South Africa is one of the countries with the highest prevalence of HIV infection in the world, particularly among the youth between the ages 15 and 24 years. The number of infections among the youth in South Africa is still increasing and this does not exclude the youth under study in the community of Eersterust. The HIV and AIDS epidemic is affecting large numbers of adolescents, throughout South Africa leading to serious psychological, social, economic and educational problems. Because of the devastating effect and rapid increase of HIV-infections among adolescents, it has become evident that not only government departments (Department of Health and Department of Education), but also community-based educational support structures (organisations) should share the responsibility by playing a pro-active role in awareness and the curbing of the spread of HIV-infection among adolescents. Various researchers have been focusing on the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of adolescents but limited research has been done on the contribution of community-based educational support programmes with regard to creating awareness and the curbing of the further spread of HIV-infection among adolescents. This study which seeked to address the need for ongoing research in this field, attempted to investigate whether and how communitybased educational programmes address the educational needs of adolescents within a particular community, namely Eersterust. In order to determine these needs, quantitative and qualitative descriptive research approaches were utilized comprising of a questionnaire survey and focus group interviews. The questionnaire survey explored the knowledge, skills, attitudes and sexual behaviour of the 916 participants. The results from the questionnaire were utilized to determine the educational needs of adolescents. Focus group interviews were conducted with 11 adolescents who attended the educational support programmes at the Youth Development Outreach Centre and the Circle of Life Centre. The latter are two community-based organisations in the community under study (Eersterust). The focus group interviews were utilized to determine the views of the adolescents with regard to the mode of delivery and effectiveness of the community-based educational support programmes. From the data in the questionnaire the educational needs of adolescents were identified and compared with the content of the community-based educational support programmes of the two community-based support structures. The findings revealed that the community-based educational support programmes are to a large extent addressing the HIV and AIDS educational needs of the adolescents under study. The focus group interviews revealed that the participants are of the opinion that they find the programmes interesting and enriching. They benefit educationally by attending the educational programmes and they would recommend the programmes to other adolescents. The findings indicate that the educational programmes are appropriate to address the HIV and AIDS educational needs of the adolescents. The educational needs identified in the empirical research are however not fulfilled because many of the adolescents do not attend the educational programmes. There are only a few adolescents who attend these educational programmes. The latter might be a contributing factor to the high HIV-infection among adolescents. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2013 / Early Childhood Education / unrestricted

Magister Artium - MA / Community service as an alternative to imprisonment at its inception was taken up very strongly by the judiciary as part of the reform of the criminal justice system in Uganda. The successful enactment of the Community Service Act, Act no: 5/2000, was an achievement towards the implementation of the programme in the country. However, its implementation as an alternative sentence is currently proceeding at a slow pace. The Ugandan law still allows courts to exercise their discretionary powers with regard to either using prison sentences or community service. Courts still seem to prefer to use imprisonment irrespective of the nature of the offence, thus leading to unwarranted government expenditure and prison overcrowding. An additional problem is that some offenders come out of prison having been negatively affected by their interaction with even more serious offenders. This study was undertaken to establish whether community service as an alternative to imprisonment can be effective with regard to reducing recidivism and to accelerating reconciliation and reintegration of minor offenders back into their communities. / South Africa

Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / This study is an investigation into how the Site C, Action Committee Against Xenophobia (SACAX) in Khayelitsha was able to mobilise the community, community based organisations, and governance structures alongside national and international Non-Governmental Organisations working with refugees to successfully challenge prejudice towards African immigrants in the period leading to the World Cup 2010. The primary objective of this mobilisation was to raise consciousness about the plight of African immigrants; prevent a new round of attacks; and also to ensure that state officials were better prepared to intervene in future outbursts. The various stakeholders that took part in this cogovernance space are unanimous that the SACAX programme ushered in a new era of creating awareness and civic education that changed significantly the perception of the community towards African immigrants during the World Cup 2010. The thesis will also show how SACAX also encourage a more active citizenship and also built network between civil society including national and international NGOs and local state. These efforts created a new set of relations and saw the construction of new sets of relations in terms of capacity building across civil society, the state and local and international actors. This resulted in both the creation of an early warning mechanisms and also networks to coordinate efforts in future outburst. This was an example of a Co-governance space or nascent „participatory sphere‟. The example of SACAX is thus a case of civil society deepening democracy in three ways: expanding democratic values, building democratic citizenship and creating new participatory institutional capacity. This then elucidates the role civil society can play in influencing citizens directly, government and public policy. Indeed, to the extent that this network forms the basis of a substantive partnership between state and civil society from local to international levels, such co-governance around the policy issues can be seen as a nascent form of participatory space as identified by Cornwall and Coelho (2007:1).

