Brad Carroll

The opportunity to be part of the Acupuncture Relief Project is an honor and a welcomed challenge.  Over the years, I have been drawn to adventure, travel and culture. This interest ultimately led to my decision to pursue outdoor recreation/adventure management and tourism as a career path.  This offered opportunities to see and explore many isolated areas and work with a variety of unique individuals.  Later, this avenue introduced and allowed me to facilitate emotional and personal growth with at-risk youth and terminally ill adolescents as a counselor in wilderness and adventure therapy programs.  Recently, my path has continued as I became a licensed massage therapist, graduating from East West School of the Healing Arts in Portland, Oregon.  My journey has allowed me to experience and reflect upon the joys and hardships that we as individuals are faced with on a daily basis.

Whether working with terminally ill and at-risk adolescents, or most recently, therapeutic massage I have developed an inherent desire to help others as part of my personal and professional mission.  I am fortunate as a new massage therapist to have the opportunity to strengthen my abilities and knowledge abroad with other aspiring and established practitioners to assist the people of Chapagoan, Nepal.  Upon returning, my goal and passion is to educate and promote alternative health care while establishing a practice for those living in rural areas that have limited available resources. While working with the Acupuncture Relief Project in Nepal I am hoping to develop my assessment and treatment skills as a practitioner while enhancing my humility and gratitude for those whom I share this world.

Stacey Kett

This is an opportunity of a lifetime! It is a true gift and privilege to be able to fly half way around the world to work in a health clinic to treat hundreds of people. Working with the Acupuncture Relief Project will be a great adventure to develop my skills as an acupuncturist, contribute to the community of Chapagoan, and experience a new and beautiful place.

Throughout my life I have felt a strong pull toward service, which has motivated me to learn about medicine. My background in agriculture and indigenous cultural studies makes me very curious about how people live in Nepal. I am drawn to working in rural communities, helping to improve the quality of life for people who don’t have much access to health care. I believe this experience will greatly enhance my life and my journey toward becoming a healer.

Thank you so much for your support!

Danielle Lombardi

It is an honor and privilege to join the Acupuncture Relief Project this fall. I am very excited to be able to provide practical and effective medical care to a community in need.

My interest in public health has lead me to volunteer as a crisis-line advocate for survivors of sexual assault and as an art teacher for developmentally challenged adults.  These experiences have taught me how building community and cultivating relationships are essential aspects of healing.

In my work as an artist and documentary filmmaker, my films have focused on people telling their unique stories.  My approach to the treatment process is similar.  As I develop creative partnerships with my patients, I am able to understand their stories holistically, and better able to serve their needs. I embrace this collaboration and the way it empowers the patient to take part in their own healing process.

Volunteering at the Vajra Varahi Clinic in Nepal will be an amazing opportunity for me to share and connect with a whole new group of people. I’m excited for the work we will do together. I look forward to new landscapes, new friendships and new stories!

Thank you so much for your support!

Jennifer Rankin

I am thrilled to be travelling to such a culturally rich corner of the world to work with the Acupuncture Relief Project, sharing my love of Traditional Chinese Medicine (and maybe a little yoga!) with those in need.

Travelling to Nepal is an amazing opportunity to cultivate my clinical skills, work with a team and most importantly connect with people who have very little access to health care. I feel so lucky to be participating with such an incredible organization and sharing the medicine I love. This program allows me to give back while in turn receiving so much.

After many years of travel and study I settled in Victoria BC. My interest in health and healing led me to study many healing modalities including acupuncture and eventually I founded Inner Path Healing Arts. I work with clients integrating yoga, meditation, nutrition and acupuncture. I am currently working toward my doctorate in Traditional Chinese Medicine as well as participating in advanced yoga and mindfulness trainings. I am dedicated to learning and refining my understanding of healing in order to best serve my community near and far.

During this trip, I hope to treat hundreds of patients by the time I have completed my stay. The simple nature of the medicine makes it easily accessible and travel worthy! I look forward to connecting with the community of Chapagoan Nepal and sharing with them my love of Chinese Medicine.

Thank you for your donations and support! Without you this dream would not be possible!

Naya Cheung Rice

It has been a lifelong dream to travel around the world, explore, learn, and give back to local communities.  I am fulfilling this dream currently traveling for a year around the world and have been volunteering with different organizations, providing Chinese medical care.   I feel lucky to be a part of ARP clinic, as it is an opportunity to fulfill and serve through Chinese Medicine in Nepal.  I am extremely grateful to volunteer my medical skills in Chapagoan and serve a community that otherwise would not have the monetary means or resources for consistent medical attention. As I travel, I hope to not only share my skills but also to humbly experience, with an open mind, all the diverse cultures I come across.

Throughout my life, I have been drawn to explore and travel through SE Asia, often trekking off the beaten paths.  My interest in sustainable building projects, holistic medicine, and meditation has been a constant influence and helped me discover and expand my studies of TCM.  The medicine path has helped me learn how to assist others in healing themselves, and to humbly learn about myself.   My other interests in the healing field are practicing medical qigong, mindful meditation, reiki, nutrition, acutonics, five-element theory, Kiso Method and others.

