<\/p>\n

Dr Gubela Mji of Stellenbosch University leads a village elder to the Indigenous Health Conference at the Donald Woods Centre at Hobeni.<\/em><\/p>\n

Almost 100 traditional healers, village elders, chiefs, community leaders and residents took part in an Indigenous Health Conference at the Donald Woods Centre at Hobeni over the weekend.<\/p>\n

Doctoral research undertaken in the area by Dr Gubela Mji, an Associate Professor with Stellenbosch University\u2019s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, revealed that elderly Xhosa women use their extensive knowledge on a range of social and health issues to manage illnesses in their homes and the wider community.<\/p>\n

The two-day conference was jointly hosted by the Donald Woods Foundation, Stellenbosch University and the University of Cape Town. It was aimed at reporting back to the Bomvana people on Dr Mji\u2019s research findings and providing a platform for the community to chart a way forward for incorporating local health concerns into rural health interventions.<\/p>\n

Mji found that elderly Xhosa women do not view disease in terms of mere symptoms and their treatment but were of the view that each disease is linked to a wider social determinant, and such determinants must be included when considering the overall health of a community.<\/p>\n

Managing health is \u201cabout the health of the home and not just about the management of disease. They believe that healthy homes make healthy villages, and that the prevention of the development of disease is related to the strengthening of the home,\u201d <\/em>said Mji.<\/p>\n

Xhosa women\u2019s health concerns include food security, healthy children and families, peace and security in their homes with anxiety and worry seen as the greatest threat and contributor to ill health in their communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorry is seen as the greatest negative contributor to ill health, with troublesome men and children being the greatest cause of worry,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

This concern was uppermost and was identified by participants during the second day of the conference when Hobeni community members convened to chart a course to address such concerns.<\/p>\n

Following the event, Dr Mji said discussions had revealed a community in deep distress, with many social components such as unemployment, the absence of adequate sanitation, running water and electricity adding to the burden borne by rural communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis includes social ills such as isolation and loneliness, substance abuse, the loss of traditional values among the youth (including the ability to produce food and traditional beer) and a loss of ancestral reverence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mji said the conference had been successful in that it gave local residents a voice and it further highlighted the need that health professionals should\u00a0take the deep knowledge and wisdom held in communities into account in the day-to-day provision of overall health care to ultimately foster meaningful well-being in\u00a0rural communities.<\/p>\n

To view\u00a0more photographs of the event, visit our Facebook<\/a> page<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr Gubela Mji of Stellenbosch University leads a village elder to the Indigenous Health Conference […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[110,111,125,113,104,112,129,109],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7DEjh-1aE","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4306,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/busy-week-of-visitors-to-dwc-at-hobeni-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":4504,"position":0},"title":"Busy week of visitors to DWC at Hobeni","date":"November 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"30 November 2015 The first week of December 2015 sees a number of visitors staying at and enjoying the facilities at the Donald Woods Centre at Hobeni. The first is the UK-based maternal health clinician, Dr Kim Turner who is heading up a group of Obstetrics and Gynaecology doctors who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Donald Woods Centre"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4162,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/growing-young-scientists-in-rural-eastern-cape\/","url_meta":{"origin":4504,"position":1},"title":"Growing young scientists in rural Eastern Cape","date":"March 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"March was a busy month at the Donald Wood Centre in Hobeni with a large group of Penn State University students conducting a Science Festival Day for local school learners and researchers looking into rehabilitation efforts in rural areas by Stellenbosch University postgraduate students. 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Meticulously curated by leading anti-apartheid activist David Kenvyn, the Donald Woods Foundation Library and Archive is the most detailed record yet\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Donald Woods Centre"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4245,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/new-dwf-head-office-at-donald-woods-birthplace\/","url_meta":{"origin":4504,"position":4},"title":"New DWF head office at Donald Wood’s birthplace","date":"May 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"23 May 2014 The Donald Woods Foundation has officially opened its new head office at Hobeni, in the deeply rural area of the Mbashe Local Municipality, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The old Hobeni trading store was where Donald Woods was born on 15 December 1933. 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