Hola from steamy Peru!  We're definitely into the rainy season here, but that hasn't kept us from pursuing "business as usual". We recently got back from a second trip out to Chirik Sacha and the surrounding areas where we added to our knowledge of the medicinal plants sector here in the San Martin region.  So as promised today is about a walk in the woods...

This trip was a two day adventure, including a trip to Huaja, a small village about two hours drive from Tarapoto. As we have found wherever we go here, we were warmly welcomed to the home and farm of a couple living in Huaja.

 Today's trek was all about harvesting one of the medicinal plants in this family's purma.  But first we shared some chicha maiz to refresh ourselves and had a sit together on the bench outside the house. I learned that a term of respect a woman can use for another woman is Nana (pronounced Nya-nya) and that which a woman uses for a man is Turi (pronounced Too-rree).  They mean sister, and brother respectively in Kichwa.  Different terms of respect are used when a man speaks to another man or to a woman.  There is something familiar and endearing yet respectful about these titles, and I enjoyed being referred to this way.  We talked about the problems this couple is having with a fungal infection in their Ajo Sacha (Garlic creeper) plants.  This is the first time they have experienced the problem, and there was a specialist accompanying us to examine the plants and to document their harvest process to see if there were clues as to the source and spread of the problem. We examined leaves from the affected plants, then accompanied them on a short trek to a purma where they harvest medicinal plants. 

We hiked through a clearing behind the house, then up into the bush.  I was immediately aware of how easily you could get lost, as we pushed our way along a near-invisible trail with vines and shrubs entangling our legs and slippery mud beneath the leaves underfoot.     

   
It was cloyingly hot in there where the breeze didn't reach, but the smell of dampness and foliage filled the air.  We hiked only for about 15 minutes or so, and suddenly came to a large clearing, the purma.  A purma is a second-growth forest, either naturally reseeding itself, or having been reseeded with trees and other plants by the owners.

At first glance purmas look like areas of devastation, but on closer examination the riches there are revealed.  In this area many of the medicinal plants grow wild or are planted by medicinal plant producers.

 



Plantain trees are a foundation plant in the purmas.  They are fast-growing trees, and even when small provide shade and the basis of a small micro-ecosystem for plants such as shade-lovers and vines that require support.  Many of these are medicinal plants. Plantain trees also provide their thick, leathery leaves, which the people here use as wraps to put the harvested plants into, and to tear strips off for tying bundles together. 

They can also be pressed into service as sombreros to cover your head from the blazing sun. 






    As we watched and asked questions, the couple harvested medicinal plants.  Nana plucked leaves individually from a different type of medicinal plant and tucked them into the large woven bag she carried with her.  Her husband used a large machete to dig out the plants he was harvesting, as the entire plant is used, roots to leaf tips.     

 


In the tangle of the undergrowth, I had difficulty differentiating one plant from another, but as the pile of harvested plants grew on its bed of plantain leaves, it was obvious the couple knew exactly what they were doing.  We spent the time in the purma taking photos and asking endless questions about the trees and plants.  We also had the opportunity to try Cana, which is a plant used to quench thirst.



It is a large sprawling plant with long narrow leathery leaves and cane-like stems.  The canes contain a slightly citrusy and vaguely sweet sap, which you suck out of the cane.  It's delicious and immediately refreshes. As an added bonus it has large exotic flowers, a feast for the eyes.



 

Within an hour, the harvest was finished, with a large bag full of leaves and a huge pile of harvested plants to show for their efforts.  Turi cut strips of dry plantain leaves and tied his harvest into two big bundles.
 











Nana carried a bundle nearly as large as his, as well as her bag of leaves, and neither of them would hear of being helped. As we picked our way back through the forest on the faint trail, I reflected on what my definition of "hard work" has been to this point. 



People work incredibly hard here to make a living, under difficult circumstances and with the most basic of equipment, yet they don't boast or complain, and are quick to share what they have with us, total strangers.  This cheerful hospitality is one of the things I have consistently found here in Peru, from people in the city of Tarapoto itself, and from the people we visit with in the communities surrounding it. It has caused me to rethink how I perceive hospitality, sharing, labor, and needs versus wants.  Every person I meet here and every experience adds to this renovation-in-progress.


Medicinal plants in their raw, unprocessed form, are sold by weight, so the next stop in the business for today was the river.  We arrived back at the farm, then walked down through a pasture area to the river.  The cool shade and the sound of the water running over rocks was as welcome as an oasis for us, after the heat of the jungle.  The plant bundles were carefully opened on a large boulder, then handfuls of them taken into the water and all dirt washed away. 

Once this task was completed the water was shaken off them and the plants re-bundled to carry back up to the house.  Here they were weighed, then placed carefully into large plastic- coated burlap sacks for shipment. 

