Barefoot Amchis of Ladakh
As Ladakh develops and opens up, young Ladakhis see their future as tourist guides, soldiers and businessmen. Traditional professions are falling out of favour, and one field that has seen a decline is that of Amchi medicine, the traditional healing system prevalent in much of the Tibetan world.
The amchis of Ladakh, like local vaidyas and hakims elsewhere, have been facing increasing difficulties in practising indigenous medicine. The herbs, roots, fruits and animal products necessary for medicinal preparations have become scarce. Their role in society is being viewed with scepticism by modern allopathic doctors. Because the treatment has been traditionally free, there is little financial benefit in learning to become an Amchi, a process which takes up to six years.
It is against such a discouraging backdrop that amchi medicine has suddenly seen the beginnings of a revival in Ladakh. In the winter of 1992, Amchi Tsewang Smanla from the Leh Nutrition Project, a local NGO, started a program to
train young Ladakhis from remote villages as Amchi Health Workers (AHWs). The Project has governmental support and receives assistance from the Health Department in providing a small monthly wage and raw medicinal ingredients.
The course designed by Amchi Tsewang consists of two month training sessions spread out over three consecutive years. Every year, he takes three new students. The curriculum tackles the common health problems found in Ladakh. such as respiratory tract injections and stomach ailments. Besides traditional knowledge, the course also promotes the appreciation of western medicine, including the role of immunisation, hospital referrals, hygiene, preventive medicine and wound dressing. Allopathic information on the role of bacteria and viruses in causing diseases is also shared.
Villages that lack easy access to medical facilities are given preference by the Project when selecting candidates. The trained amchis are expected to return to their villages to provide basic traditional health care. However, they will also act as
health educators and motivators, liaising with health centres and visiting doctors. They will charge a small fee for consultation and treatment.
Skarma Targyas, from this year´s new batch of trainees, is from Rupsu, a community of over 300 nomads living in Changthang, eastern Ladakh. The nearest dispensary is a day´s horse-ride away from Rupshu, and is often inaccessible in winter.
Prior to 1959. Ladakhi monks used to travel to Lhasa to learn the traditional system of Tibetan medicine. This system based on four Buddhist medical tantras, Gyud-bzshi, according to which disease results from the imbalance in the three bodily humours rLung (wind), mKhrispa (bile) and Badkan (phlegm). The amchi´s role is to try and restore this natural balance through dietary and behaviourial changes.
With the revival of traditional medicine in Ladakh, it is expected the number of amchis will go up from today´s 300. Together with it, so will the territory´s health status. – Stephen Homewood/ Andy Law.
The Anti-Mosquito Gurkha
What do Gurkhas and mosquitoes have in common? Well, till now we never had reason to consider the question. But Nepal´s highland soldiers get targeted by the anopheles like everyone else.
All that has now changed, with the introduction of the "Gurkha Insect Repellent" in the British market. Certified by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the new brand is all set to dominate the anti-mosquito shelves in the UK´s pharmacies.
The manufacturer claims that "Gurkha" is an alternative to the standard Diethyl Toluamide-based repellents available in the market, which are known to cause reactions on users. Not so the new product, "which offers not just the usual protection against mosquitoes, midges, leeches and the like, (but) also has skin conditioning properties." Aha, an all purpose insect repellent, useful for beach bums in need of protection against the ozone, salt water leeches and mosquitoes!
We insist that all present and past British Gurkhas be made eligible for a 25 percent discount on their namesake. Meanwhile, if a competitor ever gets a hold of the formula for "Gurkha", they would be better advised to name their product "The Tharu", for their renowned immunity to malaria. When will British companies learn to consult ethnographers? The last time they messed up was when they named a delivery van "Sherpa".