Men and plants
Men and plants are interviews that I transcribed: exciting and atypical people who have developed through their journey a love of plants, a different understanding of the beauty that surrounds us, the relationship plants and art, plants and health, plants and nutrition, plants & history.
SOUMAILA KANLA
Cabinetmaker artist
Today, I have the chance to share an interview with Soumaïla Kanla .... It was interesting for me, once again to evoke the trees, the plants but this time with a more artistic connotation.
By way of introduction, here is the proverb that inspired me by dwelling on Mr. Kanla: There is nature which is the thing that God does immediately and there is the art which is the thing that God does to through the human brain.
Hello Soumaïla, can you present us in a few words your journey?
Hello my name is Soumaïla Kanla, Designer, Cabinetmaker, specializing in the research and use of dead wood lumber. The use of dead wood is a solution that I found to do my cabinetmaking and design work while trying to impact the environment as little as possible.
We will come back later to this concept of environment but to understand that of dead wood, is it easier to work or is it a choice to preserve the environment?
The choice of this material for me is already a patriotic act (transform the local raw material, available and untapped). Burkina being a Sahelian country, it is inconceivable for us to cut down green trees to make lumber. Burkina being a Sahelian country, it is inconceivable for us to cut down green trees to make lumber. The concern to protect what we do not have in large quantity, and that takes a lot of year to grow.
Taillisfée
Pierre-Yves Panor
Tourist park contractor
Some medicinal plants of the Antilles have entered the French pharmacopoeia.
Since August 1st, 48 new plants originating from the departments
overseas have entered the French pharmacopoeia. Among these 48 newcomers to the Pantheon
pharmacists, 12 * are endemic to Martinique and Reunion.
In your opinion, does this recognition encourage farmers to
plant cultivation and transformation?
It is a good thing, the recognition of the benefit of some of our plants on the health and on the man more generally. It is to recognize somewhere that the empirical knowledge of our elders made sense. They were not charlatans. I say that, of course, for those scientists who swear by their test tubes. We have always known that the knowledge of our ancestors, was worthy of being received, respectable and beneficent for anyone who respected the rules, dosages and other recommendations.
Cecile Mahe
Aromathérapist
Who is Cécile Mahe in the soul?
and to illustrate your journey, 3 words that define you, characterize you and relate to a specific moment in your life
.
I am a smuggler of knowledge, I like to say that I weave the link between men and plants. In this way, I contribute, in my level to the ecological awareness in a very concrete way: who would destroy a plant that could save his life ?!
What is your passion and where does it come from?
Where does this attachment to plants come from?
I do not know. It came with time, when I was little, I had only for animals. No doubt growing up, leaving the luxuriance of the island of Reunion for the concrete of the island of France, I realized that nature was not limited to the safeguarding of some animal species in danger. In fact, when we go from green to gray, well, we realize that everything that constitutes green has a value. And then, there were my studies, the discovery of botany that I loved and then there was the medicinal plants that took me out of the drugs and all the chemical that did not lead to anything at a time when I needed it!
Yann
Association for food autonomy
Hello Yann, and thank you for the time you grant us. Can you tell us first who are you? to present you in a few words, your aspirations, your journey and how did you come to create your association?
I have spent my life traveling with the goal of discovering other cultures and ways of life. I wanted to broaden my understanding of the world and derive personal enrichment from it. In the course of my meetings, I have noticed that people who exploit their environment with intelligence live harmoniously.
By having an understanding of the plants and natural resources they have, they achieve food self-sufficiency and comfort of living healthy and serene. By living in tune with nature, they build social, cultural and economic cohesion where everyone finds their place.
It shows a quality of life beneficial in every respect. This way of living in symbiosis with nature seduced me and so I learned from contact with small peasants during my travels in Africa, the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific.
Then I wanted to apply my knowledge and share, transmit.
So I created an association with my brother, to perfect our knowledge while sharing our experience through our website. Little by little we have been contacted by various organizations and associations around the world, to give them our help and share our knowledge. As a result, I became a trainer in food and economic autonomy. Which means that I teach people to practice ecological family farming; to be as autonomous as possible from the point of view of food and energy, and to transform and use products from our environment for our personal comfort and to develop a subsistence economy. "
Alexandra
Naturopath
For you, what is a naturopath? Many summarize the function as counselor and health educator. Is this correct for you?
For me, the naturopath is a person who certainly advises but above all accompanies individualized and as personalized as possible, a person who wishes: - either take care of his body (physical and psychic) in prevention to certain ills; - either relieve disorders in a natural way. Educate yes, but listen especially! Know how to hear and listen to the brakes and needs of the person, so that they feel supported, understood and give them all the keys to succeed in respecting their body, and flourish in their lives. Because to be good with others, one must above all be good with oneself.
one of the naturopathic techniques is phytology. For someone like me who is interested in plants, what can you tell us about it? Is the study of the plant based on the theory of signatures? if not, what is phytology?
In naturopathy, we are interested in plants. This is called phytology or phytotherapy. We find plants everywhere: on the plate, in drinks, in nature. And the study of plants is based on the theory of signatures: they have particular shapes, colors, and tastes that give them a specific identity and "powers". They all have components that give them their own identity and the benefits that flow from them. That's what makes them so rich.
ERIC DE RUEST
Bonjour Monsieur De Ruest,
Tout d'abord, pourriez-vous vous présenter au public? Qui est Monsieur De Ruest? quel fut votre parcours? qu'est ce qui a ponctué ce parcours ?et comment en êtes-vous arrivé à vous intéresser à l'aromathérapie et à la phytothérapie?
Eric De Ruest est mon nom. Deux faits qui remontent à mon enfance auront été centraux dans mon parcours : J’ai d’abord eu la chance de vivre relativement librement à la campagne, à une époque où les parents laissaient courir leurs enfants en liberté, sans trop de craintes. J’ai donc pu longuement vivre au contact de la Nature et j’en ai gardé une connexion toute particulière pour les odeurs de la forêt, des chemins le long des champs en été. Je me suis toujours senti plus curieux et amoureux du monde végétal que de celui animal
Vous nous avez transmis vos connaissances en aromathérapie. Au moment de l'émergence de l'aromathérapie, celle-ci était plus axée sur le soin physique. Par la suite, s'est développé l'aspect émotionnel de l'aromathérapie. Est-ce que l'aromathérapie émotionnelle n'est pas le préambule à l'aromathérapie physique? D'abord soigner l'esprit puis par la suite soigner le corps? Quel ordre serait le plus judicieux, selon vous?
L’usage des huiles essentielles est très ancien. Les prêtres égyptiens y avaient recours lors de cérémonies pour plaire aux Dieux. Les femmes pour leur pouvoir de séduction. Les guérisseurs, mais aussi les embaumeurs, pour leurs vertus antiseptiques et antibiotiques. L’usage des plantes distillées s’est ensuite perfectionné tant pour un usage sanitaire que spirituel.
L’étude rationnelle des huiles essentielles a connu un essor avec l’évolution de la chimie moderne. Cela aura permis de mettre en lumière les différents chémotypes développés par les plantes et leurs mécanismes dans l’amélioration de nombreux problèmes de santé.
