Dear friends,
Another year of clinic has passed and the Naturopathic Relief Clinic has continued its invaluable work, offering free naturopathic health care to about 7000 people, bringing the total of patients to 77,000 in almost 10 years! This is an astonishing accomplishment, as the overall situation in Haiti continues to deteriorate. What were seismic shockwaves have now turned into a veritable socio-political earthquake: daily gang shootings, political unrest, attempts to overthrow the government, gigantic embezzlement scandals, riots, mugging, hospital strikes, etc., rock Port-au-Prince daily. Two months ago, Bernard tried to make his way from downtown Port-au-Prince to the area where the clinic is when he was visiting Haiti for two weeks. He had to abandon the plan half way, because he got caught in a shooting, having to wait it out lying on the floor of his hastily parked-by-the-roadside car. There was not a single day during his stay that was safe enough to drive what is really just four miles (six kilometers) of road.
Meanwhile, Marie-Lucie, Camio and helper Robinson have been holding clinic when it is safe and there is no curfew. Clinic attendance has fluctuated greatly for three main reasons. Whenever the government hospitals are on strike, the clinic is swamped with people seeking help. When it is too dangerous, people cannot reach the clinic or try to stay inside, or there may be a warning asking everyone to stay indoors. At those times, Marie-Lucie and Camio have seen people from their homes for emergency treatments, which they also do on weekends. When life is normal, the clinic serves people from all over Port-au-Prince city area as well as other towns. It has now been in place for almost 10 years, and attendance from those living directly around the clinic (including those living in the tent camps since the earthquake) has declined steadily for an unexpected reason: they hardly fall sick. These people, generally too poor to afford orthodox medical care or pharmaceuticals, had the chance to be treated at the clinic for free for all those years. In their own observation, thanks to the naturopathic treatments their life force is so good now, that they do no longer become sick. They say “please say thank you to those people (who organize the clinic and donate), they help us so much, we don’t have to go to the doctor any more!” Some people say they have not had to go to the regular doctor a single time since their natural treatment!
Amazing Results
We still see incredible results, successes which warm our heart. Maybe the most dramatic case this year was that of an 8-year-old boy who suffered from hydrocephalus, a very severe condition in which the fluid around the brain increases to the point where the skull becomes enlarged and the brain can longer function properly from the increased intracranial pressure. He had been in and out of the hospital where the fluid had been drained many times and the doctors had given up on him. When the case came to our attention, he was in hospital waiting to die, because he could no longer walk, because the case was considered incurable. Camio sent a short video of the boy and Jinpa noted that he was constantly pleading for his mother to wipe his hot face with a wet washcloth to cool it off. The keynote symptom of him feeling hot only in the face with constant thirst for small sips of water led Jinpa to Arsenicum album 200 C. To everyone’s great surprise, he recovered within 7 days enough to walk again and be discharged from the hospital! He took a few more doses of the same homeopathic remedy since then and continues to be better, able to walk and growing more normally. He was able to return to school within a month and remains well now, 11 months later. We are still in awe of the power of the right homeopathic treatment! Needless to say, the doctors were speechless. The photos show the boy in hospital, the last one shows him well and recovered.
Our tireless acupuncturist Michelle gathered many herbs to send and made some Ghost Pipe tincture as well which is used to palliate extreme pain. Result? The clinic ladies texted “that stuff Michelle made works so great, please send more!” Luckily, she has already prepared more ready to send! Michelle in her garden with Thai Basil for the clinic and drying and packing Motherwort to send.
Those Vicks sticks you sent work great!
This was the first time we had nasal aromatherapy sticks at the clinic. They look like a lipstick with a felt core which can be impregnated with essential oils such as Bergamot, then used to sniff on. You can imagine our surprise when we first got the feedback “those Vicks sticks you sent are really efficient!!!” Vicks?!? The “Vicks sticks” as they call them became an instant hit, because they brought immediate relief “like magic” for:
- Hypertension, usually caused by a mix of stress, tropical heat and sun exposure on the head
- Headaches, with similar causes as above
- Heart palpitations from stress, usually over how to find the next meal and / or escape violence / shootings
- Depression, usually a kind of despair about the dire situation they find themselves in and a despair about the future
- To bring down anger (people fly into anger easily and do not know how to control it), just sniffing the oils such as lavender brought it down
People carried the stick in their pockets to sniff whenever needed. They bring the stick back for a refill on a regular basis. The inhalation stick thus proved to be real lifesaver in such wretched life circumstances!
