Displaying 1 - 10 of 52
Abstract
Elevate Children Funders Group (ECFG), a consortium of foundations dedicated to building strong families and a life free from violence for all children, strongly believes and supports the idea that children are best able to thrive and reach their full potential when they remain with their families and communities rather than living in residential care. Years of research has shown that orphanages often expose children to serious abuse, harm and neglect, can impact a child’s physical and psychological development and is often much more expensive than family or…
Abstract
This article reflects different programmes and resource components that may be promoted to keep children with either their own family or within alternative family care, satisfying the rights of their overall development. In India, the concept of promoting family-based care mechanisms through government systems has not been fully realised, owing to lack of synergy between resource allocation and existing government programmes, policies and plans of action for child protection. Additionally, the common public discourse is that Child Care Institutions (CCIs) offer…
ABSTRACT
Notwithstanding the importance of the contemporary orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) care and support systems, the extended family system remains the most prominent and pivotal safety net for OVC within the rural tribal communities of Zimbabwe. This paper examines the efficacy of extended family system in OVC care and support in the Gutu District of Zimbabwe. This a qualitative phenomenological study was used to gather data of the lived experiences and perceptions of the 10 caregivers of Batanai HIV/AIDS service organization support groups and 10 OVC purposively sampled in the…
Abstract
This article describes the impact on social services of an innovative model of family care in Moshi, Tanzania, aimed at orphaned children and youth who are affected by HIV/AIDS and their caregivers. We explore three questions: Is social capital created during the provision of social work services? If so, what aspects of the model are responsible for it? How does this social capital influence the participants’ educational/occupational aspirations and vision of the future? This qualitative study is based on a case analysis of eight adolescents and their caregivers. Data were…
Abstract
African child-rearing has been documented as primarily social in nature and driven by community, responsibility, and respect for elders (Nsamenang B (1992) Human development in cultural context: a third world perspective. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE; Weisner et al. African families and the crisis of social change, Bergin and Garvey, Westport, CT, 1997). Socially distributed care is common and reflects strong kinship ties that serve as a social welfare system in times of need as well as the glue of teaching tradition. The practice of child migration (fosterage) in and out of kin…
Abstract
This paper interrogates traditional African community values; the family; wellness; and the impact of westernization on African family value systems. The paper is based on literature and studies by the academic community. It reviews related literature on the African extended family system and how it caters for orphans in their communities. The central argument in the paper is that in traditional African culture, there were ‘no orphans’ as parentless children were cared for within the kin system. This paper shows how the extended family heads were involved in the promotion of…
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
The study examined alternative family and community care options and how they can be strengthened; cultural attitudes and perceptions of the communities and experiences of prospective foster and adoptive parents as regards reunification, kinship care, fostering and adoption; the study examined Government’s position and policies in place to support family reunification with institutionalized children, and sought views about how hindrances to family care can be dealt with.
Children as young as one day continue to be abandoned due to problems facing Ugandan…
ABSTRACT
Using indigenous knowledge systems such as Ubuntu in social work with children empowers them, their families, communities and workers. Yet, the potential of using frames that draw on indigenous ways of knowing, in children’s work, remain unrealised since social workers prefer Western models and theories. Ubuntu inspired models of social work view children from family, community, environmental and spiritual perspectives. In contrast, Western models are inspired by individualitic values, governmental policies and professional viewpoints. However, as will be shown in this article,…
Abstract
In response to the orphan crisis, a number of community initiatives have proliferated to enhance service delivery to OVCs (Orphans and other Vulnerable Children). Part of the literature paints a bleak and pessimistic picture: it believes that community based support interventions anchored on the family are faltering under the weight of increasing number of orphans; while others argue that communities are innovative and resilient to the extent that they have devised new coping strategies. The paper shows how OVC community responses in Northern Uganda are under severe pressure from…