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Categorization
I separate the practice of holistic healing in Haiti in three different parts:
A unique in that healers are not expected to be professionals. Having learned the positive effect of a recipe through past experience, he or she is able to offer it to a sick person only as a suggestion.
By so doing, that compassionate healer, consciously or unconsciously, accomplishes a cultural act and also a medical one, though he or she may never feel concerned by matters of methods and principles.
It is well understood, in this case, that the treatment is only making use of a "Simple", this type of social Medicine being generally described as "The Simple method of healing", or
The Haitian people refer to it by such an expression because, probably, of the limited scope of such an activity.
- Second, PHYTOTHERAPEUTIC MEDICAL SYSTEM
which is only practiced by professionals.
The latter are of diverse types as a supremely recognized healer, he or she may bear the title of Hugan (man) or Manbo / Hugbonn (woman).
The Hugan and Manbo, guardians of the ancestral tradition, are theoretically fully equivalent in the exercise of their function when both of them have learned the same way the correct utilization of plants and herbs and the manner to correlate them to people’s ailments.
However, there also exist, a wide number of other healers, such as :
¨ the Doktè-Fèy (leaf doctor),
¨ Fanm-Chaj (midwife)
¨ and Ganga (healer).
- Thirdly, a Masterly Medical system.
The principles reigning here are based upon the
dynamism of a certain concept of Life named energy, meaning a Force that has no mass but has definite potentialities of action.
Divinity is seen as the source of all lives, thus of all energies, and ultimately, Her Energy is always tapped by the professionals to carry out cures.
The human being is also seen as an energy of a lesser dimension, as are animals, plants and everything else that possess life.
All function well within a normal range, and out of the norms, or outside of the normal range of energy, the person is recognized to be sick, and feels that way.
All three systems are in use side by side in Haiti. Fitting well together, they act as complementary to each other and to University Medicine. Highly appreciated by the population who turns to them nine times out of ten, they reduce proportionately the load of the Hospitals and of the Physicians who, in spite of that, still seem overworked by what is left for them to do. However, no government in Haiti has ever recognized the existence of such a parallel form of Medical practice and no credit, no support and no encouragement have ever been given to the Traditionalists.
