Thesis (M.M. (Finance & Investment))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Wits Business School, 2017. / Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) are proving to be a pivotal asset in providing essential access to financial services to the urban and rural poor who are traditionally shunned by the mainstream blue-chip financial service providers in developing countries. However, in the literature, MFIs providing entrepreneurial assistance have been lumped together with MFIs providing a more exploitative and consumption loan offering. This then masks the value or the poverty reducing effect of MFIs that have financial products geared to assist the creation of small businesses for the poor. The aim of this study is to examine South Africa’s microfinance institutions and their impact on poverty reduction in urban and rural areas. To this end the research question is as follows: what is the impact of the MFI on poverty reduction around eThekwini region? This study was conducted among microfinance institutions and the beneficiaries of MFIs in eThekwini region. In order to gain better insights and in order to better understand the real depth and knowledge of this topic, the researcher needed a view of both the service provider and their customers. A structured close ended survey questionnaire was designed for MFI managers and borrowers. The responses received show that Microfinance institutions are a useful means to reduce poverty among the poor. On this basis, it is recommended that the government must play an active role to regulate MFIs but more importantly to find innovate ways to help fund or subsidize their activities among the poor. / MT 2017

This research report serves to explore how women living in Tembisa, the second largest township in Johannesburg, South Africa, create and maintain highly flexible and mobile personal networks, to maximize their access to financial and social capital in order to improve individual and household resilience to food insecurity. What are the strategies that are adopted, created and manipulated in the daily lives of the food insecure in an attempt to attain a semblance of food security for themselves, their households and their communities?

Submitted in partial fulfilment for the requirements for Masters of Arts in Development Studies by coursework and research report In the Graduate School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, 2016 / Social cash transfer programmes on the African continent have more than doubled in the last decade, and this signifies a transformation in the perception of social cash transfers as ‘pity handouts’ to how they are seen today, as ‘productive investments’ in human capabilities. Southern Africa has been a pioneer in social protection growth in the last twenty years, but often accounts of these histories focus on pension schemes in places such as South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Lesotho. There is little incorporation of Mozambique’s social protection history, and most histories do not detail that Mozambique ranks fourth chronologically, in introduction of cash transfer programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa. This research puts forth that the Mozambican case of an early adoption of cash transfers in 1990 is a positive and unique example of a state’s active role in social protection despite neoliberal constraints. The state-led adoption of cash transfers in response to rising inequality and economic instability is unexpected at a time when these programmes were unpopular development interventions and when the state was supposedly rolled-back and confined because neoliberalism and the civil war. Tracing the history of Mozambican social cash transfers in the last 25 years illustrates two consistencies of the Mozambican government: 1. A supportive political position towards state involvement in welfare programmes, despite the government’s own political and development sector transformation from Marxist-Leninist orientation to welcoming of privatization; and 2. State financial and political support of social protection throughout a period when cash transfers in Sub-Saharan Africa went from unpopular hand-out interventions during crises, to lobbying for permanent social protection as a mechanism to address chronic poverty. / GR2017

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 2016. / The study articulates the key indicators that are drivers of poverty and inequality in the post-apartheid society. Historically, education, employment, household income and service delivery were not used as the foundation for measuring poverty and inequality in the country. Specific objectives for this study are to interrogate the key determinants that have influenced poverty and inequality in South Africa since 1994, and to investigate how the predictors of life circumstances and service delivery changed across the population over the period 1994–2007. Descriptive analysis was used on household surveys (General Household Survey (GHS) 2002–2011, Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) 2008–2011 and Living Conditions Survey (LCS) 2008 and 2011) to determine changes and trends in the living conditions of the population. Multivariate analytical approaches were applied on CS 2007 data with a sample of 360 000 households conducted by Statistics South Africa. Statistical regression models were developed for life circumstances and service delivery measures to explain poverty and inequality. Principal component analysis was applied on CS 2007 to promote multidimensional approaches for poverty and inequality measurement using development indicators as the components for life circumstances and service delivery. The main findings of the study show that low levels of education and high unemployment are the determinants of poverty and inequality. Positive linear relationships between educational attainment and age, employment and population group, age, sex and educational level of household head were established. Income disparities further perpetuate disparities in life circumstances and service delivery. Disparities service delivery are not the determinants but the consequences of poverty and inequality. Poverty and inequality in South Africa are structural showing that, while many people progressed in the last twenty-two years, many remained behind, and even progressed negatively as they remained worse off based on data since the 1996 census. While much work has been conducted on life circumstances such as education, employment and income, work on service delivery in relation to poverty is still limited and thus deserves more attention / GR2018

