Department of Public Health / MPH

PHD (African Studies) / Center for African Studies / The challenges facing divorcees when it comes to pastoral care and counselling are among the toughest to face members of the Reformed Churches South Africa (RCSA) in the Vhembe District today. There are many people in South Africa who are experiencing the pain of being divorced. The RCSA in the Vhembe District are also faced with this challenge and it affects their doctrines and their practical ministries. These challenges also affect the pastors of the RCSA. The aim of this research is to investigate the challenges that divorcees face regarding pastoral care and counselling in the RCSA in the Vhembe District, Limpopo, South Africa in order to develop an approach to pastoral care and counselling to support divorcees so that they may learn to cope with their challenges. Caring and counselling for the divorcees is the primary mission of the church. The study utilised a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, and contextual design to obtain data from the participants within the RCSA in the Vhembe District. A sample of 30 participants (divorcees) from the RCSA in the Vhembe District was used. Data were collected on an individual basis by means of unstructured interviews. The qualitative data were collected and analysed using the six steps of open coding proposed by Tesch in an effort to understand personal experiences of divorcees. The research used Graham Redding’s approach to establish trustworthiness. The study adhered to four criteria to assess the value of the findings of qualitative research, namely credibility, applicability, consistency, and conformability. The ethical considerations were taken into account. The findings of this study show that divorcees experience many challenges, and that Reformed pastors are not equipped and not doing enough to address those challenges. This research helps to enhance the quality of pastoral care and counselling to the divorcees within the RCSA in the Vhembe District. The findings and recommendations of the study are useful in guiding all Reformed pastors in providing pastoral care and counselling to divorcees.

MEd (Educational Management) / Department of Educational Management / This longitudinal research study investigated the attendance and academic performance of teen mothers enrolled at two schools in the Luvuvhu Circuit, Vhembe District, of the Limpopo Province over a period of two years, 2014 and 2015. Apart from this, it also sought out to examine factors in the school and home that influenced the schooling of teen mother learners (TMLs) and the available support that were provided to teen mothers with the aim of improving their poor performance in schools. The study used a qualitative approach and data were collected by means of school documents such as mark schedules and attendance registers and focus group interviews from a total of 40 participants from the two sampled schools. Purposive sampling was used to select 10 teen mother learners, 10 teachers and 20 other learners who were in the same school with the teen mother learners. Tables were used to present data on teen mother learners’ school performance and attendance in 2014 and 2015 in order to find out how their performance changed before, during and after pregnancy. Data from interviews was analysed using the thematic approach according to four themes. The main findings from the study were that both schools had over 20 teen mother learners, teen mother learners performance was good to fair in Tshivenda but poor in English and extremely poor in Mathematics and Science and most of them did not have marks in the last two subjects. Every month, teen mothers did not come to school for some days due to home problems such as baby being ill, taking baby to clinic for immunisation, collecting grant money and household duties. The general picture that actually emerged relationship-wise, within the school between teachers and non-mother or ordinary learners could generally be referred to as differing depending mostly on the pregnancy stages. This study revealed that teen mothers had some causes for being absent from school and for not being able to perform well at school. The factors were found both in the home and the school, such as illness during pregnancy, baby sitting and taking baby to clinic for immunisation, home duties, having to collect monthly government child grants, being ridiculed by other learners at school. With respect to support given to teen mothers by the school and the family or in the home, most teen mothers and teachers indicated in the interviews that not much was given to them. Based on little support for teen mother learners from the school and the home, the study recommended that there should be nurses and counsellors or social workers at schools, extra lessons to be organised by principals, religious leaders to be invited to pray for them and rules to be formulated by the school so that they are not ridiculed by other learners and teachers

MPH / Department of Public Health / Cerebral palsy (CP) is the common cause of physical disability in children. The nature and severity of impairments vary, but the demands placed upon mothers are significant. It is one of the prolonged conditions which have become a serious health problem worldwide. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the challenges of mothers caring for cerebral palsy children at Thulamela Municipality, in the Vhembe District, South Africa. The objectives of this study were as follows: (1). To explore the challenges by mothers of cerebral palsy children in relation to physical, psychological and social care, (2) To explore their challenges in relation to available resources for proper referral of mothers caring for cerebral palsy children. The study used a qualitative approach using explorative and descriptive design in exploring the challenges of mothers caring for children with cerebral palsy. The study population comprised mothers of children with Cerebral Palsy living in the Vhembe District who attends the rehabilitation therapy services at Tshilidzini Hospital. A non-probability, purposive sampling technique was used to select the mothers. Five focus groups, each consisting of eight mothers were composed. Semi-structured group guide consisting of open-ended questions were used. Data was transcribed, verbatim and coded into themes and subthemes using context thematic analysis method. Themes that emerged include: a theoretical framework for the study, effects of caring on the family’s socio-economic life, challenges experienced by mothers caring for cerebral palsy children, challenges in relation to education and training and challenges experienced by mothers caring for cerebral palsy. The findings of the study might benefit the society about the challenges experienced by mothers when caring for their disabled children. The study might help government to develop and implement policies which will empower parents and the community as a whole / NRF