Thesis (DPhil (Psychology))—University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / Statistics show that young, heterosexual, low-income women are the fastest growing HIVinfected population in South Africa and in the rest of the world. Despite the rapidly growing numbers of women with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), there is a scarcity of research that focuses primarily on how poor minority and disadvantaged women of colour experience being HIV-positive, how these women actually live and cope with their diagnosis. Furthermore, no research studies on minority groups, such as the Coloured women in the Western Cape, exploring these issues have been reported. Consequently, there is an urgent need for research studies in South Africa to explore the range of discourses revealed by low-income and minority women regarding their lives and experiences of HIV/AIDS, in order to generate understanding and knowledge which could contribute to possible interventions, support and care. The present study aimed to: 1) explore the psychosocial concerns and mental health needs of HIV-infected low-income Coloured mothers in everyday life; 2) construct a testable Grounded Theory regarding the illness experience of low-income Coloured mothers; and 3) recommend guidelines for health workers. The study was a systematic analysis and documentation of how the illness (HIV/AIDS) was constructed in narratives of one particular group of women in South Africa. Eleven suitable and willing HIV-infected Coloured mothers were recruited by means of convenience and theoretical sampling. The research study was conducted within a socialconstructionist framework where the focus was on how HIV-infected, low-income Coloured women make sense of their world and illness experience. Grounded Theory was applied within the framework of qualitative research to analyse the data and to explore the participants’ constructions of the illness. As qualitative measure, a semi-structured in-depth interview schedule was developed according to Grounded Theory protocol. To reach the aims of the present study, questions focused on specific behaviours, experiences, thoughts and feelings that related to living with a positive HIV-diagnosis. In the participants’ accounts of their illness experience, two dominant discourses were identified: a discourse of HIV/AIDS, within which the illness was constructed as an stigmatised, incurable and deadly illness; as a shameful illness that someone should be blamed for; and as being associated with secrecy, silence, separation, pain and suffering, loss, and loneliness, as well as a discourse of mothering, what it means to be a “good” woman/mother; constructed as someone that should primarily take care of her children and family, and not be separated from them, or neglect or abandon them through illness or death. It is suggested that the two dominant discourses found in the participants’ accounts of their illness experiences, namely the meaning of HIV/AIDS as an illness (a stigmatised, incurable, and deadly illness, a shameful and blameworthy illness, an illness of secrecy, silence, separation, pain and suffering, loss, and loneliness), and the imperatives of mothering, what it means to be a “good” woman/mother (the primary caregiver of children, someone who is connected, physically strong, healthy and productive, and someone who is able to cope with her caregiving responsibilities even when in distress herself) are irreconcilable. It seems that these distressing and disempowering experiences of being HIV-infected, while also being a primary caregiver and mother of children, caused the participants in the present study severe psychological distress and suffering. Given these discourses and the context of the participants’ lives within their specific socio-economic circumstances, namely their lack of emotional and social support from friends and family, abusive relationships, substance abuse, economic hardships, absence of treatment options, as well as their experience of an incapacitating, incurable, stigmatised illness causing them severe physical and psychological distress, it was argued that the majority of the participants in the present study were in some state of depression and were in need of psychosocial support and mental healthcare.

