A.M. Siripala (71) lives in the village of Welegoda, Pohorawatte, Moragollagama, in the Polpithigama Divisional Secretariat. His father, grandfather and great grandfather have also lived in this same village. They were all ayurvedic practitioners or practice what is locally known as Sihala vedakam. This knowledge passed down from generation to generation, is the most valuable asset Siripala owns today. His family’s speciality has been treating people for snake bites and their fame in curing people with snake bites has spread far and wide in the region. Whether Siripala can hand it down to the next generation however remains doubtful. The modern generation which is more interested in technology and gadgets, is fast moving away from what Siripala has to offer.
Treating snake bites
“I received this gift from my father. From the time I was 20 years old, I have been accompanying my father on his medical visits. I am not even sure of the number of people I have cured with these two hands of mine. I have been practising these skills for the last 51 years. But these days we do not have a suitable environment to keep doing this. There are hospitals all over the place, and people who get bitten by snakes run to the hospital first. Earlier, we were the first to run to a patient who has been bitten by a snake. The world is changing fast. People are not so ready to accept our ‘snake medicine’ now, but I still do my best to cure people in the way I know. I don’t like to be idle. I have cured thousands of people in my lifetime, but today, my life is very difficult,” said Siripala, as he sat in his hut, chewing betel.
The years have been unkind to his body as it looked frail and worn out. HIs face too had aged beyond his years, each wrinkle etched with years of experience and knowledge.
He however stated that his health was frail now and did not have much energy to do a lot of work. Eight years ago, his wife fell ill.
Hard times
“I had to mortgage my land and paddy fields to treat her. I don’t regret that. The doctors said they were not sure whether they would be able to cure her. But I spent everything I had and cured her. In the end, they said that she had a thyroid problem. Even today, she has to be under medication. It was in the midst of this that I was also diagnosed with a kidney disease. Usually when patients are bitten by a snake, I remove the poison by first sucking it out from his blood. Having done this for years, these poisons have accumulated in my own body, so today I have problems with my kidneys. My wife and I go to clinics every month now. We have to spend a lot of money for our medicines.”
In his old age, he is helped by his 25-year-old son, a labourer earning a daily wage. Their home, built with clay and plaster, is breaking apart. The structure is crumbling and he is not sure how much longer it would last.
Amitha Kumarihami (51) who has stood by her husband for decades, expressed her regret thinking of how fortunes have fared for them. “He would walk for miles to get to a patient and even then, he would not take much money. He was really committed to curing his patients, that is all he cared for. I just hope that we would be able to build ourselves a two-room hut to be able to die in peace in the final years of our lives,” she said.
Their hope is that someone would come forward to help them with their home, given the situation they are in. This story is not just that of Siripala’s. Many ayurvedic practitioners in our villagers have been left impoverished, unable to compete with commercialisation and the power of Western medicine. Their knowledge built over generations is also disappearing, with no one to record or document what they have been practising for generations.
A study published in the journal, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases in July 2016 showed that Sri Lanka had an annual hospital admission rate of 30,000 for snake bites and their study over 12 months showed that there were 400 deaths recorded islandwide due to snake bites alone.
Another study published in Science Daily in July 2017 showed that it cost the Sri Lankan government more than US$ 10 million every year to treat snake bites and led to a loss of nearly US$ 4 million for individuals affected by them.
This shows that if measures were taken to improve the livelihoods of these local practitioners, they could lower treatment costs as well as get to patients in a timely manner. Further, those who have served for people for years will have a better quality of life.
from daily news