(This post comes almost two weeks late because of my pitiful luck with electrical gremlins and pathetic internet access. Sorry for the delay... :- )
Don’t
laugh... but I spent my birthday this year reading.
--Yep.
Reading.
Not
having any meetings to attend or local officials to meet (as I’m still waiting
to hear back from the director of the ministry of health), I decided to dig
into the Natural Medicine in the Tropics book by Dr. Hans Martin Hirt and Bindanda M’Pia. (Check out their amazing work with this link.)
All
I can say is... I’m inspired. All I want to do is plant things and watch them
grow.
Already
I’ve had the chance to see some of these natural remedies in action... and they
work! The cough syrup you already know about... but do you know that you can
use garlic as a natural antibiotic?!
A
boy was brought to me with a severely infected and pus-filled wound recently.
It was so nasty, there was quite a bit of debate as to whether or not he should
start antibiotics immediately. But having just read this book, I suggest he
bind it first overnight with a garlic compress then re-evaluate in the morning.
Well...
one night of the garlic compress however was all it took. The next morning, the
pain was gone along with the pus-filled infection. Antibiotics were not needed
after all!
Oh
how I love garlic!
Oh,
but I digress... I meant to share about my birthday.
To
be brief... my day was filled with books; my night was filled with cake
--delicious, strawberry cake.
The
middle school aged orphan girls baked me a two layered white cake and filled it
with strawberry jam and topped it with butter frosting.
Although
not the prettiest cake I’ve ever seen, it certainly rivaled some the finest of
bakeries in taste! It was delicious!
Plus
the girls honored me in song, singing Happy Birthday in harmonized sopranos and
altos. Believe me, having a dozen well-trained voices serenade you for your
birthday is delightful!
(Mavis,
the woman who runs the girl’s home used to teach music and voice back in here
native land of England. She has taught the girls well!)
 |
| My new capulana (aka: African print). |
As
a gift, the high school girls bought me a capulana --a traditional African
print which is worn as a skirt. It’s green, blue, black, and white. I
absolutely love it!
 |
| The beautiful S. African Milk Tart. |
But
my birthday celebration didn’t end there; the following day a fellow missionary
introduced me to Dutch Milk Tart --a South African specialty. It took her all
day, as you have to make it all from scratch. But boy was it worth it!
--Absolutely
delicious... and unlike any tart I’ve ever tasted before.
I
have to say, I’ve really enjoyed my birthday this year thanks to all my dear
friends across the world and here locally. Thank you all for helping me mark
the day!
May
the next 35 years be equally blessed and full of friends!
Posts
Yes, garlic is amazing! At the first hint of strep throat (all or most symptoms present, though it could be something else...) I give my kids a spoonful of honey (also antimicrobial) with about a half a garlic clove (or whole, or a 1/4, depending on the size of the clove), minced. They swallow it down, though they aren't happy about it. I let them have a glass of pretty much any beverage we have on hand - even soda if they want and we have it - to wash it down. The symptoms are usually gone the next day.
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