Christine Anyumel; natural healing enthusiast

Kampala, Uganda | AGNES. E. NANTABA | Christine Anyumel started with a Facebook group, Healing Naturally Together (HNT) that has influenced many people’s lives especially women to change their lifestyle. It is a vibrant group of herbal medicine enthusiasts who use natural means to find remedies for health conditions; especially reproductive challenges such as infertility, fibroids, and weight loss.

Recently, Anyumel introduced the Cactus Challenge as she maintains that the plant has numerous health benefits.

She was in Italy pursuing a Masters degree in Food security, nutrition and human development, when she got introduced to herbal remedies. It started when she fell sick and bled overly in 2015. The diagnosis was multiple fibroids covering the uterus and the doctors advised removal of the uterus. But she rejected it and instead shared her predicament with a Japanese classmate who connected her to Asian Traditional Healers, a forum that trains people on how to heal the body naturally.  At their retreat, she was taught the natural treatment process and role nutrition in healing. It was easy for her with a nutrition background.

She says, “I understood the role that good diet plays in the healing process as opposed to depending only on medicine”.

Anyumel practiced on herself and felt healthier. Tests proved the fibroids had significantly shrunk and reduced in number.

This was more than enough for Anyumel to gain courage and take on extra training in the course. She chose to start a Facebook group whose following blossomed. When she returned to Uganda, she started sharing information on healing fibroids and other reproductive health issues, read and researched, built a team, and held a health camp. Soon a physical location became necessary.

Eight years on, Anyumel is expecting her second child. She maintains that on average, at least four women testify about conception. She also trains young girls on dieting and nutrition for sustainability of the programme.

“The testimonies are amazing and I am trying to compile them in a book so that other people out there can share and restore hope,” Anyumel says, “If you practice good nutrition you save a lot of money on medication.”

Anyumel was born 34 years ago in a polygamous family of three women and 22 children in one household which was common practice in Teso land. Her father passed on when she was ten and she continued through school on bursaries at Buganda Road Primary School, Greenville High School and Makerere University from where she earned her first degree in Procurement.