MRD

Video Transcript

 

PROF. ANKE WEISHEIT

I'm PROF. ANKE WEISHEIT, an agriculture engineer born in Germany, and since 2002, in Uganda, I've been working on traditional medicine and natural product development. Since 2017, I have been chair of innovation on business management of Pharm-Bio Technology and Traditional Medicine Center (PHARMBIOTRAC) based at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST), for which I'm a co-founder.

 

DR. THALIA MICAH

It's really wonderful to meet you, Professor Anke. I am DR. THALIA MICAH, a Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine. I am the CEO and founder of the Institute of Integrative Health Specialists and Holistic Wellness Center, LLC, and the founder and CEO of Healing Village. We have an apothecary and a school, and my goal is to integrate my Haitian roots into all the healing practices I do. What has this week been for you starting Sunday? 

 

PROF. ANKE WEISHEIT

Thank you very much for the question. That week was a very interesting time for me here at Johns Hopkins University Faculty of Medicine, Department of History. I'm very excited that history is more than studying the past; but also brings the past to life on integrating it into modern, contemporary science. And secondly, it's very interesting that we only met Sunday, and we prepared a three-day seminar on the fly. Without big prep, we were able to conduct a seminar together. That is actually a unique happening. You're from Haiti originally. You're in Houston. I'm from Germany, and now I'm in Uganda. It's actually for situations Haitian in US and German in Uganda, come together, invited by the Department of the History of Medicine to make a seminar together. It's unique.

 

DR. THALIA MICAH

Right. Like how we collaborated, it was effortless. It was it was amazing. What I also loved about it was one goal. One goal is to combine the healing powers from different places of the world, from a place of respect for medicine and respect for the indigenous people in that space.

 

PROF. ANKE WEISHEIT

Yeah, and it is very important to bring this kind of philosophy and practice into a university setting because universities are the building block of society. But students who are now students become future leaders. So it's important to understand and respect the different healing methods and knowledge systems to work together for a better world.

 

DR. THALIA MICAH

That's true. I agree. Why did you choose the recipe that you chose? And how, with the herbs, why and how did you come up with those herbs and those ingredients that you chose?

 

PROF. ANKE WEISHEIT

First, I selected the product, which is a lip balm, something that many people need or use. And it is part of home remedy-making so people can take home the knowledge and replicate it. Secondly, the plants I selected are locally from here so that people can either buy them from local herbalists or collect them wild can produce them without needing importation. 

 

And I started with something simple that it can connect with, and in subsequent interaction, I wish to invite one of the professionals from Uganda to do the practical and I'm in the backstop to be in a deeper engagement. This was a start having a cosmetic starting weight which is locally available with cocoa butter with olive oil on the two plants to make it easy and useful for the People who attend for the first time. Now, this engagement needs a bit of reputation so that people get used to and understand the usefulness of plant-based medicine. And that is why I started with the lip balm with two plants.

 

DR. THALIA MICAH

What were those two plants that you chose? I mean, or talk about one of them.

 

PROF. ANKE WEISHEIT

Yeah, the two plants. One that is very common is chamomile. And the second one is horsetail. They're both available in the USA. And they have healing properties in a special anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial. 

 

DR. THALIA MICAH

I know the last day I was your assistant/student, I enjoyed making them. For me, there was such an attachment to the product that I made myself. And it was more appreciated. And I know everything that went into it. And that's definitely something I would repeat for my family. I can reuse the tool again if need be. And we can always make the recipe. We know what's in it, it's safe, and it's edible. So I really loved it. And I enjoyed measuring the testing my own product and seeing what works, how much infusion I went with the herbs in there, and all that stuff. I really enjoyed that.

 

PROF. ANKE WEISHEIT

Yeah, and by design, I ensured the equipment used a household type. So the plate to the saucepan, the double boiler, and the equipment were household made available in household stores so that everyone could replicate the training at home without getting into specialized shops and buying expensive equipment and a home remedy.

 

DR. THALIA MICAH

And adding the tea tree oil, which is a healing herb for the skin. I thought that was an amazing way of making it even more powerful. Yeah, and a great smell.

 

PROF. ANKE WEISHEIT

You got it right. It was important to have to add that healing power. And people know tea tree oil is a very famous plant in us. Everyone knows tea tree oil, which has a good smell, so the product is nice to use and safe to use. 

 

Dr. Thalia, Why have you chosen the recipes you presented in our seminar?

 

DR. THALIA MICAH

Thank you for the question, Anke. I wanted to address a very much living problem that we have in this country which is sleep apnea. It's also personal to me because my partner also struggled for sleep but with sleep apnea. And in the other part of choosing my formula, I want it to be a formula that would include herbs that I've heard my mom and my parents talk about as a healer, and I wanted to incorporate my indigenous healing. Being from Haiti and incorporating that into herbs were easily found at a local apothecary in Maryland.

 

PROF. ANKE WEISHEIT

And it was very good that the seminar participants could see the different preparation methods with a nice filter, plain leaves, and pounded leaves and also be able to taste them. They drank the tea. They liked it, and you could drink it means the taste was also good. And that's very important to have practical experience, not a teacher talk on chalk, chalk and talk about having a physical experience with the recipe. I was also drinking it.

