There is a wide gap between what donors and agencies for development aid believe that they are accomplishing, and what the recipients of such aid perceive to be the purposes and achievements of those agencies and donors. The literature and evidence suggests that this gap ls the result of a failure on the part of the agencies to recognize people of other cultures ( including the culture of poverty) as individuals having the ability to create their own futures. This failure is best seen interactions at the grassroots level. The characteristics which enable Churches to work across the boundaries of culture at the grassroots level are applicable worldwide. However, the country of South Africa was chosen as the field for this research project because of the apartheid system which has legalized cultural barriers, thereby highlighting those aspects of the Church in cross-cultural relationships which contribute to development. The Church is shown to have the necessary infrastructure and the ability to motivate people to effectively work with the poor in these conditions. Utilizing the methodology of participant observation and open-ended, informal, interviews, this project uses case histories of a Christian agency for development; of five Christian denominations; of one local church; and of four individuals; to illustrate the effectiveness of development philosophies. This ls not a thesis on development Per se, but is, rather, about perceptions concerning development.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/46512 |
| Date | January 1990 |
| Creators | James, Marylee M. |
| Publisher | Boston University |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | This work is being made available in OpenBU by permission of its author, and is available for research purposes only. All rights are reserved to the author. |
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