Global Naturopath 2012

ISSUE 2 AUGUST 2012

THE GLOBAL NATUROPATH

Inside this edition:

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The Board of Directors of Natural Doctors International is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Tabatha Parker to the position of Associate Professor at Bastyr University's new campus in San Diego, California. This will not only allow students to benefit from Tabatha's wide experience in international naturopathic medicine, but it will give NDI a much needed base in the USA. Dr. Parker will continue to function as the Executive Director of the organization and all activities, including Global Health Courses in Nicaragua will continue as planned. Volunteer doctors in Nicaragua will run the local programs such as DIOSA, and teach the Global Health Courses. We have long realized that having a presence in the USA would greatly assist in fundraising and in establishing cooperative alliances with other like-minded organizations and individuals. We believe this opportunity for Tabatha and her family to move to the US will be a turning point for NDI, and we look forward to new developments and opportunities that will spring from it. Dr. Parker commented, "I am so excited about this next phase of global health for naturopathic medicine. Our team is stronger than ever and we are confident that this transition will strengthen our courses, our on-the-ground programs and our policy work." Please join us in congratulating Tabatha on this expansion of her career, and let her know how you would like to assist NDI's mission and the future of global naturopathic medicine.

NDI Board of Directors

THE GLOBAL NATUROPATH

August 2012

NDI Staff Executive Director Dr. Tabatha Parker

Medical Director Patricia Beck ND

Country Director Adam Friedman ND

Staff Physicians Dr. Kyley Hunt Dr. Rachelle Price

Programs Director Lauren Schultz

Operations Director

Angela Guillen

Project Managers Nestor Guzman Olivier Juarez

Editorial Staff & Layout

Susan White & the whole NDI Team

Student Leaders Pedro Morales Ann Grimwood Andrew Hazel Emily Harshman Robyn Land

Aubrey Shannon Kelly McGuire Colleen Symmes Nathanial Bingham Michelle Crowder Karly Powell

Crystal Foresman Landers

Physician Leaders Dr Terese Black Dr. Lindsay Self Dr. Dawson Farr

Dr. Louise Edwards

An announcement from the NDI Board of Directors

The New Bastyr San Diego Team

The New Bastyr San Diego Team

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As I begin my journey back to the USA, after spending nearly a decade abroad, it is truly bittersweet. I have spent the last week in San Diego and Seattle - preparing for my return. Each day I feel overwhelmed with gratitude. I will now have access to healthcare and education for my children and family. I will have access to all the conveniences of modern life in a developed nation - which I have gotten used to NOT having. I am looking forward to having regular electricity and organic greens. But I struggle with how we in the USA live on this planet with so much while my sisters who have become family in other parts of the world struggle to meet thier basic needs. I think of my sisters working in Nicaragua for women's rights and empowerment --- Marianela and other police officers at the Women's Police Commission, Mayela at the Ministry of Family, who tirelessly work for change without the most basic of resources. I am now more committed than ever to continue my fight for social justice and naturopathic global health - for holistic healthcare for all - so that not only my children can have a better life - but all children can have those opportunities. I am elated with where naturopathic global health will go in the next decade. We are on the cusp of a groundswell that will change medicine, as we know it globally. Our work is just beginning. So many of you have been involved in the success of NDI – the founders – Michael & Laurent, our patients, students, the NDI physician volunteers, Seroya Crouch, the many who have served on the Board, my family, our NDI Team - and I am so very grateful to each and every one of you.

We have created a unique global health organization that have set the highest of standards for the practice of global naturopathic medicine, built a sustainable model, paved the road for naturopathic physicians to work abroad legally, pioneered social justice in naturopathic medicine, and held the space for global health in our naturopathic political arena through our work with the AANP, NCC and Foundations Project. Now an unprecedented opportunity for growth and expansion is in the very near future for NDI and I hope that you continue to support NDIs mission, attend our courses, donate time, money, energy, love. WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT MORE THAN EVER NOW. Over the next few months, we will keep all our supporters informed of all the big changes happening at NDI, which will allow you more opportunities to get involved.

Warmest regards, Tabatha Parker, ND; NDI Executive Director; Bastyr San Diego Core Faculty

A MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

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For a health philosophy that evolved out of multiple cultures and over multiple millennia, it is only natural that naturopathy should find a place in the broad field of global health. That it is struggling to do so only goes to show the power and the regimen of the systems already in place in this most important and culturally sensitive of health paradigms.

