To escape murder, rape, enslavement, forced labor, and torture you realize your only opportunity of survival is to flee your home country – the only land and community you have ever known. The only trees you have memorized climbing to find fruit, the only plants you know that heal your wounds, and the only shelter you … Continue reading Here, There, and Everywhere a Refugee
(A busy intersection at the entrance to Mae Sot, near Burma border.) (Refugee housing…) (A woman washes her daughters soiled clothes after an episiotomy.) Squatting over a pit toilet in a concrete compound, I heard the first bombs going off. I thought to myself, here it is – life on the border of Thailand and … Continue reading Birth, Death, and Bombs: Life on Burma’s Border
I am in Bangkok! After departing Wednesday in Colorado, I arrived in the middle of the night on what was Friday here. Bangkok is a bustling city it turns out and the tourism (and influence thereof) is most evident. Brightly lit billboards litter the sky while street cats win over the locals (more-so than dogs … Continue reading Bearing Witness in Bangkok
Today is Human Rights Day. It’s a day for honoring those who have helped achieve the freedom, equality, and dignity many are fortunate enough to enjoy, and to acknowledge that there are many who have yet to receive these necessary rights. Even in the U.S, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, we have … Continue reading Human Rights Day and Where We Draw The Line…
November 14, 1983- November 9, 2012 aka. Jodester If I could have guessed, I would have thought that fall would be her favorite season. It wasn’t too hot to get outside all day but it was still sunny most of the day so she wouldn’t freeze! We would have already gone to Anderson Farm’s to pick … Continue reading In Honor of Jodi
Mustang lies in the north-central part of Nepal, bordering Tibet (now sadly referred to as China). The Kingdom of Mustang in Nepal, despite the connotation, has nothing to do with mustangs! Mustangs are in fact, truly American, feral horses. But that is not to say the people of Mustang aren’t horse-people, because that is precisely … Continue reading Heavy Heart on Horseback: My Pilgrimage Through Mustang
Or was it India? It’s a hot topic of debate in Asia… It seems that the Buddha was born before India and Nepal even existed as countries but the territory where he was born is (likely) modern-day Nepal. And the Nepalese are so proud to share this! Though you will find a similar argument in … Continue reading The Buddha Was Born in Nepal
Hanging at Aashray, Indian women don’t like to smile in photos! And just like that, my month in India has come to an end. I am now here in Nepal embarking on a different journey, though with a similar flavor. It has been a few weeks since my last post. There were a few things … Continue reading Witnessing India, Practicing Self-Love
I have been working in the slums a lot recently, more than doubling my number of treatments there! (Though I stick to ear acupuncture with these clinics because of the sheer volume!) Yesterday I hosted a clinic in Bawana slums, one of the poorest and predominantly Muslim communities of Delhi. STOP had announced that the … Continue reading Shattering Secrecy In The Slums
… I have been putting off the writing of this next blog post. I find myself wanting to write about the wild, foreign-ness that is India and fill you up with the details of my life here. I have even started a few posts similar to the last one with stories about how the tea … Continue reading Being Here Now: Lesson One from Aashray
