Although many cultures attach great value to young males attending traditional initiation schools, there are a number of questions that remain unanswered. Because of the secrecy that surrounds these schools, there may be many opportunities for addressing vital social issues that may not be made use of or are not known. The purpose of this study was to explore the role played by the initiation schools in educating the young men about HIV/AIDS and gender related issues in the Maluti area in the Eastern Cape from the leader’s and from the initiates’ perspectives. A comparison with non-initiates was also conducted. The researcher also aimed to explore the programs offered at the initiation schools; whether initiation schools serve as a source of knowledge pertaining to HIV/AIDS and gender related issues to the young men. The researcher conducted interviews with leaders of two different initiation schools, focus group discussions with two groups of young males that had attended two different initiation schools, and also with one group of young males that had not yet attended initiation school in the Maluti area. The study was qualitative and data was analysed using content analysis. The results reflect that both initiated and uninitiated young males had attended same workshops on gender issues offered through their schools, the only difference in knowledge and attitude is therefore based on what the initiated youth learnt from the initiation school. This knowledge reflected an understanding of equity principles in treating women. In addition, the initiated young males reflected some understanding of the equal rights and treatment of women. However there was little difference between the two groups of young males, perhaps because there was apparently not much included at initiation school. Another reason could have been because the initiates did not perceive it as one of the important issues discussed since there was little emphasis coming from the initiation school, the leaders or from the visiting speakers. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

As the burden of HIV and AIDS ncreases in different communities of the world today, new organizations are being formed to help mitigate its impact. The current study assessed whether Christian fa th-based organizations (FBOs) were making any contribution to mitigate the impact HIV and AIDS in Pietermaritzburg area using a case study of the ESSA Christi AIDS Programme (ECAP). ECAP has been involved in training churches in HI and AIDS awareness, home-based and orphan care, assisting churches to initiate c urch-related projects, and facilitating the Church and AIDS course to the theology s udents at the Evangelical Seminary of Southern Africa (ESSA). The population of this study comp ised twenty (20) ESSA graduates who took the HIV and AIDS course between 19 9 and 2000. The self-administered questionnaire was sent to all twenty to assess hether they experienced any change in their thinking, attitude and behaviour to'jards people with AIDS as a result of taking the Church and AIDS course, and wHat HIV and AIDS-related activities they were involved in. An interview schedule with two phases, was used to collect data. The first phase elicited data from six (6) ECAP stakeholders to establish a brief historical background of ECAP. The second hase elicited data from ten (l0) church ministers in whose churches ECAP conduc ed its training to assess whether the ECAP's training programmes made any di erence in their attitude and behaviour towards people with AIDS, and what HIV a AIDS projects they started as a result of getting being trained. Although the study could not ge eralize the results because of the case study methodology, the results showed th t ECAP was making significant contribution to the fight against AIDS epidemic no only in the communities of Pietermaritzburg but also in other countries where the EISA graduates were working. However, lack of enough human and financial resour es is affecting ECAP's efficiency. Based on the findings in this study, recommen tions have been made to ECAP's method of recruiting churches for training, enues for training and its approach to HIV prevention methods. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.