A ready-to-use food (RUF), Sibusiso, has the potential to alleviate protein- energy malnutrition. However, its nutritional composition, physical properties, consumer acceptability, and economic feasibility for use are unknown. This study aimed to determine the nutritional composition and physical properties of a RUF, Sibusiso. As well as to assess the consumer acceptability of Sibusiso to healthy and HIV infected children on antiretroviral (ARV) medication, and the caregiver‟s attitudes towards Sibusiso. The feasibility of using Sibusiso for nutrition rehabilitation was also determined. Methodology: Four samples of Sibusiso and a peanut butter (control) were analysed for their nutritional composition and physical properties. The consumer acceptability of Sibusiso to healthy children and HIV infected children on ARVs (ART group) was determined using a five-point facial hedonic rating scale. Focus group discussions were conducted to assess the attitudes and perceptions of caregivers surrounding Sibusiso. These caregivers had children who were either malnourished or at risk of malnutrition. The financial feasibility of using Sibusiso for nutrition rehabilitation was determined using published data. The results revealed that Sibusiso was a good source of energy (2624 kJ/100 g) and quality protein (15.7 g/100 g). The nutritional composition of Sibusiso met the WHO/WFP/SCN/UNICEF recommendations for RUF. Instrumental colour analysis indicated that both Sibusiso and the peanut butter had a brown colour, although Sibusiso was slightly lighter. Sibusiso had the same spreadability or hardness as the peanut butter, but it was stickier than the peanut butter. Based on the sensory evaluation, Sibusiso was found acceptable to both healthy (n=121) and HIV infected children (n=51). Over 65% of the children in both the healthy and ART group liked the taste, smell and mouthfeel of Sibusiso. The caregivers also found Sibusiso acceptable and were willing to buy it, but at half its current price (60 ZAR/ 500 g). The price of Sibusiso and perception of the caregivers that Sibusiso was a peanut butter were the main factors that affected their willingness to buy the product. Financial feasibility analysis showed that the estimated cost (5.99 ZAR/day) of rehabilitating a child using Sibusiso was higher than the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health nutrition budget of 0.02 ZAR/day. Sibusiso is a good source of energy and quality protein, and it is fairly acceptable to children with HIV and caregivers. This indicates that Sibusiso has a potential to alleviate protein-energy malnutrition in the targeted groups. Yet, Sibusiso is expensive. There would be a need to somehow reduce the cost of Sibusiso so that it would be financially feasible to use it in nutrition intervention programmes. / Thesis (M.Sc.Hum.Nut.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

school learnersChild-headed household is a phenomenon that is growing in South Africa. As such, it is imperative to uncover the realities of children in this situation. This study explores and describes the schooling experiences of secondary school learners from child-headed households. This qualitative study included a sample of 20 grade 10 and 11 learners from four secondary schools. Data were collected through structured interviews and document analysis. The Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to analyze the data. The findings suggest that secondary school learners from child-headed households live in poverty and encounter experiences such as absenteeism, psychological trauma, gender-based discrimination, lack of adequate food and scholastic materials, drug abuse and teenage pregnancy. These experiences impact negatively on their schooling. The study recommends that learners from child-headed households should get more care and support from educators and other stakeholders. / Science and Technology Education / M.A. (Socio-Education)

MPH / Department of Public Health

Department of Nutrition / MSCPNT

Children heading their households are not a new phenomenon in South Africa. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has been the number one cause behind the emergence of many child-headed households in sub-Saharan Africa. This qualitative research inquiry was guided by an interpretivist epistemology. Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory was used as the theoretical framework that guided this study. A case study design was used with un-structured interviews being the primary method of data collection. Participatory task-based methods in the form of metaphors and story writing, informal observations, questionnaires and field notes augmented the data generation process. Purposive sampling procedures were used and two participants were chosen for this study. Thematic analysis of data generated the themes and sub-themes which provided insight into the lives of children in the role of parents. Findings of this study reveal that orphaned and vulnerable children in the role of parents have the task of taking care of their siblings by providing food, washing their clothes, sending them to school and helping with their homework. They also have the added task of making decisions in the home and providing parental guidance to their younger siblings in the absence of their parents. Children in this study also experienced poverty and faced stigma and discrimination from relatives, peers, neighbors and members in the community / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

Children heading their households are not a new phenomenon in South Africa. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has been the number one cause behind the emergence of many child-headed households in sub-Saharan Africa. This qualitative research inquiry was guided by an interpretivist epistemology. Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory was used as the theoretical framework that guided this study. A case study design was used with un-structured interviews being the primary method of data collection. Participatory task-based methods in the form of metaphors and story writing, informal observations, questionnaires and field notes augmented the data generation process. Purposive sampling procedures were used and two participants were chosen for this study. Thematic analysis of data generated the themes and sub-themes which provided insight into the lives of children in the role of parents. Findings of this study reveal that orphaned and vulnerable children in the role of parents have the task of taking care of their siblings by providing food, washing their clothes, sending them to school and helping with their homework. They also have the added task of making decisions in the home and providing parental guidance to their younger siblings in the absence of their parents. Children in this study also experienced poverty and faced stigma and discrimination from relatives, peers, neighbors and members in the community / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

