Acupuncturists Without Borders 2024 Giving Tuesday Update
Acupuncturists Without Borders wants to start Giving Tuesday off by saying THANK YOU to Mayway for almost 20 years of support for the communities served by Acupuncturists Without Borders (AWB). Mayway helped AWB build its very first website in 2005, supported our early Community Service Clinics for military veterans and their families, donated thousands of dollars' worth of herbal supplies to disaster/humanitarian relief efforts in places like Puerto Rico, Hawai’I, California, and Mexico…and the list goes on to the present moment! There is no way that AWB would still exist without this support and generosity over the years, and the world is a better place because of Mayway’s values-driven mission to serve our profession and communities in need.
AWB’s programs focus on supporting:
- People in complex humanitarian situations due to poverty, disasters, and violence, forcing many to seek asylum
- Communities significantly affected by war and human conflict
- People adversely affected by natural disasters
Here is a look at several current AWB programs that are also supported by Mayway’s generosity
TIJUANA, MEXICO
AWB’s work with Parteria y Medicinas Ancestrales (Midwifery and Ancestral Medicine) continues to deepen. The midwives, led by Ximena Rojas, recently purchased a trailer that will head south along the route used by migrating families, to provide primary, prenatal, and postnatal care. AWB sends acupuncturists to the midwifery clinic one day weekly to provide treatments and herbal medicine consults, and we just completed two training trips as part of our continuing commitment to strengthen the integrative trauma-informed skills of this amazing group of midwives. Mayway has donated many herbal formulas to support migrating families served by the midwives and AWB acupuncturists; including herbal formulations for gynecological and reproductive health, immunity, and stress reduction.
CALIFORNIA
In the past year, Colectivo CARE has provided over 2000 integrative medicine treatments to farmworkers and their families at monthly mobile clinics in Watsonville, CA. Farmworkers in California communities like Watsonville grow/harvest half the fruits and vegetables for the entire nation, as well as two-thirds of the nuts. Over 80 percent are undocumented, work in grueling conditions with inadequate wages, are exposed to toxic pesticides, live in crowded housing, and do not have adequate health care. Colectivo CARE helps fill this gap. This joint project (AWB, Livity Rising, and the Integrative Healers Action Network) is wildly successful and expanding, thanks to a CORE grant from Santa Cruz County and support from the Pajaro Valley Community Health Trust. This is another example of how AWB is working to make sure that professional practitioners are compensated as they provide services that empower vulnerable communities. Again, Mayway has donated herbs and topical liniments that are offered to CARE patients at bi-monthly mobile clinics.
THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES
In the days after Hurricanes Helene and Milton hit the Southeastern United States, dozens of AWB trained volunteers established multiple hurricane relief clinics to offer stress and trauma relief to devastated communities in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Florida. So far, over 1,000 treatments have been provided, and clinics are continuing! AWB has offered online emergency training for new practitioners, refreshment training for veteran volunteers, mentored local clinic team leaders, and provided clinic supplies. This major relief effort is possible due the collaboration of AWB, corporate/institutional sponsors like Mayway; AOM colleges, including Dragon Rises College of Oriental Medicine, Taoist Traditions College of Chinese Medical Arts, and Jung Dao School of Classical Chinese Medicine; as well as professional associations like the Florida State Oriental Medicine Association and the Tennessee Acupuncture Council.
Please take a look at the Acupuncture Without Borders website and the AWB Impact Statement - 2024 to learn more about our programs in the US and around the world. AWB’s work depends on the generosity of individual and institutional donors like Mayway, AWB memberships, grants, income from our training programs, and the amazing generosity and commitment of our volunteers.
How can you help?
You can help by taking an AWB CEU course, or become an AWB member (and receive membership exclusive discounts from our donors like Mayway if you do!).
We deeply appreciate your support and invite you to join AWB in bringing this medicine to local and international communities around the world!
