Jordan Van Voast, L.Ac.
1707 Harvard Ave.
Seattle, WA 98122
206.860.5009
jordan@communichi.org
January 18, 2010
Dear Friends,
The Haiti earthquake is one week old as I write this. It is difficult to contemplate the magnitude of what has happened. Perhaps 200,000 lives lost. A quarter million injured. 1.5 million homeless. A struggling nation stripped of all hope and dignity.
There are so many story angles on Haiti – the centuries of political upheaval and poverty. In a few minutes of earth movement, that confusing story has become as tilted and chaotic as the colliding earth plates deep under this major Caribbean fault line. It’s completely natural that our minds blank out in these circumstances.
How can we touch such extreme suffering and trauma for which we have no conceptual framework? It seems difficult, impossible. But we can try!
Soon the dead will be all buried in mass graves – though more will surely die. Those who survive will doubtless have struggles ahead. Untold thousands living in shanty towns will desperately need medical care, clean water, food, sanitation, to say nothing of education for the children. Even after the many disasters of the past decade, the science of disaster response continues to evolve. We know how to bury the dead, tend to physical wounds, and rebuild infrastructure. We’ve all heard about the logistical challenges in Haiti, but eventually, the size of the response will overcome these challenges.
What often seems overlooked in disaster recovery though is helping people heal their spirits. Haitians need hope for the future. To have hope, one needs the ability to grieve. To be able to grieve, one must be able to let go of the mental wounds, the raw shock and trauma.
Five years ago, as an acupuncturist working with Acupuncturists Without Borders (AWB), I witnessed an amazing healing involving thousands of people in New Orleans who received trauma relief acupuncture services after Hurricane Katrina put the residents of that city into shock.
The clinics that AWB rapidly assembled provided islands of peace for shell-shocked residents to come together and find strength in bonds of tears. A simple nonverbal, non-culturally invasive protocol, requiring no translation, was powerfully effective at dismantling layers of grief. I have written extensively about this experience. See for example, my account here on the AWB website.
Acupuncture is a critically important aspect of disaster recovery. It is cost-effective, and highly mobile. All it requires is an open heart and ten tiny needles for each person. I am so utterly convinced of this need that I feel moved to donate my time and energy to travel to Haiti and help the disaster recovery effort once again reach down to the depths of the human spirit and heal the foundation of hope.
Please consider sponsoring the expenses of this journey which will likely occur in the next two to four weeks. I am grateful to those of you who have already generously pledged support for my journey and estimate. Please help me raise $2000 in order to make it possible to be part of this relief effort. If you have any questions regarding my experience and qualifications for being part of what will surely be an intensely challenging volunteer assignment, I am happy to discuss these with you. I welcome your donations in any amount. Please make out any donation checks to “Jordan Van Voast” and note in the subject line: Haiti.
Thank you,
Jordan Van Voast, L.Ac.
CommuniChiZ…The online newsletter of your local community acupuncture clinic.
3. Welcome Amber, Sam and Upel. Expect to see some new smiling faces on a regular basis at the clinic. Amber Blankenship graduated from Bastyr University in 2006 with a Masters in Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine. She recently finished editing a textbook on microacupuncture – a modality which will blend in very well with the various styles already employed here in the clinic. Amber has taught gymnastics to children and swings from a trapeze as a way to keep her Chi flowing.
5. Acupuncture is Like Noodles. Now Available for sale in our Bookstore! Acupuncture is Like Noodles is written for patients looking for more information on how best to utilize this wonderful medicine. It is also a timely contribution to the debate on national health care, offering an understanding of how Noodles publicity community acupuncture can become an integral part of the solution to the our national health care crisis. Written in an accessible and satirically humorous style, this book will help you understand why we do what we do. A portion of the proceeds will go into a micro-lending fund of the Community Acupuncture Network, a national nonprofit organization devoted to the spread of affordable acupuncture nationwide. Consider a gift copy for a friend. Sliding scale price: $20 to $25.