Nesta dissertação, analiso as diferentes percepções de jovens negros moradores da região periférica de Mboi Mirim acerca de sua condição racial e os modos como a articulavam com outros marcadores sociais tais como, local de moradia e condição social . A partir da revisão dos estudos sobre juventude busco situar os jovens negros na literatura sobre a juventude brasileira. Toma-se o debate acerca da vulnerabilidade social e da heterogeneidade das situações de pobreza nas periferias para caracterizar as condições sociais da região em que os jovens entrevistados estão inseridos. Verificou-se que as percepções e construções acerca da cor ganham contornos diversos ao longo das trajetórias de vida dos jovens bem como de seus trajetos urbanos que os colocam em diferentes contextos de interação. / In this dissertation I analyze different perceptions of young black inhabitants from M\'Boi Mirim\'s poor neighborhoods about their racial condition, and the way they associate those perceptions with other social markers, such as their living and social conditions. Based on a review of studies about youth, I frame the young blacks in the literature about the brazilian youth. I took the debate about social vulnerability and heterogeneity in the context of poverty to characterize the social conditions where the young blacks are inserted. I verify that perceptions and \"constructions\" about color acquire not only diverse frameworks throughout the youth\'s life paths, but also their urban trajectories interacts with different contexts.

Thesis advisor: Thomas H. Groome / Thesis advisor: Stephen J. Pope / The story of the Good Samaritan in Luke's Gospel (10:25-37) may be Jesus' most well-known teaching. Though it epitomizes the heart of Christian faith and the Great Commandment to love God and one's neighbors as oneself, the depth of the challenge to "Go and do likewise" like the Samaritan is not well understood and less often put into practice. The Samaritan's example sets a standard that is not met by random acts of kindness; Samaritan-like neighbor love means acting with courage, compassion, and generosity in boundary-breaking solidarity to care for those most in need. According to Gustavo Gutiérrez, by going out of his way and into the ditch to draw near to the robbers' victim, the Samaritan's actions depict the preferential option for the poor. This reverence for the other, especially one in such a vulnerable condition, depicts what Gutiérrez calls a "theology of the neighbor," which he claims has not yet been developed. This dissertation proposes a "theology of neighbor" motivated and oriented by the details of this paradigmatic standard for Christian discipleship to more fully capture how the principles of solidarity and preferential option for the poor may be put into practice. Before working out the theological, moral, and pedagogical implications for this framework, this project focuses on three key features of the present praxis that influence how "neighbor" might be understood today: the complex and compressed systems of globalization, the social disengagement of the "buffered self" as described by Charles Taylor, and the "networked self" that enjoys unprecedented rates of connectivity via digital technologies and social media. In response to the challenges posed by this socio-cultural context, this dissertation articulates a moral vision for being neighbors today. This is given shape by a matrix of virtues that include compassion, courage, fidelity, and prudence. When put into practice, these dispositions and habits are meant to inspire and sustain an integral life-pattern committed to solidarity and preferential option for the poor held in balance with the moral obligations to one's family and friends. Narrowing the focus to students at U.S. Catholic colleges and informed by the current conditions for their personal, social, religious, and moral formation, this dissertation proposes a pedagogical approach to theological education as neighbor-formation. This involves establishing communities of practice that follow the Samaritan's example to draw near - physically and virtually - to neighbors in need in steadfast commitment to right-relationship in solidarity. In doing so, this dissertation develops a framework of principles and practices to effectively engage today's emerging adults to "Go and do likewise" in an increasingly globalized, digital world. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry.

