APPRECIATIVE PROJECT DESIGN ORIENTATION AND ORPHANED LEARNERS’ EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS: PERSPECTIVES OF CARE GIVERS IN HOMA BAY COUNTY, KENYA

The purpose of the study was to examine the perspectives of care givers on the influence of appreciative project design orientation on the educational achievements of orphaned learners enrolled in orphan support projects in Homa County, Kenya. The cross-sectional study was grounded on pragmatism. A total of 363 care givers participated in the study. Care Givers’ Survey Questionnaire was used to collect data. To ensure validity and reliability of the research instrument, pilot testing was conducted in a community based orphan support project in the neigbouring Kisumu County. Cronbach alpha at α =0.05 level of significance was used to compute the reliability coefficient of the pre-test instruments. Simple, multiple linear regressions and Pearson Correlation Coefficient models were used. Tests of statistical assumptions were carried out before data analysis to avoid invalidation of statistical analysis. One hypothesis was tested at α=.05 level of significance. The null hypothesis (H01: Appreciative Project Design Orientation does not significantly influence Orphaned Learners’ Educational Achievements in Homa Bay County) was rejected since (F(10,353)= 11.1945.265, P –Value <0.05; and so it was safe to suggest that at least one of the explanatory variables is significantly related to the Orphaned Learners’ Educational Achievements. It is recommended that orphan support projects should integrate and intensify the use of appreciative project design orientation approaches to ensure sustainable educational achievements for orphaned learners. Since this study delimited itself to orphaned learners’ educational achievements, further research should be carried out to examine the extent to which appreciative project design orientation influence the educational achievements of orphaned learners’ test scores in examinable subjects.  Article visualizations

Capital, Politics and Pedagogy: The Case of Education Inside the United Nations

The UN is often questioned about its ongoing relevance and involvement in contemporary matters of peace and security, but its involvement in and provision of higher education for peace for the 21st century is rarely examined. This working paper investigates the use of higher education as a peacebuilding tool within the UN apparatus, looking at the issue from three different angles. First, I briefly describe the work that the UN universities are engaged in: their historical origins and operations today. Second, I examine the objective qualifications that UN officials / academics possess that presumably enable their admission into the UN and work in the institution. I examine this generally across UN agencies and then specifically in regard to faculty in one UN university. Third, I share commentary from scholars I interviewed in the pilot study in Ethiopia and Somaliland and at the UN university to corroborate and challenge the results of the qualifications review, and to elaborate on the education that the UN promotes. Findings of the study point toward social reproduction through peace capital in the UN, and UN university. Such results raise skepticism and challenge orthodox assumptions of the UN and international peace education as contributing to social transformation. On the contrary, my study exposes the ways in which the unintended consequences of the field reproduce social inequality. This contrasts sharply with the transformation touted in other academic literature (Clarke-Habibi, 2005; Felice, Karako & Wisler, 2015)

The contribution of local NGOs/CBO in care and support of orphans : Mpiji Village

This research is aimed at reporting the progress of Huruma Trust Fund (HUTRUF) as an organization, and the analysis of the undertaken projects in support of community development efforts at Mpiji Village. Among others, the main focus is on the Support and Care of Orphans, which is an activity so far carried out by HUTRUF in Mpiji village. The study involved the collection of primary and secondary data from the field by interviewing guardians, village leaders, NGO leaders and selected community members. Data was analyzed to find out how HUTRUF has managed to enhance the ability of the Mpiji Community members to respond to the needed care and support of orphans. The results indicate that the local NGOs and CBOs are very capable to reach the community needs and also the responses of community towards the works of local NGOs and CBOs is positive. Although the study shows that there were few problems during project implementation, still the general performance of HUTRUF organization was very encouraging. Local NGOs and CBOs need support from Government and other stake holders to enable them improve their performance. Capacity building of NGOs and Communities is very crucial for the effectiveness and efficiency of their development initiatives. (Author abstract)Musokwa, E. N. (2005). The contribution of local NGOs/CBO in care and support of orphans : MPIJI Village. Retrieved from http://academicarchive.snhu.eduMaster of Science (M.S.)School of Community Economic Developmen

Psychological wellbeing of children at public primary schools in Jimma town: An orphan and non-orphan comparative study

<div><p>Introduction</p><p>Orphans face multiple challenges including insufficient food, shelter, schooling, and medical care. Most research on orphans in developing countries concentrates on nutrition and health status. The present study aims to explore the psychological wellbeing of in-school orphaned and non-orphaned children.</p><p>Method</p><p>A comparative cross-sectional study design was used in 370 randomly selected children aged between 10 and 18. Two rosters (one for orphans and one for non-orphans) were created, and then 185 were selected from each roster. Trained field workers used structured questionnaires to obtain information from participants. An adapted Ryff Psychological Wellbeing Scale was used to measure psychological wellbeing. Mean scores were determined for each dimension and for total psychological wellbeing. The mean split was used to divide psychological wellbeing into “high” and “low”. Data were coded, entered, cleaned, and analyzed using SPSS version 20. The independent sample t-test was used to determine statistically significant differences in psychological wellbeing between orphaned and non-orphaned children. P values < 0.05 were deemed statistically significant.</p><p>Results</p><p>Of 370 children, 185 (50%) were orphans. Among orphaned children, only 62 (33.5%) scored high on the total psychological wellbeing scale whereas 107 (57.8%) of their non-orphaned peers scored highly. The non-orphaned children had about 10.8 higher mean psychological wellbeing scores than their orphan counterparts (P<0.001). The mean (±SD) psychological wellbeing of the non-orphaned children was 164.0 (17.2) vs. 153.2 (17.2) in the orphaned group.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>The psychological wellbeing of orphans is significantly lower than their non-orphaned peers. Orphan support projects must consider psychosocial wellbeing in addition to material support.</p></div