Okep: The Manyu Herb That Sustains and Sanctifies
This essay explores okep, a traditional enema practice central to Manyu and Bayangi culture in Cameroon, administered across the lifespan from newborns to adults for health, fertility, and spiritual cleansing. Through personal family narrative, the writer examines how these herbal remedies—passed orally across generations without formal medical training—serve simultaneously as medicine, ritual, and economic resource.
Staff · 18 March 2020
