The aim with this study was to give awareness about the school situation for students living in the slum areas of Nairobi. The purpose was to raise the teachers’ perspectives about working with these students. Previous researches around the topic were studied to gain a better knowledge for the subject. The focus was put on Maslow’s hierarchy of basic needs, trauma with its effects and possible treatments in school and the home environment effects on the student´s learning. Since this was a qualitative study, the method used was open aimed interviews. Eleven teachers working in the slum areas in Nairobi were interviewed with these two main questions in mind; What do teachers think is important when working with students who come from the slum areas of Nairobi and how do teachers work with these students? All schools were located in or close to a children home in order for the teachers to have a wide range of experiences when working with students from the slum area. Some of the results that came up were that teachers saw it as important to provide students with their basic needs in school. The teachers also said that students had different reactions towards trauma and it was of great importance for students to be able to both channel their expressions after the trauma but also to forget the trauma for the moment to be able to concentrate in school. The teachers were disagreeing about whether to treat students equally or individually. Some of the teachers said that the student´s home environment affects their learning due to the quality and quantity of help that they can get with their homework. Some teachers felt adequate due to the extra work put on their shoulders in their work with the students from the slum areas.

Within Buenos Aires there exists a boundary between the formal, planned developments of the middle class and the informal, organically-developed self-built housing of the poor. Villa 31, an informal settlement located near the heart of the city, contrasts directly with the skyscrapers of the Argentinean capital’s financial and political centre. The tension between the formal and informal cities creates a stigmatization of the residents of Villa 31, essentially barring the possibility of its integration into the city. The boundary between Villa 31 and Buenos Aires exists not only in the physical space between the two, but more importantly in the collective imagination of the city’s inhabitants. This is a story of the space between Villa 31 and Buenos Aires. It chronicles the attempts at crossing that boundary and the obstacles encountered. As a means of presenting the work to a broad audience, the story was written as a comic book. The first-person narrative helps to immerse the reader in the story while presenting the full complexity of the problem through a personal account. The story reveals the complex relationship between Villa 31 and Buenos Aires as a means of understanding the invisible boundary between the two. The core of the research consists of two months of field work in Buenos Aires conducted through October and November of 2009. Journal entries, photographs, conversations and first-hand experiences were transformed into a comic book that tells a story of the invisible boundary between Villa 31 and Buenos Aires.

Two things struck me during my time in Dharavi. The first was the bad public health and the second the ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit of the people who lived there. The health issues, a result of inadequate sanitation, can be directly linked to the shortage of toilets. For every toilet there are a thousand users and because of this over a quarter of the people in Dharavi choose instead to publicly defecate. On the other side of the coin however, stands Dharavi’s remarkable recycling industry and in Dharavi alone 80% of Mumbai’s plastic waste is recycled and given new use. The concept revolves around recyclability and combining industry with sanitation; recycling the produced waste and generating income. If there’s a way to profit from human waste it is likely that people would go to certain lengths to collect the necessary material. By removing the waste and converting it to humanure, positive side effect would include cleaner streets and in general a healthier population. The idea is therefore to build a waste management facility where income is generated through the collected waste and used to improve the surrounding community. In this proposed space you can go to the toilet, throw away your trash and food waste and even use the functions provided to do chores or simply relax. The food and human waste from toilets could be used as fertilizer and sold for a profit or perhaps even used as fuel. The garbage could be collected and sorted on spot and then sold onwards for further refinement.

The urban centres are becoming more vulnerable to climate change because of the rapid urbanization and the inequality of urban development. This study assesses the urban vulnerability in an integrated approach focusing the slum people as the targeted group. The slum people are severely exposed to climate risks in terms of city‟s overall development. The negative indications of the indicators of person‟s vulnerability represent their high sensitivity to the adverse impact of climate change. The determinants of adaptive capacity also confirm that the slum people are more vulnerable to climate change with having lower adaptive capacity; though, the city is possessing high development indexes. In this context, an institutional structure is developed to build multi-level urban climate governance with the involvement of all relevant stakeholders based on the case study and literature review to integrate the vulnerable group in development planning for climate change adaptation.

This study was aimed at unearthing the underlying factors for the Church's poor engagement in poverty and development and to propose an appropriate strategy for transformational development in Kibera. The research asked "What are the underlying factors for the Church's poor engagement with poverty and development that will inform a comprehensive strategy for transformational development in the Kibera area" This was shaped strongly by the believe that God has strategically positioned and mandated the local church as the agent of both spiritual and social transformation in communities, more so in Kibera. The study focused on the stakeholders of change or development in Kibera, who included church leaders, government representatives, non–governmental organizations, civil society organizations as well community members. In addition, the study also targeted key informants who have critical information on the subject of study, within and outside Kibera. The study applied purposeful sampling to identity respondents. This was because purposeful sampling is easy, flexible and helps one to target the right respondents with the right information for the right questions. It also saves a lot of time. Both structured and unstructured questionnaires were used to carry out interviews with the sampled groups. Overall the response to the study was almost 80 per cent, which is a good representation. Data was coded and analysed and a report generated, which formed the basis for presentation on the findings guided by the main research question. The Bible is very clear on issues of poverty and development and sets the foundation for human engagement for transformation. All good development can be traced to Scripture. It was very clear that Kibera faces a huge problem of poverty, which is complex and multi–faceted in nature. Despite the various efforts by many players including the Church to alleviate poverty, the situation has remained unchanged. Although there are many churches that are seeking to impact the poor in this sprawling informal settlement, their influence remains untapped. The study found out that several factors combine together to make the church's engagement in integral mission very low. Some of these factors include, low educational levels, lack of adequate and relevant training that empowers the churches to engage in holistic ministry. In addition poor and uncoordinated approaches as well as ignorance on the part of the church, still contribute greatly to this problem. Hence an urgent need for an appropriate strategy that seeks to engage the local churches fully in bringing transformational development in Kibera. Following these revelations, the study has identified several elements that should be considered in developing an integrated transformational strategy for Kibera. Some of the key elements include partnerships, empowerment and capacity building on the part of the churches, holistic programming as well as a strong focus on advocacy to help confront the systems and structures that continue to perpetuate poverty in Kibera. Towards that end, the study recommends a three–legged model: Sustained Transformational Model (STM) for Kibera that focuses on sustained holistic programming, sustained partnerships as well as sustained advocacy. The primary focus of the model (centre) is to ensure sustained well being of communities. In the end the study has made some critical recommendations for key stakeholders in Kibera. The churches are called upon to embrace a more holistic and sustainable approach to ministry. The governments and other development partners are challenged to consider and include in their strategies ways and means to strengthen the local churches as the sustaining community institutions to bring authentic transformational change in Kibera. Finally, those interested in further studies are provide with some key areas that they can investigate further, key being the specific contribution of churches in development in Kibera. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Missiology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

