The
Green Medicine Newsletter
Publication of The Student
Rainforest Fund Fall 2004
P.O. Box 238
Wildwood, PA. 15091
(412) 486-4588
email: dwagner@nutrifarmacy.com
web: www.nutrifarmacy.com
Dr. Daniel T. Wagner,
RPh., Pharm.D., MBA, President
Dr. Norbert Pilewski, RPh., Ph.D., Vice President
PRESIDENT'S REPORT
SRF TEAM MAKES A SUCCESSFUL TRIP TO COSTA RICA
After eight straight years of traveling to Belize, Central America, the student
rainforest fund (SRF) team made a successful journey, a few hundred miles further
south, to the beautiful country of Costa Rica. The group of 23 students (from
eight universities) and six faculty members traveled from June 17-24, 2004,
on a precedent-setting annual expedition. 
I would like to thank each of you for your support in the past. Even the smallest donation is greatly appreciated by this organization. The SRF could not exist without YOU! Please help us continue this positive life and educational experience for our college students.
This adventure was much different than our previous Belize trips. Yes, we still concentrated on the relevance of medicinal plants, natural products, and herbs, but the fauna and flora are more diverse. Costa Rica looks much different than Belize. The rainforests there are absolutely stunning!
After flying into the capital city of San Jose, the group stayed overnight. By 5 A.M. the next morning, we were off to our first destination. It was an arduous bus drive (190 miles) due east over some of the highest mountain ranges in the country. We arrived six hours later at the Robert and Catherine Wilson Botanical Gardens near the border of Panama. The Gardens, part of the Las Cruces Biological Station, contain an internationally recognized collection of tropical plants from around the world. Aroids, ferns, gingers, bromeliads, marantas, and palms are broadly represented on the 25-acre site. The adjacent forest (657 acres) is extremely rich in native plants (approximately 2,000 species). The Gardens are also home to many animals, including 320 species of birds, 800 species of butterflies, and abundant species of mammals, reptiles, and amphibians.
After a morning of tours and lectures around the Gardens, we were transported to the hinterlands of southeastern Costa Rica to meet the Guaymi, an indigenous people residing with reservation status in the province of Puntarenas. They are descendents of slaves who were moved from Panama by Spaniards beginning in 1514. They are hunters and farmers. We met and visited the home of Guanymi shaman Alejandro Palacios and his wife, craftswoman Maria Bejarano. Both were kind and enthusiastic about showing us their home, their forest, and their medicinal plant garden.
By Monday the group traveled back to San Jose toward our next destination, the La Selva Biological Station, located two hours north of the capital. At this impressive research station, we walked all afternoon (through a tropical rain shower) to observe the medicinal plants of the area. Our instructor was Dr. Luis Paveda, specialist in ethnobotany and distinguished professor at the University of Costa Rica.
By Tuesday, we were off to our most exciting destination, the Bribri Indigenous Reserve near Puerto Viejo on the eastern Atlantic coast. To reach the tribe, we had to abandon our bus and board small motorboats to crisscross a raging river. The Bribri are isolated on the KekoLdi reservation in the Carbon Mountain Range. There are currently 230 people, comprising 50 families in the 500-hectare reservation. We entered the community to smiling faces and outstretched hands. We had the privilege of having famed shaman, (Awa in Bribri), Mr. Alesandro to conduct an ethnobotanical assessment of the Bribri culture. This was a fascinating experience that very few Americans have witnessed! After walking through the shaman's medicinal garden, he led us to a huge thatched teepee-like structure where ceremonial dancing and healing take place. We all sat around in a circle inside the structure and listened to a local shaman apprentice translate the words of the Awa. He greeted us with an endearing smile and introduced us to his aged mother (a shamana) and his apprentice. He told us tales of his people, the disease states he treats successfully and those he does not, and sad news that his tribe is dispersing more and more as modernization encroaches on his domain. Among all the Bribri in Costa Rica (approximately 10,000), there are only twenty traditional healers (Awa) who remain alive. Mr. Alesandro is magical man in ways that are hard to explain, and he is highly respected by his people.
On the last day the group had time to "let out the strain from the heat and the bus rides" and jump into the waves of the Atlantic Ocean at Puerto Viejo. We had lunch in the quaint town, and did a little shopping and beach walking.
