10 years ago today, on December 26th, 2004, we were celebrating the 2nd Day of Christmas, when a massive tsunami hit South Asia, and the first images of the devastation and despair started flooding TV screens. The number of fatalities kept climbing until it was hard to imagine, hard putting into perspective what this meant. I remember when the death toll hit 80,000, and I thought: we had 1,000 students in my high school, now this is 80 times my high school. Read more here, in Martina’s story.
Minerva Fernando
a lovely thank you from Stephney Minerva Fernando, Project Coordinator, Sri Lanka
Purpose – To celebrate 08 LONG years of Service of the REAL MEDICINE CLINIC.
On the 25th of October 2014, all the members of the Real Medicine Foundation had experienced an enjoyable time participating to a delicious Lunch at GAYANA RESTAURANT, at Medaketiya in Tangalle.
This was to remember the efficient Service of the Clinic Staff, WITH THE MOST VALUABLE SUPPORT OF THE REAL MEDICINE FOUNDATION. We all give our Thanks & Appreciation & the Gratitude to our Executive Director…
Eamen Hameed of healingPAQ interviews RMF CEO/Founder Dr. Martina Fuchs on her passion, vision, intention, experience, challenges, failures, successes, teachings, western and alternative medicine, service and approach in life.
Follow the link to visit healingPAQ’s website and listen to the interview
Click on link to visit our website where Annual Report can be viewed and downloaded as a PDF document
http://www.realmedicinefoundation.org/initiative/update/annual-report-20102011
Photo: Dr. Martina C. Fuchs, RMF Founder/CEO, making new friends at the Lwala, Kenya Community Hospital, October 1, 2011
We are so grateful to all our friends, supporters and teams around the world and wish everyone a fantastic 2012!
Having wrapped up another successful we want to pause and say a huge THANK YOU to all of you who supported our work in 2011. You have helped us achieve so much, and we give our deep thanks to everyone for your generosity and support!
In 2011 we..
In Japan, post-earthquake and…
If you were considering donating to a worthy cause in 2010 and taking advantage of the tax benefits of charitable donations, now is your last chance to contribute!
As we look towards new efforts and projects in 2011 it is only through your generous funding that we will be able to continue our long term development projects in some of the poorest areas on this planet.
As you know, we have set the goal of raising $100,000 by December 31st, and would greatly appreciate if you consider Real Medicine for your year-end donation.
In the spirit of Real Medicine…
Almost 6 years after the last Tsunami in Indonesia and the founding of Real Medicine in Sri Lanka, another Tsunami has struck the area, this one resulting with at least 272 dead and so far another 400 missing. Officials are saying there were faults with an early warning system designed to alert locals to the 3m-high (10ft) wave.
Full article from BBC news here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11632982
To read about our continuing relief efforts in Sri Lanka click here.
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To contribute to this initiatives, please visit…
photo: The new class of preschoolers of Palathuduwa
Our Tangalle Children Relay Preschool had operated with our support from 2006 until the end of 2009. During this time, Real Medicine covered the teacher’s, the children were provided with uniforms, stationary, playing instruments, school materials, cultural and educational tours, a daily meal, and medical treatments all free of charge. In an great example of our long term goals of self-sustainability, over the past few years the community we have been serving has been able to slowly recover from the Tsunami and return to their previous…
by Jonathan White
The clinic that started it all off for RMF, more than 5 years ago in Tangalle, Sri Lanka, continues to thrive and provide, community outreach and health education programs to Yayawatta Village and the surrounding areas. These areas have still barely gotten back on their feet after the complete destruction of many surrounding villages and infrastructure 5 years ago by the Tsunami. The clinic’s main beneficiaries include the population of Seenimodara, Kadurupokuna and Palapotha.
Having this convenient access to free healthcare is especially important for the areas young mothers, children, and the elderly. During the…
by Dr. Martina Fuchs
Approaching our 5th birthday on August 18th, 2010, and looking back to remember where we started to where we are now, here is a voice from those early days: the second update sent from the ground after opening our first clinic in Sri Lanka written by Dr. Martina herself. In it Dr. Martina Fuchs gives grateful thanks to those who helped her, speaking as a friend to her network of friends who came together to make it possible.
