This project involves the visual exploration of different social, cultural and spiritual experiences in both the Third World and the West, as a metaphor for the human condition. It draws upon the experiences of people living in various situations of poverty and hardship in both Western and Thirld World communities. Through this research program I have created a series of visual works, which explore and questions many of the different social, cultural and spiritual characteristics of groups of people experiencing situations of extreme poverty, neglect and hardship within both Western and Thrid World societies. The main research for this roject has involved creating crucial links between my art practice and my ongoing involvement in humanitarian/aid programs in Andhra Pradesh, India, working with people in impoverished Third World conditions, and social welfare work in the Northern Suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. By drawing on these two specific areas, this resear ch project explores the theme of poverty as a valid subject for the visual artist in establishing a broader metaphor for the human condition in the 21st century. This has involved testing new insights in this area in relation to contemporary fine art, the relationship between poverty and contemporary visual art and the investigation of the artist as a documenter of real life experiences in situations both inside and outside of the typical Western experience of living.

Education decentralization is sweeping many developing countries, creating massive regional disparities in education access and quality. Fiji provides education through the Community Based Approach, and although it is never referred to as being decentralized, it has all the same disparities occurring. A case study was conducted in the Yasawa Islands, Fiji, to evaluate the impact on surrounding communities of a newly opened (and privately funded) Secondary school. / Thesis (Master, Geography) -- Queen's University, 2007-09-14 15:02:00.304

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This is a case study of peasant farming in Maridi District, Western Equatoria Province, Southern Sudan. The object is to explore the impact and inter-relationship of economic, environmental and ecological factors on the changes that have occurred in 'traditional' farming in the study area. Special attention is paid to internal as well as external forces leading to changes, and peasant farmers' own understanding of the change processes, as well as the externally-induced explanations of change. It is hypothesised that agricultural development in Third World countries cannot be fully appraised without an understanding of the farming knowledge and attitudes of farmers whom it is supposed to benefit. Some basic concepts are reviewed and the hypotheses and methods of data collection and problems encountered are presented, A background survey of the nature of the physical and human environments in which farmers base their decisions is provided. The spatial organisation and nature of 'traditional' agricultural changes and their importance to households' sustenance is noted. Farmers' environmental and agricultural knowledge, and some of the hazards and pressures of agricultural change from the farmers' viewpoint, and how they interpret and respond to these constraints are outlined. The socio-economic characteristics of farmers and the current farming activities and the nature of change taking place, including farmers' involvement in a cash economy, are examined. Emphasis is laid on the adaptive rationality/of existing modes of production and the importance of the web of social and economic networks surrounding the individual farmer and influencing his activities. Changes in the pattern of 'traditional' agriculture in an historical and regional perspective are elucidated. A discussion of the existing patterns and processes of agricultural change, and the diffusion of innovations through the formal and informal channels, and farmers' attitudes and response demonstrating their rationality is shown. In a broad analysis of farmers' world-view, the individual's attitude to farming is studied including the extent of his farming knowledge, his degree of interest in this activity, his needs and problems, land-use trends, and desired changes. A case study of coffee as a cash crop innovation and its socio-economic impact on 'traditional' land-use systems now and in the .future is considered. A brief concluding section summarises research findings and some of the practical and theoretical implications for policy consideration. This study mainly concludes that only by identifying farmers' management strategies, circumstances and their analysis of problems on their own behalf can a development programme and research be formulated which has technologies appropriate to them.

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The thesis describes and analyses, within a framework of qualitative market development theory, the development of the Secondary Market in the bank debts of less developed countries. A survey of market participants is presented and analysed. The theory of financial market efficiency is assessed, and secondary market price data is used to test the theory in the secondary market context. Market-based debt reduction is described in theory and in practice, with a qualitative and quantitative assessment of the Brady Initiative. Simulations and sensitivity analysis of the likely effect on debt servicing ability for the first three beneficiaries of Brady debt restructuring are presented. Suggestions for further research are presented in the concluding chapter.

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