By Thursday, we were leaving the Hotel Irazu in San Jose and flying back to our homes in the United States. I want to express my admiration to each and every student who made the bold decision to go on this trip. I trust that their experience was life altering and professionally enriching. The power of the plants in the rainforest setting is amazingly infectious, but learning a bit of the wisdom of the indigenous healers is the biggest treat of all. What an opportunity! I also want to express my sincere appreciation to all those who generously donated to the SRF mission. I hope you find comfort in knowing that your gift helped to make a once-in-a-lifetime adventure come true for a number of college students.
-Dr. Daniel Wagner, RPh, MBA, PharmD, President
SRF MAY TEAM UP WITH ACEER
SRF President Dan Wagner has been talking
with Dr. Roger W. Mustalish, President, ACEER Foundation regarding future cooperation
between the two organizations. The Amazon Center for Environmental Education
and Research (ACEER) is a non-profit foundation that has planned workshops in
the Peruvian Amazon for over ten years. A trip to the Amazon would be the "ultimate"
rainforest experience for any student interested in medicinal plants and ecology.
Many SRF Board members have undertaking the Amazon experience including Drs.
Wagner, Pilewski, Morris, Duke, Arvigo, Plotkin, Combest, and Pharmacist Harlan
Lahti. A proposed itinerary is being investigated that would include trips
to the reserve Amazonica and the Inkaterre Ecological Reserve, and the remote
Quebrada Gamitana, a pristine tributary of the Medre de Dios River in Southern
Peru.
HEALING IN OTHER CULTURES: BELIZE AND THE AMAZON (Part II)
By Dr. Norbert Pilewski, SRF VP, (Published in the ACPE Advocate, Fall, 2003)
The most powerful potion used in Mayan medicine is skunk root tea, administered with incense and prayer. It is used as a last resort when all else fails. It has a foul smell and taste and induces vomiting, but is effective in serious spiritual and psychological illnesses. The most powerful Amazonian potion is ayahuasca. It also has a foul taste and induces vomiting; their treatment also includes tobacco smoke and prayer. Don Antonio uses this mind-altering herbal mixture, which contains hallucinogenic alkaloids, to seek the help of "spirit doctors" in diagnosing and curing serious illnesses. Both the healer and the patient drink the potion. Before the healing ceremony, the patient must fast and pray.
For many illnesses, less drastic treatments are employed. Dr. Rosita uses the leaves of the jackass bitters, soaked in rum, to produce a tincture with antibiotic and anti-parasitic properties, which also serves as an anti-malarial and anti-diarrheal. Don Antonio uses medicinal plants, herbal baths, tobacco smoke, chanting, and fanning with a special leaf fan. He uses the blood-red sap of the dragon's blood tree externally for its wonderful haling properties to treat intestinal parasites.
While the healing methods used in these cultures are fascinating and cause for great excitement in learning, the healers in these cultures have a basic philosophy in their treatment that is far too often overlooked in medicine in North America. In both Belize and the Amazon, healers spend a great deal of time with each patient. In both cases, the healing takes place in a special location: in Belize, the healer's hut; in the Amazon, a small shelter in a private jungle clearing. And patients often spend days in these locations, receiving care, attention, and prayers. American scientists are busy investigating the plants used by Dr. Rosita and Don Antonio. Perhaps sometime in the future the active compounds in them will be isolated and made available to Western medicine. We must not, however, discount the effects of prayer and caring used by the healers in these cultures.
NEWS AND NOTES
DR. GAYLE COCHRAN GIVES ASSESSMENT OF COSTA RICAN TRIP
Gayle H. Cochran, Pharm.D., is the Director of Experiential Education at the School of Pharmacy & Allied Health Sciences at the University of Montana in Missoula. She has been instrumental in arranging for pharmacy students at her school to attend SRF trips to Belize in 2003 and Costa Rica in 2004. She attended herself this year, and gives the following perspective:
“I found the trip very enjoyable and I think the students benefited from it greatly. The field trips were great but it would be better to have as much instruction in English as possible. To improve the content of the educational experience you might consider sending more preliminary information on the country, culture, flora, fauna, etc., and sequence information as basic botany review and basic herbal review. At times the traveling (time on a bus) was tiring. Having a single location that is a working plantation may improve the content of the educational experience for the students. The cultural information provided by Dr. Luis Diego was very informative. But receiving a syllabus with assigned readings for the students would help to initiate review and discussion of what was learned about the Indian tribes, and the growing, harvesting and preparation of compounds from the plants from Costa Rica.”
