Coca Leaves, was and is still considered a sacred aspect of the Andean culture. It is only in this past century that the chemical configuration was changed to make the drug cocaine. Since then, the rest of the world has seen Coca as the raw material for the drug cocaine and not as the medicinal plant used for thousands of years. Coca was and is still used at every stage of the Andean peoples lives. Before giving birth, a woman drinks and chews Coca to hasten the labour and ease the pain. When a child is born, relatives celebrate by chewing the Coca leaf together. When a young man wants to marry a girl, he offers Coca to her father. And when somebody dies,

Mate de Coca is drunk at the wake and a small pile of leaves are placed in the coffin before burial. From ancient times, these rituals were considered sacred, and as such, the Coca leaf continues to have a great significance in the culture of the Andean people.