Going on a humanitarian mission was never one of my goals or dreams. So how did I find myself spending 10 days in Panama on a chiropractic mission?
As a 17-year-old living in Israel, I was diagnosed with systemic lupus, and spent the next four years in and out of hospitals. After I completed my military service there, I returned to the U.S.
In Sept. 1985, I ended up in a chiropracator's office after tearing my hamstring. As time passed so did all the signs of the lupus and other health problem I had, including asthma, hay fever, sinus infections, and migraine headaches.
Jan. 1989 marked a major turning point as I entered chiropractic school. My life has never been the same, and each day is better. I got my life back through chiropractic.
But after practicing chiropractic and working as the district representative to the New York Chiropractic Council, it dawned on me it was time to give back. While listening to some chiropractors who had returned from a chiropractic mission to Panama, it became apparent that I must go.
I never could have imagined the magnitude of what I would end up receiving from the trip. It proved to me the validity of the axiom about the more one gives, the more one receives. It was overwhelming.
Our group, 96 chiropractors from the U.S. and Canada, arrived on the Labor Day weekend at the Panama City airport, and were met by Lina Ocon and her husband, Dr. Lois Ocon, the couple who had worked so diligently to put the project together.
The energy was high, and we were all ready to get to work.
Part of the group was told they were flying into the province of Chirique; the rest were to stay in Panama City for assignment at orientation the following morning.
The Sunday orientation divided us into groups. My group of 11 DCs was told we'd be going to Santiago. We were greeted by our Panamanian liaison, Lucila. She spoke no English, which was interesting, as most of us did not speak Spanish.
The adventure had begun. Our expected 2-3 hour trip to Santiago took over five hours, but we finally arrived at a small hotel: home for the next week.
The school's gymnasium had stations set up with chairs and lines of people waiting to get adjusted and experience chiropractic. When we realized that most of the students had not been sent to us, four of us went to the main building.
The school was one of the oldest in Central America, and was attended by 2,000 children. I was called to confer with the director of the school. With the aid of one of the local assistants, I explained the reason for our being there. I was asked to adjust the director, her staff, and some of the teachers. While I was in the office, the other three doctors set up in the teacher's lounge. When we were done, it was time to go into the classes. We were fortunate to have a fluent Spanish speaking DC with us, Joe Accurso, who gave a short health care class; then we began to adjust.
Since there were four doctors and two Panamanian assistants, we split up. By the end of the day, we'd adjusted about a third of the school children.
The doctors in the gym were quite busy. Our total for the first day was about 1,400 people; the two doctors at the school for the disabled children saw 425 people.
The local committee took us sight seeing. At a restaurant it took about 20 minutes before we began adjusting the staff, as well as a group of divers.
We had lunch at the Ministry of Agriculture Club, where we ended up adjusting another 50-60 people before heading to San Francisco to an old church. We then proceeded to Santa Fe, a small mountain town about one hour outside of Santiago. Some of the people lived in huts in the jungle. People showed up in town, many from Indian tribes so poor that they had no shoes, but they came with love and smiles.
As soon as the people spotted us the lines formed. We took off after adjusting some 50 people.
The highlight of the day was our trip to the sugar cane factory.
The workers drove up from the fields, and came out of the buildings. They looked like ants gathering around food. Within a half hour we took care of 225 people.
There was a little nurse, Daizie, who stood and watched wearing a traditional nurse's uniform with a big white cap. She was terrified. I finally got her to sit down and adjusted her, and gave her a big hug. Not 10 minutes later while we were in the cafeteria, someone called out that Daizie was outside with some people she wanted me to adjust. "I told them they don't need to be afraid," she said to me in Spanish.
Our next stop for the day was the police station. We adjusted over 70 people there, including a Panamanian TV crew that was interviewing several doctors and officers. When we got back to the hotel, our "regulars" were waiting for us.
The city hosted a celebration for us with children from the school performing traditional dances. We received gifts from the local government. As we ended the ceremony, masses of people who were sitting in the bleachers came down to thank us: hugging, kissing, and crying. They all came to say goodbye to the chiropractic healers. There was no language barrier anymore, just mucho amor.
We celebrated that night at a local dance club, listening to salsa music and learning the meringue from our hosts and Panamanian friends. We all shed plenty of tears at the end of the evening as we said our farewells, leaving a part of our hearts and souls in Santiago.
Karen Jacobson, DC
East Meadow, New York
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