Category Archives: Academic & Research

by

Mwizenge S. Tembo, Ph. D.

Professor of Sociology

Introduction

This article will first discuss the basic or fundamental principles of African traditional medicine. The ideas are derived from the life of the author who was born and lived in the Zambian village among the Tumbuka in Lundazi in Eastern Province of Zambia from 1954. Second it will disclose in Tumbuka language some of the actual specific names of trees, roots, and methods that are used for treatment of various illnesses among the Tumbuka. This information was obtained when he conducted formal research into Zambian and African traditional treatment of disease among

Traditional healer Zebby Tembo after returning from the bush to gather roots prepares them for a patient.

the Tumbuka in 2002. The specific names of the trees, roots, and methods of treatment are very confidential among the traditional healers. The four weeks the researcher spent conducting the research survey was not long enough for the traditional healers or ng’anga to develop the trust that is needed to show an outsider or stranger the trees and roots that are used for treatment of diseases and illnesses.     I thank my younger brother Zebby Tembo who took me into the bush. He was 35 years old at the time. He actually showed me the various trees, roots, and what diseases and illnesses they were used for treating and some of the rituals that accompany the treatments.

The broadest conviction that under girds this entire description of Zambian and African traditional medicine is that Africans are the origin all 7 billion humans today. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recent_African_origin_of_modern_humans

The pile of jumbled roots at a traditional healers’ home or practice. Inspite of the looks, the healer or ng’anga knows all their roots by name and how they are used for treatment of various illnesses.

Since Africans are the homo sapiens that eventually populated the entire world over probably the last one hundred thousand years, virtually all biological genetic characteristics that human exhibit to day might have evolved from the Africans. This impeccable logic simply means most medical practices may have evolved or have been transmitted to peoples from African traditional medicine. Most specifically, fundamental methods of Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Native American and even modern Western medicine may be descendants of or evolved from African traditional medicine. Some of what still exists is described in this

Roots and bark from trees is ground into powder that is used for treatment of diseases and illnesses.

article.

Lastly, it is hoped that by disclosing and describing the trees, roots, and methods of treating diseases, this knowledge will be preserved. Second that today some of these methods have worked and do work in treating various types of illnesses today as you read this article. This is hardly ancient or extinct information and practices. If the reader would like to, they can use some of these methods of treatment, but just as with any other modern Western medical treatment, they have to be supervised by an experienced Zambian or African traditional healer.

Basic Principles of Zambian or African Traditional medicine

The first principle of African traditional treatment of disease it to properly diagnose

Roots and tree bark may be burned into charcoal that is ground into powder which is used for treatment of diseases and illnesses.

the patient. Second, once the patient has been diagnosed, proper often complex treatment procedures using roots from the bush must be followed which often includes many rituals. The ultimate aim of the Zambian and African traditional treatment is to cure the disease completely so that the patient is completely free of illness for the rest of their lives. It is never an open ended treatment in which the patient has to consult the healer forever and take certain root herbs every day for the rest of their lives. This is the fundamental reason why serious chronic illness require what is called chizimba at the end of a successful treatment of a serious chronic disease so that the illness is banished or sealed away forever.  I discuss the role of chizimba here https://hungerforculture.com/?page_id=351

Below is an excerpt from my book: “Satisfying Zambian Hunger for Culture”.

Preparation

Roots and tree bark collected for treatment had to be prepared in a certain way depending on how the patient was going to use them. Fresh roots just brought from

The traditional healer cuts the roots into separate bundles and are tied together. The patient is then given instructions on how to use the roots.

The Kabeza tree is one of the 3 tree roots that are used to treat a woman who experiences severe cramps during her period.

the bush are chopped up into small pieces and usually tied into small bundles with small tree fiber. This is for purposes of identification and convenience when soaking the roots in a small pot, bottle or any container. If the fresh roots are for use as powder they are spread in the sun to dry. When they are dry, they are pounded in a pestle and mortar and sifted into a powder. Your girls before the age of puberty might be the only ones who could pound the roots into powder to be used for treating certain illnesses. It is believed that the active sexual energy of older women and girls past puberty might interfere with the potency of the medicine. If the roots are dried, they can later be soaked in water to use the herb for treating the illness.

Some roots are placed on ambers of fire and burned halfway. At that point the roots are promptly removed and the charcoal is pounded into a pestle and mortar into a black powder.

Fresh leaves are normally pounded into a pestle and mortar into a thick paste. The paste may be soaked in a large container and herbs may be used for bathing as treatment. The paste may also be smeared on a part of the body or skin as treatment for a particular illness.

Types of Treatment

Almost all the treatments of illnesses and diseases may use many or some of multiple methods always accompanied with very simple to complex rituals. There are six major types of treatment which may have different equivalent names among the 72 tribes or ethnic groups in Zambia. When the roots and leaves are brought from the bush, the methods of treatment in Tumbuka, Ngoni, and Chewa include kumwako (to drink), kudyako (to eat) or kumwako bala (to drink porridge), kutema simbo (to make small cuts), kugezako or kusambako ( to bathe),

A traditional healer or ng’anga diagnosing a patient who had chronic pain in his shoulder and arm.

kufukizgha (to steam), and kuvina ( to dance).

Kumwako or to drink means that the patient must soak the roots or tree bark in a container of plain water. The patient may be instructed or required to drink about a cup of the herb often about 3 times a day or in the case of a child  or baby a few gulps or sips every few hours. The patient may be required to drink this from ten days up to a month or two. Of course fresh roots may be fetched when the existing ones get weaker or diluted.

