Working in the clinic has been a very heart opening experience. The moment I announced to my community I was going to work in the clinic, an abundant and generous response of support came forth. People sincerely care about helping out and embraced the opportunity to make a direct impact. We Americans can feel so isolated from international affairs because mainstream media disconnects us from our global family, and our culture enforces isolation and individualism rather than a village mentality of mutual aid. ‘It takes a village’ rang true in this case, as friends and strangers tapped into their networks and stepped forward with money, supplies, fundraising ideas, and took the cause into their own hands to make sure the effort had what it needed. It was like preparing for a gigantic potluck feast, many hands and hearts coming together, tending the gardens and farm fields, harvesting the plants, processing them with love and healing intentions for our brothers and sisters in Haiti. A mountain of love was built.

In Haiti, household members (many ‘re-made’ families of neighborhood survivors) came in groups to the clinic, as well as women with newly adopted kids who had lost their home and families. Children brought other children in for treatment. I am astounded by the grief and trauma that a generation of young people experienced. Many of them crushed under their school building walls. That they still can run and play in the tent cities even though they have horrendous infections and fevers, regular nightmares about the next quake, have suffered unimaginable losses, swallowed toxic dust and fumes of rotting bodies, and have little or no access to basic needs is heart breaking. These kids are so courageous.

Traveling into and out of Haiti, people on the plane, in the flight boarding area and even in the customs line shared stories of loss, or guilt for being a survivor. ‘Thanks be to God I have a roof but I look out the window at people who are worse off and feel terrible. I cook food to share but we need more help.’ I put to use the lavender oil I brought with me on board, along with a few flower essences. Everyone is traumatized. The physical conditions and emotional pains are completely intertwined, which as a practitioner I witnessed on a whole new level of intensity.

As many of us know, many large-scale relief efforts are not honest or accountable in their allocation of resources. The distributions are intercepted or corrupted, and approached with a top-down, colonial mentality. In contrast, the transparency of our clinic is a direct transmission of love and hope. Everything that was donated was used for its intended purpose, and carried with integrity. It is a testament to the power of the people when we organize ourselves, connect, and work together with a common vision.

Our team is multilingual and a combination of Haitians and non-Haitians. It is a grassroots project embedded in the community. Each of the practitioners is rooted in the knowledge and guidance of the plants and nature, our universal language. The clinic heeds and honors the local traditions, culture and healing ways. The remedies we used - a combination of homeopathics, essential oils, flower essences, herbal preparations, and a few supplemental powders - worked beautifully and brought tremendous relief to patients. Yet, it is difficult to conceive of how many people are not receiving care, and are living in a perpetual lack of infrastructure - clean water, food, and safe shelter, which will only exacerbate epidemics and create new health problems as more time passes. I pray for the people of Haiti every day.