Supporting the People Who Keep the Knowledge Alive
This photo may look like a simple transaction, but there is a bigger story behind it.
During our visit with Juanita Torremocha at Balay Pahauli with Noel Torremocah her husband (Healing Hut Siquijor), we talked openly about something that is sometimes uncomfortable to discuss: money in traditional healing.
Juanita told us something very practical: healers cannot rely solely on donations and expect to make a living. They have families and everyday needs, and their work requires time, materials, preparation, and knowledge carried and developed across generations.
In their practice, certain herbal preparations and rituals have established prices, while general cleansing and healing can be more flexible or donation-based so that people with different means can still seek their help.
And we are happy to support them.
Juanita and her fellow healers have also been generous with their knowledge. They were among the Siquijor traditional healers whose knowledge and practices were included in medicinal-plant research now available through DOST STARBOOKS. The research drew from several knowledge holders across the island who were willing to share what they knew so that this knowledge could be preserved for future generations.
Our own healing style is not identical to theirs—and it doesn’t need to be. Our approaches are different, but complementary.
They carry particular traditions, herbs, practices, and experiences. We bring our own methods and ways of working. There is much we can learn from one another, and different approaches can contribute different strengths toward the same purpose: helping people and keeping Siquijor’s healing traditions alive.
That is why buying their herbs and preparations and paying for their work means something to us. Supporting traditional knowledge also means supporting the people who continue to carry it.
And fair compensation and generosity can exist together. Juanita was clearly happy with our purchase, and she even added some extra tuob for us. 
Knowledge needs to be passed on—but the people carrying that knowledge also need to live. 
#SiquijorHealers#TraditionalHealing#SiquijorTraditions#IndigenousKnowledge#LivingTraditions
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