The AIDS epidemic has a severe impact on South Africa's population. One of the most
disastrous consequences is the thousands of children affected and infected by HIV / AIDS.
Various non-government organizations (NGO) take responsibility for orphan and
vulnerable children's relief activities within a community development model. Efforts are
often made by NGO's to identify natural leaders (volunteer care workers) from the
community and to train them to help with their OVC-psychosocial outreach programmes.
However, the voluntary care workers need to be guided by appropriate, goal orientated
training and to be provided with a vision to guide them in their community work.
Ongoing training is important to reinforce existing and to develop new skills. However,
not all programmes used by the various NGOs who are involved in the care and support
to OVC are based on sound theoretical principles, nor carefully monitored and evaluated.
Evaluation is thus an essential tool to improve care and support initiatives through
identifying the shortfalls in a training program that may impact negatively on its
effectiveness.
In light of the above, St Josephs Care and Support Trust, an NGO involved in the care of
OVC, approached the researcher to evaluate the effectiveness of its care and support
programme. The research focused on gaining insight into and exploring voluntary care
worker's perceptions and experiences of the effectiveness of the training they have
received in providing care and support to children affected and infected by HIV / AIDS
with the view to improve St. Joseph's community outreach activities.
The use of participatory evaluation was viewed as an appropriate method to use for the
study in facilitating an understanding of the voluntary care worker's own experiences
with regard to their work and problems they experience in a specific setting. The study is
qualitative in nature and utilized focus group discussions as a means of data collection.
All (twenty one) voluntary care workers that form part of the St Josephs Trust
psychosocial programme participated in the study. A thematic analysis technique was
used to analyze the data of the present study.
The present study concluded that the training programme equipped the voluntary care
workers with knowledge and skills enabling them to provide comprehensive care to the
ave and to mobilize existing resources. The training was also instrumental in providing
the voluntary care workers with opportunities for critical reflection and self-development.
However, working as voluntary care workers proved to be stressful at times and became
apparent in the difficulties they experience in coping with the demands made on their
professional and private lives. The much needed basic counseling skills did not form part
of voluntary care worker's training and contributed to them feeling inadequate at times,
that in turn contributed to increased experiences of stress. Although support efforts by the
NGO was seen as helpful by the voluntary care workers, a greater focus and
acknowledgment of their role and needs would strengthen their efforts in providing care
and support to the ave. Recommendations are made with regard to programme
improvement, protocol development and supportive strategies for the voluntary care
workers. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/10370 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Venter, Cathrin. |
| Contributors | Meyer-Weitz, Anna. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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