As with so many aspects of naturopathy, its suitability is known empirically, and not through funded studies conducted in controlled environments. As naturopathy is not a single modality but rather a philosophical approach under which a range of modalities can be employed, primary health care can be culturally customized.

One singular example of naturopathy existing in a global health context and producing results and a sustainable impact that would cost millions in the case of a standard allopathic practice is the NDI clinic.

The environmental pressures on the health of all patients at NDI is great. Options for raising vitality through diet and lifestyle are limited, suggestions that are so common in treating inhabitants of developed countries, are impossible. Imagination, resourcefulness and knowledge of the community’s resources and infrastructure are essential. Though typical global health operations seek to enter and exit within a set timeframe and address a specific set goals, the actual needs of a community cannot be so easily addressed, and are, in fact, often not sought. Naturopathy considers wider influences on health through its commitment to addressing vitality and holism as its core tenets. These take on an even greater level of importance in a place such as Nicaragua as they have less opportunity to be managed as in a more developed community; there is no escape from the sun in a field or exposure to pesticides, nor option to change jobs. In addressing these influences, a naturopathic approach works with the individual, with the community in a way that is sustainable, that is not goal-focused and not seeking to impose a concept of health suited to a community elsewhere in the world.

Global health cannot truly be considered by any concept of health other than an ecological one. Health IS global. One person's health cannot be separated from that of everyone's and that of the environment itself. A naturopathic approach recognizes this and considers its impact on individuals in primary health care settings, in planning health programs and in working with people from a variety of backgrounds and in validating an approach that is often seen as ‘alternative’, but that is actually universal.

Alternative or Universal? Andrew Hazel, ND Australia

Andrew Hazel is an Australian ND. He volunteers for both NDI and OHO and is committed to global health and graduated from the Southern School of Natural Therapies.

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In many ways the concept of holistic health care is largely a 20th century notion. This is to say, prior to the 20th century a thoroughly articulated reductionist or selective philosophy had not fully emerged, and hence neither had the need to articulate a comprehensive and holistic approach in similar terms. What we now label holistic medicine certainly existed, as it was historically speaking the global norm. With the Flexner Report of 1910 however, the medical pluralism of the 19th century came to a dramatic close and a new era of medical hegemony arose not seen since the decadent period of late Galenic medicine. Unlike Galen however, who was beyond question for a millennium and a half, the model Flexner galvanised came under serious re-evaluation in as little as half a century.

Within 60 years of the Flexner report being published two major movements had emerged to address serious flaws in the new approach. From the public sectors of the world emerged the primary health care (PHC) movement; this formalised a radical de-emphasizing of the Flexnian clinical-research model in light of the now understood social determinants of health such as education, community infrastructure and social equality. Culminating in the Alma Ata declaration of 1978, this movement was explicitly political and saw world health as a rallying point for socio-economic change. At exactly the same time a lay-public renaissance in holistic health was emerging entirely outside of state sanctioned healthcare structures. The medical traditions whose schools and associations had been closed in the wake of the Flexner Report were rediscovered by a generation of lay practitioners in an interesting renaissance of the folk tradition previously thought to be extinct in the west.

Both of these movements had significant limitations that are now made visible with the clarity of hindsight. The PHC movement clearly articulated the social, political and economic drivers of disease and created a coherent conceptual framework for healthcare policy writers to be guided by. In doing this the medical industry was philosophically forced to relinquish its monopoly of health care, as many of the primary determinants of health, including environmental, economic and cultural factors, were obviously beyond the reach of doctors. Despite upholding the need for a comprehensive and holistic approach to health care planning however, the PHC movement was largely silent on the actual delivery of health care services which thus continued along reductionist lines that contrasted with the otherwise holistic framework.

The holistic health care (HHC) movement however, brought medicine itself under the spotlight of public scrutiny; no facet of medical practice or philosophy was exempt and ‘complimentary’ and ‘alternative’ options were espoused for everything from acute infections to childbirth. A strong emphasis on personal responsibility was universally upheld in an attempt to address the previous appropriation of health care knowledge by the medical industry that Illich had termed ‘social iatrogenisis’. By making every health issue one of personal responsibility and empowerment however, the social and political drivers of disease were largely obfuscated, and whilst orthodox medical practice remained the sole source of criticism the existing socio-political status quo went unquestioned by much of the HHC movement.

