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local Thursday 22 June 2023

Lessons from our elders:

Plants and fruits for medicinal use (part 2)

(Oranjestad)—In last People who suffer from low hemorrhoids or diarrhea.
week’s edition, we shared blood pressure were ad- Many of our elders opted to
with our readers some me- vised to eat sweet potato 2 plant sweet potatoes them-
dicinal use for plants and to 3 times a week. Howev- selves, mostly because of
fruits, passed down from er, if you have high blood how easy it was to do so.
our elders through genera- pressure, it is best not to eat Cut the end of a sweet po-
tions. This week, we present too much sweet potato, as tato let it sit in shallow wa-
two more uses of fruits and this raises blood pressure. ter until it starts to sprout.
plants for medicinal use. Sweet potatoes are also Then you may plant it in the
great for people who work ground. Sweet potatoes
Sweet potato hard labor jobs, and it’s need plenty of water to
According to our elders, been said to be aid blood grow, especially in the first between a small and big pomegranate skins are
sweet potato is mostly use- circulation in the body, week in the ground. It was pomegranate tree, for said to have a few benefits
ful for low blood pressure. as well as help those with said that once you start to which the answer is based for our health. According
notice the ground crack on harvest time. Tiny trees to customs, pomegranate
underneath the flowers, it is produce tinier pomegran- skin tea can help those that
time to harvest. This should ates that can be harvest- suffer from diarrhea. Dried
happen around month 3. ed early on. Contrarily, pomegranate skin tea is
big trees produce bigger also good for people who
Pomegranate pomegranates, but they have worms. Pomegranate
Pomegranates are also need enough time to fully flowers can be boiled to
one of the easier fruits to ripen before harvesting, make a drink and this can
plant and harvest. Origi- otherwise you might end be used for irritated gums;
nated from Persia, this up with bitter seeds. Pome- just take a swig and let the
plant can grow almost ev- granate trees are also very tea sit in your mouth for a
erywhere. In Aruba, there easy to plant. In essence, couple minutes.
are many homes that have if you just throw the seeds Source: Remedi i Kustum-
a tiny or big pomegranate on the ground, they could ber di nos Bieunan (Medi-
tree. You may be wonder- grow into a tree. cine and Customs of our
ing what the difference is In terms of medicinal use, Elderly) by Dinah Veeris q

Prohibited by law: leaving the island with seashells, white sand or corals

(Oranjestad)—Often times, pay before leaving. This is
the customs department at surely not a pleasant experi-
the airport intercepts many ence for the tourist. This also
tourists leaving the island leads to a negative reaction
with seashells, white sand which can put our tourism in
and/or corals as souvenirs. a negative light.

Conforming to the interna- Though we love to accom-
tional treaty of CITES and our modate our visitors, let’s all
local law which protects our give nature the respect it
Flora & Fauna, it is absolutely deserves by protecting our
prohibited to take any sea- environment. Stop collect-
shell, sand and coral outside ing seashells, white sand
of Aruba. This is to protect and corals from our shores
our environment. The high and stop buying or accept-
number of seashells, coral ing these from local sellers or
and amount of sand con- companies.
fiscated is very strange and We want our future genera-
it is suspected that our own tions and visitors to enjoy
locals are the ones selling the beauty of our beaches,
these to the tourists, which is shells and corals in a sustain-
unacceptable. able way, without destroy-
Upon confiscation at the ing or disrupting the Aruban
airport, you can also face ecosystem. Help us protect
a fine that they have to what is ours!q