Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Travelogue
Part six:
A month in
Myanmar series
ode of the
The final epis
‘Living vicariously through the adventures of our friends’
“People were willing to travel long distances, wait hours for treatment and experience rough travel to get to us.
They were always gracious, kind, generous with their smiles and gratitude for relieving them of their suffering
and helping them to become healthier. We, in turn, were energized, and overwhelmed by their kindnesses.”
HR Accupuncturist
gets as much as
she gives in trip
to Myanmar
BY SUSAN FROEHLICH
For the News
Passport — check.
Visa —check.
Letter to accept donated
supplies — check.
New, crisp $$ to exchange
for local currency — check.
Herbs to stay healthy and
to treat illnesses — check.
Plane tickets — check.
Relax. Enjoy the 33 hour
travel to Mandalay, Myan-
mar. Remember to thank
Charlie once again for taking
good care of our patients. Re-
flect on my time as a solo
traveler, and as a Chinese
Medical Practitioner who
will be treating people of
Myanmar and mentoring
young Traditional Myanmar
Doctors.
Rest. Feel the excitement
surge upon landing. Look for
your three other teammates
from the U.K. (Charlotte,
Naomi and Keith), whom
you’ve never met and will be
working and living alongside
for the next four weeks!
Smile.
My adventure begins Jan.
12, 2015, in Mandalay, Myan-
mar, as a volunteer of the
Myanmar Acupuncture Pro-
ject. This project was started
15 years ago by the Metta
Dana Project, Vipassana
Hawaii, in association with
Sayadaw U Lakhana from
Kyaswa Monastery, Sagaing,
Upper Myanmar. It was start-
ed by two acupuncturists,
Michael Zucker and Daniel
Bruce from the United States
in 2000, and has seen inter-
national Acupuncturists
yearly since the beginning.
This project is funded by
Metta Dana, Wachet Sagaing
Hills Hospital, personal do-
nations and volunteer ser-
vice donations (local as well
as international).
In 2013, a designated clinic
was built to serve patients
twice a week for free treat-
ments in Acupuncture and
Traditional Medicine (cost of
needles only). This program
operates throughout the
year, run by U Win Ko and
volunteer doctors.
Health Care in Myanmar
is grossly underfunded and
tends to be centered in larger
cities, although the majority
of the population resides in
rural areas. The average
household income is about
$800 a year, with the major
expenditure being food at 70
percent of income. This is a
significant indicator of
poverty levels, as there is lit-
tle to no money for anything
else, especially healthcare.
Also, clean water and basic
sanitation is severely lack-
ing in rural areas, which
leads to higher levels of asso-
ciated diseases and higher
death rates, which could be
prevented.
During our time there, our
small team worked alongside
eight to 12 traditional Myan-
mar doctors, where we were
able to treat about 1,200 pa-
About
the author
Susan Froehlich is a Li-
censed Acupuncturisat
and Practioner of Tradi-
tional Chinese Medicine.
She owns and operates
Columbia River Acupunc-
ture with her son,
Charles Cannon, with
clinics in Hood River and
Mosier.
tients in 15 days. Our team
provided direct mentoring to
these young doctors in Tradi-
tional Chinese Medicine,
specifically acupuncture and
theories of Chinese Medi-
cine, from our experience.
Our patients were monks
and nuns from the surround-
ing monasteries, and resi-
dents of Myanmar. Some of
the patients traveled by bus
for 12 hours to receive one
treatment, traveled back
home and repeated the travel
the next day! Our team was
fortunate to have interpreta-
tion provided by the doctors,
and we soon learned com-
mon words like “Mingalaba”
for hello and “NaLa” for
pain.
Patients f avorably re-
sponded to their treatments,
usually showing 20-40 per-
cent improvement after their
first treatment, with no ad-
verse side effects. Common
conditions treated were mus-
culoskeletal pain (chronic
and acute), insomnia, diges-
tive disorders, paralysis fol-
lowing stroke and motorbike
accidents, menstrual irregu-
larities, headaches and mi-
graines — conditions very
similar to what we see in our
clinics in the USA. (The
stroke and hypertension rate
is much higher in Myanmar
however, while cancer rates
are quite low.)
■
As Acupuncture is a rela-
tively new treatment modali-
ty in Traditional Myanmar
Medicine, the response to
this form of medicine is
quite amazing. People were
willing to travel long dis-
tances, wait hours for treat-
ment and experience rough
travel to get to us. They were
always gracious, kind, gener-
ous with their smiles and
gratitude for relieving them
of their suffering and help-
ing them to become healthi-
er. We, in turn, were ener-
gized, and overwhelmed by
their kindnesses.
Wachet Hospital hosted us
during our stay with a sim-
ple dormitory style room on
the top floor of the hospital,
hot showers and slow, inter-
mittent but usable Internet.
They fed us very well with
traditional Myanmar meals,
consisting of soup, rice, a va-
riety of ve g etable and
fish/meat dishes and fresh
fruit. The spice combination
between all of the dishes
were delightful — savory and
some spicy — garlic, cumin,
turmeric, tomato, peppers
and salt. Unfortunately, loads
of salt and no weight loss!
All of the food was locally
grown, caught and prepared,
originating from the delta
area on the Irrawaddy River.
See TRAVEL, Page B2
A MONTH IN MYANMAR exposed Hood River acupuncturist
Susan Froehlich to all kinds of amazing experiences. Froehlich
visited the country as volunteer with the Myanmar Acupuncture
Project. While in the country she worked alongside traditional
Myanmar doctors to treat patients at a free clinic and teach
acupuncture and theories of Chinese medicine. Pictured are (top
to bottom) a view of some of the hundreds of pagoda temples
in the Old Bagan, Froehlich working with a patient while doctors
look on, one of many delicious meals the group had during the
trip and (right) the infectious smile of a monk as he paints let-
tering on a monastery wall.
Photos by Susan Froehlich
B1