In this 21st century, so much of our culture is being eroded by globalization and its attendants that we need to start codifying many aspects before they are lost in entirety. As part of my curriculum for Caribbean Studies, culture features heavily and we look at natural medicine as part of it. My students often spend time with the elders of their community trying to source invaluable information on types of herbs used, dosages, preparations etc. This process is symbiotic as the elders are engaged with the young people, the young get their information and produce artifacts, their social skills are developed, as is their self confidence.
We can use other topics for engaging the elders, but whatever we do, we need to do it soon before the passage of time means the passage of the elders and all that they embody. How many of us know all the old time fruits or local sweets, or how your village was back in the day or what interactions locals had with the U.S. soldiers stationed here in WW 11? Our elders have a lot to tell and to teach and blogging might be one way of getting and keeping the information.
Just in case you are interested here is a link you can visit to see where students in the US can publish their interviews of the elders generationscanconnect.ic.gc.ca. We can get ideas, tweak it and possibly create our own. So let's blog for cultural retention. I give myself that challenge.
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