Viewed from the present, the conclusion to the above situation is painfully apparent. The only point that remains to be made is that whilst the HHC movement has blossomed into a full scale ‘wellness revolution’, the PHC movement was largely scuttled and replaced in all but name by the ‘selective’ PHC model by most national systems. The task of integration therefore appears to have fallen to the HHC movement with a holistic approach to primary health care being the obvious goal.

A Holistic Approach to Primary Health Care: integrating the lessons of the 20th Century, Jimi Wollumbin CEO, One Health Organisation

CEO, One Health Organisation

Andrew Hazel, ND Australia

Jimi Wollumbin is the CEO of One Health Organisation in Australia and is a leader in holistic global health. Building upon the success of OHO’s collaboration leading Australian based community wellness initiatives such as Hands on Health Australia & Traditional Healthcare, OHO extended to overseas NGO’s with the launch of an International Collaborative Partnership Program. Since then a MOU has been signed linking these two powerful organizations, NDI and OHO with one of the express goals being to engage in more advocacy at a UN level via OHO’s registered association with the United Nations DPI.

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Patricia Beck, ND, PT Adam Friedman, ND Lauren Schultz Angela Dinarte Rachelle Price, ND Medical Director Country Director Programs Director Operations Director Staff Physician

I have been working with NDI since January 2012. The scope of my experience and the people I have had the privilege to meet is beyond this small piece of writing. It has all swirled and melded into an incredible mix of bubbling colors, thoughts and emotions. It is an exciting time to be with NDI, to discuss growth and opportunities with such insightful and inspiring minds. Change is (such) a necessary thing in every aspect of life. It is time for a change here at NDI and it is very exciting.

As a Naturopathic organization we are able to provide an alternative, a choice for the residents of Ometepe; a choice that would not be available any other way if it were not for NDI’s permanent and sustainable presence here on the island. This will not change.

The Global Health Courses are one of the main teaching tools of NDI, and one of my favorite things. They hold such a beautiful space for me, students and doctors from all over the world coming to be a part of something bigger than themselves; working toward healing the imbalance in the world, one person at a time. The chance to teach and learn from each of them while providing heath care for the many residents of the island is the ultimate in this experience for me. The courses will change, in a positive way, bringing in more groups, both in number and from an ever increasing diversity of backgrounds, as we have brought on a new Programs Director, Lauren Schultz.

I am also committed to continue and grow the DIOSA women’s health program at NDI. Each day more and more women come to receive the most respectful of care while receiving the life-saving preventative pap exam. I am honored to grow this program in the upcoming year.

It is a humbling thing for me to be part of such an organization and it will be with me for the rest of my life and Global Health will be a part of my career on some level forever.

Thoughts & Reflections Patricia Beck, ND, PT Ometepe, Nicaragua


Dr. Patricia Beck is a naturopathic physician, physical therapist and new NDI Medical Director. She brings a unique skillset to NDI from decades of working as a PT in hospitals.

NDI is so excited to present our 2012 Nicaragua Team. Each team member brings a unique skillset to not just continue NDI’s work, but grow and strengthen all our programs. Join us in welcoming our incoming team: Dr. Patricia Beck – Medical Director; Dr. Adam Friedman, Country Director; Dr. Rachelle Price, Staff Physician; & Lauren Schultz, Programs Director.

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I open the door to my house and wait. I give whatever is going to be spooked by my return, a head start. Usually it's geckos, spiders, cockroaches or the occasional mouse. Tonight there was nothing. I walked to the kitchen doorway and repeated the process: Turn on the light and wait. Tonight I noticed a dozen fire ants, gathered on the kitchen counter. They were eating an arm. It was a gecko arm. I couldn't understand why a gecko had donated its arm to their cause so my interest was piqued. I walked over for a closer look and saw, on the wall above the ants, just below the ceiling crease, a scorpion, about the size of my fist, sucking the juice out of the top half of what, was once, a whole gecko.

I have a broom I use to squash the cockroaches, and it only takes six or seven good hard thrusts to finish one of them off. The broom wasn't going to cut it with this one though. I went behind the house and grabbed a mop handle that has a removable head and took off the soft mop-py part, leaving the hard, flat plastic-y part to do my bidding.

