Traditional Chinese Medicine Herb Garden

This week, we had the opportunity to visit a community garden where various herbs used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) are grown. The visit was arranged by our faculty here at the School of Nursing at Hong Kong University to give us a glimpse into the role that TCM plays in the health of the local community. The garden which we visited is a demonstration garden. Community members volunteer to take care of various plots, and classes for community members about TCM are offered on-site. The goal of the garden is to educate the community about TCM and to expose them to the many uses of plants which can often be grown at home. Staff members also emphasized the importance of educating community members about plants which can be toxic to humans when used incorrectly.

 Hong Kong has a history of widespread use of Western medical techniques and philosophy in area hospitals. A staff member at the herb garden said that many community members are largely uninformed about the uses of TCM. However, he said that interest in TCM is growing. He said that, interestingly, immigrants to Hong Kong from South Asia and Africa are among those who are increasingly consulting TCM practitioners rather than Western style doctors. The staff member sees a large and growing need to educate community members about the role that TCM played in their cultural history as well as the role that it can play in their daily lives. He said that TCM tends to focus on a more holistic perspective of human wellness, and therefore can be very beneficial to those suffering from chronic diseases or those which are "incurable" by Western standards.

This visit gave me a better understanding of the process of growing herbs to be used in TCM, as well as the philosophy behind TCM implementation on a community level. However, the main thing that I took away from this visit was a sense of the ongoing struggle to integrate ancient practices that have been proved effective over and over through case studies but do not have scientific rationales with a larger worldview which recognizes modern principles of science.

One staff member told us how, over and over, Western pharmaceutical companies discover the active ingredient in some ancient Chinese medicine, and use it to their enormous financial advantage. As we walked through the low-income neighborhood which surrounds the garden, he expressed frustration that often "everyone else but the Chinese benefit from Chinese discoveries". His goal for the community garden is that the ancient knowledge of TCM can be used to benefit his modern day community.