Thesis (MPhil (Sociology and Social Anthropology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study gives us insight into the daily lives and battles for survival of poor women in an age of HIV/AIDS in rural areas of the Western Cape, South Africa. I set out to get an understanding of the shortcomings of the current interventions aimed at combating HIV and AIDS. Soon after I commenced my fieldwork I realised that it is the socio-economic circumstances of the people I encountered that was mostly responsible for their HIV positive status or the reason why they are living with HIV/AIDS rather than the choices they make. However, most of the interventions aimed at combating the global HIV/AIDS epidemic focuses on behavioural interventions or the provision of medical care. By entering the spheres in which women living with HIV/AIDS live their daily lives I aimed to get a better comprehension of the challenges they encounter and why the interventions that focus on behaviour and medical treatment fail to address the needs of these women. In doing so I learned about their struggles to merely stay alive and that protecting yourself against a disease like HIV/AIDS can appear as a luxury. A luxury you cannot afford when your only means of an income is your body which you need to barter in exchange for money or food and shelter. I learned about their powerlessness in protecting themselves against the disease and the loneliness they have to endure once they learn they are infected with the virus. In addition to this, it also came to my attention that their conditions of poverty are of such an extent that even ‘free’ medical treatment can sometimes be too expensive for them to afford because of hidden costs such as transport. At the end of my study it was my conclusion that we need to pay more attention to the root causes of the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in order to combat it successfully, also at the entry levels of the healthcare system. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die studie bied insig in die daaglikese lewens en stryd om oorlewing van arm vroue in ‘n tyd van MIV/VIGS in die landelike gebiede van die Wes-Kaap, Suid-Afrika. Ek het die studie begin met ‘n poging om die tekortkominge van die huidige intervensies om MIV/VIGS te bekamp beter te verstaan. Kort nadat ek met my veldwerk begin het het ek reeds tot die besef gekom dat die die sosio-ekonomiese omstandigehede die oorsaak is dat die vroue met die virus leef, eerder as die keuses wat hulle vrywilliglik maak. Ten spyte van my bevinding fokus meeste intervensies tans op gedragsveranderinge en mediese behandeling. Ek het die lewensruimtes van hierdie vroue binnegegaan in ‘n poging om die daaglikse uitdagings te verstaan, asook die redes hoekom die huidige intervensies nie hierdie vroue se behoeftes aanspreek nie. Deur dit te doen het ek geleer hoe dit as ‘n luuksheid beskou kan word om jouself teen infeksie met die virus te beskerm. ‘n Luuksheid wat jy nie kan bekostig indien jou lyf jou enigste bron van inkomste is wat jy moet gebruik om geld mee in te win of kos en woonplek te verseker nie. Vroue is dikwels magteloos om hulself teen infeksie met MIV/VIGS te beskerm en die eensaamheid waarmee hul moet saamleef wanneer hul wel met die virus ge-infekteer is. Dit het ook onder my aandag gekom dat die armoede van so ‘n aard is dat selfs ‘gratis’ mediese behandeling soms onbekostigbaar is as gevolg van versteekte kostes, soos vervoer. Aan die einde van my studie was dit my gevolgtrekking dat daar meer aandag geskenk moet word aan die oorsake wat aanleiding gee tot die verspreiding van die MIV/VIGS epidemie indien ons dit suksesvol wil bekamp, ook op die intreevlakke van die gesondheidstelsel.

The purpose of the current study was to examine Dutton's (1992) model of moderating and mediating variables which may impact the relationship of violence from an intimate partner with the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. This model was tested within three ethnic groups (African American, n = 303, Euro-American, n = 271, and Mexican American, n = 260), of low income, community women in serious, long-term relationships. The importance of the differences and similarities observed are discussed within a framework of the PTSD as well as domestic violence literature.

[Truncated abstract] As a developing country, Indonesia has been struggling with complex and contentious development issues since Independence in 1945. Despite remarkable economic achievement during the New Order period (1966-1998), poverty has persisted and the benefits of development have been unequally distributed. Social welfare — the system of social security to protect the well-being of the weaker members of society has received little attention in Indonesia, both from the state and from the scholarly community. The historical neglect of social welfare in Indonesia has begun to be addressed recently, with the Social Safety Net (SSN) initiative. SSN is a social welfare program that was launched by the government of Indonesia to mitigate the deleterious impacts of the economic crisis that hit the nation in 1997. This thesis aims to assess how the SSN accommodated the needs and aspirations of poor women, particularly those who live in rural areas. The rural poor deserve attention because poverty in rural areas is widespread and often intractable, and because poverty in rural areas tends to be more invisible than in urban areas. The urban poor are more visible, because they are “in the face” of the powerful every day, and they are more likely to be able to access agencies of power than the rural poor.