I am looking forward to volunteering at a professional clinic where there is a consistent flow of patients, working with a team, treating in a professional environment, and having regular hours of availability where I can witness the improvements patients make over time.  Also, treating cases that would not commonly be present in Hawaii, where I will reside, will no doubt be a rewarding and growth-filled experience.  I am certain that my time in Chapagoan, and working in the ARP clinic, will not only benefit the local population, but will also help me cultivate and enrich my practice.

Zachary Rice

I am interested in participating in this project in order to assist the people of Chapagoan heal themselves of any ailment that they are ready to rid themselves of.  At the same time I believe working in such a busy clinic will help me in my practice to fine hone my ability to quickly and accurately make a diagnosis of the pattern of imbalance.
In the clinic where I trained in Hawaii we had six patients a day, and since I’ve started traveling through SE Asia, the most I’ve treated in a day is about forty.  It sounds like there is a high volume of patients at this clinic, and I would like to experience working at that pace of treatment for my time there.

I believe projects such as the ARP are highly beneficial to the local communities they serve, and can be a reliable source of medical aid.  Many times now I have passed through small villages and given what assistance I can, for short periods of time, but I feel like a number of the people I treated will fall back into their pattern of disharmony without access to further treatments.  Knowing that others have been in this clinic before me, and will be coming after me, is reassuring that these people will be able to attain their full potential health.

Thank you for providing this opportunity.

Kimberly [Kimo] Shotz

In the time before internet (?!), I spent 5 months living in the “mid-hills” of Nepal while visiting my Peace Corp Volunteer friend.  I was taken by the incredible strength and beauty of this land and people, and their closer connection to Nature and the endless cycles of life.  At that time I formed a strong future vision to return to Nepal as a healthcare volunteer Nurse.  In fact I thought I’d spend the rest of my life volunteering/working as a nurse around the world.

Ambitious and inspired, yes, but I am not one to force an agenda.  I prefer to ride the wave of life and see where it guides me, all the while maintaining, and possibly reshaping, my vision. (I encourage everyone to read Paolo Coehlo’s The Alchemist).  Now, almost 20 years later, I am actualizing my old vision, only with a much larger healer’s “tool belt.” I have practiced as a Women’s Health Care Nurse Practitioner for the past 14 years and am now graduating from Oregon College Of Oriental Medicine as a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).  I have tremendous respect for both medicines, yet I think I will forever be awestruck by the beauty and healing potential of TCM, its’ simplicity, universality, and ever-expanding accessibility (thanks to organizations like ARP and community acupuncture clinics) as compared to high-tech/high cost Western medicine.  It seems an ideal medicine for a setting and culture such as in Nepal.  So now I find myself on the crest of the wave of Integrative medicine in the United States and around the world.  I can barely contain myself.

Jennifer Walker

I have been blessed with many opportunities in my life. The most recent of which has been to become an oriental medicine practitioner. I am previously graduated with a B.Sc. degree in wildlife and fisheries resource management from West Virginia University. From 2002-2004 I served in the Peace Corps as an environmental education volunteer in Gabon, Africa. One of my goals is to help bring education and alternative health care to under-served populations.

My passion is this planet. To me, each culture of people that share it is what gives it true zeal. The gift of previously living and being part of communities in other 3rd world countries and my experiences there has significantly shaped me as a person. I believe that this opportunity to volunteer in Nepal will be no different. It will be a chance to begin my work as an oriental medicine practitioner with a solid grass roots foundation that I will take back with me to my own small mountain community in West Virginia where I will practice. My hope is that by participating in the Acupuncture Relief Project, I will also be able to contribute some dignity and compassion to the people of Chapagoan, Nepal.

Felicity Woebkenberg

Those who know me describe me as cheerful, compassionate, and full of grit to take on new challenges. The opportunity to participate in the Acupuncture Relief Project is a true honor.

I have worked as a registered nurse for seven years being a firsthand witness to the life experiences of my patients through sickness, recovery, and in health. Having this privilege to take such a journey with another human being has been an amazing gift. In an acute hospital setting I have worked with patients with psychiatric disorders, respiratory disorders, gastrointestinal disorders, endocrine disorders, end of life care, maternity, as well as pediatrics. I have been an advocate for holistic medicine, integrative care, and community. Everyday that I practice medicine, I continue to be touched by the courage and strength of the human spirit, and am inspired by the magic that I see in the world around me.

Caring for those in need and transforming myself is energizing, rewarding, and makes me feel truly alive. I appreciate the ability to blend my knowledge of Western and Eastern medicine and bring this perspective while treating my patients. On the dawn of a new career in Acupuncture and Chinese medicine, my travel to Nepal is another chapter for me. I hope to learn and expand my interest in community health and global medicine. I know that my work in Nepal is going to be life-changing for me. My hope is to return home to Portland, Oregon with an experience which will help open hearts and minds to those in need.

Thank you for helping me to accomplish this dream, and for your contributions!