The day is Friday the 14th, Valentine's Day in America and the time is 10:15am, and as I begin to write this article, the UN inspector's are presenting their latest position concerning Iraq to the United Nations Security Council. As a result, it is difficult to focus on my endeavor with international tension so palpable. My greatest hope is that peace will prevail.
 I am writing to discuss introducing The TragerŪ Approach into Cambodia as a treatment for children suffering from polio as well as mine victims suffering from acute psycho physical trauma. Of particular interest is to impart the basic principles of the technique to parents and care givers who have no means of sustaining
the limited gains made through traditional forms of physical therapy.
In 1998 and 99' I was fortunate to have the opportunity to travel extensively throughout South East Asia and Japan. This was clearly a life changing experience for me, to say the least, full of vastly new experiences and, surprisingly, a new opportunity for TragerŪ. During this time, as a result of cosmic intervention, I visited Cambodia yet another country devastated by one of our wars. Although not directly involved, Cambodia felt the blow of our military during random carpet-bombing on the Cambodian-Vietnam border from 1969-1973 during the Vietnam War. It is estimated that as many as 600,000 Cambodians lost their lives as a result of this senseless and disturbingly secret campaign.
Tragedy continued as the destabilized country then endured what was considered on of the most horrific acts of genocide in the twentieth century. 1.7 million Khmers perished or were killed under the rule of the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979. Millions of active landmines remain active throughout the country as a costly reminder of this devastating decade.
To meet the people of Cambodia is to discover the most beautiful and compassionate side of man and to understand the power of forgiveness. To walk the streets of the main city, Phnom Penh, is to view the living history of a war torn country that is still, to this day suffering from a poorly developed socio-economic infrastructure.
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During my first day in the city, I viewed one legged cyclists riding with their prosthetics over their shoulders like a rifle and 3-4 persons per motor scooter taxi whizzing about the streets, some accented by one passenger holding at arms length a saline drip for another dehydrated from cholera or dengue fever. I also learned that the majority of individuals over the age of 35 suffer from some form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Although a backpacker at the time, I serendipitously found myself at two rehabilitation centers for polio and mine victims within the second day of my arrival. Clearly these types of facilities are nowhere near the top of the country's list of tourist sites or destinations for backpackers. "Why am I here?" was the question I repeatedly asked myself. What was the purpose for me to witness the needs and circumstances of this demographic of the Cambodian people? And why did this experience resonate with me so powerfully.
While less chaotic than the urban environment, the pace here reflected the same limits of the system. The need for more progressive solutions was punctuated by the techniques local therapists were employing. Although administered compassionately and with great care, the techniques seemed to fall well short of what we know is possible with even a little familiarity with TragerŪ principles, such as those taught in intro workshops. My feeling was profound and immediate that TragerŪ, in some capacity, belonged here.
Children tied to boards for hours to initiate and sustain neuromuscular change, or forcing structural change with effort and strengthening techniques promised little lasting relief to these young patients. Further, there was little to offer the parents of these children in the way of ongoing therapy when the returned home to their remote villages.
I have a strong belief that TragerŪ can benefit more than those who have the means to visit a certified practitioner; that it can be successfully administered in a fundamental way by one who is not a practitioner. It has the possibility of reaching many people in lesser- developed countries who have the responsibility of caring for such individuals suffering from neuromuscular disorders and psychophysical traumas, in this particular case, children with polio and mine victims.
In other words, rather than attempting to establish a practitioner base, what would happen if in this context, we taught the basic principles of the technique, i.e. , weighing, asking, rocking, sculpting, compression, elongations, in essence, touch, as a |
