In order to value the culture and practices of traditional medicines, the second phase of the Traditional Medicine workshop took place on the 1st and 2nd in the Malacacheta community, Serra da Lua region.
The objective of the 2nd stage of the workshop, according to the Secretary General of the Indigenous Women's Movement of the Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR), Maria Betânia Macuxi, was to learn in practice how to make traditional remedies and understand their benefits.
The course was taught by the indigenous leader, better known as Grandma Luciola Mota, 82 years old, of the Wapichana ethnic group, who has been working for more than 20 years in the area of traditional medicine. She stressed that this meeting is a dream come true, as she has long imagined bringing together women, to teach their knowledge about the power of plants in the making of medicines for the cure of various diseases.
"This was a dream I had and today it is coming true, since I can remember, my parents showed me how to make medicines, in the 90s I started working in the area, I learned little by little and so I am very happy, this is the culture we have, our way of curing ourselves from diseases, before we did not have pharmacy medicines, we only used our plants, and today I want to pass this on to young people and other women so that they continue, here I taught how to make syrups, bottles, ointments and others, each one will have the mission of taking this forward" Stressed Luciola.
In addition to the women from the Malacacheta community itself, participants from the communities of Jacamizinho - Serra da Lua region, Taxí - Surumu region and Maturuca - Serra region were also present, with the aim of exchanging knowledge between them.
The health agent, Laudisa André, 56 years old, Macuxi ethnic group, Maturuca community, spoke of the importance of this exchange of knowledge, she says that she had known Grandma Luciola for a few years, Laudisa has also been working for a long time with the practice of traditional medicine, including using the medicines at the health center in the community, and explains that she came to the meeting mainly to learn the "miraculous ointment".
"For me it is very good to be here, I am happy to have learned how to make the miraculous ointment, I will take a lot of knowledge from this workshop, it is important for us to be exchanging knowledge, and teach others, I am taking other plants to plant in my garden, today I use the medicines at the health center, because there is always a lack of medicine, I believe that all communities have to have a garden of medicinal plants, they have to have more people to learn, this is our culture, so we should not lose. Said Laudisa.
The workshop was attended by more than 36 young students, xaiene wapichana, 15 years old, was one of the young people active in the meeting, helping in the construction of the cardboard and writing on the packaging the ingredients of the medicines was one of the ways she found to participate in the workshop.
The activity was an initiative of the women's movement department of the Indigenous Council of Roraima, in partnership with the communities. In all, more than 70 people participated, including young people, children, traditional leaders and women.
Ascom: CIR