Site Search

Quick Links

Newsletter Signup

Current Newsletter | Newsletter Archive

You are here » Home / Global Outreach Program / Vajra Varahi Healthcare

Vajra Varahi Healthcare

Vajra Varahi Healthcare (VVH) is a small charitable health care organisation based in Chapagaon, a village just outside Kathmandu in Nepal. VVH has a clinic situated next to Vajra Varahi Buddhist monastery providing treatment from a range of alternative healthcare traditions.

Mission

The mission of Vajra Varahi Healthcare is to make accessible and effective healthcare a reality for everyone through 1) providing access to a range of low cost healthcare - including Tibetan, Ayurvedic, homoeopathic, Traditional Chinese Medicin, acupuncture, and allopathic medicine - to people in Nepal who have little or no access to health services; and 2) conducting research on the effectiveness of different healthcare traditions and sharing the results worldwide.

VVH Progress

Currently VVH provides very low cost acupuncture treatments to a full appointment book of local people. Each practitioner sees about 20-25 patients a day for 6 days a week. Modalities include Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine, Homeopathy, Ayurveda and more.

Patients can afford to come for a full course of treatment and are willing to do so. For many, they have never before seen a doctor for their condition and have little understanding of their present state or prognosis. Practitioners not only assist them with healthcare but also provide basic health education during the course of treatment.

Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteer practitioners are essential to the success of the clinic. Each volunteer practitioner is asked to contribute 100 nrs ($1.25) per day for food. While at VVH practitioners work in a beautiful rural environment, are provided with a healthy hot lunch every working day, a modern kitchen for their own cooking, a dining room, a pleasant roof terrace, and a clean comfortable bedroom with a bed, sink, decent plumbing and hot water. To counter the pleasures, electricity is infrequent, Internet access is a walk away, the phone only enables incoming international calls and dahl baht is the daily lunch. The journey into Kathmandu is by 2 micro-buses and the clinic is an a hour from the airport.

The clinic is equipped with acupuncture needles, some TCM herbs and a clean modern practice room. Practitioners are often the first and only doctor from whom the patient has sought help and find the treatment environment to be unique from any in which they have practiced in the West.

For more information, please email vajravarahihealthcare@gmail.com.

Clinical Training Opportunities

Opportunities exist for PRC students to complete acupuncture clinical training throughout the year. Currently, PRC students can work at VVH via the Acupuncture Relief Project. Available placement dates for 2010/2011 are September 15-November 6, November 3-December 18 and January 5-February 26.

Eligible PRC student must have completed the following prerequisites: a minimum of 200 hours clinical practice, OM201/202 TCM Diagnosis, and ACU113/114 Techniques and Therapeutics. Non-PRC students are also welcome to apply for acupuncture clinical placement. Please contact our Office of Admissions for more information and an application.