I was surprised by how little notice my guest took of me and my scheming. As if I was just the floor show to its dining experience. S/he allowed me to get up close and personal with my mop handle before I jammed it into what I thought was its chest. Unfortunately, I missed and only managed to pin it to the wall, pressing the handle between its tail and thorax. Though I succeeded in getting its attention, I mostly just pissed it off and now its pincers were flailing wildly while its tail repeatedly stabbed the mop handle.

I had it right where it wanted, if it wanted me to have to stay there all night waiting for it to die of starvation rather than the mild trauma I had inflicted. Side note - I've since learned scorpions can go over a year without food and it had just eaten gecko. I needed a plan ‘B’.

I managed to, while maintaining my mop's position, gather up the cockroach broom with my outstretched foot and get hold of it in my other hand. Editor's note -What comes next isn't for the squeamish.

I, Spartacus-like in my thrusts, began jamming the butt-end of the broom into its thorax, while pressing even harder with the mop, grinding the mop up and down the wall in an effort to, I don't know, give it a noogy, of sorts? And may I say, it was a resounding success. There was blood, gecko remains and scorpion scales stuck to the wall as the rest of it eventually began falling onto the kitchen counter, more from the repeated pummeling than the precision marksmanship, I was originally going for. Long after my uninvited guest stopped moving whatever parts were still attached to its original shape, I managed to scoop the four or five major parts into the sink and crammed it down the drilled out hole, which masquerades as the sink drain.

The following morning, after I cleaned up the breakfast dishes, I noticed the sink water wasn't draining as the result of a pincer and half a scorpion tail stopping up the drain. Typical Tuesday.

Typical Tuesday Adam Friedman, ND Ometepe, Nicaragua


Dr. Adam Friedman is a naturopathic physician and new NDI Country Director.

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Last summer a campaign was started by a Canadian woman to support the women of Ometepe. Part of NDI’s work on Ometepe is community involvement and special programs, such as the DIOSA program. DIOSA means Goddess in Spanish, and this program is designed to help empower the women of the island and make sure they have access to quality health care. As part of the DIOSA program, NDI does PAP exams for women on the island, which gives them an option for a different experience than one they might get at the local health centers. As many people know regular PAP exams are used for early detection of cervical cancer, which then expedites treatment and recovery. Due to several barriers that exist on the island many women do not have access to quality exams and accurate results so NDI provides exams, analyzed by a private lab at NDI’s expense.

It was this cause that Jean Hunt took to heart and brought forward to her friends and colleagues. At the time many women were coming to the NDI clinic as they had been turned away at other health centers on the island due to lack of supplies. When Jean found out about this she contacted her friends and family, asking for their support of only 10$ - an amount that would pay for the cost of 2 PAP exams. Within a few weeks, through awareness and the generosity of her contacts, close to 3,000$ had been raised, all to support Ometepe Women. The money raised was used to purchase prepared PAP kits to be used in the NDI clinic as well as to pay for the individual PAP exams to be sent to the lab from NDI. This donation has made it possible for women to have access to early detection and reliable results, and it all began as a simple request with far reaching effects.

Developing nations of the world are littered with examples of groups (and individuals) with the best intentions causing harm to the people they intended to help. Effectively serving the poor internationally takes more than good intentions. It takes, among other things, a legal foundation on which to practice. Practicing legally provides the framework, which allows for long-term service, visibility and recognition of service, collaboration with local health professionals, and being held accountable to standards of care.

Committing to long-term service (or to an organization that does) is a necessary first step. Short-term trips have been shown to do more harm than good to the community. Even repeated short-term trips to the same location do not come close to the quality of care given at a clinic where doctors live permanently and where patients are seen routinely. Without being legally registered with the country’s government, long-term service is virtually impossible because the risk of being found out and forced to leave is constant.

Because our profession is small, we must recognize the impact individual actions can have on the whole. Through practicing legally we make our entire profession more visible to the world and place ourselves in a better position to be recognized for the work we do. Practicing illegally not only reflects poorly on the profession but also hides recognition of positive actions.

Making it Legal Sam Oltman - ND Candidate NCNM


PAP it Forward! Kyley Hunt, ND Calgary, Canada


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Collaborating with local community members and healthcare providers is key to any successful endeavor abroad. Locals know the culture, what has been done in the past, what works, and what needs to be done in the future. Operating legally demonstrates to the local people you are sincere about your intentions, you respect their country, and respect them enough to follow their laws.

Just because people may not be getting any care at all doesn’t make it morally acceptable to provide sub-par care when they do. Every human on earth has the right to quality healthcare. Practicing legally holds practitioners accountable to a set standard of care. A standard of care that the WHO and all governments can refer to for a better understanding of the care we provide as Naturopathic physicians.

