Waianae Rehab

I should put a formal post on the new blog about ICAOM at Waianae Rehab, but hell, why not write something here? First, it's NOT a research program, as I may have implied previously. It's a program with a mission of service to the Waianae community. It's the "brainchild" of Bill (?) and Theresa Alvillar, the latter a student at ICAOM. They both live out in Waianae, and wanted to do something to help out the community, which is sorely in need of some help. Waianae, to those of you who don't know, is "home" to one of the larger communities of Hawaiian people on the island (the other being, perhaps, Waimanalo). I put home in quotes because, unfortunately (shamefully), it "houses" (sorry!) the largest homeless community outside of downtown Honolulu (hell, it may BE the largest homeless community for all I know). As you drive along the Western coastline of the island, there are whole stretches of beach dominated by makeshift tents...

Aside from homelessness, drug use, particularly crystal meth, is a big problem. So that's where Bill and Theresa came in with this program. It was conceived to be an "alternative" treatment program for addicts.

On Tuesday, the day we first had a room at the Waianae District Park (more a community center), nobody showed up. That was okay, I got to talk to Theresa, even do a little Tai Chi with her...

On Friday (I was SICK), I was forced to come in, because no one else could take my place, and I thought, since the program was so new, it was vital that it start off right (i.e., no supervisors cutting out). I brought Willow with me (she was sick too, though REALLY, not that bad). It was a good thing we came, because we had six patients show up! Because it wasn't a research thing, we didn't have to abide by a strict protocol, and Theresa and I were able to do Tui Na (bodywork) on a few of the patients while they sat with ear needles. It was a rewarding experience for everyone. It feels particularly good because the compassionate motivation is there; it felt like "we were doing the right thing, for the right reasons." I have little doubt that on Tuesday, we will begin to see more and more people come.

I want to provide as much motivation to the people as possible, so I offered to teach Tai Chi, perhaps before the needling... Hopefully, people we will see this as a great opportunity to "relax" and "center."

More later!

Oh yeah, I have a new blog, I think it's "waianaerehab.blogspot.com". I haven't posted anything yet, but hopefully later on we will have pictures and video.