service trips
service trips
Service Journeys
Service Journeys offer the opportunity for authentic cultural and professional exchange. Health practitioners, BodyTalkers, nurses, doctors, acupuncturists, CFT practitioners, massage therapist, herbalist --- as well as lay people, participate in a rich opportunity to share expertise and compassion through the delivery of no-cost, high quality, health care. In mobile village clinics we offer treatment to people from the local areas, and in exchange, they open their communities and share their cultural traditions and wisdom with us.
Service Journeys are turnkey experiences. Through the expertise (and translations) of native guides, participants experience authentic exchanges with leaders and families of remote communities, partaking in traditional rituals and celebrations. With thoughtful preparation and planning, the journeys include safe in-country travel, delightful food & accommodations, and time to explore colorful markets and meet the locals on your own.
Nepal Service Journey October 2021 offers traditional medical practitioners and other holistic practitioners the chance to experience Nepal and at the same time to be of service to children, families, monks, nuns and the elderly. We also welcome non-medical support volunteers to assist with the clinics.
We strongly believe that natural medicine and its techniques are effective for all populations and especially for areas where native healing traditions occur. During this health services trip, we will be offering hands off and hands on healing techniques, acupuncture with and without needles, moxibustion sessions, and medicinal herbs brought from the U.S. We are very happy to be able to work with the local population to provide free, high quality healthcare, and, at the same time, to introduce our participants to the richness of Nepalese culture.
Past Service Journeys
Nepal 2017 & 2019 led by Holly Steflik, Janet Galipo, Glenn Mullin
In October 2017 and April 2019 our group of volunteer medical practitioners from the U.S. and Europe joined travelled to Nepal with the goal of providing free health care to the Nepalese and Tibetan communities. The arrangements were made by Dr. Sherab and his wife Pema, who have long provided medical services to the local community in Boudhanath Stupa as well as throughout Nepal.
The practitioners were a combined group of doctors and therapists with a variety of skills including western medical skills as well as expertise in herbal medicine, nutrition, acupuncture, BodyTalk energy balancing, manual therapy and (CFT) Craniosacral Fascial Therapy. All therapists addressed a wide range of health concerns, with complaints of gastritis and other digestive problems, parasites, lung issues, knee and back pain, fatigue and low energy.
We were happy to hear that after the first clinic at the Tibetan Community Center in Boudha Stupa, word spread of the positive experience of most patients and we were very busy through the 2 weeks spent in Nepal.: We loved our time in Nepal including meeting and treating everyone who came for sessions. Our next service journey in Nepal is April 27th - May 11 2019.
Clinics at Boudhanath Stupa
These clinics were open to all area residents. We had a wide range of patients including families, children, the elderly, and monks and nuns. All patients received multiple services including evaluation, BodyTalk, Acupuncture, manual therapy, CFT, if needed and herbal medicine. We estimate we saw approximately 500 people in 2 days. We loved our time in Nepal including meeting and treating everyone who came for sessions. We hope to be able to provide these services again in May of 2019.
Clinics in Pharping
Since there are numerous monasteries and nunneries in the area, the group of 15 was further divided into smaller groups. This enabled us to provide services to over 500 monks and nuns, most of them quite young. We were able to teach BodyTalk Access in some of nunneries where they quickly learned techniques for self help and healing. There was also a public health nurse who taught the nuns the basics of personal hygiene.
Clinics in Pokhara
Here, we visited a number of Tibetan Refugee camps including centers for the elderly. The team treated several hundred people at about 4 different Tibetan refugee centers.
Peru 2015 | Power of Ayni Service Journey
In October of 2015 we had the amazing opportunity to hike to remote regions of Peru's Andes Mountains to camp and work with the Q’ero people. We taught BodyTalk Access, held clinics and delivered hundreds of herbal tinctures to the villages. This journey also included time in the Sacred Valley, visiting Machu Picchu and other ancient ruins.
Nepal 2014
Sponsored and led by the Bon Po Buddhist educational non-profit organization, Olmo Ling, a diverse group of health care practitioners traveled to the remote area of Humla Nepal to set up no cost health care clinics. We hiked to 5 different villages and treated over 500 villagers with BodyTalk, Acupuncture, CFT, Chiropractic, and Homeopathy.
