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Namibian Myrrh
Please choose a FairTrade project from the list below:
Namibian Myrrh
These are people from the Himba tribe who carry out the collection
of the Myrrh. As there is not a regular supply of water to keep themselves
clean, the people paint themselves from head to toe with red ochre, this also
protects their skin from the harsh sun.
The Myrrh plant is very similar to the Frankincense plant and can also survive
in extreme arid conditions.
Community meetings are held to organise collection of the Myrrh resin, these
meetings can take weeks to organise due to the nomadic Himba tribe constantly
moving from different water sources.
The Gum forms in the crevices at the base of the plant.
The women collect the gum by hand from the very thorny bushes.
All the gum is collected on to pieces of slate or rock. A group of women
will collect 100 kg in a day from some 1200 different trees, it takes one woman
4 hours to collect 1 kg of the gum.
The trees used are numbered along with the gum to keep an accurate record
of where the gum has been collected.
There is tonnes of Myrrh that can be collected, but unfortunately these
Nomadic people do not have the opportunity to create a market for the Myrrh.
The Myrrh is used locally by the women as perfume, it is also used for food,
as medicine, as a dye for clothing, as a glue to fill holes or mend pots and
for cleaning teeth and washing clothes.
This Myrrh, if sold commercially, would create a regular and much needed
income to the Himba people. Which is why Aromantic are giving our support
to this project.
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