First Annual Afro-Botany Conference at Hidden Garden
From September 2nd to 4th, 2017, Hidden Garden Ethnobotanical Sanctuary inaugurated its new Bush Medicine Circle with the First Annual Afro-Botany Conference. In a traditional style, they celebrated with a gathering of elders, teachers, students, plant lovers and community members, sharing wisdom as well as food, music, dance and ceremony.
Help make future Afro-Botany Conferences possible by contributing to the Caribe Sur Wellness Traditions Documentation Project Fund
A total of 40 people participated in the Afro-Botany Conference, with a range of 15 to 30 people per individual activity. Ten of the forty were teachers, 7 were volunteers / staff of Hidden Garden, 3 volunteers from Rich Coast Project, 7 paying participants and 13 members of the community who participated for free. The costs for community member participation were covered by Hidden Garden and other event sponsors.
The Afro-Botany Conference is one component of a long-term collaboration between the Rich Coast Project and the Hidden Garden Ethnobotanical Sanctuary to address a lack of documentation of the historic practices of the Afro-Caribbean communities living in the coastal lowlands of Costa Rica’s southern Caribbean coast.
Visit the Hidden Garden website for a full report of the 2017 Afro-Botany Conference activities and accomplishments.
Listen to the talks
Photos and audio recordings taken by Hai Phung Tran and Chris Wunderlich
Thank you to the volunteers from Indiana University who helped build the African Sacred Grove during their Alternative Spring Break trip in March 2017.