The qualities needed in a person to serve abroad are extensive. Compassion, flexibility, and humility are near the top of the list. So is the willingness to work within a legal framework. Without it, we risk undermining all that we work for and ultimately harm the ones we intend to heal.

My address is, “Three hundred meters north of the water tank”. I live with a family of three, on the island of Ometepe, Nicaragua, in the town of Los Angeles. For most, work options are scarce. Typical diets consist of gallo pinto (rice and beans) and a tortilla. Daily salaries are 40 Cordobas (about $1.70).

Most island residents live without a consistent and clean source of water. They use the lake on which the island sits to wash their clothes, dishes, bodies, and hands after using the latrine. All from water they bring in from Lake Nicaragua. Most are farmers, who subsist on what they grow. As a result, what consistently ranks in the World Health Organization’s top five causes of death worldwide – diarrheal disease – is prevalent on Ometepe.

Giardia lamblia, a parasite causing acute and chronic diarrheal disease, is one of the most common intestinal parasites diagnosed; as high as 1 billion cases worldwide at any time. Giardia and other parasitic infections are rampant on the island of Ometepe, infecting about 15% of the population, despite regular de-parasitizing campaigns. Many individuals will auto-medicate unsuccessfully, with medicines purchased from local pulperias.

I have partnered with NDI to investigate the utility of a guava tincture to treat Giardia. Throughout, the NDI clinic has administered guava leaf syrup for patients with acute gastroenteritis from Giardia and Entamoeba histolytica. Historically, Nicaraguans have made their own guava tea (from leaves and seeds) to slow diarrhea and eliminate parasitic infections. We have invited residents from Los Angeles and the neighboring town Esquipulas, to submit stool samples. Those who test positive are invited to participate. They receive the guava medicine free of charge and are post-tested to see if they are Giardia-free.

Stay tuned for results!

Got Diarrhea? Flavia DeSouza - MD Candidate Yale University



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WHAT HAVE WE BEEN DOING

August 2011

Global Health Course #27

Intern - Michelle Crowder

October 2011

Dr. Parker’s North American Speaking Tour

November 2011 Dr. Parker Hosts the Naturopathic Gathering

December 2011 1st Global Health & Botanical Medicine Course Hosted by North American Institute of Medical Herbalism with 7 Song and Paul Bergner

January 2012 Intern Stephanie Sutton

FEDICAMP Organic Farming Workshop

DIOSA Begins Women’s Empowerment Group

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2011-2012 TIMELINE

February 2012 Calzado Ometepe & Ultramarathon Interns Rachelle Price & Shawn Morris

March 2012 International Women’s Day

April 2012

Global Health Course 30 – NUHS

May 2012

Dr. Parker Speaks to Boucher/NCNM/Bastyr/NWNCP

June 2012 Guava Research Project with Flavia DeSouza from Yale University

July 2012 Global Health Course 31 - NCNM/Boucher/Herbalists/Natural Therapy School Australia

August 2012 Interns Sam Oltman, Rebecca Zeff, Lauren Schultz, Laura Farr

Computer Donation Ceremony at Moyogalpa Hospital

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“How do I put into words what I just experienced in 10 days in Nicaragua? I can and will use words like “life-changing, amazing, inspiring, depressing and confusing” but they simply cannot do justice to the profound impact this experience has had on me. From the time I landed in Managua to now, my world was changed. I saw, heard, touched, tasted and smelled things I never had before. More importantly, I grappled with issues and realities that I never truly had previously and will now approach the world with a somewhat enlightened, and ever growing, perspective.”

~Bridget Casey

“NDI, in a word, is inspiring. Over the course of my short stay with the NDI family I learned more about naturopathic medicine, global health, and myself than I ever could have imagined. I developed lasting relationships with remarkable people, discovered the most generous and loving community of Los Angeles, collaborated with peers, honed important clinical skills, and rekindled a fire for global health that is sure to burn strong for many years to come. NDI is a place of discovery, leadership, creativity, and true care. I am looking forward to being a big part of the NDI initiative, both today and in the future.” ~Adrianna Hanson “My home-stay family provided a unique experience, one not attainable through staying in a hostel or hotel. Far more than an accommodation and home cooked meals, the family not only provided me a bed to sleep on, which was previously occupied by one or more of the six family members, but provided three specially prepared meals a day, safety, laughter, affection, and education. They helped me understand the struggles a Latin American family goes through on a regular basis, especially as they often lack electricity and running water. Overall the trip has changed my life for the better and enabled me to have a fuller understanding of Nicaraguan culture, naturopathic medicine, my own capabilities, and has enabled me to work on a deeper level with people as a whole.” ~Adella

Inside View of Global Health Graduates Students Perspectives


STUDENTS & PHYSICIANS

Go Global!

