One section of Eden is devoted to illustration of indigenous healing practices including the use of herbs, plants and various concoctions made from nature. The Spanish colonizers destroyed all records kept by the indigenous tribes regarding the medicinal properties of such natural remedies, citing them as works of the devil. Truth is truth, however. Today what our own Filipino indigenous people had known all along has become fairly common. We got to see firsthand the source.
Tawa-tawa is a natural remedy for dengue fever and snake bites. Also, not shown here, is Citronella, a long, reed-like plant used as insect repellent - mostly mosquitoes - and is found in candles, incense coils, and the refill tube of lotion I bought in a convenience store in Davao. We got to carry a small piece in our backpacks during our Eden tour.
An albino peacock walking freely around the grounds at Eden. He shook and shimmied his tail while his harem walked around our tables collecting bread scraps from our merienda.
The Pagobo are one of the indigenous tribes of Mindanao. Their handicraft is woven bracelets in brown and cream colored grass. Later that afternoon as the sun was going down, we saw this woman and her baby (named Elisa) jump on the back of a scooter driven by a man- husband maybe?- and head home after a long day's work.
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