Thesis / The objective of this study is to assess the nature of women’s empowerment promoted by the Sudanese Women General Union (SWGU) in Sudan as a strategy for simultaneously addressing both poverty alleviation and women's empowerment using microcredit as a tool in the fight against poverty and women's empowerment at the household level during the period 1999-2005. The SWGU directed its development efforts towards promoting the women's cause officially and unofficially through the whole spectrum of governmental institutions and non-governmental organizations. Therefore, the government support these initiatives of women development processes and assisted in establishing the SWGU in 1990 as a strategic planning and coordination mechanism for poverty alleviation through the lead of the Ministry of Welfare and Social Development and with the cooperation from other ministries, government and non-government organisations at national, state and grassroots levels. The problem of the research reveals that majority of women in Sudan live with low or no income; economically they are dependent on their husbands' income; burdened with their household activities and responsibilities to feed; educate and take care of many children, encounter a core problem which is lack of access to credit and financial services to economically, socially and politically empower themselves and improve their status. The study reviewed the relevant literature, the context of women's poverty in Sudan, Sudan poverty strategies and policies, SWGU's role in strategic planning, coordination and implementation of the microcredit programmes. The achievements of the study on the socioeconomic empowerment of women at the household levels, the constraints and the recommendations were summarised. The researcher carried out this study during the period 2005-2009, to add to the body of the empirical literature of women studies in particular to the SWGU's microcredit projects best ii practices and lessons learned. In addition the study could help in conducting further womenstudies in Sudan and other developing counties. / Development Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (Development Studies)

Esta pesquisa se ocupou em analisar as condições de saúde das mulheres pobres de Porto Alegre, mais detidamente das internadas na Santa Casa de Misericórdia nas duas últimas décadas do século XIX, buscando examinar e compreender a relação estabelecida entre as mulheres pobres enfermas e suas doenças, com o saber médico e as ações médicas produzidas naquele hospital. Como consequência desse direcionamento de olhar para a medicina mais voltada às mulheres, a pesquisa também se deteve na área médica que distinguia a medicina feminina da masculina naquele dado período: a incipiente medicina da mulher, que se desenvolvia por meio das especialidades denominadas como obstetrícia e ginecologia. Desse modo, em decorrência, explorou a construção da medicina da mulher, ocupando-se sobre os primeiros desenvolvimentos da obstetrícia e da ginecologia na Santa Casa de Porto Alegre. A partir de tal exame, também foi verificado se o desenvolvimento destas especialidades representou melhorias para a saúde das mulheres lá internadas e/ou avanços na forma como os médicos se preocupavam com o tratamento das mulheres naquele local, de um modo geral. A perspectiva teórica seguida vincula-se aos estudos da História Social, utilizando-se principalmente das categorias analíticas gênero e classe social. A argumentação principal da pesquisa foi buscada por meio de dados demográficos quantitativos. Entretanto, por meio de exame sobre vasto material de pesquisa, procurou-se qualificar não somente os números apresentados, mas também a análise e a argumentação sobre os mesmos. Do ponto de vista metodológico, seguiu diversos preceitos advindos dos estudos demográficos, em grande parte, vinculados à História Social, principalmente, ao examinar os dados de morbidade e mortalidade das mulheres analisadas. Como resultado da análise realizada, verificou-se que no início da década de 1880 poucas mulheres da população porto-alegrense procuravam a Santa Casa para tratamento e, quando o faziam, mormente se encontravam em grave estado de saúde, o que resultava em um alto índice de mortalidade de mulheres naquele hospital. Também se observou que raríssimas eram as mulheres que buscavam a Santa Casa para a realização do parto ou tratamento de moléstias ligadas à obstetrícia e à ginecologia, naquela década. No entanto, ao observar as causas de internação das mulheres em relação às ações médicas voltadas para a medicina da mulher dentro do hospital da Santa Casa até o final do século XIX, percebeu-se que aquela situação se modificava aos poucos, com o aumento do número de mulheres procurando o hospital para tratamento de diversas moléstias e realização do parto. Em um último plano, a partir da verificação sobre os dados de internação, concluiuse que as ações médicas implantadas na Santa Casa, impulsionadas em grande parte pelo maior aprofundamento em torno da obstetrícia e da ginecologia, resultaram no incremento de internações de mulheres e no decréscimo significativo da mortalidade feminina, naquele hospital, no final do século XIX. / This research analyses the conditions of the poor women’s health of Porto Alegre, more specifically the patients in the Santa Casa de Misericórdia Hospital in the last years of the century XIX, it taking to exam and to understand the relationship between the poor sickness women and his illness, with the medical knowledge and their actions in this Hospital. As a consequence of this direction to look for medicine more directed to women, these research also stopped in the medical field that distinguish female from male medicine in that specific period: the incipient women's medicine, which developed through the specific denominated as obstetrics and gynecology. In this way it was explored the construction of the medicine women, occupied themselves about the first developments of obstetrics and gynecologic at the Santa Casa Hospital from Porto Alegre. From this examination, it was also found that the development of these specialties represented improvements to the health of women hospitalized and advances in how doctors were concerned about the treatment of women in that place. The followed theoretical perspective connected to the studies of the Social History, using mainly the analytics categories in gender and social class. The main argumentation of the research was catch trough quantitative demographic bases. However, through the exams about a huge search material looks to qualify not just for the presented numbers, but also the analysis and argumentation about the topics. The methodological point of view, followed by several arising precepts of demographic studies, in the main of the Social History linked, mainly, examined the morbidity and mortality bases of the women analyzed. As the result of the analysis, confirmed that in the beginning of the decade of 1880 few women of the Porto Alegre population looked for the treatment at the Santa Casa Hospital, and when they did this, they usually were in serious healthy troubles that result in a high level of women’s mortality in those hospital. It also was observed that rarely women look for help in Santa Casa Hospital to realize their child-birth or illness treatment connected to the obstetrics and gynecologic methods. However, when it was observed the causes of the women hospitalization in relation to the medical actions that were directed to the women medicine inside the Santa Casa Hospital till the final of the century XIX, it was noticed that this situation modified slowly with the number of women who looking for the Hospital for treatment to several disease and to the child-birth realization. At least, from the verification about the bases of the hospitalization, it was concluded that the medical actions done at the Santa Casa Hospital were driven in the major part by the improvement about the obstetric and gynecologic methods, that resulted in an increasing of the women hospitalization and in the significant decreasing of the female mortality, in those hospital, at the final of the century XIX.