Kudyako or to eat, kumwako bala or to drink porridge means the patient must soak the roots or tree bark in a container of plain water. The patient may be instructed or required to use a cup of the herb to cook a thin porridge using mealie-meal which they will drink maybe three times per day. They may also use one cup of the herb to cook a small nshima with maize mealie-meal which the patient may eat twice per day.

Kutema simbo or to make small cuts means that the traditional healer will make one or two tiny cuts on the skin using a clean new or sterile sharp razor blade. These very small cuts on the skin are made on certain locations of the body. Once tiny bits of blood are visible, the healer will get a pinch of the black charcoal roots powder and rub it into the small cuts. Depending on the nature of the illness that the nga’nga or traditional healer is trying to treat, there might be two or three cuts around the temple or sides of the head, on the middle of the forehead between the eyebrows, on the cheeks, on the forearms, behind the hands, on the chest, on the diaphragm, on the stomach, behind the neck, on the legs, feet, and ankles. The cuts

The two trees right behind the author’s hut in the village could be used for treating illness. The tall Msoro tree on the left and smaller Mtowa tree on the right.

may be done on only a few of these parts of the body depending on the illness. Normally the cuts may be done just once, or once per week for 2 to 6 weeks. All of this depends on the illness.

Kugezako, kusambako or to bathe means the roots are soaked in a large container of water. The patient is instructed or required to use the herb to bathe their face or their whole body once per day every day for ten days to a couple weeks.

Kufukizgha or to steaming means that the roots or thick paste of leaves that were pounded in a pestle and mortar are soaked in a large pot or container with a lid on it. The container is placed on the fire and heated to a boil. A large blanket is placed over the patient’s head. While the herbs are still boiling with a top on, it is removed from the fire and placed on the floor. The lid is removed. After about ten seconds, the patient puts their face on top of the steaming herbs and covers their whole head with the blanket. The patient is told to expose their face to the steam, breathe the steam in and out of their lungs, and open their eyes. The kufukizgha or steaming may last up to five or more minutes or until the steam dies down as the boiling

The young girl in the chair (left) is a patient performing the Vimbuza Dance to exorcise spirits that are believed to come from no where.

herbs begin to cool. The patient may be required to do this once a day for about ten days.

Kuvina or to dance as part of the treatment of an illness is never required outside spiritual possession illnesses such a vimbuza and vyanusi among the Tumbuka people of Eastern Zambia and Northern Malawi. The main symptom of the vimbuza illness is that the individual feel as though they are going to lose their mind. The Tumbuka say mtima kumwazghika as if one is going to lose one’s mind. Suddenly their whole body may begin shaking, trembling, and they may shake their head and bob it up down as they holler hysterically, “ hey!, hey! hey!” At this point the nearest people around will hold and restrain them. A ng’anga or traditional healer will be consulted who will recognize the vimbuza spiritual possession. The healer will require the person to dance the vimbuza for him or her to be cured. (Tembo, 2012: 163-165)

Conclusion

This article first, discussed the basic or fundamental principles of African traditional medicine. Second, it disclosed in Tumbuka language some of the actual specific names of trees, roots, and methods that are used for treatment of various illnesses among the Tumbuka. This information was obtained when the author conducted formal research into Zambian and African traditional treatment of disease among the Tumbuka in 2002. The specific names of the trees, roots, and methods of treatment are very confidential among the traditional healers. Because the researcher only spent about four weeks conducting the research survey, the period was not long enough for him to develop the bond and trust the traditional healers or ng’anga he interviewed to show him some of the trees that are used for treating diseases and illnesses.

by

Mwizenge S. Tembo, Ph. D.

Professor of Sociology

Introduction

Since I was a child in the mid-1950s growing up in the Zambian/ African village, traditional African medicine has always fascinated. This fascination is not because of mere academic curiosity but because I witnessed the traditional medicine treat some of the most serious chronic diseases and illnesses in myself among close family members. Since the early 1990s I have also read a great deal about the immune system and how historically viral, bacterial, parasites and other epidemics have been

Once a child is weaned, they should be able to play freely with siblings and others away from the mother.

transmitted among human civilizations and populations stretching over thousands of years. My interest in the changing nature of Zambian or African traditional medicine inspired me so much that I actually conducted formal research into the topic in 2002. The research was among the Tumbuka people of Lundazi District in the Eastern Province of Zambia. Some of the findings from the study are in this publication. https://hungerforculture.com/?page_id=354 Some of the findings are in this book https://www.amazon.com/Satisfying-Zambian-Hunger-Culture-Social/dp/1479702099

I have just began to compile and analyze more findings from my research notes from 2002. This is one of the series of reports that will soon be published exclusively on the “Hunger for Culture” web page.

Wonders of the Sokolowe Tree

In the Zambian traditional society, a mother might be 2 to 3 months pregnant and has a child who has been weaned. The child cries and whines a lot. The child acts really spoiled and is very clingy to the mother. The mother will consult an elderly person or a traditional healer or ng’anga. The ng’anga or the village elder might prescribe the roots of the Sokolowe tree. The tree bears fruits that people eat. You dig the Sokolowe tree and get the roots. Soak the roots in water.

Use the herbs to cook the nshima Zambian traditional staple meal. The mother will serve the nshima to the child while the child is sitting with siblings and the child’s friends on the chitenje cloth the mother uses for carrying the baby on the back. This cloth is called nguwo.  Semen among the Tumbuka, Chewa and Ngoni is also called nguwo. They will all eat the nshima together. After that the child will no longer cry, whine unnecessarily and be bothersome. The child will enjoy playing with siblings and friends all day.

This is one among dozens of traditional ways in which herbs and rituals were used for the betterment of the individuals in the community. A full detailed report is available here.