ANAMED

Action for Natural Medicine (ANAMED[cite]) is a project started in Germany.  The founders have found have been researching local medicines in the tropics, and promoting them in the villages as an alternative to the health centers in Malawi.  The knowledge about medicinal plants has faded away throughout the generations in Malawi due to poor record keeping methods, and the perception that western culture is progressive and right, and African culture is outdated and wrong.

 

                The health centers in the villages often run out of supplies and aren’t easily accessible.  Health centers are supposed to be within 7km of every trading center, but that can be a far walk when you have malaria, and can’t afford to pay for transport (fuel prices keep rising, difficult to generate income), and don’t have a bike.

 

                ANAMED provides an alternative to the current health centers.  Natural medicine gardeners will always have a supply of medicines, and can sell medicines to people in need.  Back in May Peace Corps provided an ANAMED training for volunteers and a counterpart from their village. 

 

                I’ve recently been approved for a grant to promote ANAMED in my village.  Yesterday I received 15 artemesia seedlings, and I am heading to the Natural Resource Center in Lilongwe to buy 2kgs of morringa seed. 

 

                Artemesia is a shrub that treats malaria (among other things).  By making a tea from the leaves you can extract the oils in the plant with the medical properties. 

 

                Morringa is a tree with very nutritious leaves.  The leaves can be dried and made into a powder, and served in several ways like putting it in a tea, or poured over a dish.  This plant can help the malnourished and people living with HIV/AIDS, but is also just a great way to get more nutrients.

 

                I’ll be allocating these two plants through women’s groups and village AIDS committees in my area as per the conditions of my grant.  The groups are very excited at the opportunity of growing natural medicines, and are more excited about the opportunity to sell them. 

 

                Of course a sufficient amount of education is needed about identifying and treating diseases, and natural medicine is only an alternative to lack of access to contemporary medicine. 

                My counterpart is leading the promotion and education of ANAMED in the village, and is emphasizing to the groups to consult health workers first before making their own diagnoses’, and I is supplying them with proper ways to harvest, prepare, and correctly dose treatments.

 

                So far this is the first successful project I’ve been a part of, and has made me feel good about being here – like it’s all been worth it.