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Thursday 9 November 2023 locAl
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            Lessons from our elders:

            Plants and fruits for medicinal use (part 2)


















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


            Visit the natural bridges of Aruba!



            (Oranjestad)—After  you’ve                                also  a  frequently  visited
            visited   the   Alto   Vista  The bridge was formed dur-  beach,  as  the  bridge  had
            Church,  the  Bushiribana  ing thousands of years, cut  a  small  opening  through
            Gold  Mill  Ruins  and  the  and  crafted  by  the  wild  which the water would flow
            mini natural pool that is lo-  waves  that  crash  into  the  into the tiny beach.
            cated right next to it, you’re  coral  stone  walls  of  the
            next  up  around  the  north-  coast.  Before  its  collapse,  Unfortunately  in  2005,  the
            ern coast line must be the  this  bridge  measured  30  bridge  collapsed,  and  the
            Natural  Bridge.  Once  the  meters in length and 7 me-   little  beach  dried  up.  De-
            largest natural bridge in the  ters in height, making it the  spite this, this site remained
            Caribbean, this bridge has  biggest  natural  bridge  in  a  tourist  attraction,  with
            been a tourist attraction for  the Caribbean at the time.  many visitors walking along
            many years.                  For many years, this site was  the coral cliffs of the bridge
                                                                      to see the spectacular view
                                                                      of  the  northern  coastline
                                                                      and  the  Caribbean  Sea.
                                                                      Visitors can also still visit the
                                                                      souvenir shop on the left of
                                                                      the bridge entrance.

                                                                      While  the  natural  bridge
                                                                      no  longer  is  functional,
                                                                      there is now a smaller nat-
                                                                      ural  bridge  very  close.  This
                                                                      bridge  is  often  called  the
                                                                      “Baby  Bridge”  or  “Daugh-
                                                                      ter Bridge”. q
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