MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

 Amed (Diyarbakır)- Women living in the Silvan district of Amed have already begun to collect wild mountain thyme. The women use wild mountain thyme in the kitchen or sell it to earn a living. Thyme has an average productive lifespan of six years and there are more than 200 varieties of thyme. Thyme contains chemicals that might help bacterial and fungal infections. Drinking thyme tea can be effective in reducing period pain and toothache.

Women collecting wild mountain thyme in Silvan use thyme in meals, to make tea and oil for the treatment of diseases. The women living in Silvan’s Eskiocak village told NuJINHA that they share thyme with all villages after they collect it.

Collected thyme is shared

Seyran Beyazıt, one of the women living in the village, told us that they, as women, collect wild mountain thyme together. “All women in the village come together to collect wild mountain thyme. I have collected mountain thyme since my childhood. Collecting wild mountain thyme is tiring but it's worth it. It smells very good and we add dried thyme in meals. Since it has many benefits, we make thyme tea. When someone needs wild mountain thyme, we share thyme.”

She has collected wild mountain thyme for years

Pointing out that wild mountain thyme is sold at a very high price, Nefise Yatar said, “We have collected wild mountain thyme for years. We take plastic bags or buckets with us to put them after collecting them. We consume wild mountain thyme in meals. We make wild mountain thyme tea because it has many benefits.”

‘It becomes a tradition for us’

Nefise Yatar told us that the women in the village see collecting thyme as a tradition. “After collecting wild mountain thyme, we also give it to the people, who ask for it from us. We collect wild mountain thyme every year. We also sell them to earn a living.”