Massage featured in PEOPLE magazine

The April 24 issue of PEOPLE magazine features an article about massage and occupational therapy for Eastern European orphans.

The six-page article profiles the work of infant-massage educator Suzanne P. Reese, occupational therapist Jennifer O’Dea, and Kathy Ryan, who heads up the U.S. branch of Chernobyl Children’s Project International (CCPI). CCPI was responsible for the women’s visit to an orphanage in Belarus, a former Soviet republic 120 miles northwest of Chernobyl.

The six-page article focuses on the plight of children labeled “imbeciles” by the Belarus government, and the benefits they receive from massage, exercise and attention. Although studies have not proven that the myriad conditions and diseases the children suffer from—including autism, blindness, mental retardation and cerebral palsy—are a direct result of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor’s meltdown of April 26, 1986, many people are convinced of this, the article noted.

Reese told MASSAGE Magazine that one notable volunteer was left out of the PEOPLE article: Michael Curtis, former executive director of The Heart Touch Project, a Los-Angeles based organization that provides volunteer massage to hospital- and home-bound patients.

“From the perspective of the work we do, it was heartbreaking that they would not seize the opportunity to feature a man in a nurturing role,” Reese said. Yet, she added, when the volunteers saw the feature-article spread, which includes seven color photos, “we all just cried and screamed.”

Reese told MASSAGE Magazine that she hopes the PEOPLE article inspires other therapists to volunteer their hands-on talents.

“It's my hope that this story moves people deeply, deeply enough to do something more—and that all people can do more,” she said.