Page 137 - A People Called Afrika
P. 137

Afrika’s Indigenous Knowledge Systems

             on and therefore, uniquely formulated herbal treatments are
             created to cater for each unique patient. This is done accu-
             rately, diagnosing the illness and its associated problematic
             lifestyle. Herbal medicine and treatment mainly uses major
             active compounds in medicinal plants. They are vitamins,
             minerals, certain amino acids and trace elements which are
             needed either as nutrients or as catalysts by millions of cells
             in the body. Thus, Afrika’s medicine and healing system does
             not treat symptoms like modern-day medicine does, it deals
             with diet and nutrition, lifestyle and habit, emotional well-
             being, spiritual connection to the Creator who is the central
             point  of  all  things, the  environment  and  the  corresponding
             balance and harmony with the ecosystem and cosmic ele-
             ments. This is the reason why this kind of treatment should
             not necessarily be called treatment, but a process of learning,
             healing and restoration for both the healer and the patient.


             The wisdom in the holistic approach is that it not only con-
             sider the entire person, but it also examines the changes that
             man has made to his environment from the chemicals being
             used to grow food, purify water, cleanse the body, preserve
             food products to the impact of technology on man, animal,
             plant and the environment. It looks at societal changes that are
             triggering stress, in relation to their impact on the body. The
             Indigenous Knowledge System and its related components
             of health, technology, agriculture, social cohesion and so on,
             were neither primitive nor backward and there is much that it
             can be used for now in order to help Afrika overcome many
             of the unnecessary hurdles that man has put in his own way.
             Dr. Githae has a proprietary system and outlook on health
             and remediation of medical conditions based on years of
             study and experience with indigenous healing processes. Part


                                          112
   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142