​​During the Covid-19 pandemic, while following what was happening around the world in terms of lockdowns and other restrictions, Dr Chioma Ohajunwa, a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies at Stellenbosch University, kept wondering what was happening within Africa's indigenous communities. “Covid-19 was a time of global confusion, nations were struggling to grasp this phenomenon, and indigenous communities also had to make sense of this situation." 

Ohajunwa started reading the sparse research on the impact of Covid-19 on indigenous communities around the globe, and found even less literature on African rural and indigenous communities. “I also started having conversations with a colleague who is also a traditional healer and other community members about how Covid-19 was being navigated within various communities.   

“You had pamphlets going out about Covid-19; you had government, healthcare professionals, indigenous leaders and radio broadcasts trying to provide some information, but what did that mean for the rituals and indigenous practices that are the lifeblood in these communities and which are crucial for their wellbeing? Many rituals in these communities, like burials, are done as a collective. A great significance lies in the community coming together. The restrictions of Covid-19 meant they could not do this, they had to build resilience and become innovative somehow in the face of this pandemic." 

It was her interest in these coping strategies of indigenous communities during Covid-19 that sparked Ohajunwa's interest in doing research on this subject. 

“I was interested in how, indigenous communities have, in the past two years, found a way to make sense of Covid-19 and to respond to the need for wellbeing," she said in an interview. 

It was for this reason that Ohajunwa was delighted when she heard recently that she had received an award from the South African Medical Research Council to do a study on this exact subject. She will focus on the indigenous community of Thamarha on the outskirts of King William's Town in the Eastern Cape.   

 The award, valued at R300 000 over three years, is for her research project entitled “Ukulungisa (finding balance) in the times of the Covid-19 pandemic: Experiences of Culture, Resilience and Wellbeing Within an Indigenous Xhosa Community in South Africa". She has also received funding to the value of R610 000 for two years from the National Research Foundation (NRF) Postdoctoral Innovation Fund. 

“The awards are so timeous. It is perfect synchronicity. I am so grateful" 

Ohajunwa, who was born in Nigeria, has, for some time, been researching African indigenous knowledge systems and its interaction with spirituality, disability, education and wellbeing. Her current project is on shifts in the understanding of disability in a postgraduate programme. She also researches inclusive education policies in Africa, from a critical perspective. 

She said she feels privileged “to be given this amazing opportunity to work with this community on an issue that is close to their hearts and to mine." 

She said her study aims to explore the understanding of wellbeing within the Xhosa indigenous community of Thamarha; explore the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on cultural and spiritual expression within this community; identify resources and strategies that support cultural and spiritual continuity for the community during the Covid-19 pandemic, and map out identified community resources and strategies to develop a guideline for a sustainable, culturally congruent and contextually relevant healthcare support for African indigenous communities in times of health crisis. 

Ohajunwa believes there is a wealth of knowledge within African indigenous knowledge systems. “It is critical for African cosmology and philosophies to be brought from the margins of mainstream life. If we marginalize people, their history and how they do life then we impact on their wellbeing, and that of future generations." 

She thanks the NRF and SAMRC for providing her this opportunity, and acknowledges a number of people for their contribution to her success, including God, her family, the indigenous scholars Chief Patisile Fudumele, Fanyana Juju, Nobhejile, Paramount Chief Nobangile, and the people of their communities, Thando May, an academic and indigenous healer, an her Head of Division Prof Gubela Mji.​