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Saturday 15 November 2025 locAl
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Lessons from our elders: Plants and fruits for medicinal use

(Oranjestad)— Though western raises blood pressure. Sweet pota-
medicine is now widely used for toes are also great for people who
common illnesses and to keep our work hard labor jobs, and it’s been
bodies healthy and happy, it is still said to be aid blood circulation in
very common in every household the body, as well as help those with
in Aruba (and around the world) to hemorrhoids or diarrhea.
have staple home remedies that
is passed on through generations. Many of our elders opted to plant
Here are some tips that our elders sweet potatoes themselves, mostly
have passed on to us over the because of how easy it was to do
years. so. Cut the end of a sweet potato
let it sit in shallow water until it starts
Sweet potato to sprout. Then you may plant it in
According to our elders, sweet po- the ground. Sweet potatoes need
tato is mostly useful for low blood plenty of water to grow, especially
pressure. People who suffer from in the first week in the ground. It
low blood pressure were advised was said that once you start to no-
to eat sweet potato 2 to 3 times a tice the ground crack underneath
week. However, if you have high the flowers, it is time to harvest. This
blood pressure, it is best not to eat should happen around month 3.
too much sweet potato, as this Pomegranate sence, if you just throw the seeds
Pomegranates are also one of the on the ground, they could grow
easier fruits to plant and harvest. into a tree.
Originated from Persia, this plant
can grow almost everywhere. In In terms of medicinal use, pome-
Aruba, there are many homes granate skins are said to have a
that have a tiny or big pomegran- few benefits for our health. Accord-
ate tree. You may be wondering ing to customs, pomegranate skin
what the difference is between a tea can help those that suffer from
small and big pomegranate tree, diarrhea. Dried pomegranate skin
for which the answer is based on tea is also good for people who
harvest time. Tiny trees produce have worms. Pomegranate flowers
tinier pomegranates that can be can be boiled to make a drink and
harvested early on. Contrarily, big this can be used for irritated gums;
trees produce bigger pomegran- just take a swig and let the tea sit in
ates, but they need enough time your mouth for a couple minutes.
to fully ripen before harvesting,
otherwise you might end up with Source: Remedi i Kustumber di nos
bitter seeds. Pomegranate trees Bieunan (Medicine and Customs of
are also very easy to plant. In es- our Elderly) by Dinah Veeris

Aruba’s neighborhoods; the meaning behind their names; Ayo & Alto Vista

(Oranjestad)—Just like At Ayo, you can find some the very first chapel or
any other country, Aruba of the most well known rock church of Aruba. The walls
has unique and beautifully formations. These forma- of this church were made
named neighborhoods that tions became a well loved with rocks but the roof was
all form a part of its culture and visited attraction at made of dry corn stalks. The
and development. Many Aruba that is held in high church was inaugurated
of these names have a his- regards by both tourists by father Pablo Algemesi.
torical background and and locals alike.
meaning that teaches us If you’d like to know more
about the island and its rich If you’d like to know more about the Alto Vista
culture every day. about the rock formations Church’s beautiful history,
names but the history be- Arawak-Indian origin. A at Ayo, stay tuned for our stay tuned for our article
With this series, we want hind it that gives it life and (or Ha) is an Indo-Antil- article where we tell you all where we tell you all you
to take you on a journey meaning. lean generalizing word. about its location and his- need to know about it for
of discovery, where you’ll If you were to change a tory. when you visit it.
learn not only the beautiful Ayo part of the word “Ayo”,
Ajo, or Ayo, is a word with namely ‘Yo’, to ‘Yu’ and This neighborhood’s abbre- This neighborhood’s abbre-
make ‘Ayu’, it would mean viation is; A. viation is; AV.
“white.”
Alto Vista
However, as we now know, This word combination can
the name of the neighbor- be roughly translated to a
hood is ‘Ayo’. The word ‘Yo’ ‘high point of view’ and the
stands for Yocahu, which is neighborhood received
another word for ‘creator’ this name from the Hill.
in Arawak/Taino and in the
Papiamento spoken today, In the surrounding areas,
‘Ayo’ means ‘bye’. Domingo Antonia Silvestre
built his by his own means