3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item The state of our children's homes: a descriptive study of conditions and resources within childrens homes in the greater Johannesburg area with special reference to the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on these facilities and the training/expertise of caregivers working in these homes(2008-10-15T11:04:04Z) Meiring, Michelle AdrienneINTRODUCTION The HIV epidemic in South Africa has increased not only the number of ill children but also the number of orphans. Although the establishment of orphanages is not sustainable, the number of residential care facilities continues to increase. Many persons working in South African children s homes can testify to the impact HIV has had on this sector, but no studies have actually measured it. AIMS The primary aim of this research was to determine the impact of HIV on the Johannesburg children s homes. The secondary aims were to make recommendations informed by this research to assist children s homes to mitigate the impact and to inform the activities of the Children s Homes Outreach Medical Programme (CHOMP). METHODS A rapid appraisal of all children s homes in the greater Johannesburg was done by means of a telephonic survey. This was followed by an in depth analysis of 24 children s homes through the use of questionnaires, data collection forms, a pop quiz for residential child care workers and the inspection of facilities. RESULTS A total of 115 residential care facilities with a population (excluding the special needs homes) of 5 934 were identified. In a sample of 24 homes, 31,7% of the children were HIV affected and 20% HIV infected. The morbidity rate in the homes was 10%, and 99% of this morbidity was attributable to HIV/AIDS. Over a 6 month period 57 children died in the children s homes, 93% from HIV related conditions.Item The impact of refugee-host community interactions on refugees' national and ethnic identities: The case of Burundian Hutu refugees in Johannesburg(2006-03-13) Misago, Jean PierreThe purpose of this study is to establish the impact of socio-economic interactions between Hutu Burundian refugees (living in Johannesburg) and South African populations on Burundian refugees’ national and ethnic identities. Although this is a case study on Burundian Hutu Refugees in Johannesburg, Rwandan refugees and South Africans were also included for comparative purposes. The snowballing technique was used to identify respondents and in-depth face-to-face interviews were used to collect data. Questions probed respondents’ pre-relocation national and ethnic identity loyalties; the nature and frequency of interactions between them and local populations and other foreign nationals; and the respondents’ current national and ethnic identity loyalties. The study finds that despite regular contact with the host populations, refugee respondents maintained their ethnic and national identities, thus challenging the assumption that to become uprooted and removed from a national territory automatically causes people to lose their identity, traditions, and culture. Further, apart from the adoption of some new situational practices particularly by refugee respondents, the study finds no significant ‘renegotiation’ or ‘contestation’ of group identities in the cosmopolitan Johannesburg as both South Africans and refugees/migrants in the city seem to be firmly holding on to their distinctive identitive ideals. Although not conclusive, the study suggests that the negative nature of interactions between refugees and the host society, which compromises the possibility of assimilation and integration, as well as other internal and external factors such as the refugees’ belief in the temporariness of their situation, may be among important factors that accounted for this maintenance of group identity.