Moringa is so much more than the source of a trendy beautifying oil. For the people of northern Uganda, this sustainable resource represents the future.
In northern Uganda, just off a red dirt road that leads to the border with South Sudan, Betty Acan, a member of the Acholi people, has managed to coax a living from the ravaged land. She’s always been a farmer—sesame, mango, cassava—but these days, she’s focusing much of her effort on moringa. “It’s amazing,” Acan says, plucking a slender seed pod from the branch of one of her moringa trees. “I cook the leaves with vegetables, and I drop the seeds in my tea. It’s medicinal.”
She’s not the only one enamored with these trees: The oil extracted from moringa seeds is prized for its beautifying powers and has made its way into many hair and skin products. But unlike palm oil, a beauty staple grown on vast plantations that have deforested more than six million acres of the tropical rain forest, moringa oil comes from drought-resistant trees that actually help improve the environment—and the lives of the estimated 1.4 million Acholi who live in the country.
Beginning in 1987, this region was ground zero for the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) conflict, which displaced an estimated two million people. Acan, 43, experienced it firsthand. The route she walked to school became a battleground for LRA rebels and government soldiers, both of whom harassed and killed many Acholi in the crossfire. “I saw dead bodies on my walk to school,” Acan remembers. “Every time we heard gunshots or saw soldiers moving, we would run and hide in the bush.” When her formal education was cut short because of the conflict, she and her family retreated to refugee camps in order to survive.
この記事は Marie Claire - US の August 2019 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Marie Claire - US の August 2019 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
BOREDOM HELPED THE FOUNDERS OF LEFT ON FRIDAY BUILD A NEW BRAND
Shannon Savage and Laura Low Ah Kee left their executive roles at Lululemon to try their hand at starting a bathing suit business.
A REFRESHING CONVERSATION ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE
The realities of global warming are becoming increasingly dismal. But in her latest book What If We Get It Right?, Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson explains that we already have the answers we need.
GIVING BIRTH IN GAZA
Procedures performed with kitchen scissors. Makeshift medical tents with no pain medication, clean water, or electricity. Marie Claire goes inside one of the most dangerous places in the world to be pregnant right now.
MYHA'LA IS THINKING BIG
The Industry star is entering a new phase of life, determined to take up more space in her personal and professional endeavors. Showing off this season's bold, billowing silhouettes, she tells us all about it.
COAST ALONG
A slice of the Mexican shoreline in Costalegre is reconsidering what sustainable travel can look like, through gentle development and thoughtful community.
READY FOR DRIFT OFF
A new wave of sleep retreats and spas are offering another way to get some shut-eye.
THE BARE TRUTH ABOUT NAKED DRESSING
The trend isn't just for A-listers. But it isn't necessarily for all of us, either.
FASHION IS LOSING MIDDLE GROUND
In-between brands are disappearing. And with them, an entire perspective on style.
WORK WIVES ARE GOING EXTINCT
They're becoming less common as remote and hybrid work get more prevalent. But is now the time when we need them most?
MY DECADES-LONG JOURNEY TO CURLS
\"My hair's growth these years, much like mine, has been stunningly imperfect.\"
