Natural medicines in Nicaragua

As 2016 unravels, Farm-to-Clinic Ometepe has been making strides not only to get infrastructure onto the land and plant production moving, but also in it’s exploration of local knowledge and patterns relevant to the natural medicine project. A huge lesson taken from permaculture design, the main framework of our farm and organization, is an emphasis on the power of patterns, not only seen in sciences like ecology and biology, but also those that exist within cultural and community contexts.  

At Project Bona Fide we believe that the observation and an understanding of local patterns is essential for the successful and sustainable implementation of community collaboration projects. For the Farm-to-Clinic Ometepe project, this has meant dedicating time to understand the historical and cultural context of natural medicine on the island while simultaneously building strong relationships with community leaders and practitioners.

Don Fidel, one of the more well known patriarchs in Balgue, is largely recognized for being one of the last artisanal basket weavers on the island. Hundreds of visitors flock to his home at the center of town to share an afternoon with him and his sons and to learn his basket weaving ways. What is often overlooked in these hour long workshops is his deep rooted knowledge of traditional healing methods on the island. The son of the island’s principal midwife, he spent the first 20 years of his life following his mother on all her medical excursions, learning through observation the medicinal power of plants located in the forests of the island. Having lived through numerous iterations of the island being cut off from trade from the mainland due to political and economic strife, he learned to rely on the volcanic fauna to treat all kinds of maladies that came to his doorstep.

As the island develops more and more each year, Don Fidel, now 76, has been one of many to witness a modernization that, while it comes with major and inarguable benefits, also leads the deterioration of cultural patterns once imperative to the rhythms of daily life. As part of our Farm-to-Clinic project, we are working hard to identify key community members with this knowledge , not only to acknowledge the power of the information they hold, but also to find culturally appropriate ways to document and share their stories before they are lost.

This knowledge will be key in the appropriation of our Farm to Clinic Ometepe program and in the steps we take to move forward with bigger project planning and implementation processes.

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