Esta pesquisa se ocupou em analisar as condições de saúde das mulheres pobres de Porto Alegre, mais detidamente das internadas na Santa Casa de Misericórdia nas duas últimas décadas do século XIX, buscando examinar e compreender a relação estabelecida entre as mulheres pobres enfermas e suas doenças, com o saber médico e as ações médicas produzidas naquele hospital. Como consequência desse direcionamento de olhar para a medicina mais voltada às mulheres, a pesquisa também se deteve na área médica que distinguia a medicina feminina da masculina naquele dado período: a incipiente medicina da mulher, que se desenvolvia por meio das especialidades denominadas como obstetrícia e ginecologia. Desse modo, em decorrência, explorou a construção da medicina da mulher, ocupando-se sobre os primeiros desenvolvimentos da obstetrícia e da ginecologia na Santa Casa de Porto Alegre. A partir de tal exame, também foi verificado se o desenvolvimento destas especialidades representou melhorias para a saúde das mulheres lá internadas e/ou avanços na forma como os médicos se preocupavam com o tratamento das mulheres naquele local, de um modo geral. A perspectiva teórica seguida vincula-se aos estudos da História Social, utilizando-se principalmente das categorias analíticas gênero e classe social. A argumentação principal da pesquisa foi buscada por meio de dados demográficos quantitativos. Entretanto, por meio de exame sobre vasto material de pesquisa, procurou-se qualificar não somente os números apresentados, mas também a análise e a argumentação sobre os mesmos. Do ponto de vista metodológico, seguiu diversos preceitos advindos dos estudos demográficos, em grande parte, vinculados à História Social, principalmente, ao examinar os dados de morbidade e mortalidade das mulheres analisadas. Como resultado da análise realizada, verificou-se que no início da década de 1880 poucas mulheres da população porto-alegrense procuravam a Santa Casa para tratamento e, quando o faziam, mormente se encontravam em grave estado de saúde, o que resultava em um alto índice de mortalidade de mulheres naquele hospital. Também se observou que raríssimas eram as mulheres que buscavam a Santa Casa para a realização do parto ou tratamento de moléstias ligadas à obstetrícia e à ginecologia, naquela década. No entanto, ao observar as causas de internação das mulheres em relação às ações médicas voltadas para a medicina da mulher dentro do hospital da Santa Casa até o final do século XIX, percebeu-se que aquela situação se modificava aos poucos, com o aumento do número de mulheres procurando o hospital para tratamento de diversas moléstias e realização do parto. Em um último plano, a partir da verificação sobre os dados de internação, concluiuse que as ações médicas implantadas na Santa Casa, impulsionadas em grande parte pelo maior aprofundamento em torno da obstetrícia e da ginecologia, resultaram no incremento de internações de mulheres e no decréscimo significativo da mortalidade feminina, naquele hospital, no final do século XIX. / This research analyses the conditions of the poor women’s health of Porto Alegre, more specifically the patients in the Santa Casa de Misericórdia Hospital in the last years of the century XIX, it taking to exam and to understand the relationship between the poor sickness women and his illness, with the medical knowledge and their actions in this Hospital. As a consequence of this direction to look for medicine more directed to women, these research also stopped in the medical field that distinguish female from male medicine in that specific period: the incipient women's medicine, which developed through the specific denominated as obstetrics and gynecology. In this way it was explored the construction of the medicine women, occupied themselves about the first developments of obstetrics and gynecologic at the Santa Casa Hospital from Porto Alegre. From this examination, it was also found that the development of these specialties represented improvements to the health of women hospitalized and advances in how doctors were concerned about the treatment of women in that place. The followed theoretical perspective connected to the studies of the Social History, using mainly the analytics categories in gender and social class. The main argumentation of the research was catch trough quantitative demographic bases. However, through the exams about a huge search material looks to qualify not just for the presented numbers, but also the analysis and argumentation about the topics. The methodological point of view, followed by several arising precepts of demographic studies, in the main of the Social History linked, mainly, examined the morbidity and mortality bases of the women analyzed. As the result of the analysis, confirmed that in the beginning of the decade of 1880 few women of the Porto Alegre population looked for the treatment at the Santa Casa Hospital, and when they did this, they usually were in serious healthy troubles that result in a high level of women’s mortality in those hospital. It also was observed that rarely women look for help in Santa Casa Hospital to realize their child-birth or illness treatment connected to the