Join a 2013 Global Health Course TODAY!

60 CEU available for many courses.

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“None can be an impartial or wise observer of human life but from the vantage ground of what we should call voluntary poverty.”

~Henry David Thoreau

The first step in effectively serving “the poor”, whether abroad or at home, is understanding the people’s needs as a community and as individuals. The only way to truly grasp what those needs are is to live the lifestyle; to experience it for yourself. Living with a host family, eating what they eat, sleeping where they sleep, and breathing what they breath is a profound experience that simply cannot be comprehended through a book, a quick tour, or a medical tourism program.

NDI’s commitment to utilizing home stays for their student brigadiers and volunteers is an intregal piece of the holistic education program in Nicaragua. The dedication to local families is yet another example of the long-term relationship that has been forged between the community and NDI. We are an integrated part of the community, not a separate entity. Aside from the immediate impact of the extra income the host family earns, they also receive classes on nutrition and a water purifier. The experience is a great way for students to break down cultural barriers, improve Spanish speaking, become disillusioned of romantic ideas of what it is to live and work in a developing country, and get out of their comfort zone (which is the only place where true personal growth occurs). The generosity and grace with which the families open their doors to foreigners is astounding and a lesson in how to apply the golden rule.

The insight that a home stay experience can provide is tremendous and irreplaceable. One begins to realize that, although cultural differences exist, we all have far more in common than is initially apparent. It doesn’t matter that two people grow up thousands of miles away from each other in different cultures, because at the end of the day we are all just human beings trying to live our lives here on this tiny planet. Without living with a host family, one does not become fully immersed into another culture and come to the realization that culture is merely the foam atop the waves in the ocean of human experience.

At Home Far From Home Sam Oltman, ND Candidate NCNM, NDI Intern Summer 2012



Sam Oltman is a student at NCNM and the new NDI Student Chapter Director. In Summer of 2012, he completed a 2 month internship on the ground in Ometepe, Nicaragua.

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My relationship with NDI goes back almost as far as its existence. Founded in 2003 by Tabatha Parker, Laurent Chaix and Michael Owen, Parker and Owen were still in school at NCNM when they began working on its creation, something that I have a hard time imagining as I work to finish my undergrad. My link to this organization actually starts with my father, Dr. Jared Zeff, who was a teacher and mentor to Dr. Parker when she was in school. It was my dad who suggested to me, when I was a senior in high school back in 2006 and looking to find my way into a jungle, that I might talk to Tabby and perhaps volunteer with her in Nicaragua. Ecstatic that part of the waiver included non-liability from damages or death via the active volcano, I packed my bags and was on a plane headed south three days after my high school graduation. That’s the story of how I became one of the first interns to serve with NDI on Ometepe. Now I’m back for a second internship, six years later. Many things about life on the island are the same now as they were then. The muggy weather of the rainy season and the stealthy fighter-jet mosquitoes, herds of cattle strolling along the roads, and as always, the beautiful volcano, Concepcion; all of these remain, just as they always were. Even the posters I hand-wrote for the first NDI Global Health Course are still in use! As for NDI itself, those posters are one of the only things that I recognize as I reorient myself for this internship.

The headquarters, which used to be run out of the small house where Dr. Parker lived, is now in its own office building. Most patients are seen out of the NDI clinic, which stands on its own, as opposed to the single NDI-room that still exists in the Moyogalpa hospital. The rickety, old Isuzu Trooper named Esmeralda, which sometimes doubled as a hospital ambulance, has gone to its final resting place and was replaced by a beautiful Toyota Hilux. And while my posters are still being used in the Global Health Courses, the course itself has been developed and streamlined. Students and doctors alike are moved, educated, and inspired by the experience.

As Dr. Parker prepares to return to the U.S., NDI moves again into a new chapter. A chapter that I believe will see new growth and continued development as a presence in Natural and Holistic Global Health.

