Herbalists join project

By STEPHANIE ELIZAH
CATHOLIC Diocese traditional health in Buka yesterday thanked its partners for a year of strong networking and working together in achieving the project’s objectives of educating the people of Bougainville on the importance of medicinal plants.
Coordinator Stephanie Stroeble said it had been a big year for the project and it was thanks to the support of project partners including local communities that they were able to succeed.
Stroeble said since the inception of the project early this year, they had registered 115 traditional herbalists.
By the end of October, 52 herbalists had gone through a herbal garden management, with many more expressing interest in joining the project in the new year.
Stroeble said this year, the project concentrated on researching what herbs existed on Bougainville and conducting awareness on primary health care.
She said next year’s plans were be to publish a booklet containing
information on what herbs there were on Bougainville and their uses.
Work will continue to educate the people of the autonomous region on the importance of taking care of the region’s rich forest environment, which is still home to many plants that are sources of processed medicine.