obstetrics and gynecologic methods. However, when it was observed the causes of the women hospitalization in relation to the medical actions that were directed to the women medicine inside the Santa Casa Hospital till the final of the century XIX, it was noticed that this situation modified slowly with the number of women who looking for the Hospital for treatment to several disease and to the child-birth realization. At least, from the verification about the bases of the hospitalization, it was concluded that the medical actions done at the Santa Casa Hospital were driven in the major part by the improvement about the obstetric and gynecologic methods, that resulted in an increasing of the women hospitalization and in the significant decreasing of the female mortality, in those hospital, at the final of the century XIX.

Esta pesquisa se ocupou em analisar as condições de saúde das mulheres pobres de Porto Alegre, mais detidamente das internadas na Santa Casa de Misericórdia nas duas últimas décadas do século XIX, buscando examinar e compreender a relação estabelecida entre as mulheres pobres enfermas e suas doenças, com o saber médico e as ações médicas produzidas naquele hospital. Como consequência desse direcionamento de olhar para a medicina mais voltada às mulheres, a pesquisa também se deteve na área médica que distinguia a medicina feminina da masculina naquele dado período: a incipiente medicina da mulher, que se desenvolvia por meio das especialidades denominadas como obstetrícia e ginecologia. Desse modo, em decorrência, explorou a construção da medicina da mulher, ocupando-se sobre os primeiros desenvolvimentos da obstetrícia e da ginecologia na Santa Casa de Porto Alegre. A partir de tal exame, também foi verificado se o desenvolvimento destas especialidades representou melhorias para a saúde das mulheres lá internadas e/ou avanços na forma como os médicos se preocupavam com o tratamento das mulheres naquele local, de um modo geral. A perspectiva teórica seguida vincula-se aos estudos da História Social, utilizando-se principalmente das categorias analíticas gênero e classe social. A argumentação principal da pesquisa foi buscada por meio de dados demográficos quantitativos. Entretanto, por meio de exame sobre vasto material de pesquisa, procurou-se qualificar não somente os números apresentados, mas também a análise e a argumentação sobre os mesmos. Do ponto de vista metodológico, seguiu diversos preceitos advindos dos estudos demográficos, em grande parte, vinculados à História Social, principalmente, ao examinar os dados de morbidade e mortalidade das mulheres analisadas. Como resultado da análise realizada, verificou-se que no início da década de 1880 poucas mulheres da população porto-alegrense procuravam a Santa Casa para tratamento e, quando o faziam, mormente se encontravam em grave estado de saúde, o que resultava em um alto índice de mortalidade de mulheres naquele hospital. Também se observou que raríssimas eram as mulheres que buscavam a Santa Casa para a realização do parto ou tratamento de moléstias ligadas à obstetrícia e à ginecologia, naquela década. No entanto, ao observar as causas de internação das mulheres em relação às ações médicas voltadas para a medicina da mulher dentro do hospital da Santa Casa até o final do século XIX, percebeu-se que aquela situação se modificava aos poucos, com o aumento do número de mulheres procurando o hospital para tratamento de diversas moléstias e realização do parto. Em um último plano, a partir da verificação sobre os dados de internação, concluiuse que as ações médicas implantadas na Santa Casa, impulsionadas em grande parte pelo maior aprofundamento em torno da obstetrícia e da ginecologia, resultaram no incremento de internações de mulheres e no decréscimo significativo da mortalidade feminina, naquele hospital, no final do século XIX. / This research analyses the conditions of the poor women’s health of Porto Alegre, more specifically the patients in the Santa Casa de Misericórdia Hospital in the last years of the century XIX, it taking to exam and to understand the relationship between the poor sickness women and his illness, with the medical knowledge and their actions in this Hospital. As a consequence of this direction to look for medicine more directed to women, these research also stopped in the medical field that distinguish female from male medicine in that specific period: the incipient women's medicine, which developed through the specific denominated as obstetrics and gynecology. In this way it was explored the construction of the medicine women, occupied themselves about the first developments of obstetrics and gynecologic at the Santa Casa Hospital from Porto Alegre. From this examination, it was also found that the development of these specialties represented improvements to the health of women hospitalized and advances in how doctors were concerned about the treatment of women in that place. The followed theoretical perspective connected to the studies of the Social History, using mainly the analytics categories in gender and social class. The main argumentation of the research was catch trough quantitative demographic bases. However, through