Rindi's Musings: Magical Neem Cream

I recently met with my original training group for a week of in service training. It was definitely more oriented for teachers who are working up country, but there were some interesting parts. One of the hands on things we did was making Neem cream to use as an insect repellent. Neem trees are all over The Gambia and have a couple of good uses. If you boil Neem leaves in water until the water becomes dark green, discard the leaves and cool the water, it is a good preventative insecticide. It does not work too well on insects that all already attacking the plants, but it does a pretty good job of keeping them off in the first place.

The other more significant use is to be used in making a mosquito repellent cream. This is a standby Peace Corps recipe in West Africa but still has not been overdone. Our class made a batch and as you can see from the pictures it turns into a cream. It actually smelled ok and felt nice on the skin. I guess some of the people whom they have taught have continued to make it and sell it since the *#!!**## mosquitoes here are a bitch here and can carry the fatal malaria strain. I have put the pictures in order so if you want to make up a batch feel free -- if you can find the Neem leaves. I hear they grow in Florida.