Displaying 1 - 10 of 12
ABSTRACT
Education is a fundamental and universal basic need for all, especially orphans and vulnerable children in Tanzania. Education imparts knowledge, skills, and competencies to individuals. This study assessed educational opportunities and the support available to orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Bagamoyo District to determine socioeconomic and psychological factors that limit access to education. Data were collected using in-depth interviews, non-participant observation and documentary review. The study involved 102 orphans and vulnerable children aged between 7 and 15 years…
Abstract
Background
Skin conditions contribute significantly to the global burden of diseases and are among the leading causes of non-fatal disease burden. Children living in orphanage centres are vulnerable to several conditions including dermatological disorders, and there is limited data on the burden of these conditions among orphans in Tanzania. This study was carried out to determine the pattern of dermatological conditions and contributing factors among orphans in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Methodology
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 420 children aged less than 18…
A study conducted by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MoHSW) (2011) on assessment of the situation of children in institutional care in Tanzania indicated that there are more than 500 residential care centres. It is estimated that there are 40 residential care centres providing support to almost 2000 orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Dar es Salaam (MoHSW 2011). Unfortunately, in Tanzania apparently no recent nationwide comprehensive situational analysis has been conducted of OVC in various alternative care systems, other than a baseline survey on a situational…
Abstract
Caregivers at an institution for motherless infants in rural Tanzania participated in focus group interviews and participant observations. This paper aims at describing how they perceive infancy, caring and sensitivity in their everyday context. It adds knowledge from Tanzania about institutional infant care and the concept of sensitivity in caregiving, based on an approach sensitive to culture and context. The main result is that the caregivers are most concerned with fulfilling the infants’ physical needs. They defined infants’ social and emotional needs in a variety of ways and…
ABSTRACT
This study employed a correlational design and examined the extent to which four components of quality of care (including food security, quality of shelter, quality of caregiving, and access to health care services) predicted psychosocial well-being of orphaned and separated children (OSC), as well as the extent to which these components of quality of care and key demographic factors, such as age, gender, and orphan status moderated the associations between care settings and psychosocial well-being of OSC. This study was an extension of Whetten et al.’s 2009 study that found…
Zanzibar’s Department of Social Welfare - a department within the Ministry of Empowerment, Social Welfare, Youth, Women and Children - along with Save the Children UK and SOS Children’s Villages undertook a rapid assessment of residential care institutions in Zanzibar in order to determine how many children were living in children’s homes, their ages, the factors that influenced their institutionalization, the status of their families of origin, and the authorities referring children to these homes. The assessment was carried out in an effort to provide preliminary information to assist the…
This report and research conducted by SOS Children’s Villages reviews alternative care arrangements in Tanzania. The report finds that there are considerable gaps in the implementation of alternative care services in Tanzania, mainly due to weak monitoring, evaluation and oversight. Informal care lacks monitoring or support, while formal care, which is mostly run by private organisations and NGOs, is poorly coordinated and lacks adequate inspection, monitoring or regulation. Although adoption has been legislated, there are inadequate regulations or oversight…
This video features a segment of a talk on the effects of care environments on children, hosted by the Christian Alliance for Orphans. The key speakers featured include Dr. Kathryn Whetten & Dr. Charles Nelson, who discuss the Positive Outcomes for Orphans study (POFO) and the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP), respectively.
Dr. Nelson speaks about the institutionalization of children and its impact on the brain development of institutionalized children. Many children in institutions, says Dr. Nelson, experience isolation, a lack of response to distress, a…
Research has shown the harmful potential of institutional care on young children; however, little is known about the consequences of institutional care on infants in Sub-Saharan Africa. The authors compared 35 Tanzanian children who were institutionalized at birth to 4 years of age with a matched group of 35 children who were institutionalized at 5 to 14 years of age. They examined adverse childhood experiences over the course of their entire lives, in their family of origin and in institutional care, and mental health problems at primary school age, such as depressive symptoms, aggressive…
This report - produced by SOS Children’s Villages, Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland, and the University of Malawi - is based on a synthesis of eight assessments of the implementation of the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children (“the Guidelines”) in Benin, Gambia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Togo, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
It considers common challenges to implementing the Guidelines identified in the eight countries and provides a platform for effective advocacy to promote every child’s right to quality care. At the end of each chapter, the report provides…