Homeopathy: Increasing Access to Health Care

By Holly Manoogian, HWB Executive Director

"Our partnership with Homeopaths Without Borders has opened up an opportunity for Wabanaki community members to access care that is comparable to traditional Wabanaki healing methods and provides a space for the whole person." Nicole Paul, Co-Director Nibezun

"New Dawn: Increasing Wabanaki-led access to health care" is a partnership project that was recently awarded a two-year grant to fund a community-based homeopathic clinic for essential primary health care. This grant award to Nibezun, a central Maine Indigenous community, expands last year’s pilot homeopathic clinic to grow services and access for Wabanaki members. The project also includes training local health care professionals how to effectively use homeopathy, an interest expressed by local tribal health practitioners.

Clinic project directors, Lauren Fox, FNP-BC, CCH, and Holly Manoogian, CCH acknowledge HWB’s well-matched intentions to offer homeopathy with Indigenous communities. For these peoples, family, community, and nature are their medicine. They, including the Wabanaki people, have hundreds of years of wisdom, practices, and experience supporting the mind-body connection. Homeopathy's goals for healing very much align with the community’s culture.

One of the ingredients to building and maintaining these clinics is the generosity of HWB volunteer professional homeopaths. They make a full-day commitment to either a remote (telehealth) or in-person monthly clinic. HWB’s collaborative efforts, with guidance from Nibezun’s local community health network, will work toward transitioning the full operations/offerings of the clinic from HWB to the Nibezun community.

Word of mouth is building trust and credibility for homeopathy in other communities. HWB is exploring new partnerships with other Indigenous tribes and communities lacking access to health care. Again, with support from volunteer homeopaths, HWB sees these clinics as a win- win-win for the health of the individual, community and homeopathy.

Interested in helping to bring homeopathy to other communities? Contact us here.

A triple challenge that won’t stop the homeopaths in Haiti

Malnutrition, shocking deadly violence, and now cholera in a country with a history of extremely limited access to health care isn’t enough to halt the goals and compassion of the homeopaths in Haiti. Last year, members of the Association Des Homéopathes Haïtiens (AHH) presented HWB with a plan to initiate a mobile homeopathic clinic program to increase health care access throughout all departments in Haiti. Individual donations from practitioners, businesses, users, and friends of homeopathy, the Haitian-American Nurses Association, churches, and family foundations enabled HWB to financially sponsor their mobile clinic program.

Within days of launching the mobile clinic program, a devastating earthquake in the south of the country shocked the nation again. This time, there were no outside organizations that came to their assistance. The Ministry of Health was limping along with limited resources. But, AHH had a team on-site within two days — an arduous day-long journey.

Since August 2021, working with local health authorities and community organizers, the mobile clinic teams have visited 24 new communities and made follow-up visits within a two-month period. Each of their clinics has provided much-needed clinical care over three days in the south of the country. To date, the homeopaths have provided care for 4400+ patient visits.

“When health officials from the Ministry of Health send their family members to our homeopathic mobile clinics, it validates the need for and acceptance of homeopathy in Haiti. But... we already knew that from our experiences using homeopathic medicines,” said Joey Prosper, MD, HWB Mobile Clinic Co-Director

This year, they are prepared to double their efforts to reach more communities throughout Haiti. Part of their strategy includes training additional health care providers in order to have homeopaths available in communities throughout the country.

However, the cholera situation continues to worsen, with over 700 cases confirmed and 144 cholera-related deaths since early October. When it is safe for the team to travel and with HWB’s support, they will have teams available for providing prophylaxis, education, and clinical care.

Please donate to support HWB’s colleagues in Haiti. Their energy, optimism, and love of their country has brought hope to many communities. Your contribution will be graciously welcomed at here.