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 Latest News From Our Volunteers in Nepal

VOLUNTEER COMMUNITY CARE CLINICS IN NEPAL

Nepal remains one of the poorest countries in the world and has been plagued with political unrest and military conflict for the past decade. In 2015, a pair of major earthquakes devastated this small and fragile country. 

Since 2008, the Acupuncture Relief Project has provided over 300,000 treatments to patients living in rural villages outside of Kathmandu Nepal. Our efforts include the treatment of patients living without access to modern medical care as well as people suffering from extreme poverty, substance abuse and social disfranchisement.

Common conditions include musculoskeletal pain, digestive pain, hypertension, diabetes, stroke rehabilitation, uterine prolapse, asthma, and recovery from tuberculosis treatment, typhoid fever, and surgery.

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COMPASSION CONNECT : DOCUMENTARY SERIES

Episode 1
Rural Primary Care

In the aftermath of the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake, this episode explores the challenges of providing basic medical access for people living in rural areas.

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Episode 2
Integrated Medicine

Acupuncture Relief Project tackles complicated medical cases through accurate assessment and the cooperation of both governmental and non-governmental agencies.

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Episode 3
Working With The Government

Cooperation with the local government yields a unique opportunities to establish a new integrated medicine outpost in Bajra Barahi, Makawanpur, Nepal.

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Episode 4
Case Management

Complicated medical cases require extraordinary effort. This episode follows 4-year-old Sushmita in her battle with tuberculosis.

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Episode 5
Sober Recovery

Drug and alcohol abuse is a constant issue in both rural and urban areas of Nepal. Local customs and few treatment facilities prove difficult obstacles.

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Episode 6
The Interpreters

Interpreters help make a critical connection between patients and practitioners. This episode explores the people that make our medicine possible and what it takes to do the job.

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Episode 7
Future Doctors of Nepal

This episode looks at the people and the process of creating a new generation of Nepali rural health providers.

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Compassion Connects
2012 Pilot Episode

In this 2011, documentary, Film-maker Tristan Stoch successfully illustrates many of the complexities of providing primary medical care in a third world environment.

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From Our Blog

Acupuncture Relief Project  | Good Health Nepal | Stacey Kett

It’s the dry season here in Nepal. It has rained a few times since we arrived in the beginning of January, but just a little bit. The village of Bajra Barahi, that houses the Acupuncture Relief Project clinic, is a rural farming village. Most of the people that live here are subsistence farmers. Almost every inch of open land is terraced fields. My previous career, before becoming an Acupuncturist, was an organic farmer. I love seeing how people farm here in Nepal. In the late winter/ early spring they grow a lot of potatoes, cauliflower and mustard greens. In the summer, after the potatoes are harvested, they grow a lot of corn, rice, peppers and tomatoes. 

Acupuncture Relief Project  | Good Health Nepal | Stacey Kett

When we arrived here in January, the fields were flat and fallow. Then people started to work up the land, using oxen, rototiller-tractors and hand tools to form rows. They began to bring compost to the fields and dump them in piles spaced evenly around each field. Many people have livestock at their homes and are able to make their own compost mixed with pine needles and other foraged materials. People have their fields somewhat near their homes and transport the compost in baskets that are carried on their backs with a trump line across the top of their heads. 

Acupuncture Relief Project  | Good Health Nepal | Stacey Kett

This is where the acupuncture clinic comes in. The life of a subsistence farmer is hard work. In the clinic we see a lot of aches and pains. We treat a lot of people whose neck is compressed, from carrying loads on their back and head, giving numbness and tingling down their arms and into their hands. We are able to treat the villagers for issues such as this. But the problem is that they have to continue to farm, carrying heavy loads to and from their fields. I think that they have a beautiful life. It’s better than sitting in front of a computer all day. Or at least that is my opinion. Our team of practitioners have had many conversations about what to do to help and we end up with no real answers. Farming is hard work, whether you carry a wheel barrel, shovel into a flatbed truck or carry loads on your back and head. But we can treat them with Acupuncture, discuss posture, exercises, help them manage their aches and pains and support their hard work.

Acupuncture Relief Project  | Good Health Nepal | Stacey Kett

So after the compost is delivered to the fields, it is spread out by hand into the rows that were already created. The potatoes are placed in the rows on top of the compost and the soil is hilled up over the potatoes in beautiful rows. The entire family seems to participate in the farming. There is a job for everyone. We have seen little kids carrying baskets on their backs with light loads. The older people are sitting on a tarp in the field, cutting the potatoes, preparing them for planting. It was unexpected gift to get to see the potato planting in what seems to be so early in the year.  It appears now, that most of the valley is planted in potatoes and we are waiting for them to sprout, waiting for green. --- Stacey Kett

Acupuncture Relief Project  | Good Health Nepal | Stacey Kett

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Acupuncture Relief Project, Inc. is a volunteer-based, 501(c)3 non-profit organization (Tax ID: 26-3335265). Our mission is to provide free medical support to those affected by poverty, conflict or disaster while offering an educationally meaningful experience to influence the professional development and personal growth of compassionate medical practitioners.


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