Then & Now Rebecca Zeff, NDI Intern Summer 2007 & 2012



Rebecca Zeff is a student at x. In Summer of 2012, she completed a 1 month internship on the ground in Ometepe, Nicaragua, her second internship with NDI.

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NDI, hosted a community event at the local hospital in Moyolgapa. Thanks to the generous donation of fourteen laptop computers from Thingh Thang at Critical Mass in Calgary.

NDI shared this donation with local organizations that desperately needed resources to continue their mission. Our work specifically with the Comisaria de Mujeres, and the Ministry of Family directly helps women and children who have suffered domestic and sexual violence. Intra-familial violence is a large problem in our community and these computers will allow those advocates for victims of

violence. Recipients included:

• Womenʼs Police Commission • Ministry of Health • Ministry of Family • Hospital Director • Local local university students.

The event ceremony was accompanied by music, dancing, food and the opportunity to celebrate each others work. Renewed was our commitment to collaborate and support one another.

I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to work with NDI due to the generous award granted to me through the Braggs scholarship foundation. This scholarship has allowed me the ability to not only offer my knowledge as a clinician and educator, but has created a space for me to undergo deep personal transformation. This transformation reflects the depth and intention of NDI’s programs, the openness of the community, and a commitment to providing the best care to those in need. The scholarship I was given extends beyond me and reaches countless others, and also allows NDI to continue to grow, mature, and flourish. Thank you again for the this incredible experience, and i hope that others will continue to be afforded the same opportunity through the Braggs scholarship foundation. - Lauren Schultz

Patricia Bragg and the Bragg Heatlh Foundation has provided NDI with over $20,000.00 in scholarships for students over the years. Thank you Patricia!!!!

Generous Donors – from Computers to Student Scholarships Lauren Schultz, NDI Intern Summer 2012



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One of the major benefits of NDI operating a permanent year-round clinic is the ability to truly become a health advocate for patients. While many organizations involved in global health bring brigades of medical teams to impoverished areas, the brigade model by itself is inherently problematic when patients need more extended follow-up, need lab tests that take time to process, or require hospitalization. NDI has two full-time naturopathic doctors who reside in the local community and provide services year-round. NDI also gives monthly financial assistance to the hospital and NDI doctors work shifts in the hospital alongside the Nicaraguan doctors. Often, a patient will come in who needs hospitalization or a surgery. NDI does much more than just refer them to the hospital. NDI doctors will sometimes go with the patient to the hospital to make sure they are admitted, will talk to the hospital doctors who know and trust NDI, and will advocate for the patient every step of the way. Because the clinic is permanent, NDI also maintains a grant fund to help patients get expensive lab tests or screenings that they would otherwise be unable to afford. During the last brigade, a woman came in with undiagnosed hyperthyroidism and NDI paid for her thyroid labs. The first question local people asked when NDI first formed was "Thanks for being here, when are you leaving?" because that is the model of all other brigades. It has been wonderful to say back: "No really! We're not leaving! The clinic will always be here!!" After the brigades leave, residents on Ometepe know that their healthcare needs will still be met, and the resident doctors can follow-up on any major healthcare needs that arose during the brigade.

When Saturday morning rolls around the boys of Si a la Vida get ready quickly so they can be on time for the soccer game. But there are not always enough sports shoes to go around. More often than not, a player will run off the field and change everything--shoes, uniform, and socks--with the player entering. This year, Si a la Vida, a nonprofit a residential center for street kids located on Ometepe Island, was lucky to receive a donation via NDI of soccer uniforms, tee shirts and athletic shoes. Si a la Vida works to rehabilitate and reintegrate street kids back into family & community. One of the biggest sources of pride is our soccer team. And this year, with the addition of a bright uniform and good shoes, the team has qualified to move to the finals! Si a la Vida greatly appreciates the help and looks forward to working with NDI again in the future. To find out more about Si a la Vida, visit the website at www.asalv.org or check us out on Facebook.

Beyond the Brigade: Providing Permanent Healthcare Services Laura Farr, Executive Director of OANP



Collaborating with other Island NGO’s Thanks from the kids


Laura Farr is the Executive Director of the Oregon Association of Naturopathic Physicians. After spending time taking a NDI Global Health Course in July with her husband, Dr. Dawson Farr, ND, she stayed on with her two beautiful children to do a NDI Internship in Summer 2012.

Global Naturopath 2012

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Transcript of Global Naturopath 2012