 The top is sewn shut by hand to keep out any road dust and the bags are labeled as to the weight, plant type and source.  This harvest was destined to travel the long road back to Tarapoto, where it would be inspected and purchased by Laboratorio Takiwasi for the production of natural medicinal and bath products. 

But that too, is another story.  Next time, I'll feature some of the beautiful and useful plants that are used here for food, medicine and in other aspects of daily life.  The jungle is an incredibly rich source of these necessities, there for the using by people who understand and respect it.  It is pantry, pharmacy, artist's studio and tool-shop to those who live in it.  There's something very right about that.
Until next time mis amigos y amigas, I wish you health and happiness, and hope that these reflections and adventures give you food for thought. It's a rich and lovely world we live in, when we stop long enough to look at it.  The next time you are out and about, do it on foot, and look around you.  Really look.  You will be blessed.

Hola Amigos y Amigas!  Welcome back to Peru, the land of biodiversity and warm-hearted people.  It's been a busy time of learning and teaching for us here, so the blog has been a little delayed. 

One of the incredible views we enjoyed on our trip to Chirik Sacha. 

Now that you've learned a little about cacao and chocolate, I thought I'd pass on a little of what I've learned here about the medicinal plants of Peru.  What I know is a drop in the bucket compared to the wealth of knowledge that exists here, but I am tickled to be able to pass on some of what I have learned. 

The use of medicinal plants in the maintenance of health and in treatment of a wide variety of ailments has been part of the Peruvian culture for millennia.  Most people know at least a little about traditional medicine here, and many are specialists with a profound knowledge of the plants and their relationship to health. This knowledge has been traditionally passed on from generation to generation, and prior to the advent of western medicine here was the source of healing and disease prevention. 



The exquisite bloom of Passion Flower

Medicinal plants, like many natural resources in countries around the world, have been threatened by deforestation and logging, climate change and over-harvesting.  Peru is no exception, but at this point there is a strong initiative here to prevent the ongoing loss of natural resources and to heal the forests.  Medicinal plants, in general, do not grow well in isolation or in cultivated plots like other crops such as corn, potatoes and wheat. They grow naturally in the forest, in clearings or beneath the shade of trees, and the symbiotic relationships within these ecosystems are essential in preserving each of the organisms within them. 

With time and the challenges that have been presented to the forests, many of the medicinal plants that have been used for generations have become increasingly difficult to find and people have had to travel longer distances and search harder to find them. This has resulted in disuse of the plants in daily life and loss of the traditional  knowledge associated with them. 

There has been a movement afoot over the last 20 years or so, to intervene and to preserve not only the forest resources but also cultural wisdom associated with them.  A non-profit organization named Takiwasi Laboratory has played a significant part in this movement, and I will be telling you a lot more about them in future posts.  People in villages in the San Martin region (and elsewhere in Peru) have begun to form associations and to organize in their efforts to preserve their forests and traditional knowledge.  One of these organizations is the Ampik Sacha Association of Medicinal Plants Producers, whose president you met in a previous post.  (See more here) 
We returned recently to visit her and her family again and to get more information on what the association is doing in her area and also to learn more about the plants themselves.

In order to preserve the genetic pool of plants as well as to rebuild the areas of the forests where they are naturally found, the associations work together to educate their communities on the importance of this preservation. They do this through participatory workshops and collective decision-making, facilitated in large part by Takiwasi Laboratory. From these workshops has come the idea of plant nurseries, established in several areas, to actively cultivate seedling medicinal plants to place into the forests.

Nursery demonstration plots

This brings the plants back within reach of those who use them in daily life, preserves the genetic pool of endangered plants and provides the potential for these people also to improve their livelihood through marketing of the plants in the form of quality end products.  We had an opportunity to visit one of these nurseries.  Plants are seeded into small plastic bags where they are nurtured out of direct sun at the nursery until mature enough to plant out into the forests or demonstration plots. 
 

All the work is performed on a volunteer basis by members of the association, and many tasks can be performed by the children or young people in the villages. 












One of many medicinal plants

This brings the knowledge of medicinal plants into the next generation and involves them in an activity important in preserving their environment and livelihood. This

multi-generational focus on these activities is essential in ensuring that the initiatives continue into the future and that knowledge is passed on intact to those future generations of decision-makers. Not only are the seeds of medicinal plants sown, but also the seeds of cultural identity.  There is a real sense of pride surrounding this small but important industry here.






This is but the beginning in the chain of activities involved in the production and marketing of medicinal plants.  Once the plants have been grown to a size where they can be planted out, they are planted in family gardens like this one

 

A family garden

 

and in purmas, which are secondary forest areas.  But more about that in the next post.  We'll take a little trek into the jungle to have a look at where these plants live, after seeding or as they grow wild.  I promise you, what we find there will knock your socks off.  Adios!