Traditional Medicine

Every country has its own forms of "traditional medicine" passed down from generation to generation. We often refer to them as "old wives tale". I, Faith, remember my mom giving us peppermints as a child for a stomach ache. I soon learned that I could get the sweet treat by complaining of my stomach hurting, and then reinforcing the idea of it helping by telling her my tummy felt much better as I sucked away on the candy. I am also a practicing believer in the idea that if there is some parasite crawling in the outer layers of your skin, you can apply fingernail polish and suffocate it to death. And my grandmother swears that eating ice-cream increases lactation. Whether these are true or not, implementing this type of traditional medicine brings no more harm than maybe a little weight gain or walking around smelling like fingernail polish.

But there are some forms of traditional medicine that are harmful, even deadly. For example, if you have a fever or pain on the head, you slice the pained area with a razor to "bleed out" the infection. Or if a child is teething and it causes fever or diarrhea, cut the teeth out of the gums with a knife. If you have a stomach ache, burn the stomach with the point of a hot metal rod to kill whatever is causing the pain. Most the times, this is just unnecessary pain, but if done in the extreme, it can be fatal.

A young boy was brought into our clinic last weekend, half dead. He had severe abscesses all over his upper legs. His parents, in a desperate attempt to stop the abscesses from spreading, began burning his lower waist with a scorching metal point. However, they burned through the skin and into the intestines. This caused severe abdominal obstruction. By the time they were aware of their mistake, it was too late to help the boy.

Usually, I shake my head or maybe grimace when I hear of these traditional practices, but this time it made my heart sink. Because of the lack of knowledge and education, these parents, in an attempt to save their son, ended up killing him. I can't imagine the horrific feeling they must have felt when the nurses explained to them what they had done. And then what guilt they must have endured as they took their son home to bury him.

Our public health program is addressing these issues, hoping to make a dent in the enormous need for education in the rural areas, but it takes years to see a change in any culture, even our own.. But that is why Lalmba is here. If Lalmba can educate one family, save one life, then this wonderful place could become an even better Ethiopia.