article on rainforest

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BRINGING LOW-TECH MEDICINE TO THE RAINFORESTS

 

By Bob Ellal

 

" Dr. Villanes slipped in the Amazon mud and painfully sprained

his ankle. I applied an insole magnet to the area and wrapped it

in a figure-8 bandage. He limped for two or three days, but the

ankle didn't turn black and blue. On the fourth day, he was

kicking around a soccer ball to relax, " says Patricia Gilmore,

shiatsu practitioner and acupressure/acupoint specialist.

 

Gilmore was referring to Dr. Javier Villanes, the MD appointed

by the Peruvian Ministry of Health to the Rainforest Health Project

(RHP) expedition to which she was a member in November, 2000.

Also included were two other MDs, an RN, a pharmacist, and a

husband of one of the doctors.

 

How did Gilmore, a resident of Sharon, Massachusetts, a certified

Shiatsu practitioner and nationally known speaker on self-care

topics, wind up on a medical expedition on the Amazon River in Peru?

 

" I spent a lot of time speaking before community groups about the

value of acupressure for self care. Frankly, it'd helped my business

grow, " asserts Gilmore.

 

" Then I hired a marketing mentor to help me expand my efforts. But

I didn't think the corporate boardroom was ready for using acupoints

to relieve stress. And I could imagine that a half-hour after my

presentation on East/West approaches to weight control, people would

be buying pints of Haagen-Daaz anyway.

 

" I didn't want to lose my passion for the Oriental healing arts

just to be more successful, " says Gilmore. " So I asked myself: Who

needs these skills the most? "

 

A Vocation Calls

 

Coincidentally, Gilmore ran across an email posting about a woman

who'd practiced shiatsu in Mexico. The woman had worked with a

group from Mexico City who would go out into the villages and teach

the village elders, usually women, how to use acupressure to treat

many common ailments. Most of these villagers have neither access

to doctors nor funds for pharmaceuticals.

 

" That was what I wanted to do. I found a group on the internet

called the Rainforest Health Project (RHP). " (Check out their Web

site at www.rainforesthealth.org). " Four times a year this group

sends volunteers--doctors, nurses, alternative health practitioners,

non-medical people--into the rainforest to provide health care and

information to the villagers. "

 

Some of the education the RHP does is incredibly simple. For example,

one of the most basic necessities--water--is one of the biggest

problems in the rainforest, according to Gilmore. " The Amazon river

hosts innumerable parasites, and people are constantly sick from

drinking the water. RHP shows them how to boil the water, or add a

few drops of bleach as a purifier to make it safe for consumption. "

 

A Tropical Vacation

-or a Trip on the African Queen?

 

The weather, says Gilmore, was perfect: The ninety-five degree heat

was matched perfectly by the ninety-five percent humidity. And it

held steady for the one week spend chugging up the Amazon visiting

villages, and the week-long return trip.

 

" Before I treated any of the native Peruvians, I had to use my

knowledge on the members of our own team because of the difficult

conditions, " Gilmore asserts. " For example, soon after Dr. Villanes

injured his ankle he was stung by a jungle wasp-which makes our

wasps seem like mosquitoes. I burned some moxa plant on acu-points

on his ankles to strengthen his adrenal glands to quell the

inflammation. The wound didn't swell and he was relatively pain

free until his body kicked out the infection. "

 

One of the reasons Gilmore was included on the expedition was her

knowledge of simple acupressure techniques that can be taught to

anyone. Simple, inexpensive techniques that do not rely on technology

or expensive drugs are vital to the poverty-stricken Third World.

" We would try to teach all the villagers some basic techniques,

and then spend more time with the village elder for some more in-depth

training. "

 

In one village practically everyone had come down with a type of flu.

" I showed a man how to press a point on his hand to make the pain of

his sore throat go away. Then I showed him how to burn moxa over that

point to make his flu disappear. "

 

Moxa, also known as mugwort, is a common herb that grows in Europe,

Asia, and North and South America. In Oriental medicine, its properties

as a blood mover are used to help stimulate the immune system. Shiatsu

practitioners use moxa in different forms for healing, such as fashioned

into cones and sticks.

 

Gilmore uses a loose form of the herb called moxa wool, which is

kneaded into a thread and adhered to the skin with a special herbal

cream. The wool is burned directly over the skin; the cream protects

the skin from injury. " Mugwort is a plant the villagers should be able

to grow, or easily and cheaply obtain, which will help immensely with

health self-care, " says Gilmore.

 

Magnets are another healing modality that is cheap and easy to use.

" With simple instruction, we can teach people how to use magnets to

encourage energy flow in meridians, " says Gilmore. " Not only are magnets

cheap--they never wear out. "

 

What Happened to the Shaman?

 

A question arises: What happened to the traditional shaman of the

rainforest, with his or her repertoire of healing herbs and practices?

 

" Unfortunately, many of the native people lost faith in the shamans

after coming in contact with Western medicine through mining and logging

companies, " says Gilmore. " But Western allopathic medicine is expensive

and not often available, so most people do not benefit from it. Because

the villagers stopped believing in the shaman, the art was dying out,

because people were not willing to serve as apprentices to learn it. "

 

It's a Catch-22 situation that the Peruvian government is trying to fix.

Currently they are sending photo chemists into the villages to help the

people identify the plants traditionally used for healing. In time,

the art of the shaman may be revived.

 

" The knowledge isn't completely lost, " asserts Gilmore. " We came to

one village in which a fellow had hacked through his finger with a

machete. He'd put the sap of the dragon blood tree on the wound, which

prevented it from bleeding until we arrived to suture it. "

 

A " Doctora " of the Rainforest

 

Recently Gilmore received a copy of the report submitted by

Dr. Villanes to the Peruvian Ministry of Health regarding his

impressions of the expedition. She was pleasantly surprised that

he was highly impressed not only with her knowledge and skill, but

with the possibilities of using acupressure therapies in the

rainforest. In his report, he bestowed on her the title of " Doctora. "

 

Inspired by the results of her trip to Peru, Gilmore is in the

process of forming a non-profit corporation, the Pan-American Whole

Health Alliance (PAWHA) to send more volunteers to the rainforest

to help the villagers. Are you ready to take your knowledge to a place

where it will really count? Check out Gilmore's web site at

http://www.PAWHA.org for more information. You'll find an information

page that explains more. Pat is currently seeking someone with a

background in Oriental medicine to translate training materials for

the organization's Meridian Therapy Program into written Spanish.

PAWHA is hoping to organize a trip to the jungles of Peru for the

Fall of 2001. E-mail Pat at gilmore or telephone her at

(781) 784-0750.

 

Patricia Gilmore, C.M.Ht.

Pan American Whole Health Alliance

http://www.PAWHA.org

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