February 20, 2005
From Martina Fuchs in Mawella, Sri Lanka
Hi everybody, here I am…
Photo from RMF USA: Hurricane Relief: Memphis By Allison Glennon
There was an article published today by the Associated Press about childrens artwork from Haiti, paintings and drawings made children after the earthquake that are now on exhibit by the Smithsonian Institution. It reminded me of a story that our Founder, Dr. Martina Fuchs once told me about emotional care and one box of donated crayons.
The enormity of something as devastating as an earthquake like Haiti has a tendency to shut children off and they can become dangerously emotive, they bottle up.…
February 2010 By Mahendra Andrahennadige Tangalle Children’s Relay’s accomplishments throughout the course of 2009 reflect our commitment to providing the best possible education for the children in our care. Our programs focus on:
• Encouraging parental involvement in their children’s education • Ensuring the health and well-being of the children • Providing meals to children of very poor families • Modeling human values, reflecting kindness to others, sharing, and religious and ethnic tolerance • Inviting interaction with other students to help develop social and interpersonal skills • Developing the children’s respect and…
Worldwide, Cancer is on an exponential rise. The WHO says that 80% of deaths related to disease of affluence occur in developing countries, roughly 28 million a year, and that this number is expected to quadruple over the next decade.
In ten short years, it is predicted that cancer will kill more people around the world than all infectious diseases, HIV/AIDS, Malnutrition, and Maternal Deaths Combined.
There are many schools of thought on the subject but for our part what we have chosen to do is start with nutrition as a…
When Madumekala was 2 she suffered a massive head injury left her pituitary gland unable to produce Growth Hormone.
Usually, children grow at a rate of about 5.1 cm (2 in) per year but in 2003, when Madu’s illness was discovered, at 9 years old she was only 99.5 cms tall, about the height of a healthy 3 year old.
Dr. Silva, who first realized Madu’s condition, predicted that without treatment, Madu would not only grow up to be an incredibly short adult, but an adult with a number of serious health issues.
… 
"I am happy. The treatment I get from the R.M.F. gives me some hope and vision to my future life. Now I am 15 Years Old. "
Do you like to go to School? Yes, of course. Now I feel I am like the other Girls. I have grown tall.
What is your Hobby? Dancing. I attend a Dancing Class too.
What do you feel about R.M.F.? With this unfortunate destruction Lord Buddha had granted me a Real Blessing. Meeting Kind hearted and understanding persons. I am very thankful to…
by Michael Lear
Real Food, Real Medicine: RMF Delivers Ivy League Plant Based Nutrition Education to Sri Lanka’s Cancer Institute and Pakistan’s Leading Hospitals.
Perhaps Dr. Dean Ornish put it best when he said “In short they are starting to live like us and die like us.” In his article The Globalization of Illness/The Globalization of Wellness.
This is the case in nearly every developing country and certainly in transitional economies where urbanization, modernization are well underway – complete with all the trappings of the western lifestyle – stress, pollution, compromised health, obesity – more affectionately known…
"The No. 1 cause and cure of America’s [and the world’s] health care crisis is right under your nose – it’s what you put in your mouth."–Dr. T. Colin Campbell
Changes in lifestyle and eating habits, due to growing urbanization, are causing a surge in chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular and respiratory complaints, and, of course, cancer, in developing countries.
Over the past ten years Sri Lanka has experienced economic growth that has lead to increased life expectancy, however, this progression is paralleled by a doubling in cancer cases throughout the…
by Michael Lear
On August 17th, 2008, the Minhath Montessori Pre-school hosted a regional sports event for the children of the school and the surrounding Muslim community. Our Project Coordinator, Minerva Fernando was invited as the featured guest to hand out the awards to the winners of the day’s events.
Minerva reports that the children enjoyed the sports festival and her visit provided her the opportunity to “witness the cooperation of the Muslim Community, not just parents but other members who came to watch the festival.”
Minerva explained that the families are appreciative of Real Medicine’s investment in their community…
On August 17th, 2008, the Minhath Montessori Pre-school hosted a regional sports event for the children of the school and the surrounding Muslim community.
The Minhath Montessori Pre-school, located in Dickwella is the only Tamil/Muslim school of its kind in the Tangallle Region where pre-school children can study in their native language and receive instruction in Arabic so they can read the Koran.
