. They were just terrified at returning to an unstable environment.
Fear as a human condition is probably one of the most difficult emotions to quantify. It has many layers. It travels through the human body from outside to inside and back out, until it can paralyze an entire community. It goes from shock to terror and back down to depression, many times pushing people to take their own lives.
Penuelas is a town of just 26,000 people that can be easily passed on the highway en route to Ponce, Guanica or San Juan. But the people represent the inner core of our culture as Puerto Ricans. Their humility and generosity knows no bounds. In a recent interview with the towns’ Mayor he estimated that at least one thousand of Penuelas” residents had fled to The States since the tremors began. He sounded hopeful when he declared that they would return once The Earth settled down. In the same interview he stated that what they needed were more cots because many people were still still sleeping in their cars or on the floor.
The InnSpot, a veteran-owned clinic in Sand Diego affiliated with AWB”s Military Stress Recovery Project, brought trauma-healing treatments to deported US military veterans on Saturday, January 18th. InnSpot coordinator/owner Guy Page, himself a veteran, organized a team of AWB trained practitioners in the San Diego area to offer treatments at the US Deported Veterans Project just over the border in Tijuana.
The mission of theDeported Veterans Advocacy Project is to advocate and assist U.S. military veterans who face deportation, or have been deported by the U.S. government.
The team treated almost 30 vets, and plans to return in early February to work with other AWB practitioners who are offering treatments to asylum seekers and refugees at the CA-Mexico border.
Our second venture into the earthquake zone coincided with a health fair directed at those refuged outside of Yauco’s baseball stadium. Once again, it was a displaced community of entire families housed under personal tents and tarps. It seemed that the inside of the stadium proper was reserved for a contingent of National Guardtroops assigned to help with the logistics. The health fair itself, fwhich had been well advertized, included all manner of medical expertise and professionals. It consisted of MDs specializing in everything rom Gynecology to Internal Medicine. It also attempted to address the emotional scars caused by the stress and included Psychologists and Social Workers, as well as other mental health professionals. The effort was augmented by the continuation of the support of the community at large who organize sessions of play therapy for the children, while also continuing to provide supplies of day-to-day necessities.
AWBs participation was arranged via a connection that one of our members had with a prominent family in Yauco. Keishla Torres, the eldest daughter off the family, has taken the lead in the town’s recovery effort. She arranged for us to have a tarp in the area where people were living.
The difference between this clinic and the one in Guayanilla (last Saturday) was that we wound up treating primarily first responders. In this case the title has to do with the members of the community who themselves have been personally affected by the calamity, but choose to put their particular needs on hold in order to help their neighbors. Without fail, when we suggested that they sit for a treatment, their response is usually in the negative because they feel guilty about taking the spot of someone who might need it more. When we finally convince them that it is necessary for them to be whole in order to continue their selfless mission, is when we hear of their own individual fear and trauma.
The work continues. This is much more of a marathon than a sprint. The Puerto Rican people have taken the lead in addressing the crisis. The Government is trying feverishly to save face and “catch up.” The recent decision by the Trump administration to release the illegal holdup off the aid has everyone on high alert, to make sure that it gets distributed in an honorable fashion. The people, as proven by the ouster of former Governor Rossello, are no longer asleep.
(Special thanks to volunteer practitioners Maria de Lourdes Castro, ND; Ramon Serrano, LAc; Mary Jeane Sanchez, ND; Nancy Alicea, ND; Carla Ortiz, ND; Rafael Padro; DOM; and Eileen Perez! AWB volunteers will continue to provide clinics every Saturday in the coming months in towns most affected by the earthquakes. Stay tuned!)
Our second venture into the earthquake zone coincided with a health fair directed at those refuged outside of Yauco’s baseball stadium. Once again, it was a displaced community of entire families housed under personal tents and tarps. It seemed that the inside of the stadium proper was reserved for a contingent of National Guardtroops assigned to help with the logistics. The health fair itself, fwhich had been well advertized, included all manner of medical expertise and professionals. It consisted of MDs specializing in everything rom Gynecology to Internal Medicine. It also attempted to address the emotional scars caused by the stress and included Psychologists and Social Workers, as well as other mental health professionals. The effort was augmented by the continuation of the support of the community at large who organize sessions of play therapy for the children, while also continuing to provide supplies of day-to-day necessities.
AWBs participation was arranged via a connection that one of our members had with a prominent family in Yauco. Keishla Torres, the eldest daughter off the family, has taken the lead in the town’s recovery effort. She arranged for us to have a tarp in the area where people were living.