Thesis advisor: Judith A. Vessey / This undergraduate thesis explores the underlying problem of interprofessional conflict and the resulting poor communication between physicians and nurses. It establishes the importance of understanding and addressing this subject within the health care community on a basis of reported negative outcomes, including compromised patient safety and quality of care. It also proposes a preventive health model as the most effective approach to describing the problem. An exploration of the antecedents to this interprofessional conflict identifies gender identity as having a significant role in setting the stage for the kind of relationships between nurses and physicians that harbor tension. Gender roles are discussed in the context of the developing professional identities of both physicians and nurses. The discussion further identifies how these social and professional distinctions result in the imposition of hierarchical arrangements that give way to oppressive relationships. The analysis proposes a need for dialogue –a form of primary prevention- regarding the oppressive internalized sexism that appears to have resulted from this hierarchical evolution. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Connell School of Nursing. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

Thesis advisor: Richard Lennan / Thesis advisor: Margaret E. Guider / As the Archdiocese of Boston continues to heal from the clergy sexual abuse crisis, it is engaged in a pastoral planning process designed to prepare parishes for the task of evangelization. According to the 2012 Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization, the goal of evangelization is to “create the possibility” for an encounter and relationship with Jesus. To create the possibility for people to encounter Jesus Christ in faith, the implementation of the New Evangelization in the Archdiocese of Boston at this point in its history must focus on two aspects: healing the inner life of the Church, its communio, through a process of conversion and reconciliation and engaging the Church in the missio given it by Jesus by becoming a church of the poor. This paper begins with a presentation of the New Evangelization as described in papal and other ecclesial documents highlighting several principal themes: the context and content of the New Evangelization, the Church and the poor, Christian witness, conversion, reconciliation, Christian hope, and apologetics. Following a brief overview of the North American context in which evangelization must take place, the third chapter focuses on conversion as a response in love to God’s invitation to live in the love of the triune God and on reconciliation as the healing of relationships through celebrations of reconciliation and through the work of the church community. The fourth chapter presents the challenge of becoming a Church of the poor by which the Church comes into closer relationship with Jesus who is present in the suffering poor. Finally, the hope to which God calls us is eternal life in the loving communion of the Father, Son, and Spirit in the Kingdom of God. Christian hope is the virtue that sustains us on our way to the fulfillment of God’s Kingdom while in the midst of its non-fulfillment. / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

Neste projeto de pesquisa planeja-se obter indícios da correlação entre o conteúdo metálico estelar deduzido para a Via Láctea e os indíces metálicos obtidos para as Nuvens de Magalhães. O ponto de apoio para tal comparação é que cada encontro deixará importantes traços na eficiência de formação dos membros do tripleto. À medida que os encontros dependem da história dinâmica, suas ``impressões digitais\'\' deixadas nos conteúdos estelares colocam importantes limitações na história dinâmica e vice-versa. Para tanto, são utilizados os dados espectroscópicos já obtidos com o telescópio Magellan Clay, para uma amostra contendo 28 estrelas ricas em carbono encontradas nas Nuvens de Magalhães. A quantidade de carbono bem como a existência ou não de binaridade nas estrelas da amostra são indícios das possíveis fontes da sobreabundância do carbono. A caracterização da amostra é essencial para o estudo da relação entre duas populações estelares aparentemente distintas: a de estrelas de carbono e a de estrelas pobres em metais enriquecidas em carbono. Para tanto, são utilizados catálogos de espectros assim como critérios fotométricos. A descoberta de alguma relação entre as duas populações pode ajudar a esclarecer o problema dos processos de enriquecimento de carbono, notado nas atmosferas estelares. A futura determinação dos parâmetros físicos das estrelas que compõem a amostra pode revelar detalhes sobre a história de formação estelar dos objetos das Nuvens e, portanto, vincular a evolução dessas duas galáxias-satélites à história da Via Láctea. / This project searches for signs of correlation between metallic stellar content, available for the Milky Way, and the metallicities indices obtained for the Magellanic Clouds. This comparison is supported by the traces on the formation of these three galaxies, that should have been left by each triplet members encounter. Since these crosses depend on the dynamical history, their fingerprints left by stellar content can estabilish constraints to the Galactic dynamical history. Spectroscopic data for a sample of carbon stars, obtained on the Magellanic Telescope, are used in this work. The amount of carbon, as the existence or not of binary stars in this sample, indicates possible sources of this element. The determination of sample properties is essential for studying the constraints between two stellar populations that are apparently distincts: carbon stars and carbon enhanced metal-poor stars. To do this, spectral catalogues and photometric criteria are used. Finding the correlations between both populations will bring some light to the unknown carbon enrichment processes that occured at the stellar atmospheres. Variability, emission lines, and binarity are studied for the sample. Stellar parameters are discussed, although there is no method applicable to this sample. By estimating the physical parameters of the stars presented in this sample and by analysing their carbon abundances, one can provide hints of the star formation history of objects in the Magellanic Clouds and therefore constraint the evolution of these satellite-galaxies to the Milky Way.

