Humla Medical Service Trip

Wisdom and Compassion in Action

With Tempa Dukte Lama and Clinic Team Leaders Heidi Harding, LAc. & Tim Aitken, LAc.

September 13 – 26, 2015

This trip is a project of Humla Fund, a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization co-founded by Tempa Dukte Lama and Heidi Harding, dedicated to strengthening the Bon culture and traditions in the Humla region of Nepal through access to quality education, healthcare and sustainable economic development.

Letter from the president of Humla Fund with an update on this year’s trip:

LETTER_FROM_HUMLA_FUND_PRESIDENT.pdf

The Humla district of Nepal is one of the world’s most remote areas. Situated in the Northwest corner of the country, it borders Tibet to the North and India to the West. A land of incredible natural beauty and rich cultural diversity, the people of Humla have faced many challenges entering into the modern era. A lack of health care and education has created a cycle of poverty in many of the villages, making Humla one of the poorest districts in all of Nepal.

The Humla Medical Service Trip offers the opportunity for doctors, nurses, acupuncturists, herbalists, chiropractors, massage therapists and lay people to share their wisdom and compassion through the delivery of no-cost, high quality health care. In mobile village clinics we will offer treatment to patients from the surrounding areas.

View pictures from last years trip at the Humla Fund picture gallery and the Olmo Ling picture gallery.

Genye Tempa Dukte Lama, a native of the village of Torpa, one of the clinic sites, will support the group through daily teachings and meditation practices on wisdom and compassion in action from the Bon spiritual teachings of Sherab Jamma, the female Buddha of wisdom and love. This offers the medical practitioner an opportunity for spiritual renewal and growth. As wisdom and compassion are shared human aspirations, these teachings offer support to practitioners of all beliefs. By deepening the spiritual connection with our inner wisdom as practitioners, we will have more compassion and inner strength for the patients we will be treating in these village clinics. The trip also provides an opportunity for non-practitioners to experience meaningful human exchange through caring for one another.

“The essence of having compassion for all beings is the wish to free ourselves and all beings from the cyclic continuum of suffering”
—Tempa Lama.

Trip Itinerary

The Humla Medical Service Trip begins in Kathmandu with a meditation teaching and orientation with Tempa Lama. The group will tour the spiritual sites of the city.

Next we will fly to Simikot (9,700 ft.), the district capital of Humla, for a day of acclimatization and clinical orientation by the clinic team leaders.

The following day we will trek to Burause (10,500 ft.) to set up the first of our mobile clinics. We will duplicate this clinic in the villages of Torpa (10,500 ft.), Nima Tang (11,000 ft.) and Bargaun (9,700 ft.). The group will have the opportunity for home stays with local families and camping in this majestic Himalayan Valley.

There will be a non-clinic day during which the community will host a celebration in our honor. Village Shamans will perform prayers and rituals for the health and long life of the members of the medical service trip.

We will trek back to Simikot to bid farewell to the people and land of Humla. We will fly to Kathmandu and continue on our trip home.

There will be an option to extend your journey after the medical service trip, and join Tempa Lama on a pilgrimage and trek to Mount Kailash in Tibet. Mount Kailash is one of the most sacred and venerated places on Earth, considered the birth place of human consciousness for Bonpos and Buddhists. For more information about this extended option, please contact info@humlafund.org.

View picture from last year’s trip here.

About the teachers

Tempa Dukte Lama is an ordained Tibetan Bon lama. He was born in Humla, Nepal, into a family of Tibetan Bon and Buddhist practitioners and healers. He studied closely with His Holiness 33rd Menri Trizin, the spiritual head of Bon, at Menri Monastery, India from the age of six. He is the founder and spiritual director of Olmo Ling Bon Center and Olmo Ling Publications and co-founder of Humla Fund. He is an artist, poet, and the author of Heart Drop of the Loving Mother, Journey into Buddhahood, The Intimate Mind, and Inexhaustible Miracles. He has lived in the US since 2000 and teaches internationally, helping people bring a practice of compassion, healing, and happiness into their lives.

Heidi Harding, M.S., L.Ac. Heidi Harding is the Co-founder and President of Humla Fund. She received her Masters of Science from Tri-State College of Acupuncture in 2003 and also holds a Bachelor of Arts from Bard College in New York. She is a licensed and board-certified acupuncturist with a private practice in the Hudson Valley region of New York. In 2002, she began passionately studying and practicing Bon. Currently she is training in the traditional Bon healing practice (Tse Dup Yang Bod) with Geshe Chongtul Rinpoche. Heidi is a former board member of Olmo Ling Bon Institute.

Tim Aitken, L.Ac. is a licensed and board-certified acupuncturist with over 20 years experience practicing Classical Chinese Medicine. He is on the core faculty at Tri-State College of Acupuncture in Manhattan. Tim founded Eight Branches Healing Arts where he and Heidi Harding work with adults and children within the paradigm of Classical Chinese Medicine. He is the clinic director for the Humla Medical Service Trip and the Secretary and Treasurer of Humla Fund.

Details

This trip is a project of Humla Fund, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening the Bon culture and traditions in the Humla region of Nepal through access to quality education, healthcare and sustainable economic development.

Trip Dates
September 13 – 26, 2015

Trip Cost:
$3,800 USD

DEPOSIT: $500 non-refundable; must be received by May 1, 2015. BALANCE: $3,300 due by July 1, 2015.

Includes

All ground and air travel starting after arrival at Kathmandu International Airport.
Full board.
All lodging – 3 nights hotel in Kathmandu, 2 nights in Simikot and 1 night in Nepalgunj (double occupancy).
All meals starting with dinner in Kathmandu.
Nepalese staff for full trekking and camping service.
English speaking translator and guide.

Apply

This is a rigorous journey, and is by application only. To receive an application form or additional information, please contact Heidi Harding by email (info@humlafund.org), or phone (518-392-7001).
Once the completed application questionnaire has been received by Humla Fund, you will be contacted for a personal or telephone interview.

Humla Education Fund

The Nepalese government has established several basic primary and secondary schools in the Humla valley. However, due to the remoteness of this region and the low standards of living, it is difficult to retain the needed teachers. The schools also lack teachers who can teach the native language and culture as well as computer literacy. In addition, many children in the Humla valley are not able to attend school because of widespread poverty.

The medical service trip supports access to quality education, healthcare and sustainable economic development through Humla Fund, a non profit organization dedicated to strengthening the Bon culture and traditions of Humla, co-founded by Heidi Harding and Tempa Dukte Lama. Read more about Humla Fund and its mission and projects at HumlaFund.org.