Soul Searching

in the area that was the most devastated it was 15 minutes between the earthquake and tsunami. it was around 8am in the morning and most people were going about their daily routine. they experience minor earthquakes all of the time - with no tsunami afterwards.
apparently the next most fatal tsunami happened in southern italy […]

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okay, we saved one life from the scorpion bite, diagnosed at least one person with leperosy, did about one hundred treatments, helped a bunch of headaches that were unresposive to western meds (they were very responsive to chinese medicine), told one woman she had breast cancer and needed immediate treatment, and gave lots of little […]

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it is amazing the resiliency that some people have. after some of the heart wrenching stories i’ve heard, that most of these people can even smile is mind boggling.
they show up to the clinic wanting chinese medicine treatment for ailments that have not responded to western medicine. they show up with friends smiling, and laughing, […]

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we saw about fifty patients during the day in two 4-5 hour sessions. the day had ended around 10pm. we were all tired and talking about the crazy cases we saw. then, around 11:30 at nite (we woke up around 6am that morning), a guy walks in. sorry, more like is carried in by his […]

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imagine five people living in a 10′ x 10′ mud covered tent, pitched on wet ground that can’t drain after a heavy, tropical rain. then imagine living like that for a year. that’s part of every day for these people. what i have trouble comprehending is how these proud people get themselves as cleaned, and […]

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i am deep in the heart of the civil war zone, surrounded by rebel camps and activity. i am far outside the “green zone,” the area designated by the UN to be a reasonable security risk.

this is the area where people need the most help. for many here, i am providing basic healthcare. western medicine […]

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catholic and islamic relief services (two seperate groups) apparently have been great. they have been nonsectarian and have helped to rebuild mosques, houses, all kinds of facilities.
the UN has been criticized in the usual ways, too slow, too much red tape, too slow too act, they came in the beginning and set up lots of […]

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i got here and thought as i travelled through the inland portion that the recovery was going well. things didn’t seem great but the town, melabeu, was vibrant and full of activity. there are still people living in thrown together shacks, most of them are trying to rebuild their houses from scratch.

the story was quite […]

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the water in the toilets goes counter clockwise as it’s going down…

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sumatra is much more laid back than either java or bali. more real feeling, foreign, not as western. i like it. the people are still very friendly and as helpful as they can be.
the land makes two words come to mind, green, and huge. the place is just plain old BIG. it is by far […]

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