BEING AN AMIGO WITH THE WILSON BOTANICAL GARDENS IN COSTA RICA
The Robert and Catherine Wilson Botanical Garden is a rich, internationally-recognized collection of tropical plants from around the world. Aroids, bromeliads, ferns, gingers, heliconias, marantas and palms are broadly represented on the 10 ha (25 acre) site. Over 1,000 genera in more than 200 plant families from the unique collection that is part of the Las Cruces Biological Station. The garden and adjacent forest (266 ha; 657 acres) are extremely rich in native plants (approximately 2,000 species) and animals, including 320 bird species, more than 800 species of butterflies, abundant mammal species (at least 38 species of bats), and an impressive diversity of reptiles and amphibians.
The 29 members of the 2004 SRF team had the privilege of hearing Wilson Botanical Garden's director Dr. Luiz Diego Gomez present an eloquent talk on the history of the gardens and the story of the local indigenous peoples living nearby. The extraordinary beauty of the gardens draws people from all around the world, and for one short week in June, 2004, we were inhabitants in this modern-day Garden of Eden.
SRF President Dan Wagner with BriBri shaman and Dr. Luis Poveda, professor at the University of Costa Rica |
Student group on a tour of the Wilson Botanical Garden |
Walking across the bridge going to the La Selva Biological Station |
Craftswoman Maria Bejarano (left), Las Crucos Director Dr. Luis D. Gomez (center), and Guaymi Shaman Alejandro Palacios (right) |
The rare fiddlehead fern at the Wilson Botanical Gardens |
Only when the last tree has died And the last river has been poisoned And the last fish has been caught Will the white man realize that we can’t eat money - Guaymi proverb |
A beautiful wild ginger from the Wilson Botanical Gardens |
Local Guaymi women doing crafts |
Ceremonial hut and healing center for the Bribri Tribe in Cachabri community |
Dr. Luis Diego Gomez lecturing to students on the indigenous peoples of Costa Rica |
2004 SRF team getting together for a group picture |
Children in the Bribri village |
WHAT THE STUDENTS ARE SAYING !!!
"Thanks for such a memorable week in Costa Rica. What I'll remember most about the trip is the people we came in contact with-their culture, values, and beliefs. This was a great experience."
- S. T., University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy
"The most memorable part of the trip was meeting local and indigenous peoples, and having the opportunity to gain insight into their culture was a valuable experience in shaping my world view."
- A.F., Wilkes-Barre School of Pharmacy
"I really enjoyed meeting the Awa with the Bribri and also the Guaymi people. Being able to connect with these people and culture reminds me of the importance of remembering my own."
- L.C., Philadelphia Medical Hospital
"The most memorable part of the trip was meeting the indigenous tribes and learning about their culture."
- M.M., University of Montana School of Pharmacy
"I particularly enjoyed walking to the shaman's house because we were so close to the land and the mountains. I really loved the Jeep ride also."
-T.R., Philadelphia, PA.
"Having an opportunity to learn from the indigenous healers and their invaluable knowledge was a great experience. They truly were treasures. Thank you for the incredible opportunity."
-L.J., North Carolina
"I loved the Wilson Botanical garden, the ambiance, the lodging, and the food was great. Our guide, Roberto, gave us great service and attention."
-S.W., Seattle, WA.
Award-winning fine artist Kip Herring completed painting a beautiful rainforest mural on the side of the Nutri-farmacy building in Wildwood, PA (home to SRF). The masterpiece is entitled "Pura Vida." For more information on Kip's artwork visit his website at www.kipherring.com
Contributions and gifts ----- $10,671
Revenue from participants ----- $21,950
Total Revenue ----- $32,621
Expenses ----- $31,754
Net balance in bank ----- $1,703
(For a complete copy of the 990-EZ, Contact SRF accountant James Hune 412-635-9088)
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Student Rainforest Fund
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Thank you !!!
For questions and concerns-contact Dr. Daniel Wagner at (412) 486-4588
SRF is a nonprofit research and education organization with tax exempt status under section 501(C)3 of the IRS code. Tax ID: 23-2939579