Acupuntura comunitaria para todos

Hay muchas cosas pasando en la Organización del Pueblo de Acupuntura Comunitaria (POCA). ¡Pacientes por primera vez son la mayoría de miembros en la organización! POCA está acercándose más a abrir una escuela que graduará a los estudiantes sin deudas enormes a la vez que provee más acupunturistas comunitarias para ser empleados y para abrir nuevas clínicas en más areas. Poco a poco estamos reuniendo y creando más recursos para poder servirles mejor, incluyendo una fuente de información en español para poder comunicar lo esencial. Ojalá con el tiempo POCA podrá tener una colección pequeña de información en varias lenguas para que los acupunturistas puedan buscar los formularios básicos y el vocabulario específicas a las comunidades en cuales ellos sirven.

Yo, como acupunturista latino en los EE.UU., estoy encantado con los esfuerzos que han hecho mis compañeros en crear más acceso a la acupuntura. A la última conferencia de POCA que aconteció en el verano llegaron pacientes, voluntarios, y empleados de la clínica que sirvió de co-anfitrión del evento. Llegaron no solo a participar en el evento pero también a conducir clases.

¿Comprenden lo que acabo de escribir? Acupunturistas llegaron a un evento organizado con la ayuda de pacientes y tomaron clases juntos con ellos. Aunque esto es más comun hoy día en conferencias médicas, pacientes han tenido que luchar por años para establecer esta situación. Acupunturistas comunitarias han tenido esta meta desde el comienzo. Ver este nivel de involucramiento de parte de los pacientes es maravilloso porque es lo que muchos de nosotros estamos tratando de repetir en nuestras comunidades y clínicas.

Así que tomen notas todos (pacientes y acupunturistas) porque todo lo que está pasando dentro de y alrededor de POCA está sucediendo con la ayuda y para el beneficio de ustedes, nuestros pacientes. En biología se habla de simbiosis: dos (o más) entidades que forman una relación integral a la vida y salud de ambos organismos.

Es aquí a donde nos encontramos en el momento, disfrutando de los primeros resultados donde ustedes los pacientes nos ayudan a eventualmente tener éxito y nosotros hacemos lo mismo para ustedes. Con todo el alma de cada acupunturista comunitaria en POCA les damos las gracias. (Translation below)

CPMike
Author: CPMike

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The crisis that is still unfolding in Puerto Rico may have started with two historically devastating hurricanes, but over six months later, the continued despair and devastation people face, is definitely manufactured by imperialism. Puerto Rico, still a colony of the United States with no voting power, was still reeling from the neoliberal, 2016 Promesa Act, which created an unelected Fiscal Control Board that cut necessary social services, when the hurricanes struck back-to-back in 2017. Six months after Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated the island, many people are still without power in what is being called the longest blackout in US history.

But people in Puerto Rico are fighting back, building the necessary grassroots infrastructure to build community power to fight colonialism and support a people’s-led hurricane recovery. Proyecto Salud y Acupuntura para el Pueblo (SAPP) is one such project, building the practice of liberation acupuncture, to provide communities with support for sleep, stress, and trauma during this continuing crisis.

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  1. I thought I got the formatting right. Oops. Here’s the translation:

    There are many things happening in POCA. Patients, for the first time are the majority! POCA is getting closer to opening a school that will graduate students without huge debt as it provide more community acupuncturists to be employees and to open new clinics in more areas. Little by little we’re collecting and creating resources to be able to serve you better, including a Spanish language information source to allow us to communicate the essentials. Hopefully, with time, POCA will have a basic collection of forms and vocabulary in multiple languages as a benefit for community acupunks and their communities.

    I, as a Latino acupunk in the U.S., love the efforts my companions have made to create greater access to acupuncture. Patients, volunteers, and employees of the clinic that served as co-hosts showed up to the latest POCA conference this past summer. They came not only to participate but also to lead classes.

    Do you understand what I just wrote? Acupuncturists came to an event organized with the help of patients and took classes with them. Although this is more commonplace now in medical conferences, patients have had to fight for years to earn their place next to M.D.s. Community acupuncturists have had this as a goal from the beginning. To see this level of involvement by patients is WONDERFUL because many of us are trying to duplicate this involvement in our communities and clinics.

    So take note everyone (patients and acupunks) because everything that is happening within and around POCA is happening with your help and for your, our patients’, benefit. In biology there exists symbiosis, where 2 or more entities form a relation integral to the life and health of all organisms.

    This is where we find ourselves at the moment, enjoying the first results where you our patients are helping us find success as we acupunks help you do the same. From the bottom of every community acupunk’s heart, we give you thanks.

  2. Mike reading what you wrote:
    Do you understand what I just wrote? Acupuncturists came to an event organized with the help of patients and took classes with them. Although this is more commonplace now in medical conferences, patients have had to fight for years to earn their place next to M.D.s. Community acupuncturists have had this as a goal from the beginning. To see this level of involvement by patients is WONDERFUL because many of us are trying to duplicate this involvement in our communities and clinics.

    made my heart swell- truly. I think back to a time when I couldn’t imagine our patients would want to join our coop let alone volunteer to do things like lead workshops or do choreographed dances…. but now that I know that they LIKE doing that stuff and are HAPPY to be part of something like POCA I can’t stop dreaming of new and fun things for us all to do.