African women, mother earth, and education on indigenous healing during pandemics: A case study of the Ndau in Chipinge, Zimbabwe

African women, mother earth, and education on indigenous healing during pandemics: A case study of the Ndau in Chipinge, Zimbabwe

Shoorai Konyana & Joel Timire

Issue: Vol. 12 No.6 2026 Issue Article 1 pp. 212 – 225
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.20261261 Published online 14th July 2026.
© 2026 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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ABSTRACT

Women have been associated with the provision and sustenance of life. Women’s fertility is linked and likened to the fertility of Mother Earth. Globally, the burden of caring for family members and friends is shouldered by women. In Southern Africa, women and girls bear the brunt of care work. Literature on indigenous health practices by African women is scarce, even though they are the custodians of caregiving to the sick in their homes. In Africa, indigenous remedies are part of the cultural and religious. The wide-spread use of indigenous medicine is attributed to its accessibility and affordability. The purpose of this study was to undertake a systematic review of the use of indigenous medicine and indigenous foods to address ailments related to pandemics such as Covid-19 by Ndau women in Zimbabwe. Through the Africana Womanist Theory as lens, the study adopted a qualitative case study and purposively sampled Ndau women as participants. Data was gathered through interviews, focus group discussions and individual narratives of their experiences in caring for the sick during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study established that Ndau women depend on the provision of Mother Earth to care for the sick in their households. Ndau women cherish the availability of rich medicinal herbs within their homeland, and the herbs proved to be a divine providence in situations where financial resources to access modern health care facilities are scarce. The study recommends a greening socialisation that fosters a caring environmental ethic for the sustainability of nature.

Keywords: Africana Womanist theory, African Indigenous medicine, Ndau Women, Environmental ethic

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AUTHOR(S)

Shoorai Konyana holds a PhD from the Central University of Technology Free State (South Africa) and holds a Master of Education degree (Curriculum studies) from the University of Zimbabwe. She is a lecturer in the Educational Foundations and Curriculum Development Department at Robert Mugabe School of Education, Great Zimbabwe University. She is a member of the Research Committee at Robert Mugabe School of Heritage and Education. She is interested in integration of ICTs in teacher education, climate change mitigation and environmental stability. She is driven to empower future generations with knowledge, skills and values necessary to address pressing issues of climate change. She is working towards greening the Teacher Education Curriculum and how the teacher education curriculum addresses environmental, cultural and economic components of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and comparative teacher education. She has proven herself as a scholar by presenting papers in national and international conferences. She has published a number of articles on teacher education in addressing environmental issues and has supervised students’ dissertations at Masters Level. She is an affiliate member of the Schools and College Permaculture (SCOPE) and the Southern African Society for Educators (S.A.S.E).

Joel Timire is a lecturer in Mathematic and Technical Education with 35 years of experience in education. He holds a PhD in Curriculum from the University of the Free State. He has extensively collaborated as a co-researcher with established researchers in the area of Engineering Teacher Development. He is building his research profile under the tutelage of the Center for Diversity in Higher Education Research

TO CITE ARTICLE

Konyana, Shoorai, and Joel Timire. “African women, mother earth, and education on indigenous healing during pandemics: A case study of the Ndau in Chipinge, Zimbabwe.” E-Journal of Religious and Theological Studies 12, no.6 (2026): 212 – 225. https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.20261261