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According to the interviews that were conducted 34 plants were found to be useful in
treating sores and wounds (Table 2.1 and 2.2). Eighteen were available in the wild
and at the homesteads. Three of the eighteen plants were obtained from the muthi
market. The people selling the plants obtain them from the wild. The information of
the plants from the interviews pointed that the plants are mostly obtained from the
wild. The big trees were the ones found in their homes probably because they
provide them with shade e.g. Trichilia dregeana, Albizia adianthifolia and
Sclerocarya birrea. Men and women participated in the survey. The results from the
survey showed that women had more knowledge than men. In all the age ranges
that were provided in the questionnaires the knowledge was obtained from both men
and women (see Table 3.1).
Table 3.1 Age range of the participants.
Age-range (yrs) No of people Women Men
15-24 7 4 3
25-34 9 6 3
35-44 19 14 5
45-54 20 11 9
55-64 21 13 8
Over 65 4 2 2
Total 80 50 30
Table 3.1 shows that the knowledge was carefully passed on verbally from
generation to generation. This information was passed on as the person grew up and
this is supported by the number of people in each age range. For an example at the
age-range of 15-24 yrs very few people had the knowledge but as the age increases,
the number of people also increases. In the age-range of 65 yrs and above the
number decreases because most of the homes did not have old people and the
homes that had old people, their memory was not as good. The survey also showed
that young men tend to have less interest on medicinal plants as it is believed to be a
thing for women because they are the caretakers in their families. As men grow up
some of them develop the interest and acquire knowledge on medicinal plants. This
is supported by the slowly growing numbers of men participants in the survey (Table
55