NET has been part of my life since 2006, and I truly believe the Walkers have given us an incredible gift. As a chiropractor, my personal mission is to adjust, educate and inspire as many people in the world as possible, and I feel extremely privileged to have NET as one of my tools.
I had always wanted to donate my services in developing countries and decided the east African country would be an ideal place to start pursuing my philanthropic work. My Total World Chiropractic Project began with “Chiropractic for Orphans in Tanzania” in October 2010. To my pleasant surprise my great friend, Dr. Fleur Castlereagh, decided she wanted to come with me. We both thought it would be an amazing experience to be able to help the kids, as well as document the project using Dr. Fleur’s filming and presenting skills.
We started with the Mitindo House Orphanage and the AIDS/HIV clinic at Amana Hospital in Tanzania. When we arrived, the ten children who lived at the orphanage warmly welcomed us. These children had lost their parents to AIDS and they were also HIV-positive themselves. The ages of the children ranged from four-year-old twin boys to 15-year-olds. The children were not well, but they were functioning.
All reported cold/cough/flu, were dehydrated, had digestive issues and appeared to be lacking in nutrients — all had visibly rotting teeth (a side effect of the HIV medication). Most had fungal skin lesions. Seven children reported neck pain, three had pneumonia and were finding it hard to breath, and another four children reported chest pain daily. There were three bed wetters, and one had just had meningitis. And that was the physical symptoms!
Being a certified NET practitioner I also wanted to do some NET with them. Using the NET 2-Minute Stress Relief protocol I found 5/10 had NECs related to Lung emotions; 3/10 had NECs related to Liver emotions; 2/10 had NECs related to Bladder emotions; 1/10 had an NEC related to Stomach, Spleen and Kidney (this was over 2 treatments). Note: No Fire emotions found!
We adjusted all the children at Mitindo House and gave them some ‘homeplay’ exercises, plus each child was given a knitted teddy. Those teddies had come with us, made by elderly women, and donated by Rotary to us for our project.
When we finished all the children were so happy, and we felt satisfied and slightly overwhelmed. It was very hot - around 35 degrees Celsius with high humidity - and apart from the physical toll of working outside, we were emotionally exhausted and relieved. We got some food and caught the ferry to Zanzibar - a beautiful archipelago off the coast of Tanzania.
Our work started again on Monday at SOS Children’s Village orphanage. This orphanage was very big in contrast to Mitindo House. There were almost 130 children, ranging from infants to youth, living in a village-like setting with the director and his family also living on the grounds. Approximately one-fifth of the kids were HIV-positive. We treated 59 children at SOS Children’s Village in total. Although their overall health was better at SOS Children’s Village than at Mitindo, there were stark similarities: Respiratory tract infections, breathing problems, stomach pain/problems with 7 reporting vomiting between 1-5 times per week. Many had skin problems, with most being fungal infections. Most of the children were dehydrated, some reported bed-wetting and several reported they had regular neck pain.
When doing the NET 2-Minute Stress Relief protocol on this group of children, 12/59 had NECs related to Lung emotions; 10/59 had NECs related to Liver emotions and 9/59 had NECs related to Kidney emotions. 6/59 had NEC related to Gall Bladder, Spleen and Large Intestine and 2/59 had NECs related to Stomach or Bladder. Note: Again, no Fire emotions!
One of the four days was spent with children from the ‘Outreach’ program. Most were HIV-positive and still had a mother or father, but because of troubles at home, they were under the gaze of social workers. Social workers heard we were in the village, so they brought the children to see us. ?We left the rest of the teddies (only one per house, not child, this time), as well as some little toy koalas, packets of pens, crayons and pencils and stickers.
We then said goodbye to Zanzibar and returned to the mainland, re-visiting Mitindo House. To our pleasant surprise, the three children who had pneumonia were more energetic, could take a deep breath easily, had little or no mucous and all of them were so happy and appreciative to have us return. We had made up some party bags for each child - koalas, stickers, pens and left some exercise books and crayons with the mother of the house. The children were so happy and sang to us and hugged us. We felt very humbled by their gratitude.
This project was certainly an amazing experience for all involved. We documented our journey in detail, both through still photos and video, and if you go to Youtube.com and type in ‘chiropractic pilot charity project Tanzania’ you can see some of the beautiful children we worked with.
NET has been a fabulous tool in my personal and professional life, and I feel extremely blessed to be able to share this work with others. I know my patients truly appreciate that we can use NET to help remove stress from their body, which improves their health and their lives. I am deeply dedicated to continue providing the best care I can for my patients because I know I can make a difference in people’s lives. And, of course, I will also be organizing future projects for orphans like the ones in Tanzania as part of my ongoing philanthropic “giving to other” approach to life, as there is no better reward in life than this! If you have questions or want to join me on a future trip, feel free to contact me, and I’m sure in working together we can help to make the world a better place.
Sara Winchester, DC104 Spofforth St., Ste. 6 (map)
Cermorne, NSW 2090 Australia
Phone: 02 9904 0101
Sara@totalchiro.com.au
http://www.totalchiro.com.au
Watch this remarkable video of Sara Winchester and Fleur Castlereagh providing Chiropractic care to orphans in Tanzania
