The project aims to establish a premier institution of primary education in Pakistan with the primary focus of reintegrating orphans into society. Currently, approximately 20 million children are out of schools in Pakistan and 4 million of those are orphans. Basera, an Urdu term for Haven will be an institution of international standards comprised of all North American teachers. The institution is envisioned to be self sufficient with no need of charity donations by operating at a 60-40 division of general public to resident orphan pupils. The campus boasts state of the art teaching facilities as well as a full fledge sports complex and an indoor swimming pool. Faculty and 40% of the student population lives on campus with a beautiful flower farm and a rainwater harvested lake. The architecture is very contemporary in its design, however the primary building material is rammed earth grounding the entire scheme into its vernacular setting. Basera also enriches the lives of the immediate community surrounding the campus by providing a cricket stadium and community center for public use. / Master of Architecture

In my BA project, I travelled to Tanzania with a MFS stipend and experienced humanitarian architecture up close - by following architectural group Asant Collective´s project in Tanzania: a new Children Centre for a small non-governmental organization called ECONEF.  I have worked with social questions / responsibilities regarding our role as interior architects in developing countries - often feeling like a anthropologist. In my design part, I have re-drawed the layout for ECONEF´s planned new orphanage after a analyse of the existing orphanage, culture and traditions. / Due to upload conditions, the report have inadequate resolution - Please visit elseabrahamsen.com to view my work and follow the blog about humanitarian architecture.

Having grown up abroad, the topic of architectural mediation has often made me pause. The world abounds with differences, and with today's globalization, many of us are being faced with cultural, social, and a multitude of physical differences/conditions. This thesis seeks to explore the role of architecture as a mediator and seeks designs that transition successfully between differing entities. The project is an orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya. The program is comprised of young orphans and the project explores how the structure that they occupy can effectively accommodate their specific needs. Challenges which need to be mediated include consideration of two scales, one for the child under the age of 6, and the other for the caretaker who has adult proportions. The building also will need to reconcile cultural stigmatization and attitudes towards orphans while also providing a safe environment. And lastly, the specific social needs of the orphan need to be tended to. The design and experience within the spaces will need to convey feelings of security, affections, and hope. / Master of Architecture

Published Article / This paper explores comparatively the voices of the orphaned adolescents living in an orphanage and foster homes. Currently the emphasis is on children's rights; it is believed that children have rights to have their opinions heard, to refuse a demand, to voice their dissatisfaction and, in the case of orphans, to question the reasons for their status. This study is qualitative in nature and utilises the discourse analysis approach (analogue and dialogical method). A sample of ten orphaned adolescents (OAs) was randomly selected in an informal settlement in Inanda. Semi-structured interviews and diaries were used to collect data. Critical consciousness is explored in addressing silences using the adolescents' lenses as a platform for meaning-making. Through in-depth interpretation of their problems, self-awareness of the OAs was also attained, which is best for a person to develop and thrive (or not) despite challenges.

<p>To collect data for this report a field study was performed at an orphanage in Cape Town, South Africa. I carried out volunteer work for eight weeks to find out more about the children’s situations. I wanted to find out what it was like to work at an orphanage for children in need and what the employees were doing to help. The children’s ages ranged from five to eighteen years old and they all lived together, although boys and girls slept in different rooms. </p><p>Before I went to South Africa, I thought that an orphanage was a place for children without parents, who had been abandoned when they where infants. Some of the children at the orphanage come from situations like this, but many of them have family who they need help and protection from. Their own parents cannot take care of them because of different social problems such as sexual abuse, drug abuse or poverty. </p><p>During the field study qualitative research was performed, where the people that I worked with and the children in the orphanage were participating. Observation was also included in my field work. The result of the field study was very interesting. The most important findings from my results were that all of the people I spoke to said that they would like to see some changes at the orphanage. They came up with plenty of different ideas to make the environment better. I interviewed five employees at the orphanage and all of them said that they would like to extend the amount of employees, have better communication among themselves, therapy sessions - and more weekend activities for the children. During this period of the field study I interviewed a lot of children of different ages, but out of the interviews six where used in this report.</p>

To collect data for this report a field study was performed at an orphanage in Cape Town, South Africa. I carried out volunteer work for eight weeks to find out more about the children’s situations. I wanted to find out what it was like to work at an orphanage for children in need and what the employees were doing to help. The children’s ages ranged from five to eighteen years old and they all lived together, although boys and girls slept in different rooms. Before I went to South Africa, I thought that an orphanage was a place for children without parents, who had been abandoned when they where infants. Some of the children at the orphanage come from situations like this, but many of them have family who they need help and protection from. Their own parents cannot take care of them because of different social problems such as sexual abuse, drug abuse or poverty. During the field study qualitative research was performed, where the people that I worked with and the children in the orphanage were participating. Observation was also included in my field work. The result of the field study was very interesting. The most important findings from my results were that all of the people I spoke to said that they would like to see some changes at the orphanage. They came up with plenty of different ideas to make the environment better. I interviewed five employees at the orphanage and all of them said that they would like to extend the amount of employees, have better communication among themselves, therapy sessions - and more weekend activities for the children. During this period of the field study I interviewed a lot of children of different ages, but out of the interviews six where used in this report.

When Frank Prochaska first published his studies on philanthropy, he provided the most in-depth scholarship to date. But this research is now over 20 years old and is ready for review. It is also a purely historical analysis, with little archaeological content. This research seeks to enhance Prochaska's findings, using the archaeological record to evaluate, augment and further develop his findings. A complex web of personal and societal motivations interweave through individual philanthropic activity. Most research to date ignores this interconnectedness, or relegates it to subordinate status, producing a simplistic model. This research seeks to explore the relationship between personal impulse and societal pressure, investigating the affiliation between the two in diverse case studies, both UK and international. This is accomplished through archaeological methodology, and the exploration of material culture. The model proposed in this research provides a recognition of the complexity of personal and communal action. It draws heavily on a theoretical perspective that includes Bourdieu and Giddens. It places these theoretical perspectives within a practical and appropriate framework, to provide a robust analysis of change through philanthropic action. As such it complements much of the research of Prochaska, whilst providing a modern interpretation.

No description available.

To detect possible adjustment problems and in attempting to identify the areas of maladjustment from which a child may be suffering, the writer administered the California Test of Personality; a test of personality measurement and observation taken from a subjective frame of reference.

The history of the Daisyfield Orphanage which was continued in the Bothashof Church School and is presently the Eaglesvale School, is described. This mainly covers the period between 1911 and 1991. This development is viewed as a religious phenomenon. The focus is on the major aspects of the religious factors which influenced this history, namely evangelization, education and language. It is shown how these aspects blended and eventually led to the founding and maintenance of the above mentioned institution, the only orphanage and church school under the auspices of the Dutch Reformed Church in Zimbabwe during the twentieth century. It is indicated that the Dutch Reformed piety which led to the founding of the institution was closely related to the Afrikaner worldview concerning education. This worldview developed, in adaption to the changing Zimbabwean society, into a religiosity which became relevant in its new multi-denominational and multi-racial context. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Church History)