Page 17 - AHATA

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local Friday 25 July 2025
How Aruban beaches came to be!

(Oranjestad)—We’ve talk- sandy beaches? the course of thousands
ed about the best beaches Aruba’s beaches have de- of years, as waves contin-
to visit on the island before, veloped over the span of ue to crash and fish con-
but have you ever won- thousands of years. Waves tinue to eat off the corals,
dered how Aruba got its crashing on the rocky for- sand starts to accumulate
white, sandy beaches, and mations along our coast around the area. Howev-
why there’s a clear differ- line (which consists mainly er, whether the sand stays
ence between the northern of coral reefs) have start- there is another question
and southern shores? Here ed to wear and tear the to be answered, and this is
are some fun facts about reefs over time, resulting where we highlight the big-
the development of Aru- in its gradual breakdown. gest difference between
ban beaches. Fish that feed off corals the northern and southern
also contribute to this, one coast of the island.
How did Aruba get its white, small bite at a time. Over The sand that accumulates Why north deep, but south
around a torn coral reef shallow?
is swept away along with Ah! Good question…and
the debris by the ocean interesting phrasing.
stream. However, in areas
where it’s shallow and the Aruba is a continental
stream is weaker, the sand island. The island actu-
tends to sick to the bot- ally forms part of South
tom faster. This is why the America, and the space
beaches in the south—the between Aruba and the
areas with weaker stream South American continent
and shallower ocean is simply referred to as land
floors—has sand that that runs under the ocean.
stretches for miles. In con- This is why it gets gradu-
trast, the northern area, ally deeper in the south,
where the stream is much whereas the ocean floor in
stronger and the ocean the north runs steeply to the
floor is much deeper, there bottom.q
is no sand present—they
were swept away with the Source: archival document
current! provided by the National Ar-
chive of Aruba (ANA).

Lessons from our elders:

Plants and fruits for medicinal use

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