Esta pesquisa tem como objeto Os Entes Silenciosos da Sociedade Israelita segundo o Deuteronômio. E com quê esse objeto tem a ver? A pesquisa será desenvolvida a partir do livro de Deuteronômio e mirará àqueles que estão em silêncio dentro do livro. São eles: o pobre, a viúva, o órfão, o estrangeiro, o levita, o escravo e a escrava. No desenvolvimento da pesquisa, notou-se que todos eles poderiam ser colocados sob a nomenclatura de pobre. E, de fato, todos eles são pobres. Mas o redator emprega as palavras para pobre para designar um homem que, mesmo que estando em situação econômica degradada, ele ainda é livre, e, em determinado momento de sua vida, pode até optar por se tornar um escravo de um irmão. Também, percebeu-se que há quatro personagens que, quase sempre, aparecem juntos. Esses são aqueles que são chamados pelas palavras: viúva, órfão, estrangeiro e levita. Diante disso, a pesquisa foi desenvolvida da seguinte forma: o capítulo inicial, onde se faz o levantamento das palavras que ocorrem dentro do Deuteronômio, e no qual se faz algumas observações iniciais. O segundo capítulo buscará entender as palavras para pobre que ocorrem dentro do Deuteronômio. Notar-se-á aqui que elas apontam para um irmão israelita e que legislação será feita para que o tu/vós, a quem se dirige o redator do livro, aja em obediência a fala de seu Deus e seja benigno com o seu irmão empobrecido. O capítulo termina com um tratamento de Moisés como um personagem que foi identificado com os Entes Silenciosos do Israel antigo. O terceiro capítulo será desenvolvido com os Entes Silenciosos que aparecem, comumente, juntos. Eles são considerados estrangeiros por sua condição de desarraigamento. Eles não possuem propriedade. Mas existem dentro da propriedade do tu/vós. A pesquisa também desenvolverá um entendimento do dízimo do terceiro ano. O quarto capítulo trata dos escravos e escravas. A legislação deuteronômica fará uma distinção entre os escravos e escravas que são de Israel e os que não o são. O ano da libertação dos empobrecidos e dos escravizados será tratado, em sua segunda parte, pois, a primeira fora tratada no capítulo 2. / This research has the object \"The Silent Beings of Israeli society according to Deuteronomy.\" And what this object has to do? The research will be developed from the book of Deuteronomy and will target those who are silent inside the book. They are: the poor, the widow, the orphan, the stranger, the Levite, the male and female slaves. In developing the survey, it was noted that all of them could be placed under the nomenclature of \"poor.\" And indeed, they are all poor. But the writer uses the words to \"poor\" to mean a \"man\" that even being in degraded economic situation, he is still free, and at one point in your life, he can even chooses to become a slave of a brother. Also, it was noted that there are four personages that almost always appear together. These are those who are called by the words: widow, orphan, the stranger, and Levite. Therefore, the research was carried out as follows: the first chapter, where it is the lifting of words that occur within the Deuteronomy, and which makes some opening remarks. The second chapter will seek to understand the words to poor occurring within the Deuteronomy. It will be noted here that they point to an Israeli brother and that legislation will be made so that the \"thou / you\", to whom is the book\'s editor, act in obedience to the speech of their God and be charitable with your impoverished brother. The chapter concludes with a treatment of Moses as a man who was identified with the Silent Beings of ancient Israel. The third chapter will be developed with the Silent Beings that appear commonly together. They are considered \"foreign\" by their uprooting condition. They have no property. But they are within the grounds of \"thou / you.\" The research also develop an understanding of the tithe of the third year. The fourth chapter deals with the male and female slaves. The Deuteronomic legislation will make a distinction between male and female slaves who are of Israel and those who are not. The year of the liberation of impoverished and enslaved will be treated in its second part, because the first had been treated in Chapter 2.