WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2009-05-19 Time: 09:00:03 Posted By: Jan
By Potipher Tembo
THE treatment of water is cardinal, espially in areas where people mostly depend on streams and shallow wells for their chores.
Many people in these areas have been constantly advised to boil the irwater and add chlorine before consuming it.
Indeed, the use of chlorine has been in force for some time and it has helped in reducing the problems emanating from waterborne diseases.
As water has been known to be life, several researches have been conducted to find ways of making it clean and safe.
One of the things the researchers have found as a useful treatment of water is the moringa tree.
This is a drought-tolerant and multi-purpose tree which grows fast under favourable conditions to a height of four metres within a period of 12 months, with a trunk diameter of 30 centimetres.
The tree can survive in hard conditions on stony, infertile land, but after establishment, the infertile soils become fertile because of the decomposition of the deposited rich leaves between the rows.
According to researchers, all parts of the moringa are medicinal and used in folk medicine for treatment of ailments.
Other parts of the tree are edible and can provide several nutrients to both humans and livestock.
Because of the importance of the tree, especially in the treatment of water, Ecological Business Consultants recently engaged an agro consultant to do the moringa tree project for some Bwafwano women’s group in Ndola’s Madando area near Twapia Township.
During his tour of Madando, Isaac N’guni explained to the women who had gathered at Kafubu community hall that the crashed moringa seed powder functioned both as a congulant (binding to impurities) and as an anti-microbial agent.
“One crashed moringa seed kernel can treat one litre of water. The seed powder added to the water and stirred for five to 10 minutes functions both as a congulant and as an anti-microbial agent.
“Once the seed powder and impurities have settled to the bottom of a container, the clean water can be poured,” Mr N’guni said.
Moringa treatment – using either M Oleifera or M Stenopeta – removes up to 90 per cent of impurities, including bacteria, but moringa-treated water should be treated further to make it completely safe from all pathogens.
Mr N’guni said a simple follow-up treatment is a solar disinfection method. This involves filling transparent plastic bottles with clear water and exposing them to sunlight for two to six hours.
The ultra-violet rays from the sun destroy harmful micro-organisms.
The moringa tree started in India but there are now 13 countries in Africa using it.
Teaching the Bwafwano women on how to grow the tree, Mr N’guni urged them to be serious with the project.
Women from Chumfwano Club of Mabungula, who had come to attend the lessons, appealed to the organisers of the project to extend the lessons to their club.
“We want them to come and teach us how to grow and use the moringa tree. We just chanced this class here and our women would be very interested in this project,” said Monica Sosa, one of the leaders of the Chumfwano Women’s Club.
Other women who attended the lessons on how to plant and use the moringa tree said they were happy with the lessons as this would help them use the tree in many ways, apart from water treatment.
The women appealed for a piece of land where they hoped to plant the trees in abundance.
“This is something that can help the community’s nutrition to go up. This can help us fight poverty and hunger because it is part of food. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough land to do this project,” said Jovita M’hango, who is the community development worker at Kafubu community hall.
Mr N’guni distributed 130 moringa seeds and 40 seedlings to the group.
He appealed to the women to take care of the plants to ensure that they grew well because they would provide them with food and medicine.
“As you can see, the moringa tree has many uses including human food, forage, medicine, water purifier, essential oils and dyes. It has the potential to provide the body with about 30 nutritional requirements.
“The leaves are used as a vegetable supplement containing vitamin A, B and C. The Beta carotene of the leaves is three times as high as that in carrots. Leaves may be eaten as fresh or cooked and are considered good food for children with nutritional risk,” Mr N’guni said.
He explained that the leaves are available late in the dry season when other green vegetables are few in fields and markets.
The fruits, seeds and flowers are all considered green beans. Flowers are rich in potassium and calcium and the seeds are used for extraction of cooking oil and curry powders.
“As a dietary supplement, moringa is used to support and improve quality of life and appetite in people living with HIV/AIDS, TB patients and even healthy individuals. It helps also as an immunity booster, especially in HIV infected people,” he said.
As medicine, moringa is used in treatment of rheumatism and gout, it helps lower blood pressure and possesses anti-bacterial properties.
“The leaf powder can produce amazing results within 10 days in children who have been underweight due to complete deficiency of micro nutrients. The moringa tree parts have many other medicinal uses,” Mr N’guni said.
An expert in water, sanitation and hygiene and senior consultant at the Ecological Consultancy in Ndola, Gentile Chasaya, also hinted on the importance of the moringa tree.
“It has a lot of properties. It can be eaten as a vegetable, it has medicinal value, you can crash the leaves and use it for tea,” Mr Chasaya said.
With all these vital uses, the Bwafwano women’s group is optimistic that once the seedlings given to them grow, they would benefit them a lot.
Original Source: 
Original date published: 18 May 2009
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200905180623.html?viewall=1