Berber Remedies

Assignment Excerpt: Saima Shah

Saima interviewed someone for assignment seven for The Medicine of Avicenna. She is exploring how people use natural medicines in other cultures. We love learning new things from our students and thought you would enjoy this as well…

I asked Zabeyda if she used any herbs or spices as treatment for aliments. She sat up straight in her chair and said, “All our herbs and spices are medicine. She continued, “We Berber people didn’t use this chemical medicine for long time. Why should we? When we have all our medicine in our house.” She goes on to tell me that nowadays many people are turning to modern medicine because it works fast and is easy then making a remedy with herbs. “You just put the tablet into your mouth and it is done”, she says.

She states that modern ‘chemical medicine’ as she calls it, is dangerous “it destroy and eat you body from the inside and this makes more problem.” She continues informing me that this is the reason why people are always ill and those that use chemical medicine have to use them all their life. “They make side-effects, they make one problem better then make another problem come.” Zaybeyda states that she has been using her own herbal medicines for a long time and that is why she is healthy and has no problem, unlike many of her friends. “Come” she says “I teach you some” as she walks into her kitchen.

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