the exams about a huge search material looks to qualify not just for the presented numbers, but also the analysis and argumentation about the topics. The methodological point of view, followed by several arising precepts of demographic studies, in the main of the Social History linked, mainly, examined the morbidity and mortality bases of the women analyzed. As the result of the analysis, confirmed that in the beginning of the decade of 1880 few women of the Porto Alegre population looked for the treatment at the Santa Casa Hospital, and when they did this, they usually were in serious healthy troubles that result in a high level of women’s mortality in those hospital. It also was observed that rarely women look for help in Santa Casa Hospital to realize their child-birth or illness treatment connected to the obstetrics and gynecologic methods. However, when it was observed the causes of the women hospitalization in relation to the medical actions that were directed to the women medicine inside the Santa Casa Hospital till the final of the century XIX, it was noticed that this situation modified slowly with the number of women who looking for the Hospital for treatment to several disease and to the child-birth realization. At least, from the verification about the bases of the hospitalization, it was concluded that the medical actions done at the Santa Casa Hospital were driven in the major part by the improvement about the obstetric and gynecologic methods, that resulted in an increasing of the women hospitalization and in the significant decreasing of the female mortality, in those hospital, at the final of the century XIX.

M.A. / In the former Republic of Venda, many people lost their jobs when industries that had mushroomed during the 1980's pulled out of the area. This happened just prior to the collapse of the Bantustan government. The most affected were women who, because of lack of education, could not get employment within and outside of the province. As a way of alleviating poverty, people resorted to selfemployment and community development projects. Different community development projects were started throughout Venda. Some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) helped women who were unemployed by giving them training and help them to start projects such as sewing, knitting, chicken farming, creches and small-scale gardening. The training of people in different skills was done as a way of helping to equip communities so that they may start projects that they could manage, and that could become selfsustainable. The new South African government, through its Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), also assisted the poverty-stricken rural areas to start generating projects that would generate jobs for the people. These programmes involved the communities, the NGOs and the government through the RDP. Short and long term projects that were considered suitable by the members and community developers in the different areas were started. In order to maintain the smooth running and the co-ordination of all their projects, many communities instituted Community Development Committees (CDC). The CDC was an umbrella body within a community whose members had been elected by the community itself. The main task of the CDC was to help the different `Community Development Project' (CDP) committees responsible for the different projects within the community to obtain funds from different sources. They also helped to organise training for interested project members. In most cases, they worked hand in hand with the civic association committees and the traditional leaders, as well as the community members themselves. In this study, I have compared the activities of the community gardening projects within two rural communities. These two gardening projects are at Mangondi and Tshisahulu rural areas in Venda within the Northern Province. In their attempts to fight unemployment and poverty, these two communities (like many other communities within the Province and Venda in particular) embarked on the establishment of several community development projects, gardening being one of them. Most of the gardeners in these two projects are women. These women vary in age, education and family situations. The aim of this study was to establish the problems facing rural women in their attempts to free themselves from the grip of poverty and unemployment that continues to render them marginalised. The provision of government policy on the problem of women's rights on land ownership was also examined. The method of research used in the collection of data during field work was the interview method. This method was most preferred because it allowed me an opportunity to ask questions directly to these gardeners most of whom cannot read or write. A literature study was done on the role and activities of women in small gardening projects and the development process. It is my wish that this work be of assistance to the development workers and the policy-makers as well as the RDP officers of the Northern Province under which this area falls.

PhDRDV / Institute for Rural Development / See the attached abstract below