Following a dream to replenish nature's pantry
2000-11-01 10:50
In the fine soaking rain the mist-shrouded hills gather close around the village of Tendela; its thatched rondavels are strung along the dirt road for about a kilometre before you reach the gates of the Kamberg Nature Reserve.
A bright painted sign indicates KwaMalulekoes Nursery and Herbs, the home of Elliot Ndlovu, a traditional healer and herbalist. Today he is hosting a visit from Tendela Combined School. The pupils, from Grade 7 to 11, have been brought by their teachers, Richard Mgwaba and Tei Ayisa, for a practical demonstration in the growing and propagation of indigenous plants.
Ndlovu ushers the group along the path to his garden past the colourfully decorated (a rising sun, birds, pots) thatched rondavel from which he sells a variety of craft items to passing tourists.
A stone-covered grave is in the garden. "Don't worry about the grave," he tells the children. It is the grave of his sister, Balungile, who was shot in 1985. "Her spirit looks after my herbs."
Ndlovu's garden is witness to her benign influence. There is an abundance of plants, all herbs with a variety of healing properties. Ndlovu points out an indigenous member of the geranium family. "It is good for treating goats with diarrhoea," he explains.
Ndlovu was born and grew up in Tendela. "I worked at Mooi River Textiles for six years until 1989, when I got the call to become a traditional healer. A year later I was told in a dream that I must start a herb garden." For Ndlovu the medicinal and spiritual aspects of plants are inseparable.
Acting on the dream, Ndlovu made several visits to Silver Glen nursery in Chatsworth to learn about medicinal plants. "I soon realised how important it was to conserve indigenous plants and start my own medicinal plant garden here at my home." In the process he has linked up with KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation Services community conservationist Remigius Buthelezi in spreading awareness about indigenous plants.
"Other people thought I was just playing around," he said.
This included his wife, who left him. "We divorced in 1994. She left me, thinking that I was just wasting my time doing all these things. She, and others, couldn't see the point. People want things quickly, today, not tomorrow. Plants take a while to grow but in the end you benefit. You have to be patient."
Ndlovu's patience has paid off. Not only does he now have a flourishing garden, he has also gained local and international recognition for his knowledge and skills. He attended the Chelsea Flower Show in 1997 and is a regular exhibitor at The Natal Witness Garden Show and Wildlife Expo in Durban. President Thabo Mbeki popped in for a visit last Christmas and Ndlovu finds himself much in demand at local schools. "I recently spoke at Michaelhouse and pupils from Clifton were here last week."
Ndlovu is keen to pass on his knowledge to a younger generation. "The older generation have forgotten about these plants and how to grow them. So I say, let's go to the youth, let's teach them; they are the people of tomorrow."
The children of Tendela gather around Ndlovu under the dripping shadecloth of his nursery where he grows seedlings and cuttings. Taking a stalk of plumbago ("useful for kidney problems and keeping bad spirits away") he cuts a small section and then removes the leaves before planting the resulting stick in a specially prepared mixture of sandy soil. "Sandy soil is better for growing cuttings and I have a compost mixture for seeds."
Now the pupils try their hand, shyly at first, then eager to have their turn. Biology teacher Ayisa explains how plants use leaves for transpiration. "That carries on even with leaves left on cut stalks like these and then the plant dries out. That's why the leaves are cut off."
His colleague, Magwaba, confides: "We are lucky to have Elliot. We can teach theoretically about the propagation of plants but with Elliot here you can bring the children and show them practically how to propagate plants."
Ndlovu shows the pupils various seeds and demonstrates how to plant them in seed boxes. They enthusiastically follow his lead before moving on to learn how to separate and plant young seedlings.
In teaching people to grow their own indigenous plants, Ndlovu is hoping to save those remaining in the wild. "People go into the veld and take everything," he says. They often do so in the belief that the medicinal and spiritual qualities of plants found in the wild are more powerful. "This is not so," says Ndlovu, who has carefully recreated natural conditions in his garden. "Many plants like to grow under or around stones. So I have put all these stones in the garden. A local farmer helped me bring them here."
Local traditional healers and members of the surrounding community obtain plants and seedlings from Ndlovu who is keen to see more traditional healers like himself growing their own plants. "You see all these plants on sale in markets in Maritzburg and Durban. The people selling them don't know how important these species are. I want to teach them to leave nature alone and start their own nature at home. But it's difficult to tell them to stop selling these plants; after all, that's how they live. That's why we must teach the youngsters."
The pupils from Tendela have returned to school, leaving behind them a host of new cuttings, freshly planted seedboxes and transplanted seedlings. Walking back through the rain-soaked garden, Ndlovu pauses by the shoulder-high purple flowers of the hlalanyosi ("where the bee stays"), bowed down by their burden of rain drops. "It is good for the kidneys; mixed with vetifer and fever tree, and taken as an emetic, it brings good fortune."
Good fortune is clearly something Ndlovu would like to spread around; he's keen everyone should grow their own medicinal plants. "All South Africans should have something like this in their garden," he says. "We know nature heals. Without nature there is no life." - The Natal Witness