Bush Balm

Description

The Bush Balm social enterprise is run by Purple House, an innovative Indigenous-owned and operated health service based in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory that runs 19 remote dialysis clinics in the NT, WA and SA, and two mobile units called the Purple Truck. Bush Balm provides employment opportunities for patients and their families and no cost bush medicine for Purple House patients year round. We support ethical, fair trade practices and respect Indigenous intellectual and cultural knowledge.

The Bush Balm rubs, moisturisers, soaps and lip balms were first produced by and for the growing number of Indigenous dialysis patients and their families around Central Australia. Forced to leave their country indefinitely for treatment, many longed for traditional bush remedies to remind them of home. Helen Martin and Marinka Bennet asked their family to bring in bush medicine plants to town so they could make some traditional medicine to compliment their Western treatment. They cooked up small batches in the backyard of Flynn Drive, over the fire in a billycan. Helen and Marinka made enough Irmangka balm to share with some other patients whilst telling their stories and memories of the past. Other patients and community members started hearing that you could get bush medicine from Purple House and so we decided to bottle the balms and the Bush Balms were born.

Indigenous Australians have used native plants to soothe and relieve ailments for generations. Traditional knowledge from our communities inspired the creation of Bush Balm® products. They are made locally from wild harvested bush medicine plants collected on country by traditional owners in Central Australia. Bush Balms® were first produced by and for the growing number of Indigenous dialysis patients and their families.