Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is gaining popularity among foreigners who are captivated by the Chinese culture. The award of the Nobel Prize in Medicine to Chinese scientist Tu Youyou in 2015 fueled the trend even further. Tu and her colleagues found a highly successful malaria cure using an extract from the mugwort plant, based on old TCM literature. This medication has healed millions of people since its introduction. As a result, it is not surprising that many of the participants of the 2021 China-Africa Video and Photo Competition have special interest in this topic. Ufot Irene Iniobong from Nigeria is an example.
After six years of study at the Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine, the young student is able to differentiate between several medicinal herbs and their therapeutic characteristics. In her second-place winning video Take TCM Home, she describes herbs at length and with accuracy, all in Mandarin. Iniobong discovered about the university in Jiangxi Province of China via a friend who went on to become a doctor in Nigeria after attending the university, and she is quite proud of it. “TCM has a long history in Jiangxi,” she explained. Jiangxi contributed to China’s battle against COVID-19 using TCM at the height of the country’s epidemic in 2020. Iniobong, inspired by this attitude of solidarity, even prepared a video to express her heartfelt thanks to her professors for taking such wonderful care of overseas students like her during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“TCM is both the wealth of China and the treasure of the world,” Iniobong said. She also mentioned that many plants in Nigeria have yet to be found to have therapeutic use. “I aim to use the information I’ve received during my university study to serve my people once I graduate,” she said, smiling.
Her views are shared by Mamelang Cynthia Mmutlwan from Botswana. An international relations student at Jinan University in Guangdong, Mmutlwan was quick to show her passion for acupuncture and herbal medicine in her first-prize winning video TCM. “Herbal medicine was a highlight for me in China,” she recounted.
“I’m impressed with how it is used every day to treat common illnesses, even acute conditions, and the fact that it is standardized in dosages.” Much to her chagrin, herbal medicine is on the verge of extinction in her country, Botswana, largely due to a lack of understanding of the medicine’s efficacy. Some have even associated it with witchcraft. “The African soil is home of so many plants. But now only our grandparents in Africa use these medicinal plants. Other members of the society have largely abandoned them,” she lamented.
Once in China, she became very interested in the fact that many Chinese people turn to TCM when they get sick. “TCM is a health system that focuses on the complete well-being of an individual,” she said. “It is a holistic view of our body and mind, in connection with the universe.” She hopes that African people can benefit from the gifts of traditional medicine and that it will be taught in schools. “This is our culture. Let’s not lose it.”
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