ACUPUNCTURE PROJECT IN UGANDA

Current Updates

January 2007
By Beth Cole

Above, children we met in passing

The Director of Real Medicine Foundation (RMF) Whole Health Team, Beth Cole, traveled to Uganda December 8 to December 22, 2006 with a group of Acupuncture trainers, consisting of five American volunteer Acupuncture Physicians, and a Ugandan coordinator and past trainee. For two weeks we traveled through Uganda, a country devastated by HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, training nurses and midwives in acupuncture protocols to relieve pain and suffering.

Above, more children we met in passing

We assembled in the city of Kampala for an overview of the training and to discuss the division of the team into two groups to accommodate the 36 trainees from various villages. In the past 83 healthcare workers had been trained, now bringing the total of trained healthcare workers to 119. The following day we traveled towards the village of Ibanda in Western Uganda along the lush verdant rolling hills saturated by two months of rain. Travel was slow on bumpy roads filled with potholes delaying our arrival in Ibanda until late afternoon. The trainees received a brief introduction to the project and the trainers then we were transported to our accommodations in the Ibanda Hospital’s convent guesthouse.

Above, Acupuncture trainers and trainees

The first day each trainee introduced themselves providing professional background information and their thoughts on acupuncture. A general overview of acupuncture and clean needle technique followed. For a group that had never been exposed to acupuncture before this training, they asked amazingly astute questions. The group was divided into two, one training at the Ibanda Hospital run by Catholic nuns and the other training at the free clinic. For the remainder of the week each morning was started with instruction in point location. The team of three trainers would outline the path of the acupuncture meridian then describe and locate each point on the meridian referenced in the training manual. Jumping right into the training the trainees were needling one another on the first day. Being healthcare providers all trainees were educated in anatomy and medical terminology and consequently learned point location and needling techniques rapidly. Each trainee was provided with an acupuncture manual. By the second day the trainees were filling out intake forms and treating patients under supervision. Methods for applying moxibustion and cupping were demonstrated and incorporated into treatment plans.

Above, Beth Cole with an asthma patient and supervising a trainee administering acupuncture treatment

Patients from seven to one hundred and four years old presented with many conditions ranging from fever, fatigue and insomnia to palpitations, peptic ulcers and asthma. Almost all complained of pain in various forms such as headache, epigastric pain, backache and neck pain. Many incredible healings were witnessed. Two of the Catholic sister nurses participated in the training program and worked together very methodically. One day they treated another sister for knee pain. The 65-year old woman had been suffering for years and walking had become difficult. After only one treatment the sister gingerly stepped off the treatment bed and slowly started walking on her "new knees" then suddenly jumped up and down and danced through the clinic. An elderly man arrived with multiple conditions including not being able to read due to poor vision. After his first treatment he held up a book without glasses and read from the book. A 10-year old boy had pain on both sides of his ankles making walking a challenge. Acupuncture needles were retained only a few minutes, a common technique for treating children. He walked away with ease, pain free. Towards the end of the first week a man presented with severe neuropathy. He could barely bend his fingers and had limited use of his legs. After treatment he bent his fingers making a closed fist and bent his leg bringing his heel to his buttock, a movement few men could accomplish young or old, neuropathy or no neuropathy. It was this man who was responsible for the swelling crowd outside the hospital the following week. On Sunday during church service he praised and gave glory to the new treatment brought by the muzungus (white people). Such a display of gratitude brought tears to my eyes.

Above, patients waiting for acupuncture treatment

All therapy was performed by teams of trainees and supervised by the Acupuncture trainers. Being beginners the treatment process was slow. Manuals were constantly flipped back and forth between treatment protocols and the location of acupuncture points. At the hospital with only seven beds in the classroom/clinic the long line of patients outside gradually dwindled. The patients exhibited incredible amounts of patience as they waited all day on the ground in the sun without food, water or complaint. As the afternoon progressed it was time to switch gears to accommodate all those who had walked miles for treatment. Single patient treatment was halted and mass acupuncture commenced. Patients were seated three on each side of the beds for a total of six patients per bed and benches were arranged in a circle with four patients per bench. Each person received the NADA protocol well known for treating addictions and post traumatic stress syndrome, but also a very balancing and calming treatment that provides a sense of well being, along with points for general body pain and a couple of points for each patient’s chief complaint. One man could barely lift his arm. After receiving the mass acupuncture treatment he easily raised his arm straight up in the air over his head with a bright smile reflected on his face. The final day of training 130 patients were treated at the hospital either singly or as a group.

At the conclusion of the training trainees received a bag of supplies including acupuncture needles, cups and moxa sticks so they could begin incorporating their training into their everyday practices. There was no acupuncture being practiced in Uganda before, therefore supplies are unavailable except through this project. The Ugandan coordinator has an ample supply of products if the trainees need more before the continuation of training scheduled for early spring 2007. Back at their village clinics there will be access to cotton balls, alcohol and sharps containers.

Although the long flights were grueling and the hours were long, this hard work was tremendously rewarding. Uganda and her people reached out and touched my soul. Most of the patients could not speak English, yet there was a deep communication beyond words through their bright smiles and clear piercing eyes that told a story all its own. Just like their feet with deep crevices and missing toe nails that reflected a life of hardship and struggle.

This was a long journey not only in distance and thirty five hours of exhaustive travel door to door. But also from the past when Chinese Medicine helped save my husband’s life to the present when I had this opportunity to give back. While in school for Traditional Chinese Medicine my husband returned home from Papua New Guinea with malaria. Integrating ancient and modern medicine Rick Cole survived this deadly disease. Being fortunate enough to have the best of both worlds I felt compelled to share valuable knowledge where it is desperately needed. This spring I will return to Uganda to resume further training with the same group of trainees. During the interim the healing continues, pain and suffering is relieved as the trainees practice this ancient art.

In the future Real Medicine Foundation will bring this simple, effective, inexpensive training to other countries in Africa that have contacted RMF for assistance, along with countries outside of Africa where RMF is providing humanitarian relief.

Above, a Ugandan child

To direct donations towards this valuable work, please write acupuncture in the memo section of your check or in the message section if you are donating online. Another method of supporting this project is to purchase raffle tickets for a week at a Gulf front vacation home in St. Pete Beach, Florida. Beth’s neighbors have generously donated their second home to help those suffering in Uganda. To enter the raffle please provide a contact telephone number and write raffle in the memo section of your check or in the message section if you are donating online. The drawing for the raffle will be held February 14, 2007. Beth Cole can be contacted at (727) 367-6554 or at email her.

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