Herbal Medicine in GC

To what level does herbal medicine play in the healthcare of Guadalupe Carney? Throughout the surveying, one name, Maria Suela Mejilla, came up repeatedly. Maria, one of the last traditional healers in the village, chronicles information passed down from respected healers and runs her own business making herbal medicine in the form of capsules, tonics, elixirs, and tinctures. I decided to pay a visit.

A half hour later I arrive at her hut, an outlier in the 450-family
community of Guadalupe Carney. Her distance affords her an expansive backyard that quickly turns into jungle. Herbs, weeds, vines, Maria strolls and plucks up plants with the same familiarity I shop in the produce section of Fred Meyers. Quebra pedra, Absinthe, hoja de aire. . . For a moment I’m lost in the luxury of a backyard pharmacy.(pictured to the left, Hoja de Aire, ground and made into a paste as a chest rub for asthma.)

Beyond making medicine, Maria teaches classes on practical health topics. One of the many resources she uses in her work is Where there is no Doctor the ultimate survival medical guide covering everything from delivering a baby in the middle of nowhere, to flow charts determining the cause of diarrhea.

The surprising part? “Not many people use this kind of traditional medicine anymore,” Maria shrugs. “Chemical medications are cheaper because of socialized medicine. People find that chemical meds bring quicker recovery, and we find that less and less of the village come to a traditional healer for treatment.” It seems that even the removed community of GC is not immune to the instant-gratification complex that characterizes this age.

At first it seemed counterintuitive that a village nestled in nature can't afford natural medicine, but then it makes sense, because in a way, the "natural" lifestyle in Portland is more expensive. In the same city bottled water became this symbol of healthy hyperindividualism, an "ipod for your kidneys", herbalized medicine had grown madly in popularity, everywhere in the Northwest community. And 38% of American adults use complementary and alternative medicine, including acupuncture, herbal medicine, vitamin therapy, and biofeedback. Irony that herbals fall low on the priority list for GC? Maybe. . .

In the Garden

A few plants common to the region, and their uses:

Quebrapiedra or “stone-breaker”

Used primarily to treat kidney stones, or renal calculi. Villagers use this superfood by steeping the leaves and making a tea of it.

Ajejo or absinthe wormwood

Used in herbal medicine to treats fevers, cramps, stomachache and

also used to expel parasitic worms (they use for malaria). Also serves as an antispasmotic and antiseptic. The oil is used to improve circulation. Best known in its liquor form by the same name.

Noni: A super-antioxidant that boosts immunity and energy levels, fights high cholesterol and diseases like cancer and gastritis. Used to make juices, tinctures, and tonics. (to the right; immature noni fruit)