AANP Road Trip Blog 2

I am sitting at my dad's house near Heber City, UT listening to his three African Grey parrots chatter away and imitate sounds in their environment (microwave buttons, telephones ringing, my dad's voice saying "hello", etc.) while I reflect on the past two weeks. Sean and I have been traveling during this time starting in California for one last hurrah by the beach with Tara my beautiful sister-in-law before she moves inland to be closer to her job and my wonderful inlaws in the Bay Area. We also received another awesome donation from Van's Health Food store (check them out if you are ever in Livermore, CA). Thanks Van's!!

Then we headed up to Oregon to see my aunt and uncle, played volleyball in their pool, saw my cousin's brand new baby James, and surprised my grandparents for lunch at their retirement village. My grandmother was too excited to eat so she gave her food to Sean. We also saw some global health friends including Kim and Korina who we met during our first weeks in Haiti (Kim also helps with NWB's thank-you notes) and fellow global health enthusiast Erin Moore who runs a blossoming org called Share Nepal and got to hear about her experiences as she had just spent a month there working on her project. Share Nepal seeks to support the community of Karmidanda with a grassroots approach, focusing on agricultural development and Naturopathic care. After brunch with SCNM classmate and fellow-ND Karla and her adorable son Grant, it was time to head to NCNM to take care of some NWB business with Stephanie, our NCNM Chapter President. We have 28 ND students from Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver currently working with NatureQuest India to learn from Ayruvedic and Homeopathic physicians.

Korina & Kim with some of their kids.

Korina's beautiful garden in Vernonia, OR.

Finally, it was time to go up to Bellevue, WA for the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians annual convention. The night before the convention we met with Brad Howe, a man who has created a nonprofit called Raise Haiti designed to support NGOs working on the ground in Haiti and to raise awareness in the US about Haiti and the positive things going on there. I could talk about Haiti and global health for days on end so it was a lot of fun to meet him and share experiences and ideas. 

In the first day of having a booth at the convention, we connected with many NDs and students, telling them about the work NWB does. Many were interested in volunteering, and we handed out brochures/bracelets, and sold shirts. Our friend and fellow NWB board member Colleen hosted a get-together at her house for people in the area who have worked with us at NWB in Haiti and Guatemala. It was a lot of fun to see old friends and to meet new ones. We also want to thank Brigette for letting us stay with her, very last-minute!

Sometimes it is really overwhelming (and exciting!) to realize that our organization has grown so big that we no longer personally know everyone who volunteers with Naturopaths Without Borders. We now have 5 student chapters, will be getting a 6th this week at the University of Arizona (which will combine MPH, Spanish, Nutrition, and Pre-Med students), and have about 20 NDs who volunteer with us annually (including within the US and abroad). To me, the most surprising stat is that we are on track to have about 300 individual volunteers work with us in 2012. Our little student group from 2004 has grown into a living, breathing global health organization!

We're still on the road and I'm out of time, but stay tuned for another blog filling you in on two VERY exciting things events for Naturopathic Medicine and Global Health.

Until next time...

-Dokte Sarah

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