Meeting with botanical expert Achia Chale at his home in Wandi trading center
Dear All,
I hope this finds you well. I am just back to Imvepi from a weekend in Arua with a few of my friends from the International Rescue Committee. Power has been sporadic in our IRC housing this week so Arua was a great chance to recharge devices and battery packs, catch some tasty food, dancing, and cooler temperatures.
On the research side of things, we reached 80 completed interviews and firewood walks last week with participants from a tree-based program implemented by Danish Refugee Council. On Wednesday we met with facilitators from the next program, a household-based agroforestry and permaculture intervention, and resumed research activities with new participants on Thursday and Friday. I feel really fortunate that Robilert and Zone 1 refugee translator Josephine are available to stay on to help with translation and participant mobilization in the coming months.
When in the field collecting data on plants with edible, medicinal, fiber purposes, we ask participants to share the local name of a plant in either Lugbara on the host side, or in languages such as Kakwa, Arabic, or Kukuu on the refugee side. For scientific names, I have drawn on Robilert's botanical knowledge which he gained during his agricultural studies in Kenya. Yet we accumulated a list of 83 plants with photos, local names, and uses, but no scientific name. Looking for help, I wrote to my local research supervisor: Dr. Clement Okia, Associate Professor of Agroforestry at Muni University in Arua. Clement told me of a man named Achia Chale living in the Wandi trading center not far from Arua who might be able to assist us.
Achia Chale and his daughter seated in front of their home and storefront
Achia Chale has conducted numerous environmental impact assessments and botanical surveys in Imvepi and surrounding areas and has accumulated a deep wealth of local botanical knowledge. I gave him a call last week and he welcomed Robilert and I to meet him over the weekend. On Saturday morning we travelled to Wandi which sits on the main road towards Arua. Achia Chale lives on a compound here with his daughter, who runs a small pharmacy and dry goods shop.
When we arrived to Wandi, Achia Chale and his daughter were both sitting in front of the shop, where two thick, well-worn botanical guides were placed on a small wooden table: Useful Trees and Shrubs for Uganda, and The Indigenous Trees of Uganda. We sat on either side of him and introduced ourselves, before diving into the photographs I organized of our 83 unidentified species on my computer. We started with a photo of a tree called lotereje in Kakwa. Lotereje was identified by a refugee participant who eats the seedy yellow fruits in August and September. My photograph of lotereje from the bush included the unripe fruit which Achia Chale immediately identified as Gardenia ternifolia jovis-tonantis (Welw.). So we were off to a good start: one down and 82 to go!
Achia Chale frequently referenced his worn copy of Useful Trees and Shrubs for Uganda
Drawings of Gardenia ternifolia (left) and my photo from the bush (right)
Next I pulled up a photo of a tree known as yife in Lugbara, with yellow, seedy edible fruits. For this one, Achia scanned through a printed list of plants specific to Imvepi to find the name he was looking for, before flipping through Useful Trees and Shrubs for Uganda to the entry for Celtis africana, also known as “white stinkwood,” an indigenous tree used across Uganda primarily for firewood and timber. Two down, 81 to go. I pulled up a photo of the leaf of a tree known as wawa in Lugbara. Achia knew this one right off—Lonchocarpus laxiflorus. The host participant who identified this tree reported using the roots for treating stomach ailments, though Achia mentioned the leaves are also used to attract termites, which are then harvested as food.
Robilert and Achia Chale flipping through The Indigenous Trees of Uganda
Our meeting went on like this for an hour and a half, by which point Achia had identified 43 of our 83 unknown species. His specialty is trees and shrubs, and the remaining plants left unidentified are largely herbaceous. For these, he recommended a specific East African medicinal plant guide which we will seek out. Many of the names were right at the tip of his tongue, but he said it can be difficult to remember outside of the actual environment.
After our meeting, Achia Chale grabbed his walking cane and led us behind his home where he has planted a wide variety of tree species. He challenged us to try and identify the species of a large, shady, evergreen tree. Robilert knew it right off: Warburgia ugandensis or Ugandan greenheart. They both encouraged me to nibble on a leaf. I mistakenly took a large bite and my mouth filled with chili-like spice. Apparently early Indian migrants to East Africa used the leaves of this tree in curry before chili was introduced, given the similarity in taste and heat.
Standing beneath Warburgia ugandensis
Robilert and I both felt grateful for our time with Achia Chale. As my friend Cathy Watson of CIFOR-ICRAF described, he is truly a national treasure. We will return to the bush with more familiarity of the surrounding species, and greater ability to discern when the same species is used by both refugees and hosts. Before departing I compensated Achia Chale for the time he spent meeting with us. He encouraged us to come back to visit as we encounter new species in the coming months.
Networking....the spider web of human connections...
A national treasure indeed! It must have been so much fun identifying the different species. Good luck with identifying more of the herbaceous plants!
Memories of that guide Use-full trees and shrubs of Uganda by Katende et al ., it reminds me of our old field days in Budongo Central forest reserve! That Mzee is a National Treasure!