Help Me Empower Women

Earlier this month, I had the privilege of volunteering at our clinic in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. I saw some of the patients I have had the privilege of working with on a regular basis for the past couple of years including Maria (name changed).  Maria is a 75 year old women who comes to our monthly clinics faithfully for the osteoarthritis in her knees, which is sometimes so painful and debilitating that she is unable to climb the stairs from the waiting room to our treatment rooms, so I will usually move myself and my supplies down to the nursery to treat her.

I greeted her with a hello and a kiss on the cheek and asked her how she was doing this month. She told me the pain had resolved for the first week after her last acupuncture treatment but had returned as the month went on.  She was happy to report that the swelling in her knees was no longer present, which she attributed to the nutrients and herbs we had given her.

During acupuncture treatment for her sinus congestion from a respiratory infection, I noticed that her right breast was larger than her left. She claimed a nurse told her to stop getting mammograms and pap smears because of her age, and she did not know about Self Breast Examination. I asked if she would like me to do a breast exam and she said that she would. Normally I would have also performed a pap smear, but we do not yet have the resources for such exams at this clinic. As I went through the exam, I taught her how to examine her breasts herself and told her to choose a day each month to do the exam. I did palpate two suspicious masses and advised her to get a mammogram at the local hospital. At the end of the visit she looked me in the eye, thanked me for being so thorough and told me I was a gift from god and she would see me next month. I don’t know what the outcome will be for Maria but I certainly hope the masses I found are not cancerous.

Maria’s experience highlights the importance of the work that we do in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico and Morne Rouge, Haiti where a diagnosis of cancer that would be highly treatable in the United States, can be a death sentence. We strive to find the gaps in health care and health education and to fill them.  We teach women of all ages to do breast exams and to get their yearly screening exams. We teach young mothers what to feed their children so they can grow up to be big and strong and provide life-saving fortified peanut butter to those children who are already caught in the throes of malnutrition.

Please help us help others by making a one-time or recurring donation to expand our services.  http://www.naturopathswithoutborders.org/N/donate.html.  Your donation may save a life!


Sarah Preston Hesler, ND