The family as the basic unit of society plays an important role in the lives of individuals especially children. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has devastated the family structure which is already strained by other detrimental factors such as urbanisation and poverty. The increased death rate of young parents due to AIDS-related diseases has led to an escalating number of orphaned children growing in child headed households (CHH) without adult care. A qualitative study was undertaken to develop an understanding of the barriers that hinder the integration of orphaned children into extended family folds and to obtain suggestions on how to overcome these barriers. Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga Province, with a sample of children heading CHH, relatives of these children and social workers who were rendering social work services to these client-systems. The study revealed that the level of suffering faced by CHH began with the illness of the parents. This was further exacerbated by the death of the parents as these children were not absorbed by their extended families. Barriers that hindered the integration of orphaned children into extended family folds go beyond the extended families’ economic capacity to absorb the children. There is an interplay of barriers that are poverty related, relational and family related, culturally related, circumstances that are related to the orphaned children as well as limitations in social work service delivery. The findings indicate that CHH is not a good option to care and protect orphaned children as it exposes them to pervasive adversities with little resources and support. The integration of orphaned children is embraced as a good option to care for the children because of its potential value, amongst others, of enabling the extended families to relieve the CHH from the burden of care. From the findings of this study, practice guidelines were developed to enhance the efficacy of integrating orphaned children into extended families to prevent the CHH phenomenon.

Thesis (MPhil (Industrial Psychology. Africa Centre for HIV/AIDS Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / The study was about assessing the dropout rate of children who are heads of households at Mandela Village in Tshwane Municipality, Gauteng Province. Given the number of orphans who are escalating in each year as a result of HIV/AIDS pandemic especially in the Sub Saharan region, the author’s intention was to analyse what are the causes for these children to drop out from school, and what can be done to minimize the dropout rate of these children. All the participants were the children who are heads of households and residents of Mandela Village, East of Mamelodi Township, and Pretoria. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with thirty-one children who are heads of households, as well as with two educators in schools where these children are attending school or were attending school. This was followed by two focus groups with the same children. The intention of using the focus group was to investigate the issues raised during the interviews and to establish an understanding of how the children who are heads of households want to improve their own circumstances. The study findings observed that there were no strong linkages in assisting children who are heads of households between the Department of Social Development and Department of Education in the North Rand Region, Gauteng. Other findings were that the schools have no support programmes or teachers assigned to assist these children to cope with schoolwork. Due to multiplicity of responsibilities they are faced with, they are not copying with their studies.

The family as the basic unit of society plays an important role in the lives of individuals especially children. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has devastated the family structure which is already strained by other detrimental factors such as urbanisation and poverty. The increased death rate of young parents due to AIDS-related diseases has led to an escalating number of orphaned children growing in child headed households (CHH) without adult care. A qualitative study was undertaken to develop an understanding of the barriers that hinder the integration of orphaned children into extended family folds and to obtain suggestions on how to overcome these barriers. Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga Province, with a sample of children heading CHH, relatives of these children and social workers who were rendering social work services to these client-systems. The study revealed that the level of suffering faced by CHH began with the illness of the parents. This was further exacerbated by the death of the parents as these children were not absorbed by their extended families. Barriers that hindered the integration of orphaned children into extended family folds go beyond the extended families’ economic capacity to absorb the children. There is an interplay of barriers that are poverty related, relational and family related, culturally related, circumstances that are related to the orphaned children as well as limitations in social work service delivery. The findings indicate that CHH is not a good option to care and protect orphaned children as it exposes them to pervasive adversities with little resources and support. The integration of orphaned children is embraced as a good option to care for the children because of its potential value, amongst others, of enabling the extended families to relieve the CHH from the burden of care. From the findings of this study, practice guidelines were developed to enhance the efficacy of integrating orphaned children into extended families to prevent the CHH phenomenon.

In 1994, racial domination in the form of apartheid ended in South Africa and the first postapartheid government was elected through a non-racial and democratic franchise. The new government inherited an entrenched system of racial inequality as well as widespread poverty amongst the formerly oppressed population, and it sought to address these challenges through policies of redistribution based on a new progressive constitution which emphasised the realisation of socio-economic rights. At the same time, and despite its redistributive measures, the post-apartheid government has pursued a macro-economic strategy with pronounced neoliberal dimensions. One of its critical redistributive measures focuses on social assistance to poor blacks, and this has entailed the construction and expansion of a massive social grant system including the child support grant which is received by millions of black South Africans on a monthly basis. The objective of this thesis is to examine and understand the livelihoods of child support grant recipients (or caregivers) in the context of conditions of extreme vulnerability marked by poverty. It does so by focusing on the small town of Riebeek East located in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Though undoubtedly child support grant caregivers are victims of poverty, the thesis demonstrates that they are not without agency. They exist in structural conditions of vulnerability and poverty, but they nevertheless seek to manoeuvre and negotiate their way in and through their conditions of existence. This does not necessarily alleviate their poverty in any significant manner but it does show evidence of reflexivity, decision-making and responsibility in the pursuit of livelihood practices and outcomes. In making this argument, I draw upon the mega-theory of Margaret Archer (specifically, her morphogenetic approach) and the more middle-level perspective of the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework. Beyond contributing to the prevailing academic literature on the child support grant in South Africa, this thesis also hopefully makes a small contribution to controversies about structure and agency within sociology.