Yuthog Foundation
A project for the revival and development of traditional Amchi medicine
A brief review of the project
The pastFifteen years ago, Amchi medicine, a practice utilising natural resources such as medicinal herbs, minerals, etc., and directly linked with the Tibetan tradition, was quickly declining in Ladakh. Allopathic medicine had been introduced and was considered by health policy makers as the only rational way of improving the health situation of "backward communities" in remote areas. The presence of indigenous knowledge about health care, comprising comprehensive medical texts in Tibetan language, was not paid attention to, since an evaluation of it would have required intensive research on both theoretical issues and the relevance of this practice in its social-cultural context.
The Amchi tradition belongs to a system of family lineage (namely rGYUTPA) has remained unbroken for about six generations. This way of transmission has become problematic because of social mobility and economical constraints. Amchis do not charge patients for their consultation and treatment. Instead, they rely on villagers who help them with farm work, some food supply, etc. This livelihood is increasingly difficult to sustain in a fast changing rural economy.
What was on the verge of extinction was not only a highly sophisticated medical system but also a community-based curative and preventive practice, emphasising water and spring cleanliness, proper diet and healthy lifestyle. Amchis are not only medical practitioners. They are important actors of village life. Besides preserving the harmony of families, social relations, mental balance of individuals, etc., they are the main consultants for community decision making.
AchievementsIn 1984, Amchi Tsewang Smanla initiated a programme for revitalising the existing Amchi medical system in Ladakh. This project was granted support by Save the Children Fund (UK), and afterwards continued as a programme of Leh Nutrition Project, a local NGO.
In remote areas in which there was no access to health care, Amchis were helped through providing some raw ingredients not available in Ladakh, training, books and a nominal stipend.
An annual workshop was organised, bringing together 70 to 100 Amchis who would share their knowledge, exchange herbs, communicate processing techniques and work together on the proper identification, cultivation and preservation of medicinal plants. This has contributed to an increasing interest in the medical heritage, and generated awareness among Amchis as well as other health practitioners (allopathic doctors) who were invited to attend. The effect was to reverse negative prejudice and promote co-operative efforts.
The project further made it possible for Amchis to study in different places where various medicinal plants are available, visit medical libraries (for instance the Tibetan Medical Institute in Dharamsala), important herb trading centres in India, and become exposed to present-day herbal and medical practice and research.
This was followed with herbal study and collection tours in mountains, in order to solve controversial issues on identification, and to build a herbarium of Amchi medicinal plants. The problems of plant cultivation and replanting rare species have become an important issue of this group research. Cultivation of some commonly used plants started in several villages.
The tradition was revived with the training of Amchi Health Workers. Students selected by village communities where no medical facilities (even Amchi) exist are trained in the Amchi medical centre of Nurla for the three winter months, and return to their villages for the rest of the year to do farm work while putting their study into practice. At the end of three years, they qualify as "Amchi Health Workers" and join back their community. The ones who show motivation and competence are offered further study to become fully-trained Amchis.
Objectives
Short term- The supervision and training of Amchi Health Workers will be continued.
- Workshops and various types of exchange between practising Amchis will be further developed.
- A review of the present health situation in Ladakh should be undertaken with specialists of different medical fields and people able to evaluate the place of local health practice in terms of social communication, reliability and relevance to the present context of social and economical changes.
- The training centre built in Nurla will be expanded and linked with similar centres that were established as local initiatives in Zanskar and Changthang.
We wish to articulate the project along four main topics of interest.
- Resource research
This comprises a standardisation and updating of the Amchi medical knowledge: the collection, identification and processing of plants, the dissemination of information via newsletters, publications and reprints of books, etc., notably in the direction of Amchis who live in remote areas.
Another development will be the recording of "folk medicine" knowledge held by various groups of people in particular areas: Muslim healers, nomadic communities, women experienced in child delivery and care, people experienced in animal husbandry, etc. - Ecology
The cultivation of medicinal plants and the preservation of endangered species are important concerns of the Amchi community. In several areas, domains for cultivation will be protected, and techniques of cultivation, replanting, proper harvesting and seed production will be developed in a systematic way. - Training
It is important to seek an official recognition of Amchi medicine as part of indigenous heath care systems of the Himalayan region, developed in its particular natural and social environment.
The revitalisation of the practice and its necessary evolution in the modern context depend highly on a training system that will combine efficiently the traditional way (from master to disciple) with access to other sources of information. - Community-based support programme
This project is primarily focusing on the needs of village communities in Ladakh. Its aim is not so much to build up expertise for a small group of selected practitioners who might exercise it in urban environments, but to come up with a realistic and long-term efficient management of health care in rural communities. This approach distances itself from the implementation of programmes decided by "experts" and imposed on underdeveloped social groups. Instead, it claims a continuity with local practices that were being disrupted because of many new developments which people could not handle.The place of the Amchi practitioner in his/her community has already been emphasised above. We feel it is of prior importance to involve villagers actively in the process of identifying and solving their health issues, rather than relying on subsidised "high-tech" medicine. Thanks to the Amchi Health Worker Programme, the community has taken a first positive step in selecting candidates for training as Amchis. In the long term, it is expected that the same community will effectively support modern Amchi medicine back in the village, thereby encouraging its practitioners to pass on their knowledge to the younger.
