Browsing by Author "Booyens, Margaret"
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- ItemOpen AccessThe complexity of rural contexts experienced by community disability workers in three southern African countries(AOSIS OpenJournals, 2015-06-09) Booyens, Margaret; Van Pletzen, Ermien; Lorenzo, TheresaAn understanding of rural communities is fundamental to effective community-based rehabilitation work with persons with disabilities. By removing barriers to community participation, persons with disabilities are enabled to satisfy their fundamental human needs. However, insufficient attention has been paid to the challenges that rural community disability workers (CDWs) face in trying to realise these objectives. This qualitative interpretive study, involving in-depth interviews with 16 community disability workers in Botswana, Malawi and South Africa, revealed the complex ways in which poverty, inappropriately used power and negative attitudes of service providers and communities combine to create formidable barriers to the inclusion of persons with disabilities in families and rural communities. The paper highlights the importance of understanding and working with the concept of ‘disability’ from a social justice and development perspective. It stresses that by targeting attitudes, actions and relationships, community disability workers can bring about social change in the lives of persons with disabilities and the communities in which they live.
- ItemOpen AccessAn exploration into the challenges and experiences of South Sudanese male refugees living in Pretoria, South Africa(2011) Riak, Viola Aluel; Booyens, MargaretThe main purpose of this study is to explore the challenges and experiences of South Sudanese male refugees in South Africa. The 15 South Sudanese men who participated in the current study had left Sudan because of the civil war there. All the participants said that the civil war was characterised by gunshots fired by the Sudanese Government soldiers that were intended to kill the South Sudanese. The participants highlighted certain political, religious and racial inequalities, and the unequal distribution of resources between the South and North Sudanese. The participants indicated that they had come to seek refuge in South Africa for security, safety and socio-economic reasons. Because there was no war or conflict in South Africa, participants came to South Africa to seek refuge. Participants said that South Africa was one of the most peaceful countries in Africa; and that it has enacted laws that allow refugees to live in its territory. The findings show that, although the participants came to South Africa hoping to improve their quality of life and to be secure and safe, participants also acknowledged that living in a foreign country as a refugee is not easy and has positive, as well as negative aspects. All 15 participants identified the Department of Home Affairs as the main problem impeding a smooth application process in their attempts to secure refugee status. The participants identified the process as being lengthy, and spoke about the corruption and harassment they experienced at the Department of Home Affairs. The participants blamed the corruption in the Department of Home Affairs on the staff. The findings show that corruption reduces the chances of refugees securing their refugee status. The findings revealed that because the Home Affairs staff knew the importance of refugee status to refugees, they took advantage of this and asked for bribes from these refugees.
- ItemOpen AccessAn exploration of how non-governmental organisations market their skills training programmes to marginalised youth living in Cape Town(2013) Mulenga, Mary; Booyens, MargaretThe high levels of poverty among marginalised youth in South Africa are a source of grave concern. Studies have shown that one of the main contributions to this phenomenon is unemployment, largely resulting from low skills levels, lack of experience and minimal job opportunities. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) play a vital role in bridging this gap by providing Skills Training Programmes (STPs) to broaden youth’s access to employment, as well as to open up opportunities for entrepreneurship. However, a previous study conducted among marginalised youth in Cape Town showed that large numbers were unaware of these STPs. The question arose in the researcher’s mind as to what NGOs were doing to market their services. The purpose of the study, therefore, was to explore marketing tools and mechanisms that NGOs use to market their STPs to marginalised youth living in Cape Town.
- ItemOpen AccessAn exploration of the motivation and opportunity seeking behaviours of social entrepreneurs in Cape Town(2011) Chirinda, Nyarai Theresa Faith; Booyens, MargaretThis research study of the motivation and opportunity-seeking behaviours of social entrepreneurs in Cape Town was conducted among fifteen social entrepreneurial organisations in Cape Town during the months of June, July and August 2010. The results of this qualitative research show that there are various factors that motivate people to become social entrepreneurs, such as the desire to make a difference in other peoples? lives and provide innovative solutions to existing social problems.
- ItemOpen AccessExploring the circumstances and experiences of youth immigrants when establishing and running a successful informal micro-business(2013) Kondowe, Calisto; Booyens, MargaretIn the era of rampant youth unemployment, governments are rethinking strategies to respond to this global crisis. At the centre of these strategies is the promotion of youth-owned informal micro-businesses. While literature acknowledges the challenges faced by youth in running their informal micro-businesses, there is much less in the way of information that explores immigrant informal businesses. This is a qualitative study aimed at exploring the circumstances and experiences of youth immigrants when establishing and running a successful informal microbusiness. This study was conducted amongst youth owners of informal micro-businesses and four service providers in Cape Town. Twenty in-depth interviews were done with these participants. The four service providers represented a non-governmental organisation (NGO), a government department, a commercial bank and a government funding agency. The study indicated that the reasons why immigrant youth start their informal micro-businesses varied. For the unemployed it was a solution to unemployment, some of those who were working did so because they wanted to earn more, while others desired a flexible work environment. In addition, the study showed that there are many challenges faced by immigrant youth during the establishment and growth phases of their businesses.
