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A visit to the Dominican Republic

Posted on January 8, 2010  |  Author: Dr. Richard Nahas  |  Category: GeneralCategory: Seekers Centre  |  3 Comments

At an intersection, a man wanders among stopped cars trying to sell windshield wipers.  As my taxi speeds away, I look down between my feet and see a toothbrush on the asphalt through a hole in the floor of the car.  There are eight people sandwiched into this shared taxi, and each of us has paid 20 cents to a driver with one tooth whose Spanish I do not understand.  As I step out of the car, I find myself standing in front of a glitzy Italian restaurant with tables of elegant diners in one window and the a Maserati in the other.  This is Santo Domingo.

I am standing on Avenida Tiradentes, named after a gruesome Latin revolutionary whose name came from his penchant for pulling out the teeth of his enemies.   Roberto Pastoriza is the cross street, named for a revolutionary martyr who brought down Trujillo on June 14.  I have come from the Zona Colonial, the oldest old city in the New World.  This is where Columbus landed, and the scattered ruins – the oldest church, the oldest fortress, the oldest university – all look almost Roman.  Though there is astonishing history here, it remains run down and uninteresting, still early in the cycle of rebirth that tourism brings to such places.

I have visited the medicinal plant market, but it was nothing to write home about.  Natural medicine is very widely used here, but it is pretty run-of-the-mill.  No aboriginal voodoo, no famous healers, just lots of traditional remedies that come from the grandmothers.  Coconut for blood pressure, corn silk for the kidneys, artichoke for the liver, aloe for the skin ... they are used throughout the Caribbean.  In truth, I think the most potent medicine these folks have to teach us about is happiness.

I have been here only a few days, but I have made friends.  I invite conversations by asking for directions, even when I know where I am going.  Sometimes I ask for the time, even when I couldn’t care less what time it is.  Here the responses are filled with laughter, with questions, with humanity.  The people I met on the street have invited me for dinner, they have brought me to their homes, I have met their families.  These blessings were common in the golden age of travel, but they are not common anymore.  It takes me by surprise and sweetens the city so that I almost don’t notice the smog.   Almost.

In our world, people are offering structured classes in laughter medicine.  Groups of people get together with a 'teacher' who helps them laugh.  Leading-edge centres are advising people with serious illnesses to watch funny movies.  Patch Adams created a storm of controversy and inspired books and a Hollywood film - all because he made his patients laugh.  This new medicine needs to be prescribed because our busy, over-scheduled, hyper-stressed lives leave no room for random tomfoolery or spontaneous hilarity. 

I left Santo Domingo to spend the weekend on the northern coast.  I have come to Cabarete, a windswept coastal town that is filled with Europeans.  They are surfing, windsurfing, kite-surfing and paddle-surfing.  This last one is new to me, but apparently it’s all the rage.  I will have a lesson tomorrow to see what all the fuss is about.  Tonight I walked along the sea, breathing deeply from the warm air and enjoying it.   Soon I will be heading back to the big city to catch a flight to Havana. 

I will be visiting the internationally renowned Center for Neurologic Restoration (CIREN).  The Cubans went through a difficult period without medicines or equipment, thanks to the US trade embargo.  As a result, thousands of doctors across the country turned en masse to plants, acupuncture, manual medicine and anything else they could think of that might help their patients.  The result is an integrative healthcare model that many say might inspire the rest of the world – so I will investigate.  My patients don't like it when I am away for too long, but I never come back empty-handed ... I am always looking for new ideas and innovative treatments.

Details to follow.  Hasta luego.

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Comments

Shirley Plant on Wed Jan 13 2010 at 2:46 pm

I think it great that you travel the world to see what others use as medical practices. You learn and share with all of us which is truly a gift. Look forward to meeting with you soon.

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Carole on Thu Feb 25 2010 at 4:46 pm

I enjoyed your descriptions of the places you visited and truly believe that you learned many things from the people, that you can share with your patients.

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Barbara Mingie on Wed Mar 03 2010 at 9:37 am

Hi Dr Nahas,

Glad to hear that you are out and about in these countries to attempt to gain a different perspective on the healing process and to come back to your patients with new and innovative ideas. My husband and I have just returned from Cuba (Varedaro) and spent a day in Havana. Like you we were most impressed with the friendliness of the Cuban people. As you know I am very much in favour of alternative modalities when it comes to healing people. However, I was most surprised when I received a Reflexology Treatment at "Sandles" that the therapist said they had only been doing Reflexology in Cuba for about 10 years. This surprised me considerably for a country that has been using alternative methods for so long. Quite frankly, I suspect you probably knew most of what they had to offer in Cuba. I look forward to my next visit to truly find out!

Cheers,


Barb

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