Bloodroot
The impact of traditional medicine in the everyday fight against medical shortages and sanitary crisis in Cuba.
With a record of COVID cases, collapsed hospitals and a shortage of medicines, Cuba is going through a complex health situation. Since 2020, 85% of the basic medicines of national production are in shortage. In addition, the US blockade and the traveling restrictions make the imported medicine scarce. The few chemical medicines available in the country are found at exorbitant prices on the black market. Many Cubans find alternatives in traditional healing.
Julio holds The Medical Folklore in Cuba, a book on Cuban traditional medicine, written in 1961, in Havana Cuba, on August 21, 2021.
“The current practices only exist for a relatively small number of people, mainly of advanced age. Perhaps no trace of them remains, except in the memory of a few”. [Medical Folklore in Cuba, José Seone Gallo, 1961]. In 1961, the disappearance of ancestral medical practices was predicted as a consequence of the socioeconomic changes brought about by the Cuban Revolution. Nevertheless, they never extinguished completely. Today, likewise happened during the economic crisis of the early '90s, when natural medicine grew extensively under Castro's motto, "green medicine is not a solution to poverty but an alternative to wealth", the population is seeking a solution in green medicine to face the lack of chemical medicine. On the other hand, most Cubans have a deeply rooted religious and popular tradition in the use of medicinal plants.
“The current practices only exist for a relatively small number of people, mainly of advanced age. Perhaps no trace of them remains, except in the memory of a few”. [Medical Folklore in Cuba, José Seone Gallo, 1961]. In 1961, the disappearance of ancestral medical practices was predicted as a consequence of the socioeconomic changes brought about by the Cuban Revolution. Nevertheless, they never extinguished completely. Today, likewise happened during the economic crisis of the early '90s, when natural medicine grew extensively under Castro's motto, "green medicine is not a solution to poverty but an alternative to wealth", the population is seeking a solution in green medicine to face the lack of chemical medicine. On the other hand, most Cubans have a deeply rooted religious and popular tradition in the use of medicinal plants.
Elianni (10) sits in Julio´s selling spot (68) in Old Havana, Cuba on September 20, 2020. Kids come to help clean up the garden, play in the backyard and learn about plants.
Left:The ceiba is considered a sacred tree by the Yoruba religion. Photo taken on July 19th, 2021, in San Miguel del Padrón, Havana, Cuba.
Right: Felix shows his arm full of pimples on Julio's place on October 7th, in Old Havana, Cuba. He went to see Julio after having been to the hospital twice, where he was diagnosed with pyoderma all over his body. The medicine that the doctors gave him didn't help him get better, so he started taking a mixture of plants provided by Julio
Enma (77) holds a bunch of medicinal herbs collected by her, in Matanzas, Cuba, on June 21th, 2021.
A nurse organizes the Traditional Medicine consulting room located within the Gastroenterology Institute of Havana, Cuba, on October 15th, 2021. Patients are offered different types of tradicional treatments such as acupuncture and ozone therapy, among others.
El Naranjal neighborhood, in Matanzas was one of the most affected by Covid. Villalonga, a healer who lives here, never stopped curing people, not even en the worst moments. Photo taken on June 20, 2021.
Natural medical treatments are sold in Old Havana, Cuba on July 17, 2020. The space is run by Julio, a traditional healer, and it is a reference point in the Old Havana neighborhood. Both plants and already made preparations are provided by him.
Ana María (47), mother of Elianni (10) and Julio's patient (68), prepares a treatment of chaya leaves at her house in the San Isidro neighborhood, Old Havana, on August 6, 2021. Ana María suffers from diabetes. "It also helps me keep the pressure stable."
Left: Medicinal plants used to prepare a plant-based beverage called Titan, are placed on the ground in Julio’s backyard.
Right: Villalonga, a traditional healer, treats a patient suffering from a stomach ailment by running his hand over the back of her leg.
Villalonga, a traditional healer, enter to the woods to collect medicinal plants in Matanzas, Cuba, on July 16, 2021.
Left:Portrait of Enma (77) in the backyard of her house after returning from the woods where she goes to collect medicinal plants in Matanzas, Cuba, on July 17, 2021. Enma sells both medicinal and religious plants.
Right: The Yoruba baptism ceremony of a 7-days-old baby takes place in Havana, Cuba, on August 20, 2021. “Esentayé” means "feet on the ground" and represents the first time the baby set foot on the ground. It's a celebration in which the Yoruba leader bathes him with medicinal plants.
Norma poses for a portrait at her home in Old Havana, Cuba, on October 11th, 2021. She holds a bunch of oregano leaves before boiling and drinking them to treat her bronchitis.
Left:Joseíto (48) disburses medicinal plants in Julio's selling spot in Havana, Cuba, on August 5, 2021. Twice a week, Joseíto picks the plants that Julio needs to prepare his plant-based treatments.
Right: Norma prepares the plants as Julio explained to her on her home in Old Havana, Cuba, on October 11th, 2021.
Enma (77) takes her daily medication at her home in the Naranjal neighborhood, Matanzas, Cuba. She suffers from various chronic diseases and her daughter used to buy her imported vitamins. Enma is in lack of them since a long time.
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