Robinson (19) has been successfully trained as a remedy perpetrator over the last year. Here he is preparing a nasal stick.
The Cajeput essential oil was very useful for the many horrible skin diseases, but in particular for the kind of oozing sores and boils children in underdeveloped countries get on their scalp. The oil of Cajeput was applied in a 1% dilution in local cottonseed oil directly onto the scalp. They found it so effective; it is their all time favorite for boils on the head now.
This photo shows previously big boils, in part oozing, now nicely they dried up and scabbed over thanks to the Cajeput.
Here is a dramatic Curcuma essential oil case: A 69-year-old lady came with what appears to be a severe case of rheumatoid arthritis all over her body. She had tried pharmaceutical treatment to no avail. She had not been able to sleep for months, from extreme pain in the bones as well as a sensation of her muscles being ripped asunder. The pain was so bad she would scream at night in bed. When up, she was not able to bend over at all or even lower herself to sit. She was given Curcuma essential oil in a 1% dilution to rub on all over her body. After a few days, the extreme pain was down by about 80%, she was finally able to sleep at night, as well as move better with some bending forwards and sitting. Some pain is still left, but given the severity of this case, this is a very impressive clinical result.
Malnutrition still the Top Cause for Disease
Thanks to a large donation of high quality vitamin and mineral powder from Restorative Medicines, we were able to provide some nutrition. The malnutrition takes a hard toll especially on children and pregnancies. Patients return saying how much better their dizziness is as a result, how much better the children can learn in school, how concentration no longer gives them a headache. The pregnant women have a much easier time in pregnancy, they no longer need to go to the doctor all the time, but simply carry the baby to term and give birth “like in the old days.” One woman who has had many children said that this last one was the easiest of all of her pregnancies, and it was the only one during which she received some vitamin powder.
Thanks to a large donation of Bioplasma cell salts from Hyland’s, we were able to support the malnourished children, pregnant women and elders. Often too weak to stand up from lack of food, the cell salts brought them back onto their feet within three days! In one particular case, it restored a 6-year-old boy who was completely dehydrated. Despite drinking a lot, his body looked completely shriveled. The cell salts allowed his tissue to rehydrate within three days.
The clinic can only continue with your continued support! We still need donations of remedies, especially of essential oils (tea tree, lavender, patchouli, etc.) as well as cash for shipping and supplies. Contact me for shipping within Europe. Please share this newsletter with your friends!
Here is a little video to Rejoice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQWIOI3LZXM&feature=youtu.be
Here is a glance at the yearly budget https://www.juliagraves.com/haiti-2018 and click on “budget”
Thank you for all of your support,
Julia, Jinpa and Michelle (with a special thanks to her for growing and drying herbs!)
A big thank you to all of our donors for the year 2019:
- Michael Friedman of Restorative Medicines
- John Schlottig and Hyland’s Homeopathics
- Jonathan Hinde of Oshadi UK
- Louise Carta of Absolute Aroma
- Ven. Irene Turner
- Ven. Robina Courtin
- Deborah Franks, Martina Lyons, Julie Duffy and the IFPA aromatherapists (International Federation of Professional Aromatherapists)
- Jao hand sanitizers
- David Newman and Nanette Nelms, Rachel Chaput, Amy Woolever, Carolina Palmgren, Bonnie Williams, Paula Dear, Leigh Warre, Heidi Woolever and Michelle LaDue – the herb growing fairies, Paul Kite, Lucienne de Villeneuve, Kelsey Reinke, Joanna Novick, Anupama Kulkarni, Lauren Holloway, Sheila Hollister, Andrea Lemon – our website hosting goddess!, Fusae Noda, Michael Royal, Gary Schwartz, Nancy Allen, Laressa Dickey, Inaya Ahmed, Ben Parker, Janira Martinez, Marly Ellis, Helena Dunn, Flavia Cardoso, Elizabeth Gilchrist, Puntsok and his students, Simone Elsbroek, Karen, Megan Mook, the enthused participants of the soap fundraising events, & anyone else who donated anonymously or whose name did not reach us!
