New Writing

Stories on Plants  

2010-05-01 14:17:00

Written by Ivan Vaalbooi

Stories on Plants
Story on Cancer Bush, (Sutherlandia frutescens)
Last year when I participated in the !Khwa ttu training programme for trainee guides I was very sick. My nose was blocked, I could not swallow my food very well and I also did not have much of an appetite. Some of my fellow trainees told me that I had to go to the clinic, but I did not want to get there because I don’t like taking medicine and pills. I really felt very sick and then Magdalena, our trainer recommended making myself a  tea from cancer bush. After a good night’s sleep and some more cancer bush tea, I felt much better and was back at the training the next morning.

Story on Tsamma Melon (Citrillus lanatus)
When my granny was still alive she told me about the tsamma melon. She explained to me how she prepared the melon and was so excited when she recalled what a wonderful taste the roasted seeds have. Out of curiosity I went together with my older brothers hunting in the bush; with dogs, of course. While we were looking for game I more and more thought about the tsamma melon. So I began to focus on looking for the plant .Finally we found some, there were only three of them, but in the end only two were nice. So I took them with me.  They were quite heavy but I carried them all the way back home. My granny was extremely happy and impressed at the same time. There and then my father and mom helped to prepare the tsamma. First they made porridge from the flesh of the melon and then my granny roasted the seeds in a pan on an old black stove.
After I had eaten from the porridge, which had a nice sour taste, my granny gave me some of the roasted seeds and wow, they were so delicious

Story on Arum Lily (Zantedaschia aethiopica)

About fifteen years ago, when I was very small I often went to my uncle’s home. While I was there with my sisters at night I saw her rubbing my uncles back with Vaseline. Then she would warm a leave of the Arum Lily a little bit, smear some ‘Zambuck’ on it and tie that with a bandage on his back. Later I learned that my uncle had had an accident when he was young and that the leaves of the Arum Lily helped to relieve his back pain.

Story on Wild Mint (Mentha longifolia)
I don’t have much of a story about this plant. But from what I have seen in the past, my uncle used it to make himself a nice cup of rooibos tea to which he added some fresh goat milk. He also would put two leaves of wild mint in it. When I tried the drink, I was surprised how delicious it was.

Story on Giant Carrion Flower (Stapelia gigantea)

Once Oupa Carlos told me that in the past, the very old Khwe woman would collect a lot of these plants in the bush. Back at the village, they would start a fire on the ground and when the soil is hot, they push all the coals to one side and put the plant under the hot ash. After some time, they would take them all out and let them cool down a bit. Meanwhile some of them would start to use the inside of the mangeti fruit, which they would crush very fine and  put them into a container. They would then put the baked giant carrion flower into the mortar and they would use the pestle to crush it nicely. They would mix it with the already fine mangeti nuts and it was ready to be eaten. It is important to know that this meal was not meant for the young man as it will make them very lazy and weak.

Ivan VaalbooiAssistant to Trainer and Junior Guide at !Khwa ttu January 2010

For more information on the course, visit www.khwattu.org

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Comments

I am very impress about Ivan Vaalboois story about the use of plants and the way he explain give a big explaination to other people who dont know about plants.And it also give a big headline to readers who want to know about plant. If I could say the San children of today is growing up now speaking afrikaans or english and there is no one who tell anything about the past life of the san and culture. That is one of the way to tell the young san people of today. I am very happy about that story of Ivan because any one can learn more easiers about plants.I am very proud of the useful tips about plants of Ivan Vaalbooi. I would say that keep up doing it for the future.

Submitted by nunke nunke on 29/07/2010 3:57:55 PM

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