The History of AIAN

That the AIAN exists at all is something of a miracle. Providing healthcare for the very poor population of rural India has been, in general, a haphazard, intermittent, and fairly unsuccessful process. Until recently, acupuncture was an unknown, or distrusted, form of treatment. Then, in 1990, a clinic was opened here in Purulia by Kalyanika, a German acupuncturist who, as part of the Ananda Marga Gurukula network, sought to offer effective medical treatment to the poor, and, by founding a facility to train acupuncture students, a way to sustain this much-needed care. Quickly she gained the trust of the local community and was soon treating 25 to 40 patients every morning, five days a week. She relied on the generosity of donors to the clinic to support her program at AIAN, and has since moved on to start other clinics in India.

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In 1996, Charles Martley, a graduate of the New England School of Acupuncture, heard of the clinic and decided to visit for a few weeks to help out. He was awed and inspired by how the community had embraced acupuncture, and by the dramatic results that were being achieved. Shortly after his return to his own practice in Vermont, USA, Charles was asked to assume, and accepted, financial responsibility for the AIAN Free Clinic and its student training programs.

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