el trabajo de Kristin: la acupuntura para los migrantes

The shelter: Albergue Jesus el Buen Pastor para los Migrantes y Pobres... and the small tienda in the front.



The small clinic at the shelter wherein one might find any number of items (anti-fungal creams, eye drops, a select few antibiotics, all the donated meds I brought along, and many bags of normal saline.... some random donations, but mostly things purchased by Dona Olga from her own pocket). Note to self: send extra nebulizer when I get home for use with the as-of-now unuseable liquid albuterol.



Ruben, a double amputee, watches as I do a PENS treatment on his roommate. He was very helpful with some translations.



Roberto enjoys his ear needles.


So, I have been spending my mornings (read: after el desayuno and before las comidas, so between about 10 and 2) at the Albergue shelter for injured migrants. (For more background on this, please see their website www.alberguebuenpastor.org.mx, or better yet, the blog of Julianna Morris, who is another follower of this blog.) The migrants took some convincing to warm up to the idea of me sticking a bunch of needles in their ears and extremities. But my early adapters have had such nice experiences, and word of mouth is a powerful thing. I am now finding that there are more and more takers every day. Today, por ejemplo, I was accosted on arrival by several at once, and could barely get to all interested folks before I had to skidaddle off to my Spanish lessons. Some pictures of my willing subjects are below. Of note, I am finding that folks here seem to respond really cleanly to acupuncture. That is to say, they seem to notice a pretty clear difference right away, even with conditions that have been with them awhile. They also seem to feel the arrival of "qi" much more quickly than their American counterparts. My interpretation is that folks here are a lot less emotionally and hence physically constricted here. (Either that or it's a lot hotter than in Pennsylvania. Qi does tend to like the heat.) The bottom line is that it has been extremely gratifying getting to work on the injured migrants and their families, and I think I am going to have to put in a rush order for some more needles.



This is Fernando relaxing with some ear needles. I am treating him for neuropathy and back pain that he has had for 5 years.



Manuel works in one of the small tiendas, or shops, that help fund the shelter. He himself is an amputee (fingers), but his biggest complaint is back pain. I am treating him with auricular acupuncture here.



More needles for Fernando.