Our Project Coordinator, Minerva Fernando was invited as the featured guest to hand out the awards to the winners of the day’s events.
Minerva reports that the…
On July 28th, Program Director Minerva Fernando and Accountant Nishantha Sandakelum accompanied the children in the Tangalle region sponsored by Real Medicine Foundation and their guardians to Ruhuna Medical College in Karapatiya for their quarterly evaluations. Madumekala, Sachini, and Tharindu were in attendance.
Read more about the program here: Long-term Medical Support and Growth Hormone Treatment for Children.
Continuing To Reach Out to Children Update May – July , 2008 Mrs. Minerva Fernando, Project Coordinator, Michael Lear, Country Director
Fast approaching is the two-year anniversary for the Real Medicine Clinic in Yayawatta Tsunami Village in Seenimodora. Our staff continues to provide high impact care to its community members, care that now reaches out to three surrounding communities, including Polapotha, Kadurupakona and Moraketi Ara. On average, 200 patients per month visit the clinic where over 3000…
Our Real Medicine Team Whole Health Initiative to provide protocol enhancement trainings to physical therapists in Tangalle, Sri Lanka and serve out patient clinics was a tremendous success. Led by Michael Lear, the purpose of this initiative was to follow up last year’s program at Navajeevana as part of our commitment of ongoing training for physical therapists and assistants in cost effective, progressive treatment protocols such as The Trager® Approach for chronic and Post Traumatic Stress pain, spasticity, and neuromuscular disorders. We also provided clinical sessions for Navajeevana as well as for Real Medicine Foundation’s outpatient clinic at Yayawatta…
The goal of RMF’s Clinic in Yayawatta in southern Sri Lanka is to offer comprehensive treatment to the tsunami victims who have suffered physical, emotional, and economical hardship. Most of the families who have settled down in Yayawatta are refugees made homeless in the wake of the tsunami. The new Real Medicine Clinic at Yayawatta had opened its doors in October 2006 and has been blossoming ever since.
In May 2006, many families from Seenimodara, Kudawella, Mawella, and Moraketiara, who had lived in refugee camps until that time, moved into newly built houses at Yayawatta. Yayawatta is a…
PROJECTS:
Continuing the individual help to needy families. Running a student home for 16 female high school students from remote villages. Finding individual sponsorships for their future studies at university. Running a kindergarten/ pre-school for 16 children. Opening a second kindergarten for 11 needy kids at a tsunami housing village. Creating 10 jobs: 1 director, 5 teachers, 2 maids, 1 gardener and 1 accountant. Creating a Social Service Center (registration in process). Managing a budget for all these projects: investments and sustainability.Providing individual help to needy families:
Renting two homes and employing three families in these homes until they would find a permanent home (LKR 13,500.00 per month). Helping a family to buy a spice grinding mill to originate an income to maintain two children as they were homeless and the father had lost his job (LKR 25,000.00). Helping an old grandmother to buy a sewing machine to carry on her life with her orphaned grandchild (LKR 25,000.00). Helping a father to buy a bicycle to continue to sell fish for his and his son’s daily living (LKR 6,000.00). Helping…“As we understand, as human beings, our greatness lies, not so much in being able to remake the world, but to make the world a better place… By doing the best we can, for ourselves not, but for the needy, where it is needed…”
HISTORY:
On December 26, 2004 a massive underwater earthquake triggered a Tsunami that unleashed its natural terror, resulting in one of the most catastrophic, deadliest disasters known in the history of man.
Even several months after the Tsunami, we realized among the community in and around Tangalle, how many people were still…
Rohana is a deaf young man whose line of work is carpentry. Since he lost all of his equipment in the tsunami, he is seeking help to buy a set of carpentry tools. The whole set that would help him to provide for himself and his family again, would cost about US $700 including a multi-purpose saw machine. Your support is highly appreciated!
The accounting firm of Miller, Kaplan, Arase & Co. , LLP in Los Angeles, took on the project of raising the funds for Rohana as part of their “MKA Miles” marketing…
In January 2005, Madumekala Udayawanthi was an 11-year-old girl with the height of a 3-year-old (100cm = 39.37 inches) when she was first introduced to us in February 2005 at the Children’s clinic in the Mawella camp in Sri Lanka.