 

DR. THALIA MICAH

I agree. I loved watching people when they were tasting the herbs, and they were telling us that they had failed or if some people had quick reactions to herbs. Some people had delayed reactions or like when they tried ginger. They were surprised that the ginger is supposed to be a little bit spicier than what you get in the store or at a restaurant. It was pretty interesting to me. I loved it. One of the people there pointed to DU24, which is a point that's right around this area here on the line. It also brings the energy down. It's a main calming point; it's a point you would use for mental health or anxiety. As soon as she tasted the herb, she made this movement (towards DU24) right away. I was like, "Lan, Lan, did you see that?" And I thought it was pretty amazing to show the connection between the herbs and the energetic healing that also exists in the herbs in our body, which kind of shows the connection to me with nature, self, and person.

 

PROF. ANKE WEISHEIT

Yes, and I also observed how the different participants interacted with the plants. Some were very easy to go on. Some are very reserved. So I found that different people approach the plants differently.

 

DR. THALIA MICAH

Right. The excitement was so alive. Everybody wanted it. Everybody participated. We had a doctor there that was humble in how he was to receive instruction for you and how to use your syringes. That was really cool to me. Yeah, it was really good to watch. 

 

When we wrapped up the seminar, we wrapped it up with Nick Spero. How did you like the foraging?

 

PROF. ANKE WEISHEIT

The foraging was very interesting for me, especially since a specialist or guru did the foraging. And it's important as the local guru is around with us and leads the session. Foraging is very important because the contemporary human being in the city sees the plants old as weeds and not as useful. Just green that needs to be trimmed short to look neat and green. But there's a lot of food in the wild that can be consumed as medicine, especially mushrooms and different local vegetables. And the forager needs to have high skill in identifying the right plants and location so that the pig plants are hygienic and have the right quality to be consumed and are safe to be consumed.

 

DR. THALIA MICAH

We also foraged for burdock root, which was also an herb that I had to learn in school, so it was readily available, you know while foraging, so medicine is all around us. And I feel like one thing we can look at later on is how we teach people those are not things for us just to rip off. You know, tat they're not like weeds or anything that they're readily available. Or should we as a society make those things available in people's backyards since they go so easily in the park?

 

PROF. ANKE WEISHEIT

And landscaping is also very important to not think about the human eye but also about the insects in the habitation of other birds and bees and insects which are also living in urban spaces. So plants should not only be selected by the ornamental value for the human being but also the plant value to the bee and the insect that bring honey to the painting shelter. So it's very important. And that is why this means a larger movement of discussions with the specialist in this field. He latches on botanists for ages to sit together and develop programs first to understand the urban habitation on why it's happened. What's the history? Are we talking about medical, medical history? We could develop a program to understand why the grass has to be green and short.

 

DR. THALIA MICAH

So you saying beautification should also include an environmental awareness of what we are killing? Or what are we saving? Right? Keeping the environment safe as opposed to just focusing on making sure the grass is like one or two, one or two to one to two inches low?

 

PROF. ANKE WEISHEIT

Yeah, before you can change a system it is important to understand the system very well. So we have to talk to the homeowner association of different cities. Discuss and study the history of home ownership on the land because I hear a lot about Greenland's small. Then we can now discuss with them and experts from our site to design models on consultation before we go out in the movement and start explaining. Hence, it's important to understand why and then get solutions that fit within the concept of beauty or why the land has to be so short. And so nice. There must be a reason. 

 

DR. THALIA MICAH

Absolutely. I agree. 

 

PROF. ANKE WEISHEIT

My future plan is already in process. We are setting up a center of PHARBIOTRAC, a laboratory, a teaching fact factory, a conference center, accommodation, and a botanical garden around. So there's a complex within the university. And really, we need to keep in touch and make it happen in a larger perspective; integrated by time, all these will contribute to having a better world.

 

DR. THALIA MICAH

I agree. My hope for the future is to work with the trio that we have here. And then we can replicate some of these things that we have in a more global space, especially for me with a focus on going back to Haiti, with a school implementing the traditional medicine that we already have in Uganda so that we can teach the local people how to heal themselves in their community. And also creating that space where there is a deeper integration, which is the traditional healing, not removing who they are, with the spirituality of vado. Also, to continue this here as well, because it's also important to reach out to the communities that need those types of healings and the education that is super important also, right here in this country to help with the elevation of diabetes, obesity, mental health that is on the rise, especially after COVID in the understanding, maybe finding different doctors that we can integrate and talk and teach and learn from each other to make sure that this work doesn't just happen one time, but there's a continuation of it, and maybe leaving a legacy for the people that are coming after us to understand the process and the importance of integrating healing more an aspect of mental, energetic spiritual aspects of it.

 

PROF. ANKE WEISHEIT

What we are starting is the start, but seeding for the future. Using one center will not save the world. We need many centers in each country, and the center should work together so that we can learn from each other, right? Build synergies, and yeah, make the world a better place. 

 

DR. THALIA MICAH

I agree. Professor Weisheit, it is such an honor to meet you. Thank you for being here, in community with me in this seminar.

 

PROF. ANKE WEISHEIT

Thank you so much Dr. Thalia, it was very good to work with you.