Using the lens of a community-based childhood obesity intervention, it is possible to examine the role of non-profit organizations in community development and to deconstruct the “community” in community-based research and identify the many competing interests within a community. This contextual understanding includes how the community is formed, how a community’s agenda is set, and who will complete the tasks outlined in that agenda. In applied anthropological settings and public health interventions that are community-based, it is essential to understand the context of community and which community (or communities) the researcher is working with to ensure that the data you collect reflects the community you wish to impact. The data collection for this dissertation occurred across phases. In Phase One, the focus was on collecting baseline data for a childhood obesity intervention using participant observation, unstructured interviews, and a community canvassing survey conducted with community volunteers who collected data going door-t- door. A midcourse review of results led to a shift in the research focus from the evaluation of a community-based intervention to an analysis of how community is conceptualized, with its various competing interests, in this particular context. To examine community membership, agenda setting, and how the community seeks to achieve its goals, this project utilized participant observation, unstructured interviewing, and semi-structured interviewing. Phase One data revealed that the community had limited interest in a childhood obesity intervention; additionally, local and county level data was ambiguous about the actual need for such an intervention. As a result, Phase Two data was collected to shed light on the role of community. There are three actors that make up “the community” at this project’s research site: 1) long-term residents, 2) short-term residents, and 3) the non-profit service providers, who work in the community. The extent to which the service providers are members of the community is somewhat contested, and honorary membership may be exchanged for other forms of capital. The agenda in the research setting appeared to be set by the local non-profit service providers, but data collection showed the importance of long-term residents (and, to a lesser extent, short-term residents) in guiding the focus of the non-profit agencies. To accomplish the goals of the agenda set in the community, a group of women emerged as key actors. In this dissertation I use the termed “Wonder Women” to connote an archetype of a resident in this community context; these women are residents who are committed to the agenda of the community and, through volunteering, are tested for their ability to work often exorbitant hours to achieve the goals of the community. The Wonder Women are worked until a breaking point, at which time they typically leave their post as key players in the community. This research not only contributes to identifying and operationalizing the concept of “communities” in community-based research but presents a new cultural phenomenon: the emergence of “Wonder Women.” Further research into this phenomenon is required to determine if they are occurring elsewhere and to what extent. Moreover, this dissertation informs the work of non-profit organizations working in the United States. The importance of true community participation and ways to prevent volunteer burnout are emphasized in the lessons learned from the research.

This study has investigated the biblical and historical relevancy of doing theology of pastoral ministry in rural Zambia .After a meticulous examination of essential distinctives of pastoral ministry, the study brought to the fore the fact that the role of the faith community among other things is to engage the community in a practical and relevant way by creating an enabling environment that promote dialogue. Social communication and cohesion are important imperatives especially in the context of rural Zambia where life thrives on informal social support networks which are the lifelines of rural Zambia thus the need to empower rural pastors with relevant skills and training to sustain a healthy hermeneutical dialogue. The study further examined the validity of three-fold theological perspectives namely: biblical, historical and cultural. The investigation revealed that these are important pastoral imperatives that should not be seen as an end but a means in a theological process. Therefore, this study calls for a re-examination of how the pastoral ministry engages in Rural Zambia in light of scripture and the social economics. The researcher has argued that most pastors, who engage in ministry within the Zambian rural context, do not fully understand the fact that for pastoral ministry to be effective it has to engage the community holistically. Many models appropriated in the Zambian rural context focuses on the salvation of the person “soul” with no due concern for the communities “social salvation”. With all the complications and implications that go with application of genuine pastoral ministry practice, this study has formulated and proposed a model that would be effective to rural Zambia. More research still need to be done to address adequately all the impediments identified through this study. Copyright / Dissertation (MA(Theol))--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

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The study is made in an attempt to evaluate a Non-Profit Organisation established 30 years ago. The organisation is called The St. Mary’s Development and Care Centre. This centre, amongst others, was established in 1982 by a true humanitarian, Mrs Thelma Henderson, and has since had more than 2250 children and lots more families in its care. The research aims to explore and evaluate the impact that the centre has had on the families and communities in Grahamstown. The evaluation is done as part of the current manager’s strategy to assess the strengths of the organisation and to build on the efficacy of the organisation. The researcher understands impact as any change whether positive or negative. This, from a social science perspective, is experienced by the person on a personal level and the effects in different families cannot be measured with a universal measure. Theory proves that because people are at varying levels of development, they therefore experience change and thus impact, differently. With the use of the grounded theory method comprising of systematic, inductive and comparative approaches for conducting inquiry for the purpose of constructing theory (Bryant & Charmaz 2007: 1) the research found that people have experienced change at different levels. This information, triangulated against previous research, validated the claims that child sponsorship at an NGO level indeed has benefits for the children involved in their programs. Therefore this evaluation paper draws the conclusion through similarities found and qualitative personal views that the St. Mary’s Development and Care Centre has indeed had an impact on the Grahamstown community.

