The Oaxaca Project

The answer:  They were all introduced to EFT.

Teaching and doing EFT with these kids has been the most incredible experience of my life. It not only has helped me grow personally, changing my perceptions and paradigms in many ways, but also as an EFT practitioner.

When I first started doing EFT at the hospital with the kids, I was curious as to what would happen despite the limiting working conditions and circumstances. As time went on and with a little bit of encouragement and perseverance, I began to see the details and the real magnitude of what was transpiring. I became aware that true improvements were made. Not only were these children feeling better physically, but their pain and nausea diminished, fevers were reduced, their immune systems recovered faster also emotionally deep changes came about. They were getting rid of their terror and fears of needles, nurses, doctors, of their disease, creating self-esteem and self-worth to name a few.

Finding out about these very important often overlooked changes, I also was glad to observe that some of the children who tapped with me were learning life skills that are rarely taught to them. In a way they were given back their dignity, and that allowed them to embrace their disease on a whole new level. They owned it and claimed their right to heal, and actually allow their body to begin the healing process.

I saw child after child tap on their own, they tapped with TappyBear and reminded their parents to tap with them. They began to choose to feel better, under the worst of circumstances, and to allow themselves to be happy by focusing on all that was good at that moment in their lives. This in turn brought back my most cherished trophy, their smiles and joy.

The quality of life has improved drastically for these children, and consequently that of their parents, the hospital staff, the doctor and me.

These kids are incredible souls and it is such an honor to work with them.

How working with EFT and Kids at the Hospital came about.

How does one begin such an intense, enormous project as working with EFT and kids with cancer, in a hospital of all places?  Amazingly enough it started out in the simplest way. I was invited to participate in a Fundraiser for Kids with Cancer in a local park. I had just gotten my new TappyBear and was eager to see how children responded to him. I went off to the park that day with the following idea: “Let’s see what happens? I’ll spend a few hours of my time lending a hand and helping some children feel a little better”. That simple idea has led to a life-long project that continues to expand and fill my heart with love.

My experience that day was a delight. Remember we were in a park with the kids lying on cots under makeshift tents. It is quite striking to see these beautiful children in pale green gowns with little to no hair, some calm, some very weak, some with IVs, some silent, some distant.

I worked with 4 children that day. The first was Cinthia. She had the roundest face and even though she did not see well out of one eye she paid close attention. She smiled and was open to trying EFT thinking it was fun especially because she got to use TappyBear. It made her feel markedly more relaxed and reduced her discomfort. I was glad as it was such an encouraging start.

With the other children, I had varying success. One of them was open to EFT, another one was still in the shock of finding out that she had leukemia, but tapping with her parents brought them some relief. The last one that day was a shy one. Yet, each relaxed in some way. In each case TappyBear was a soft and gentle way to approach these children, which is very different from their experience with needles, medicines and a hospital.

After observing my tapping, the doctor in charge of the cancer ward commented about me trying EFT in the hospital itself. This idea had to settle for both, and it took 2 months before we managed to connect. The day we did meet, September 14, 2007 is a memorable day for me. It was the beginning of a bigger journey and learning experience in my life.

It started out simple enough with a conversation between the doctor and me about EFT and the needs of these children beyond the physical treatments they receive. He basically gave me the freedom to do whatever I could with EFT, and with my trusty TappyBear I did so.

I choose to begin by teaching and showing EFT to the nursing staff as they are in immediate contact with the children on a daily basis. I wanted them to know personally what I was up to, and not be surprised by the funny looking “tappings” and “stuffed bear” I would be using. I led them through a few rounds of EFT and we ended up laughing, yawned and relaxing. It created a beautiful connection between me and these nurses who care so diligently for these children. When I met them initially I could feel them stressed and tired from the amount of work to care for these children, especially since getting too attached to any one of the kids is difficult and has emotional consequences if he/she doesn’t survive. I truly believe that connecting with them has been one of the keys to success as they freely allow me to work with them and the children.

As I got to the Children’s area, much to my surprise, the first girl I saw in the hospital was Cinthia. She was glad to see me and Tappy’s Blue bag on my shoulder. She told me excitedly that she remembered how to tap, had taught her Dad how to tap and they tapped together. How wonderful that after 10 minutes of tapping with me, she could recognize its value, use it and teach someone how to do it with her. She was the first recipient of a TappyBear, and I knew I would need many more right then. (As of Oct 2008, with the strong support and help of TappyBear Inc. I have been able to give over 80 children with cancer their very own TappyBear.) Every time I give a child a TappyBear, I see the other children looking at me with hope in their eyes that they’ll be the next one. It makes me wish I had one to give each one right now.

Initial Perceptions

The children’s cancer ward has a waiting room where up to 25 parents and children wait for treatments and two rooms with beds. One of them has 3 beds and the other 6 of them.

The first day I walked into the cancer ward, I was overwhelmed with the sadness, pain, misery and fear that I literally sensed, as if I were being hit by a wall with these emotions. I saw a mother and child huddled together in a corner, and there were about 30 more people in the room in a similar state. I could feel that in their perception, they were alone, huddled in their own misery. It was a lonely, isolated and depressing picture that deeply saddened me.

With Cinthia and Tappy as my ice breaker, I began to shed all doubts, and sat down to tap with her, observed by all others. Her smile was more than enough proof that this was only the beginning.

When I began using EFT, the children and parents who tapped with me began to feel relief on many levels. With time, and, as more and more of the children and parents learned EFT, the whole atmosphere of the ward gradually changed.

Here are some of the changes that I perceived.

– One morning I walked in and four children with their parents were having breakfast together and laughing. This was so remarkable that even the doctor noticed it and commented about it to me.

– On another visit, the children were playing games together or on their own. They were laughing and talking to each other. They were doing puzzles, drawing and coloring. They were playing with a ball and constructing things out of Legos.

– Another shift was the parents talking, sharing experiences and helping each other out. One mother told me before learning EFT she couldn’t help anyone else. She was so absorbed in her own problems with her own child that she couldn’t even think to look at what was going on with the others much less help them. Now she feels empowered, because she feels calm and much more relaxed in the face of her child’s cancer. Believe me, she now is one of the mothers who goes out of her way to help the children and other parents.

– The next aspect that I was amazed by is that the nurses are more relaxed as they enjoy interacting with children who aren’t afraid (or less afraid) of them or of the treatments they will be giving them.

– A delightful indirect coincidence was that the only place in the whole hospital that got a new paint job was the children’s cancer ward. It went from drab gray walls and dark blue doors to fresh and inviting colors like a beautiful soft yellow with stuffed animal detailing and light blue with scenes from the sea.

– Parents themselves show markedly reduced anxiety and intensity of fear, so they can be joyful with their children.

– One of the best aspects was that the doctor and nurses found increased compliance with the children when taking their medications or coming to the hospital for treatments and injections.

The big shift is that now when I walk in to the cancer ward, the energy feels light and comfortable. The ever presence and seriousness of the disease is still there, but not the intense fear of it or the inability to manage it. Laughter is now regularly heard from the ward.

For me, these shifts alone have been worth bringing the gift of EFT to the hospital.