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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 | Kimberly Shields

When I started fundraising for this volunteer trip, many friends asked me why I chose to come to Nepal with ARP, and my simple response was, “to step out of my comfort zone.”  I have very limited international travel experience, and I knew that providing healthcare in a developing country for an extended period of time would challenge me on various levels, providing me with an opportunity for both personal and professional growth.

Fast-forward to my 8-hour layover in Istanbul, Turkey, en route to Nepal.  As I roamed the airport, I realized that several conversations were happening around me in languages unfamiliar to my English-speaking tongue, and I suddenly felt a loss of connection within an airport full of people.  My ears searched for words of my native language amongst the crowds of people in transit and waiting, but to no avail.  Finally, after some time, I heard English words spoken from the mouth of someone sitting at a table adjacent to mine, and I initiated a conversation with the man who spoke those words that were familiar to me.  Only a few hours had passed since I stepped off the plane, but I was already longing to connect with someone amongst the crowd of foreign travelers.

Acupuncture Relief Project  | Good Health Nepal | Kimberly Shields

When my flight arrived in Kathmandu, there was a lot of confusion amongst passengers about the process of obtaining a visa.  One older gentlemen was having a problem with the visa machine, and urgently trying to solicit our help in his native tongue, Italian, but no one could understand him.  After my failed attempt at trying to pick out pieces of his language in order to assist him, the Finnish man I had befriended on the plane said to me, “It’s difficult when you don’t have a common language.”

How do I find a way to connect with patients when we don’t share a common language? As a practitioner, we rely heavily upon verbal and body cues from our patients.  Now I’m in a setting where the patients’ verbal cues, and even many of their body cues, are communicated through the interpreter.  The interpreters play a vital role in the patient-practitioner relationship here, but my direct connection to the patient becomes lost through translation, so my challenge has been to find other methods of connecting with patients.

Acupuncture Relief Project  | Good Health Nepal | Kimberly Shields

I asked myself how I could demonstrate to my patients that I was actively engaged in their treatments.  The first thing that came to mind was through direct eye contact.  When I speak with patients, I make a valiant effort to look directly at them.  At times, it has proven to be more difficult to remember to do than others.  My tendency is to want to look at the interpreters, as they speak the language that’s familiar to my ears, and perhaps, even more so now that we’ve developed a rapport over my time here.  I’ve also noticed that a patient’s tendency is to also look at the interpreter, as they speak their native language.  Many of the patients have been coming to clinic long before I started here, and they too, have developed a rapport with the interpreters, most of whom live within the community.  Yet there are also many moments in which I do make direct eye contact with patients as I’m asking questions or giving advice, and in these moments, my perspective shifts from a practitioner trying to solve a problem, to a person connecting with another person, in spite of our language and cultural differences.

Another means of connecting with my patients has been through touch.  As many of the patients are coming in with pain conditions— usually a by-product of wear and tear from years of manual labor— I use palpation, both as a diagnostic tool and as a means of connection.  I feel for areas of tenderness around the knee, as the patient describes his/her level and quality of pain.  I palpate the back to feel for areas of tightness and tenderness, and any vertebral subluxations or spinal misalignments.  If a patient complains of abdominal pain, I feel for certain signs, such as McBurney’s (appendicitis), and palpate the abdomen as I talk to the patient about symptoms, to get an idea as to which organs are involved.  A couple of weeks ago, I developed a ritual of applying oils for pain on most patients.  Although medically beneficial, I’ve found myself using the oils more so as another avenue of physically connecting with my patients at the end of their treatments.

Acupuncture Relief Project  | Good Health Nepal | Kimberly Shields

My favorite way of connecting with patients is through laughter.  Usually patients are in pain or sick when they enter the clinic.  Sometimes cracking a joke lightens the mood, and makes the patient feel more at ease.  When I feel the stress of getting through my patient load for the day, humor and laughter help to alleviate the pressure.  I find that the days in which I laugh more feel lighter, regardless of the types of ailments I treated that day.  I hope that when I laugh with patients, it enables them to get a glimpse of me beyond my white coat, as I know it allows me to pause for a moment and create a deeper connection beyond that of patient-practitioner— creating that connection with a fellow human being. --- Kimberly Shields

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Our Mission

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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