Abstract:
Drought exposure has put many families under immense pressure and stress,
prompting them to use their own resources to cope. Existing research on resilience
focuses predominantly on Western cultures, leaving gaps in our understanding of
how communities in South Africa with inadequate resources are affected. Resilience
research has shown that spirituality and antecedence are factors that promote wellbeing
in individuals exposed to adversity. This research aims to understand the
influence of spirituality and culture on the youth and how these beliefs influence their
ability to be okay in light of adverse circumstances. It was informed by an
interpretivistic paradigm and made use of case study techniques within a qualitative
methodological design. The sample was selected by means of purposive sampling
and included 43 youth (males and females), residing in the Govan Mbeki
Municipality in Mpumalanga. Data collection included focus group interviews and
arts-based activities, and were interpreted by means of thematic analysis to identify
emerging themes. The results indicated the following themes are significant in
explaining how spirituality and culture affect the resilience of participants and their
families: a sense of religiosity, spirituality and culture, and a sense of community
unity and support.
