WESTPORT — On Fiji's Koro Island, the simple life, use of herbal remedies and daily tea ritual left a lasting impression on Carissa Willis-Demello.
The Westport native said she spent 27 months as a Peace Corps community health worker in a remote island village without running water or electricity, but where people had “everything they needed” from farms and the ocean.
Today, Will de Mello is building a small business, Bilo Herbs, that uses sustainable herbs to make medicinal teas, drawing inspiration from Fiji and his gardens adjacent to the East Branch of the Westport River. raised.
“This is kind of where my interest in plants really started,” Wills DeMello said, pointing to a patch of abandoned chickweed and motherwort growing just outside his home.
Her grandparents' entire property is filled with wild, purposeful herbs. Its leaves and sometimes weed-like appearance are mistaken for being unwanted in most gardens and are picked from the soil. But that wasn't the case in Wills DeMello's little jungle.
“I let the herbs decide where they want to go,” she said. “To me, wildness looks nice. All these things grow for a reason.”
Wills DeMello, who led the tour, pointed out some of the plants. Mint inherited from his grandparents. Dandelion stimulates bile production and improves digestion. Skullcap to calm and relieve stress. And calendula, which is good for skin conditions.
“It’s a rift,” she said. “It's good for the lymphatic system.'' She knelt down to St. John's wort. “It grows everywhere,” Wills DeMello said. “It's used to treat depression.”
The herbs she currently grows are for home use.
“There's a lot of food out there in nature,” Wills DeMello said.
For his herbal teas, Wills DeMello buys sustainably harvested, chemical-free herbs and mixes them in healing combinations to revive, digest, unwind, nourish, and snooze. I made tea.
For example, Nourish is a blend of nettle, tulsi, red clover, oats, alfalfa, and lemon balm. According to Will De Mello, it supports healthy digestion and joints, nourishes the brain and bones, detoxifies the body, balances hormones, and supports the adrenal glands.
Her Revive Tea uses Maeva Mat and Ginkgo biloba to replace caffeine to boost blood flow and energy, rosemary to boost circulation, and tulsi to nourish the brain and promote clarity. .
Her other blends are formulated to help ascetics get better sleep, aid digestion, and promote relaxation.
She also makes herbal balms and is working on her signature tinctures and elixirs. Wills-DeMello offers herbal herbal consulting services where individuals can discuss their needs and obtain the right herbal blend to support their health.
She said she began studying herbalism after learning about the healing properties of herbs, which are used in Fiji to treat various ailments (often in the form of tea).
A cup of tea, or “biro” in Fijian, is a daily ritual that allows people to take time to relax, nourish their bodies with healing nutrients, and foster relationships.
“There's always time for tea,” Wills DeMello said. “We wanted to bring that here and create a simple, delicious product.”
She said being healthy isn't that difficult. She scoffs at fad diets that eliminate fats and carbohydrates and instead focuses on eating fresh, delicious food.
“I believe that health is a natural state and should be something we can easily achieve,” Wills DeMello said. “You don't have to think too much about it.”
She also likes to focus on tea because it's affordable and an easy way to get your daily nutrition.
Wills DeMello studied at Pharmacy Herbs in Providence, where he also earns money through an exchange labor program. She plans to open her own herbal and tea shop in the future.
Will De Mello recently won second place in the EforAll Southcoast Pitch Contest. There, she and other entrepreneurs “pitched” their business ideas in front of a panel of judges. She took home $750 for winning her runner-up spot, and $500 for becoming a fan favorite, which she put into her own business.
To learn more about or purchase Bilo Herbs, visit www.biloherbs.com.
Email Deborah Allard at dallard@heraldnews.com.
