News – March 2011

Well, fond greetings to those of you who are catching up with this latest update from yours truly here in the “Jam”. I think the vast majority of our readers are from the northern latitudes so we hope your move into the spring season is progressing nicely and that the warmer weather and longer days are just around the corner. For us, we are waiting for the Masika rains to arrive, an event that we always look forward to and one that is really necessary to replenish the ground water and to bring all of our vegetation back to full vibrancy. This year, we are even more concerned that these rains come as expected as we have heard that the dams on the mainland that supply water to run the turbines that provide us with most of our electricity are now at critically low levels. A lack of adequate rain will most definitely impact us as it is already affecting the mainland and we will see an increase in outages and increased power rationing. We can only hope that the system copes and that we will not have to endure another 3 month failure like the one we went through last year. On the other hand, this is part of the reality that we must accept for choosing to live in this particular part of the world.

On the clinic front, things are in good hands with Dr Pierre Poupart at the helm and all seems to be working out smoothly for him and the many patients he has been helping over the past month. Pierre is one of those very dedicated souls who achieve a great deal of satisfaction from just being able to help others in need without expecting anything in return and we and all the folks that he has been able to assist are grateful to have him on board. Karibu Pierre!

Habari yako?

My name is Pierre Poupart. I am a chiropractor from Lac St-Jean Quebec. I first met Alastair via the internet a few years ago. His brother was teaching my daughter in Victoria, BC. After learning about HABS, I became interested in the volunteer part of the society and decided I wanted to participate as soon as I retired from active practice. Now that I have achieved that milestone, I have been volunteering at the Jambiani Wellness Centre for the past month. This has been an experience I am finding difficult to describe.

I have seen patients here with difficulties I would never have had the opportunity to work with back in Canada. On my second day in the office among the twenty some patients seen there were ten new patients including six who had had previous strokes. They call it “The Shock” here and these particular patients had had incidents from 6 months to 7 years prior to their visit at the Centre. This seemed to me pretty ironic in that people in our part of the world have over the past few years been discouraged from seeking Chiropractic care for fear of getting a stroke from a Chiropractic treatment. Fortunately that is not the case here and many individuals who have had CVA’s are seeing good results as a result of Chiropractic intervention.

Many patients have a two hour bus ride to get here usually early in the morning and some of them will wait for two to three hours before they can be treated as we do not have a regular appointment schedule. Even after all this time, they are still cheerful and happy to be able to be given an opportunity to get a Chiropractic treatment. The way the system works is that they tell their main complaint to Ali my interpreter because most of our patients only speak Kiswahili. I will leave it to you to imagine the fun we are having making sure everything they say and what I say is understood by the other party. Actually it has gone very well and we manage to understand each other for the most part. They are very good patients and are eager to do what you ask them to do. Not surprisingly, they respond very well to treatments and are obviously grateful for the care and that it is affordable. Although there is no charge here for our services, we have a donation box where people can, if they are able, help support the Clinic. To my surprise, even individuals who have very little will still make a donation even though their total annual income may be very small.

Besides the clinic Alastair and Pat and the HABS organization have built an amazing school that is providing career opportunities for the people of Jambiani and surrounding regions who previously could not afford to acquire an education.

The centre is located directly on the Indian Ocean so the view is always spectacular. This safari (Swahili for voyage) has changed my perception about chiropractic for one and my personal values are now somehow a bit different and broader than they used to be. Before I finish this note I would urge anyone who may be looking for a unique and rewarding personal experience to consider doing it this way by helping to improve the lives of many individuals by giving some of your time to help create a better life for them and this in itself may create an experience for you that will enhance your life as well.

Thank you for that input Pierre. I would like to take this opportunity to tell you a bit more about this rather unique character from Quebec. I have Pierre’s permission to relate some of his story and not only is it interesting it is very pertinent to a lot of the care we have been providing over the last several years in the clinic.

It was about eight years ago, a Friday and the 13th of all dates. Pierre decided to sleep overnight in his office as he had some work to catch up on the next day. He recalls he had no trouble falling asleep but waking up would turn out to be another story. During this eventful evening one of the blood vessels in his brain ruptured, immediately paralyzing the left side of his body and putting his life in grave danger. The cerebral hemorrhage was so extensive that his neurologist told his partner Barbara that his chances of survival were very slim. After a brief stay on “The Other Side” as Pierre refers to the state he was in, he began his remarkable recovery despite the rather grim prognosis delivered previously by his medical counterparts. What I found very interesting about this story is that Pierre attributes his very speedy improvement to the fact that he was adjusted several times in the hospital by his colleague and then continued to get adjustments after his release. Of course Pierre now has a very intimate understanding of what it’s like to have a stroke, of what is involved in the rehabilitation process and is in a perfect position to treat and advise others who have had this same experience. As we have mentioned previously, the propaganda machine over the past few years, especially in North America, has disenfranchised the Chiropractic Profession, by suggesting erroneously, that there is a fairly high risk of stroke if you get your neck adjusted. In my own professional experience it was not that common for people to seek Chiropractic care post CVA as part of their rehabilitation program but with the “bad press” unfairly disseminated, it would now be a rare occasion for someone who had experienced a CVA to consult with a Chiropractor. Fortunately for us and more importantly our patients, we are immune to this sort of media manipulation and are therefore seeing on a regular basis many individuals who have had these types of catastrophic health issues and are seeing very good improvement in many cases.

From talking with Pierre and seeing him in action, his background has really empowered him to deliver the goods especially with these patients who have had strokes. They listen to him and respect his advice because they know that he knows what they are going through from his very own experience I also think Pierre is really appreciating just having this opportunity to help these folks with their journey and in so doing he is seeing increasing value in his own experiences. It’s all good.

One last thing on the clinic front is that we are really looking forward to welcoming Loryn Kezer next week. I think I mentioned that Loryn is a massage practitioner who resides in Washington State and she will be providing services with us throughout the month of April. So welcome Loryn!!

On the JTTI front, things are as usual. It’s busy, it’s vibrant and there is a lot of coming and going. Pat and Sine have started the TOT program and although it is very early in the process all is going well and Pat informs me that the students are the Crème de la Crème with all of them being ex students of the JTTI diploma program. These guys and a girl are really going somewhere.

David and Nareena continue to “give it all” for the cause as they wind down their time here with only three months and a bit left in their stay with us. They have made a huge contribution to the school activities and the educational process in general and I know they will be missed by all those they came in contact with.

I think that is about all for this update. Life continues to amaze and challenge us and Pat and I and all the HABS team would once again like to extend our gratitude to all of you who have contributed to the project in the past, who are involved now or who are contemplating getting involved at some future time. The fires are burning bright and lives are changing in every moment.