Discovering the uses of medicinal plants in your neighbourhood
TEACHERS’/PARENTS’ PAGE
World Neighbors International Headquarters
5116
North Portland Avenue
Oklahoma City, OK 73112
U.S.A.
The ideas below are taken from:
World Neighbors In Action Vol. 15 No. 4E
“Interest Grows In Nature’s Medicine For Us”.
World Neighbors In Action is a newsletter published by
World Neighbors.
If reproduced, please give credit to: World Neighbors
The best sources of information on medicinal plants are not
found in books. People within your community have the knowledge and the skills
for preparing treatments using local plants. The traditional healer knows much,
and may be willing to share knowledge if you and your students are sincere in
your interest to learn. Older people in your community often have experience in
the use of medicinal plants. Everyone has something to share and something to
learn.
Below are some ideas on ways to discover the uses of medicinal
plants in your neighbourhood. (It would be a good idea to do classwork on plants
in general before focussing on medicinal plants. For example, make sure students
know about the different parts of plants and their functions.)
* Call together the people for a community meeting
where everyone can exchange information and experiences. One person can act as
moderator, and other students can take down notes. These notes can be the
beginning of your own community handbook.
* Organize a field trip for your students to explore the area
around your neighbourhood - in the gardens, by the river, up the mountains, in
the forest. Ask people who know many of the medicinal plants to be your guides
and teachers. You and your students can learn to use your senses in identifying
the plants. Remember what each plant and its parts look like. Better still, make
drawings. Remember the smells of the leaves, fruits, flowers and bark; how
smooth or rough the plant feels; how it tastes - if the guide says its okay to
do so. (Be careful not to swallow anything.) Make notes about the plants.
Ask your guides questions, too. Do the plants grow only in certain places? At
what times of the year do the plants flower and fruit? How are the plants
pollinated and how are their seeds dispersed? Are the plants becoming more rare
and so harder to find?
* Make a medicinal plant album. Use the notes collected at the
community meeting and/or the field trip. Also include the students’
drawings of the plants. Be sure to include all the local names of the plants.
Describe the illnesses they act against; the parts of the plants used; how the
treatments are prepared and the dosage or method of treatment. Try to present
the information so that people who cannot read well may understand it.
If you are interested and able, both OUTREACH and World
Neighbors would welcome information about your experiences with medicinal
plants. Others might benefit from your knowledge.
Two ways to present information in a
medicinal plant album. (An index of plant species and treatments would be
useful.)
* Start a small garden of medicinal plants. Seeds can be
collected from plants growing in the region, or cuttings can be taken from
healthy young plants. With some plants, you can divide the roots, taking some
but always leaving the main root so the plant can continue to grow.
* involve your local health workers in your medicinal plants
projects. They, too, have much to share and
learn.