This study was aimed at unearthing the underlying factors for the Church's poor engagement in poverty and development and to propose an appropriate strategy for transformational development in Kibera. The research asked "What are the underlying factors for the Church's poor engagement with poverty and development that will inform a comprehensive strategy for transformational development in the Kibera area" This was shaped strongly by the believe that God has strategically positioned and mandated the local church as the agent of both spiritual and social transformation in communities, more so in Kibera. The study focused on the stakeholders of change or development in Kibera, who included church leaders, government representatives, non–governmental organizations, civil society organizations as well community members. In addition, the study also targeted key informants who have critical information on the subject of study, within and outside Kibera. The study applied purposeful sampling to identity respondents. This was because purposeful sampling is easy, flexible and helps one to target the right respondents with the right information for the right questions. It also saves a lot of time. Both structured and unstructured questionnaires were used to carry out interviews with the sampled groups. Overall the response to the study was almost 80 per cent, which is a good representation. Data was coded and analysed and a report generated, which formed the basis for presentation on the findings guided by the main research question. The Bible is very clear on issues of poverty and development and sets the foundation for human engagement for transformation. All good development can be traced to Scripture. It was very clear that Kibera faces a huge problem of poverty, which is complex and multi–faceted in nature. Despite the various efforts by many players including the Church to alleviate poverty, the situation has remained unchanged. Although there are many churches that are seeking to impact the poor in this sprawling informal settlement, their influence remains untapped. The study found out that several factors combine together to make the church's engagement in integral mission very low. Some of these factors include, low educational levels, lack of adequate and relevant training that empowers the churches to engage in holistic ministry. In addition poor and uncoordinated approaches as well as ignorance on the part of the church, still contribute greatly to this problem. Hence an urgent need for an appropriate strategy that seeks to engage the local churches fully in bringing transformational development in Kibera. Following these revelations, the study has identified several elements that should be considered in developing an integrated transformational strategy for Kibera. Some of the key elements include partnerships, empowerment and capacity building on the part of the churches, holistic programming as well as a strong focus on advocacy to help confront the systems and structures that continue to perpetuate poverty in Kibera. Towards that end, the study recommends a three–legged model: Sustained Transformational Model (STM) for Kibera that focuses on sustained holistic programming, sustained partnerships as well as sustained advocacy. The primary focus of the model (centre) is to ensure sustained well being of communities. In the end the study has made some critical recommendations for key stakeholders in Kibera. The churches are called upon to embrace a more holistic and sustainable approach to ministry. The governments and other development partners are challenged to consider and include in their strategies ways and means to strengthen the local churches as the sustaining community institutions to bring authentic transformational change in Kibera. Finally, those interested in further studies are provide with some key areas that they can investigate further, key being the specific contribution of churches in development in Kibera. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Missiology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Within Buenos Aires there exists a boundary between the formal, planned developments of the middle class and the informal, organically-developed self-built housing of the poor. Villa 31, an informal settlement located near the heart of the city, contrasts directly with the skyscrapers of the Argentinean capital’s financial and political centre. The tension between the formal and informal cities creates a stigmatization of the residents of Villa 31, essentially barring the possibility of its integration into the city. The boundary between Villa 31 and Buenos Aires exists not only in the physical space between the two, but more importantly in the collective imagination of the city’s inhabitants. This is a story of the space between Villa 31 and Buenos Aires. It chronicles the attempts at crossing that boundary and the obstacles encountered. As a means of presenting the work to a broad audience, the story was written as a comic book. The first-person narrative helps to immerse the reader in the story while presenting the full complexity of the problem through a personal account. The story reveals the complex relationship between Villa 31 and Buenos Aires as a means of understanding the invisible boundary between the two. The core of the research consists of two months of field work in Buenos Aires conducted through October and November of 2009. Journal entries, photographs, conversations and first-hand experiences were transformed into a comic book that tells a story of the invisible boundary between Villa 31 and Buenos Aires.

Zugl.: Passau, Univ., Diss., 2010

Zugleich: Diss. Zürich, 2008. / Literaturverz.

Zugleich: Diss. Zürich, 2008. / Literaturverz.