Acerca de
Philosophy and Practice
our mission
At bibi and ni, our mission is to nurture wellness and cultivate strong community connections for individuals and families by providing culturally relevant, ancestrally-based birthkeeping and herbal education and programming.
What does bibi and ni mean?
In the Taíno language of the Antilles, the word "bi" (pronounced: bēē) carries two meanings: beginning and life.
The word "bibi" means mother.
"ni" (pronounced: nēē) means water.
Water is life, the first medicine—it connects us—bearing gifts of birth, nourishment, community, ritual, & healing.
We believe in healing through natural, preventative, ancestral, and ceremonial care.
The basis of health is balance, which is also to say, the basis of health is living in right relationship.
The development of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual illnesses stems from imbalance in the body.
Medicines help us to keep ourselves in balance.
Many of our ancestral traditional medicine systems, which call upon all kingdoms of life as tools of healing,
support people in living in right relationship with ourselves and the Earth.
Plants, animals, fungi, minerals, rocks - all contain their own distinct healing powers.
Connection with the Earth and our ancestral healing traditions is our birthright.
How can we start to live in right relationship to the Earth on Turtle Island?
Fighting for Indigenous Land Sovereignty
Returning to our roots, as our ancestral plant traditions have much to teach us about cyclical living
Decolonizing our relationships with the land, nature, and consequently ourselves
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SARAH SERRANO
Sarah is a birthkeeper, urban farmer, ethnoherbalist, and educator. Her practice draws on Indigenous and Afrodiasporic plant and birthkeeping traditions from Turtle Island. She focuses on Taíno, Kalínago, African-American, and Caribbean folk remedies and birthing ceremonies. Her first book, Ahiyakawo Ke (Land, Speak to Us): Taíno and Kalínago Herbalism, explores the botanical wisdom and ancestral plant traditions of the Taíno and Kalínago peoples of the Antillean islands.
Sarah holds a Masters of Arts in Education from Tufts University and earned her perinatal doula certifications with the National Black Doula Association. She has completed end-of-life training for doulas with INELDA (International End-of-Life Doula Association), and green burial coursework with ReDesigning the End. Sarah also holds doula certification with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
She has many years of experience in urban farming and garden education as well as one-on-one and group postpartum care, with a specialty in herbal and plant based approaches to the "fourth trimester". Some of Sarah’s favorite plants include sunflowers, okra, cassava, and soursop.
Workshops and Classes taught include: African Herbs for Children's Health, African & Indigenous Placenta Traditions, Taino Plant Dyes, Taino and Kalinago Fermentation, Beginner's Guide to Fertility Tracking, Placenta Tree Planting, as well as various urban gardening and nutrition classes and workshops for students across schools in Greater Boston, grades PreK-12. Sarah has lectured an introduction to herbalism course for the 2023, 2024, and 2025 Master Urban Gardener (MUG) series sponsored by the Trustees of Reservations.
Writings:
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Learning Herbs Articles
CE/CPD - Credits, Courses, Trainings and Conferences:
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Evidence Based Birth® Professional Membership
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BEST Doula Certification - Placenta Encapsulation (June 2021)
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BEST Doula Certification - Childbirth Education (June 2021)
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PAIL Adovcate/Pregnancy and Infant Loss Advocacy Virtual Intensive (December 2023)
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Boston Doula Circle - "How to Eliminate Pain While Nursing", Virtual Class (June 2024)
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Megi High-Risk Doula Certification (March 2026)
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Boston Doula Circle - "Breast-sleeping: Nursing & Sleep Issues for Crib-Sleeping & Co-Sleeping Families", Virtual Class (April 2026)
NAOMI SPECTOR
Naomi is a writer, educator, herbalist, and artist whose practice draws on Sefardi, Ashkenazi, and Mediterranean plant traditions. She is the author of The Jewish Book of Flowers, Sefardi Herbalism: An Introduction to Earth, Water and Plant-Based Folk Traditions of the Sefardim, and Illustrated Sefardi Folk Sayings: A Visual Companion to Sefardi Herbalism.
Naomi has led courses and workshops through bibi + ni and in partnership with other organizations. She holds a Masters of Arts in Education from Tufts University. She is one of the co-creators of the Jewish Herbalists Network, an affinity group within the Jewish Farmer Network, and was the keynote speaker at LimmudFest Atlanta 2023.
Workshop and Classes taught include: Introduction to Jewish Herbalism, Introduction to Sefardi Herbalism, Jewish Amulet Workshops, Jewish Honey Elixir Workshops, Infused Oils Workshops, Medicine on the Seder Plate, a series on Jewish Herbalism for Farmers, Jewish plant walks, Sefardi Amulets and Plant Protection, Sefardi Flower Teachings, Sefardi Folk Songs, a series on Jewish Flower Teachings, The Berry Pickers: Harvesting and Foraging in the Pale of Settlement, The Garlic Eaters, Tea and Psalms: Jewish Herbal Teas, Jewish Kitchen Herbalism, Jewish Herbalism for Birth, Jewish End-of-Life Herbalism, and more.
Writings and Interviews:
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Learning Herbs Articles
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Lilith Magazine, Sefardi Folk Culture Grows in Cambridge
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Gashmius Magazine, Raspberry Medicine from the Shtetl: Two Recipes and a Brief History