Update January of 2007, she now weighs seventeen kilos (37.5 pounds) and her height is 114 centimeters (44.9 inches – 3.74 feet). Read about this remarkable transformation…
Rebuilding Communities, Building the Bonds of Society
The community is the most basic unit of human social structure. When an area undergoes disaster, war or poverty, very often the fabric of the community is compromised. Real Medicine believes that it is impossible to truly heal a whole person without healing a community. We work to support projects that repair broken bonds.
Many in the US are familiar with the effectiveness of therapeutic bodywork, movement education, acupuncture, yoga and massage in treating pain, relieving stress and addressing other psychological and physical trauma. However, these techniques that are so common here, have not widely reached abroad to countries like Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Indonesia, recently devastated by natural disasters and in need of effective affordable health care options.
While most relief organizations recognize the need for immediate medical care, many have not yet taken advantage of the long term benefits that cost effective holistic protocols can provide to those suffering from…
This camp has not been fortunate to be taken under the care of any large NGO. It is one of the ‘missed’ camps. Each of the 29 families here receives only 375 rupees a week from the Sri Lankan government, roughly $3.50 US and is at the mercy of passersby for all other donations.
This is the camp I worked at during my month in Sri Lanka, one month after the tsunami. During that time, I helped raise $2000 US from friends in the USA and Canada, which paid for 500 pairs of eyeglasses for tsunami victims in…
Renovation and Extension of the Peripheral Mother-Child Unit Thallala, Matara District, Sri Lanka
While visiting the refugee camps which were established following the tsunami, we were regularly confronted with the insufficient medical supply at the camps as well as at the hospitals. The few hospitals, which had not been damaged or completely demolished by the tsunami, did not have enough capacity for all the injured people and were in urgent need of medicine and medical supply. Read on…
…Yayawatta, Palapotha, Seenimodara, Tangalle, Sri Lanka
Progress Report of Real Medicine Clinic at Yayawatta in Seenimodara, Tangalla
Medical Consultant: Dr. Ranjith Abeywardana and Dr. G.G. Chamal Sanjeewa Medical Assistant: Mrs. Dimuthu Shiromani Keeper and Cleaner: Mrs. Samanthi Priyadarshani
There are 95 houses at Yayawatta. Most of the people living in those houses are poor fishermen. The clinic is a blessing for them. Every clinic day, there are already more than ten to fifteen patients waiting in line to get the treatment. Most cases are fever, infections, colds, coughs, aches and pains. Elderly patients suffer from aches…
Seeing the poverty and sad conditions of the overwhelming majority of Sri Lanka’s orphanages, we envisioned that there might be a possibility to work on elevating the situation of all orphanages in Sri Lanka. We decided to design an evaluation system to decide where help is needed the most. Read on…
The MINHATH Pre-school is the first ever pre-school for the children of the Muslim minority community in Dickwella, Sri Lanka. The new building was officially opened on November 25, 2006. School activities started on January 8, 2007.
The construction of the pre-school was overseen by the principal, Mr. Imthiyas. And he got all the support and the blessings from the Muslim Religious Leaders of Dickwella Jumma Mosque. The Board of Directors are the Religious Leaders of the Muslim Community, it is headed by Mr. Imthiyas. The management is in his hands, supervision and advocacy is in the hands…
By Minerva Fernando
The MINHATH Pre-school is the first ever pre-school for the children of the Muslim minority community in Dickwella, Sri Lanka. The new building was officially opened on November 25, 2006. School activities started on January 8, 2007.
Four Teachers were hired: 1. Miss M.R.B.Rizka Latheef 2. Miss M.F.Nazaha 3. Miss M.H.N.S.Nasahiya 4. Miss M.N.F.Rumaiz
26 children are attending the pre-school right now, ages 3 to 5 years. Read more…
It is beautiful to see that today, almost one year after we established it, our clinic keeps blossoming and serving the families in the area that have been severely affected by the tsunami. Dr. Ranjith, supported by his assistant Dimuthu, visits the clinic twice a week, it is a fixture in the community, and as I could personally witness: Long lines show how much it is needed. Read on…
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