This week our two interns, Emmanuel and Kusala, had the wonderful opportunity to attend a training in the use of natural medicines. A few months ago Never Ending Food received a visit from a man named Madalitso Mijiga who became very interested in the ideas of Permaculture and their link to natural medicines. From this visit, he contacted a man named Nelson Moyo who is one of the Malawi’s top trainers from the group known as ‘Action For Natural Medicine’ (or ANAMED). ANAMED is an international organization working in over 25 countries to “help communities and health centres in the Tropics to become more self-reliant in preventing and treating the most common diseases and health complaints”. Together, the two of these men organized a 2-day ‘hands-on’ training for 5 participants.
The training took place at Madalitso’s residence, which is already growing into a year-round source of nutritious foods, medicines, and beauty. The more that Mr. Mijiga learns, the more he seems to apply to his own life…A true role model! Participants for this training came from as far as Nkhata Bay to learn more about how natural medicines can be used to improve people’s quality of life. During the 2-days of learning the participants had a chance to try their hand at making different ointments, balms, oils, and tinctures. They also learned about the link between nutrition and medicine as Hippocrates was once quoted as saying: “Let food be thy medicine and let medicine be thy food”. There was even a field visit to a local nutrition clinic where foods and natural medicines are being use to help treat various diseases.
Thank you very much to Mr. Mijiga and Mr. Moyo for their energy, organizing, and participation which made this training possible. Hopefully this is just the beginning of a prosperous ANAMED movement within the Lilongwe area.
