THE INNOCENT ANTHROPOLOGIST (NIGEL BARLEY) AND CURATIVE PROPERTIES OF THE GUAVA

 Some kind soul at the mission at N’gaoundere had passed on to me the secret of curing hepatitis – a decoction of guava leaves in hot water. It certainly seemed to help more than anything else. Later I learned that a German pharmaceutical company was testing a drug based upon just this compound.

Poor Nigel! He had a really rough time in his hamlet of Cameroon. In the end, he had to have faith in traditional or alternatives methods, like everyone desperate does. The guava must have many virtues because if you write down in Google ´guava for…´ the predictive keyboard ends the sentence with ´diahorrea, anaemia, diabetes, flu, hair loss,…´ and many other illnesses that poor Nigel was bound to suffer from. So, if I had to go to some city in Cameroon by any chance, I´d look for a hut next to a guava.