Meet ‘Shine’, The Medicine Woman

THIS week’s mother is like a mother to her whole community and everyone who knows her. She is living testimony that you don’t have to bear children to be a mother.

“Shine”, or “Mama”, is also known as “Madanm Wimèd” (Medicine Woman) and hails from the Marc community.

The 69-year-old is known around St. Lucia and regionally for her medicinal herbal concoctions and perhaps equally known and loved for her special calling: helping others who need the help most, including strangers.

One of the motherly attributes Shine is known for is her weekend cookouts where she cooks large pots of food every weekend to feed members of her community, especially those who depend on her for their only hot meal for the day.

During those cookouts, the herbalist offers counselling as well as a much-needed listening ear or shoulder to cry on.

She is particularly strong in restoring hope and self-confidence and is deeply motivated by her spiritual faith. One friend, who was with her at the time of the interview, even described her as a messenger sent to help people.

Another well-known attribute that she is well-known for is for providing financial aid to individuals, including young mothers who do not have enough to feed their children and themselves.

One might wonder why Shine chooses to do all that she does but, simply put, this is because as you know, a mother’s love knows no bounds and no worldly love is as strong as maternal love.

As for her profession, Shine has been perfecting her highly-acclaimed craft that she learned from her mother since age 11. Although she has always possessed the skills, she made a business of it only 18 years ago which, to some, is a lifetime but to her is fairly recent. On weekdays, she can be found sitting outside Domino’s in the William Peter Boulevard.

Shine said: “What I have set out to do is to reach out to the sick people who need healing. There are people all over and they are suffering with all kinds of sicknesses. They come to me, they explain their sickness to me and I give them the right herbal medicine.”

The Medicine Woman said she treats diseases and infections like AIDS, lupus, fibroids, cancer, cysts, seizures, inflammation, infertility, to name a few.

She travels around the island collecting all the herbs she needs to make her herbal blends that provide healing to individuals. To date, her most popular blend is the marijuana tonic, which is used for lupus, diabetes and especially asthma, to name a few.

Shine implored St. Lucians to come on down to her table and purchase the real medicines and tonics that the body needs for healing, cleansing, healthy growth and vitality.

As is the usual, this WOTW was asked to reveal a secret. Here’s hers: “I have a secret, but it will stay between me and God. All I will say is that I know God is happy with that secret.” (laughs)

Cheeky but smart!