Catherine Fernandes
SIOLIM: With lifestyle ailments getting more chronic and afflicting younger people with each passing year, the people of Goa are seeking relief in homegrown remedies rather than mainstream allopathic medicine alone.
In those days, when ‘Dr Google’ was not an option, every ailment was cured by home medication dispensed by village seniors who were well versed in ‘Zhaddo pallo’. These elders had deep knowledge and insight of all the locally sourced remedies that could yield relief and healing. These remedies came in the form of herbs, roots, barks, flowers and leaves of different plants; be it wild ones or herbs grown in their own yards.
Faith and confidence be it in God, yourself and your doctor/healer can heal all afflictions. This is a strong-rooted belief of our Goan ancestors, back when doctors were few and far between, and access to medical facilities was uncommonly rare.
It is this belief and knowledge that has strengthened the faith in herbal remedies curated by Romaldina Fernandes from Sodiem, Siolim. A respected senior member of the community, Romaldina has been dispensing medicine to cure jaundice for the last 40 years. The secrets of these remedies have been taught to her by her mother-in-law; the late Luisa Maria, who in turn learned it from a senior in the family hierarchy.
The medicine basically comprises a concoction of 11 different types of roots, tree bark, leaves and herbs among other things. This medicine is to be mixed into a glass of fresh milk ideally sourced from a white cow, called a Kapilla cow. The local belief is that the white cow absorbs certain healing properties of the sun’s rays, which are then passed on through the cow's milk.
With the fall in people raising cattle at home or preferring the high milk yielding foreign breeds of cow, Romaldina now advises people to source the milk themselves. The medicine has to be drunk continuously for a period of seven days, once in the morning on an empty stomach. Within seven days, if there is not much improvement, then a second dose is recommended for another seven days. During the course of medication, a light vegetarian diet is recommended. Red meat, chicken, oily and spicy foods are to be avoided. After this, the jaundice is completely cured.
As a last resort for stubborn cases, Romaldina dispenses some eye-drops which again are a concoction of locally-sourced herbs. They are recommended as a last resort as they sting terribly and that alone is enough to kill the Jaundice. With these drops, it is said that your jaundice is cured for life.
Hills have been sold for development and the resultant deforestation means that it is extremely difficult to source these herbs. “People don't know the value of these medicinal trees and the importance of the same,” says Romaldina, who despite her advancing age still trudges uphill regularly to source out the requirements of the concoction. Neither the climb, nor the fear of snakes or other wild animals will stop her from helping those in need of her remedies.
Romaldina as a person is warm, considerate and devout, right from the time she came in from Marcela as a new bride over 55 years ago. Whether it is a happy occasion or a sad one, till today, she can be found leading everyone in prayer; be it in her Church, home, or at the local Cross. Beyond that, Romaldina has always been a shoulder to lean on, someone people confide in. Along with her medications, she is also often found dispensing sound advice and warm hugs, which lay the path for the healing that follows.
Nilesh Vaingankar, the Deputy Sarpanch of Sodiem, Siolim, is all praise for her as he says, “From childhood, I have seen countless people who have benefitted from her medicines. And yet she does this without charging any fee for her services.”
We commend her for her selfless service to the community in the many ways she has contributed. We pray that God grants her and her family health, happiness and a long life, for bringing joy and comfort to those in need. She was also a member of the Sioilim-Sodiem Biodiversity panel.
Our hope is that with increased awareness and interest in all things local and homegrown, someone, somewhere would document her unique knowledge so that it can be preserved for posterity and heal countless others.