In an unprecedented display of cooperation in the interest of expanding education of medicinal plants and herbs, students from American schools of pharmacy and naturopathy met in Belize, Central America from May 19–28, 2003. The students traveled with the Student Rainforest Fund, a non-profit, educational organization established in 1995. The SRF provides the means and substantial funding for American college students studying the health professions, to learn more about the “roots” of their profession in the rainforests of the Central and South America, truly the world’s greatest pharmacy. 2003 is the eighth consecutive year that the SRF has sponsored 20 or more students on an 8-day expedition of Belize.

The SRF group of thirty. May 2003 Photo copyright 2003 Dan Wagner.

This year’s team included eight pharmacy students from Duquesne University’s School of Pharmacy located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and six students from the University of Montana School of Pharmacy located in Missoula, Montana. For the first time nine students studying herbal medicines and naturopathy from Bastyr University in the state of Washington attended. The American faculty included the author; Nobert Pilewski, PhD, RPh, vice president of SRF, and associate professor of pharmacognosy at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh; Steven Morris, ND, of Mukilteo, Washington, who is also an adjunct professor of ethnobotany at Bastyr University; and Bruce Sigman, RPh, MBA, PharmD, a community pharmacist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

During the first four days of the expedition the team stayed at the Ix Chel Tropical Research Centre located in the Cayo District of Western Belize, near the town of San Ignacio. The principal student instructor was world-renowned herbalist and natural-medicine doctor, Rosita Arvigo, MD. Dr. Arvigo is the author of Sastun, The 100 Healing Plants of Belize, and Rainforest Remedies. She taught the group courses in Maya medicine, the healing plants of Belize, and ethnobotany. Dr. Arvigo was joined by three local healers who are members of the Belizian Healers Association. These well-known Belizian healers included Beatrice Waight, a midwife and Maya medicine practitioner; Leopoldo Romero, a bushmaster and expert plant collector; and Juana Shish, a midwife and plant medicine expert. They assisted the group in an ethnobotanical field exercise that included collection, accurate description, location name (Spanish or Mayan), use and posology of each speciman. All plant samples are

numbered and documented for possible research at the National Cancer Institute in the United States.

SRF President Dr. Dan Wagner Traditional Healer, Juana Shish SRF Vice President, Dr. Norbert Pilewski at Ix Chel Photo copyright 2003 Dan Wagner.

While in the Cayo District, the students also visited Xuantunich, the highest Mayan ruin in Belize that overlooks the Guatemala border, and went caving and swimming at Rio Frio Falls, located on the Pine Ridge of Western Belize.

The weekend was a time for touring the beautiful mountains, plains and shores of Belize. The group headed south to the Toledo District and stayed at the Sea Front Lodge in Punta Gorda. After a lecture by Dr. Pilewski entitled “Plants that Changed the World,” the team visited an ancient Mayan ruin called Nim Li Punit. The group participated in a long hike through an old-growth forest near Indian Creek, and witnessed some of the remarkable fauna and flora of this region. On the last day they spent an afternoon beaching and snorkeling around Snake Island, located in the a 500 square-mile ocean Reserve within Honduras Bay, 40 minutes by motorboat from Punta Gorda.

The collaboration of the students from these two distinct disciplines of health care undoubtedly helped to establish a bond of cooperation and understanding of natural and holistic medicine. They not only become friendly toward each other, but become friendlier with the natural world and the healing plants that thrive there. The opportunity for these young and impressionable students to work hand-in-hand with indigenous traditional healers has immeasurable value, for it is information that can not be attained in a university classroom. There is little doubt that this life, spiritual and educational experience will be of great value to them as they further their health field-related careers.

The SRF has future student expeditions planned for Belize, Costa Rica, and possibly Suriname. Contact SRF at P.O. Box 238, Wildwood, PA 15091. Website: www.nutrifarmacy.com.

Daniel Wagner, RPh, PharmD, is an ethnopharmacist and natural medicine practitioner based in Wildwood, Pennsylvania.

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