IN the days long gone, there was a plant, root or herb for every health ailment. The elders who knew about medicine would find that right plant at right maturity to make that mix to return the patient back to health. Modern medicine has heavily borrowed many of these herbs and turned them into capsules and medicines.
Whether it is anaesthesia or antibiotics, many of the medicines have their origins in traditional plant medicine. Today, after recognising the side effects of many of the synthetic medication people are turning back to natural traditional herbs and roots. Some medicines are special and have special people who know how to mix and some remedies have become common use for every family.
In the indigenous communities, a common remedy used is layalaya or cagolaya. Everyone is familiar with this root and its sharp taste. I am told that as small children they were given small doses of concentrated juice for macake, oral thrush or loss of appetite or to cleanse the system from junk food. As children grow, there is a weekly ritual when whole family will have to take the remedy once a week for detox.
The weekly ritual is for immune boosting as a preventative measure as children are exposed to various elements in their outdoor activities! Very small children get small doses in spoon and elder children cupful. There is much whining and complaining I’m told and probably that’s what makes the experience memorable! However as adults when one suffers from stomach ailments, cold or sinus layalaya is again searched for.
Layalaya is a ginger-like root with many fine roots that make it very fibrous and difficult to process. It grows organically in our hills and easily found as a remedy. It is hot and sharp as it matures, so when adults have to drink a cup, it goes down burning, it also has a strong smell one has to get used to. The women who love to dish it out will insist you have to take a cup in the morning and afternoon.
If I show signs of cold I have been made to drink it as well and the heat that runs through the body can be quite sharp! Anything that is good is difficult to swallow I guess but it does make you feel better!
Foundation for Rural Integrated Enterprises & Development (FRIEND) is a homegrown NGO that is keen to learn about traditions that have sustained our communities for generations, whether it be health, environment or livelihood practices.
Various rural communities share their strength as we discuss development and almost every community that is settled at foothills share about abundance of this rhizomes.
Having heard so much about this widely available super medicinal root, we decided to make it easily available to people in urban centres. Communities collect these organically grown roots, clean and dry these for us to blend these into powder. One of the easiest way to drink the powder is by adding water to it so we decided to put these in tea bags. To add additional taste we add a touch of local cinnamon to the blend. The wonder root has become a popular herbal tea now. On my travels, this is the tea I choose to carry with me to boost immune system.
We also use layalaya as a pest management herb. The root either fresh or dry is mixed in water, allowed to sit and sprayed on vegetables to keep pests at bay. For multipurpose use, dried layalaya powder is also available in small bags in our shop at Tuvu in Lautoka.
Similar looking and tasting miracle remedy in our tradition is ginger. Ginger has been used in ancient Asian tradition for stomach ailments, loss of appetite, motion sickness, to relieve nausea as well as various colds and congestions.
Ginger is grown by farmers around Fiji. There is market for baby ginger but also for mature ginger which is used for juice, spice, oils and in spices. While many people make pickles and some blend and freeze this for regular use in their soups, stews and curries, we dry and powder these for ease of availability and market access.
For many rural farmers dried products retain its quality to travel the distances. Our farmers clean and dry ginger before we powder and pack these in spice jars.
The powdered version makes it easy to add to teas and spices but best of all I like the potent taste with milk, turmeric and honey for colds, coughs and to simply aid in restful sleep when really stressed and tired.
Both the roots are known for their powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects and can be integrated in daily menu to boost family health. Motibhai & Company Ltd are our partners who believe in our vision of working with local communities to bring the best of tradition to our customers distribute FRIEND’s Fiji style layalaya tea with our range of teas and ginger among range of spices into leading supermarkets. These products are also available at Prouds duty free outlets with our range of chutneys, jams and gluten-free flours.
? Sashi Kiran is the founding chief executive officer for Foundation for Rural Integrated Enterprises & Development (FRIEND) www.friendfiji.com. Views expressed are hers and not of this newspaper.