- ItemOpen AccessExploring the evaluation methods used in the context of corporate social investment activities in South Africa(2009) Alves, Sianne; Booyens, MargaretCorporate social investment (CSI) has become a key issue for businesses and the social development sector. Since its inception in South Africa, social investment has developed from a donation style approach to a focused intervention that aims to empower its recipients. Corporations are now challenged through legislation and by society to develop programmes that can alleviate some of the social problems affecting the recipients of their CSI programmes. This exploratory study attempts to identify the methods used by businesses to evaluate their recipient programmes.
- ItemOpen AccessGender and work challenges in the informal sector of Uganda : a study of disabled men and women in Mubende and Mityana districts(2007) Lwemamu, Helen; Booyens, MargaretCompared to disciplines like gender and health, fewer studies have been done on disabled men and women's participation in the informal sector. This may be explained by the fact that for a long time, few disabled men and women in Uganda engaged or participated openly in income generating activities (IGAs). Many started getting involved in the 1990's and as the available literature shows, those who have done so are very enthusiastic and this has encouraged others. This study focuses on the gender and work challenges disabled men and women encounter in the informal sector of Uganda. The study is based on a review of existing literature and actual fieldwork carried out in the Mubende and Mityana districts of Uganda. It seeks to: (a) explore the types of business activities in which disabled men and women are engaged; (b) explore the nature of work challenges disabled men and women encounter in the informal sector and the nature of strategies they utilize to overcome these challenges; (c) ascertain the benefits that disabled men and women have gained in respect of participation in the informal sector; (d) establish the policies and laws that govern disabled men and women with regard to their work in the informal sector; and (e) establish how resources are allocated by various governmental and nongovernmental Organisations among disabled men and women in Mubende and Mityana districts. The study was carried out in Mubende and Mityana district, the central region of the densely populated disabled men and women. In this study in-depth interviews and focus group methods were used to collect qualitative data. Evidence from the study confirms that disabled men and women were engaged in similar IGAs although a few of them were engaged in different IGAs. The similarity in IGAs was likely to be a result of the limited range of IGAs that disabled men and women could engage in considering the nature of their impairments, limited finances and the limited skills that they had. The visually and hearing impaired men and women were mainly involved in a single IGA in the informal sector and most of the physically disabled men and women were engaged in multiple IGAs. This was linked to visually and hearing impaired men and women lacking or having insufficient capital and skills to engage in multiple IGAs, as compared to physically disabled men and women.
- ItemOpen AccessThe management of ex-Department of Education and Training, and ex-Model C schools in Cape Town : a description of policy and practice(2007) Baguley, Leanne Mary; Booyens, MargaretThis quantitative study seeks to understand the management used in four ""ex-DET"" schools, and four ""ex-Model C"" schools, now both termed pubic schools of Cape Town, South Africa. Part of the study questions whether South Africa's former apartheid laws, which resulted in Bantu education, still impacts on school management today. Three staff members from each of the four former Department of Education (""ex-DET"" or ""Black"") schools, as well as three staff members from each of the four former ""ex-Model C"" (""White"") schools were asked to participate. That included each of the schools' principals, the schools' development officers, and another senior manager nominated by the respective school principal. Each was asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire which I had drawn up after extensive reading and research on the subject. This reading included looking at international management authors' work, school-specific management research, the history of education in South Africa, and current South African school management policies. The main current South African school management policies used in this study include: the South African Schools Bill (1996), the Second White Paper on School Organisation, Governance and Funding (1996), the Whole Schools Evaluation Policy (2000), the Collective Agreement on Integrated School Management Systems (2003), the Educators Employment Act (1994), and resolutions to the Educators Employment Act (1994). The questionnaires were predominantly comprised of closed questions, with a few open-ended ones being incorporated so as to be able to gain a little more insight in certain areas. After having met the respondents and dropping off the questionnaires, they were then collected on completion. The data was captured through the use of a process using excel spreadsheets before I was able to begin reflecting and deducing conclusions from it. I began by identifying norms for each category of school's management, and then comparing them against one another. The results showed that different styles of management and perceptions were present between the two (ex-DET and ex-Model C) groups, of eleven respondents each. The majority of all twenty-two respondents indicated that they feel apartheid still affects their schools current means of management. Conclusions were drawn in chapter five and then recommendations for the Department of Education, ex-Model C schools, ex-DET schools, and further researchers were made accordingly.