The Kukula from Maputaland

Not many people venture here. Lets justsay it's far off the beaten track for travellers. But this is where magichappens. I call this place My Therapist, because it heals me from within. Itsnot just the 10800 steps that it takes to get here, it's more the fact that itis pure and unspoilt and besides the very shy local fisherman, the residentfish eagle and a few turtles, this place is secluded.

Soimagine my surprise when one day I encounter a strange woman harvesting whatlooks like seaweed. The stranger is different to the local fishermen which weencountered here she hangs around long enough for me to approach her but withmy limited Zulu and her limited English communication was almost impossible.Hoewever using my hands feet and face I ask her if is she is a Sangoma. Sheshakes her head, no. "Inyanga?" is my next question. She shakes her head;"Kukula" is her response, she writes the word in the sand, I was baffled.

Weintroduce ourselves with right hand shaking and left hand to the heart. Hername is Wesiwe Mthembu and she lives in the iSimangaliso Nature reserve inNkovukeni. In sign language she told me that the seaweed she was collecting,and which has been drying on the sand dunes, is used for all chest infections;coughs, sinuses and chest illnesses.

Wesiweexplained that the seaweed is boiled in water in a big pot on the fire. Using ablanket, cover yourself and the steaming pot and inhale the steam off theseaweed, afterwards use the water and the seaweed to exfoliate the body. Wesiwealso said that I must drink a small sip to clean my insides.

Only when I came home a few days later, Irealised that the Kukula is actually a real thing. Kukula are a group oftraditional health practitioners from northern KZN who possess valuableknowledge about the healing properties of local plants and this knowledge hasbeen handed down to them from their ancestors. Some of the knowledge must bycustom remain secret, within a single family or small group of healers.

Butaccording to the documents I read, there is much knowledge that the healers arewilling to share - with other healers and even with the outside world -provided they can benefit appropriately and not become victims of bio-piracy(commercial use of biological knowledge without permission from, andcompensation to, the knowledge-holders).

Thereare only roughly 300 Kukula traditional healers nationally. Many Kukula residein Mozambique, from where the practice migrated. I considered it a good omenmeeting Wesiwe, and have been steaming in her seaweed religiously. I considerthis treatment some kind of omen, believing that nothing happens without areason.