Rural communities in Malawi are experiencing adverse climatic hazards which are attributed to climate variability and change. The frequent events being experienced include floods, dry spells and seasonal droughts. Rural livelihoods are severely affected because of their sensitivity to these phenomena. The research has analyzed community-based coping and adaptation strategies for sustainable livelihoods among the rural poor in Kaunda village, T/A Simlemba in Kasungu district, Malawi. The research data was collected from groups of male and female participants which also included a group of traditional leaders living in the area. The study used Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) methods such as Focus Group Discussions using the associated tools of resource mapping, transect walks, timelines and livelihood ranking to collect the data. The research findings have revealed that the major climate events experienced in Kaunda village are seasonal droughts and dry spells which have significantly impacted agriculture as a major livelihood activity in Malawi. The study has also revealed the community-based coping and adaptation strategies employed by the people. Recommendations made in this study have highlighted the need to support vulnerable rural communities with resilient and secure livelihoods.

My research is focused on investigating the socio-political processes taking place within Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) in Tanzania. I draw on a political ecology approach in an investigation of the politics of struggles over natural resources, their management and the benefits that can be derived from this. I bring together theories of policy processes, African politics and scale into an examination of power within two case studies of CBNRM from the wildlife and forestry sectors. I carry out a comparative analysis of these case studies, employing a qualitative methodology based on semi-structured interviews, focus groups, participatory activities, participant observation and document analysis. My research is clustered around three core themes. Firstly, I trace the process of policy reform that introduced CBNRM in both the forest and wildlife sectors, and examine the differences between the governance systems prescribed in policy as a result of these processes. The contrasts between the two sectors in Tanzanian CBNRM are important and multiple. Different policy pathways were adopted, relating to the distinct political economies of forest and wildlife resources and their politicisation within the context of power devolution for CBNRM. The prescribed governance systems in the two sectors contain important differences in the processes by which local communities can apply to participate in CBNRM, the mechanisms of revenue distribution, and the ways in which power is devolved to the local level. Secondly I examine the implementation of these prescribed governance systems and their performance in reality through an exploration of the configurations of power set out in CBNRM, and the struggles that take place around these in ‘politics of scales’ as actors attempt to benefit from CBNRM. I examine the ways the governance systems have been adopted and adapted from those set out in CBNRM policy. I argue that the distinctions between the prescribed governance systems in the two sectors produce separate contexts of re-configuration into the performed governance systems within the case studies. However, I also argue that while the contexts are specific to each sector, both the case studies revealed the same underlying socio-political process of struggles over power to both manage and benefit from natural resources. These struggles to control and benefit from CBNRM are closely linked to the unequal distribution of benefits that were witnessed in both case studies. Finally I examine the performance of CBNRM as an integration of systems of power set out in policy and hidden, often unacknowledged, local contours of power. I address the themes of how the reality of CBNRM differs from that set out in policy, examine the processes ongoing within the projects that permit and maintain elite capture and unequal distribution of benefits, and investigate the socio-political processes of corruption taking place within devolved environmental management. I argue that the struggles over power, combined with hidden aspects, especially neopatrimonialism, local moral economy and the cultural context of corruption, are central to these unequal outcomes and the capture of benefits by a small group of individuals. My research highlights that power, the politics of its devolution to the local level, the struggles that take place around it, and its subtle, hidden forms, lie at the heart of gaining further understanding of the ways in which policies develop, the unexpected outcomes they produce and the inequalities these often entail.

Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) is an inclusive community development strategy implemented for and by people with disabilities in resource-poor areas. The scarcity of guidelines for CBR program evaluation largely contributes to its insufficient and fragmented evidence base. This thesis aimed to advance knowledge in this field by defining best evaluative practices in CBR and developing guidelines to foster sound CBR program evaluation. To achieve this, the doctoral candidate designed a sequential mixed methods study in three research phases: 1) a systematic literature review to identify potential best practice guidelines, 2) a field study in South Africa to pilot the guidelines, and 3) a Delphi study to generate expert consensus and refine the guidelines. Findings from this doctoral research emphasize the importance of giving a voice and control to those most affected by the program throughout the evaluation process, including people with disabilities. The findings also call for embracing the challenge of diversity by adapting CBR program evaluation to local cultures and languages, and by ensuring that programs leave no one behind. In addition, they indicate that CBR evaluators can foster the use of process and findings by endorsing a rigourous, collaborative and empowering approach. Ten best practice guidelines for CBR program evaluation were systematically developed through the three phases and represent expert consensus. They offer much-needed directions. Three represent features of sound CBR program evaluation processes, six offer indications to facilitate sound methodological decisions, and one recommends using a common framework to situate evaluation findings. The guidelines now need to be piloted in a range of CBR contexts and linked with tools to yield the valid and reliable data necessary to establishing CBR’s evidence base and ensuring that program evaluations lead to positive change in local communities.