The difference between this clinic and the one in Guayanilla (last Saturday) was that we wound up treating primarily first responders. In this case the title has to do with the members of the community who themselves have been personally affected by the calamity, but choose to put their particular needs on hold in order to help their neighbors. Without fail, when we suggested that they sit for a treatment, their response is usually in the negative because they feel guilty about taking the spot of someone who might need it more. When we finally convince them that it is necessary for them to be whole in order to continue their selfless mission, is when we hear of their own individual fear and trauma.
The work continues. This is much more of a marathon than a sprint. The Puerto Rican people have taken the lead in addressing the crisis. The Government is trying feverishly to save face and “catch up.” The recent decision by the Trump administration to release the illegal holdup off the aid has everyone on high alert, to make sure that it gets distributed in an honorable fashion. The people, as proven by the ouster of former Governor Rossello, are no longer asleep.
(Special thanks to volunteer practitioners Maria de Lourdes Castro, ND; Ramon Serrano, LAc; Mary Jeane Sanchez, ND; Nancy Alicea, ND; Carla Ortiz, ND; Rafael Padro; DOM; and Eileen Perez! AWB volunteers will continue to provide clinics every Saturday in the coming months in towns most affected by the earthquakes. Stay tuned!)
This is an update from Ramon Serrano, L.Ac., who coordinates AWB service work in Puerto Rico since Hurricane Maria. He is reporting from Guayanilla, Puerto Rico – January 11, 2020.
On my way to Guayanilla at 8 am, another tremor measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale shook the already traumatized inhabitants of La Isla del Encanto. Fortunately, I did not feel it on the road. Since Dec. 28th when the first major one struck, there have been at least 900 detectable episodes. Because the epicenter of the seismic shifts lies directly to the south of the Island, it is the southern towns where most of the structural damage has taken place, and as a result, where the physical, mental and emotional dislocation is most evident.
Puerto Ricans are still recovering from the PTSD associated with Hurricane Maria two years ago, so that the fear and panic being experienced by an already fragile psyche is quite understandable. Part of the underlying insecurity lies in the distrust of a local government that failed them miserably during the last disaster, and a Federal Government led by a narcissist who witholds badly needed aid while insulting the most vulnerable.
The silver lining in this scenario lies in the non-governmental response to both the crisis of Hurricane Maria and to the present moment. The Puerto Rican people on the Island and in the Diaspora, eight million strong, have demonstrated an inexharable determination to help their brothers and sisters most in need. During the aftermath of Hurricane Maria grassroots organizers met during the rescue efforts and have established a nexus that has proven its metal during the current situation. Physical Therapists, Community Health organizations, Food Coops and all manner of transportation services are now coordinating their efforts in the most efficient fashion.
When I arrived in Guayanilla we were directed to a stadium where the townspeople were being refuged. Entire families, including the elderly and children, were living in the outdoors under tarps and tents. This is also happening along most of the Southern coast from Penuelas to Sabana Grande. Folks are terrified to go indoors for fear that any shift in the tectonic plates will compromise the structures, causing them to collapse. The amount of activity in the adjoining parking lot with all manner of vehicles arriving with people and supplies was truly impressive. There were people cooking and free food was being handed out alll over.
We introduced ourselves as an international aid organization, Acupuncturists Without Borders, and were told that we could occupy any empty tent and set up shop. We found a recently constructed mobile wooden structure that actually had folding chairs inside. Serendipity! We announced our presence over a community sound system and began to “recruit” patients. A big part of what we do as an organization in Puerto Rico is introduce the idea of acupuncture. Most people outside the San Juan metropolitan area have never heard of it. We use the NADA protocol and attempt to convince people that five needles in their ear will reduce their anxiety. Usually the community is in such dire emotional stress that they will try anything. After the first few are convinced, the ice is broken and we normally get a steady flow of patients. In this instance, with the veteran skills of AWB volunteer Maria Lulu Castro and her able assistants, we were able to treat more than sixty people.
The work is really just beginning. Luckily there are other groups also using the NADA method. Acupuncture P’al Pueblo and Boricua Barefoot Doctors are helping to bring attention to the benefits of this medicine.to a much wider population. Also we will once again be welcoming our brothers and sisters from the Diaspora, who are coming with supplies and medical missions, in order to once again demonstrate that eight million really equals ONE!
