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Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOs) are voluntary associations of people with the common goal of encouraging savings and granting credit to members as a means to their economic improvement. For a long period of time, SACCOs have been seen as a way of ensuring savings and investments, especially by the middle and lower economic classes. In Kenya, these institutions have managed to accumulate funds running into billions of shillings, and many members have benefited from them. However, in the last few years, many of these institutions have experienced serious financial challenges that have led to some of them winding up or becoming dormant, resulting in a loss of funds for members. The primary objective of this study was to determine the factors that influence the financial sustainability of SACCOs in Kenya. The study explored the influence of financial outreach, financial regulation, corporate governance, size and age on financial sustainability. A sample of 166 SACCOs was drawn for the study, and generalised least square technique was used to analyse the data. Empirical findings of the study reveal that financial outreach, as measured by the number of members, exerts a significant influence on financial sustainability. Similarly, financial regulation, SACCOs' governance, SACCOs' size and SACCOs' age were found to exert a significant influence on the financial sustainability of SACCOs. The study has contributed to theory by applying both monetary and non-monetary measures to profitability theory of financial sustainability. While contributing to empirics, the study has delineated the relationship between the study factors and their financial sustainability status (FSS), as well as documenting the FSS of SACCOs in Kenya. In terms of methodology, the study applied the GLS analysis technique. Finally, the study provides useful information to SACCO policy makers and opens avenues for future research, thus contributing to practice. The recommendations of the study provide insights into how to rescue ailing SACCOs in Kenya and ameliorate the existing situation.

The concept of honor has developed over several centuries on the island nation of Japan. Due to this institutionalized growth, honor is something to be explored for how it has shaped and how it continues to mold contemporary Japanese culture. One way to examine Japanese honor is through the primary lens of Young Adult literature. By examining representations of Japanese honor in Young Adult literature, readers can learn how honor developed Japanese culture. Furthermore, readers can discern what aspects of honor in Japanese culture should be scrutinized. Through this scrutiny, readers will be able to discover how honor may be applied to contemporary society. The following texts will be explored in this thesis: Pamela S. Turner’s novel, Samurai Rising: The Epic Life of Minamoto Yoshitsune (2016), Shigeru Mizuki’s manga, Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths (1991), the joint novels of So Far From the Bamboo Grove (1986) by Yoko Kawashima Watkins, and Year of Impossible Goodbyes (1991) by Sook Nyul Choi, and finally the memoir Farewell to Manzanar (1973) by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston. Each of these books provides a key narrative view of honor in its relation to people at various points of Japanese culture. The conclusion of this thesis will argue that the developments discovered about Japanese honor can be learned from and applied to modern society outside of Japan.

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An analysis of Pushkin's novel Evgenii Onegin with the aim of showing that although superficially influenced by the romantic school, Pushkin may be considered the author of the first great example of realism in the field of the Russian novel. Contains a preface and five chapters. Chapter I discusses the terms realism and romanticism; Chapter II outlines the content of the novel as published by Pushkin; Chapter III discusses the chapters sketched by Pushkin but never published; in Chapter IV an attempt is made to separate the realistic from the romantic elements in the novel; Chapter V provides a summary of the most important findings. / Master of Arts (MA)