Science Buzz Cafe # 447: The Ayurvedic Healing Garden of Bhopal – An Integrated Health Care Model Grows out of the World’s Worst Industrial Disaster

Terry will present the story of the poorest people in the world battling the largest chemical company in the world!

They woke up choking in the middle of the night to the smell of burning chilies and ran for their lives as the cloud of toxic gas spread over the sleeping city. Thousands died in their tracks, and many wish they had not survived. It was the World’s Worst Industrial Disaster. After 34 years, Union Carbide’s pesticide factory in Bhopal, India has not yet been cleaned up and more than 100,000 people still struggle with lifetime disabilities and health issues.

It is the story of the Sambhavna Trust Clinic, formed by survivors to provide their own health care in the wake of official denial of the wide range of health effects caused by the chemical poisoning. The clinic combines Ayurveda, Yoga, Panchakarma, and allopathic care to provide relief to the community of survivors.

Terry Allan, local organic farmer and Permaculture designer, spent 4 years helping to establish Sambhavna’s organic garden that produces the herbs used to make the Ayurvedic medicines prescribed to the survivors. She shares the story of the garden and an inspiring group of people who continue to struggle against indifference and forgetfulness for justice and a life of dignity.