Founded 1997 Area served Mongolia | Founder Sas Carey | |
Type Non-governmental organization Focus health care and cultural preservation Location 248 Washington Street Ext., Middlebury, VT | ||
Nomadicare is a non-governmental organization that provides health care services to nomadic herders in Mongolia under the auspices of Ecologia, a 501(c)3 non-profit The stated mission of Nomadicare is "to harmonize ancient and modern medicine to support the health and cultural survival of Mongolia’s nomads".
Contents
History
Nomadicare's founder Sas Carey began traveling to Mongolia in 1994 and studying traditional Mongolian medicine, a health system with roots in Ayurvedic and Tibetan medicine. Following work as a United Nations Development Programme consultant in the Gobi Desert, Carey began documenting the lives of nomadic herders and delivering medical supplies to rural hospitals in the Gobi.
In 2003, Nomadicare was asked to assess the health needs and traditional health practices of the Dukha reindeer herders of Khövsgöl Province by Totem Peoples, a project of Cultural Survival. Since that time, Nomadicare has focused its work on two indigenous populations of herders, in the Gobi and in the Mongolian Taiga. In addition to documenting traditional health practices, Nomadicare provides education and vitamins and arranges for herders to be seen by volunteer health care providers. It also delivers diagnostic equipment to rural hospitals and coordinates professional training opportunities for Mongolian health care providers.
The most recent set of goals for the organization are:
Nomadicare has also provided assistance with independent projects that support Mongolians or promote education about traditional nomadic life and health care.
Dukha Health Database
With the assistance of the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, Nomadicare maintains a health database of the Dukha reindeer herders. Anthropometric data and health concerns are assessed on a yearly basis and shared with the Mongolian Ministry of Health.
Sum Hospital Project
Nomadicare has included training in integrated medicine for Mongolian health care providers since its inception. However, in 2010, Nomadicare created a formal goal to provide Mongolian health care providers with training in both modern and traditional Mongolian medicine in each rural provincial center, a project that has attracted the attention and support of Jane Goodall. In aimag-based conferences, doctors and nurses from rural areas are brought together with practitioners of traditional Mongolian medicine and also provided with up-to-date information on modern diagnostic and treatment options.