A Review of the Literature on Civil Society Funding for Education: Models for Zimbabwe

Humanitarian aid, development assistance and government budget allocations to education continues to dwindle resulting in an increase of the number of children out of school especially for low resourced countries. (GMR, 2015). Due to this, Zimbabwean education has become expensive and thus inaccessible to children in low income communities and rural areas. In 2012, more than 500, 000 students were recorded to be out of school in Zimbabwe. This paper, a comparative literature review, sought to identify challenges in current education funding, document various indigenous alternative models of funding and attempt to develop a Zimbabwean education financing framework from lessons drawn from literature. It examined how different philanthropic practices and civil society participation in low resourced countries can contribute to improving education programs. Three themes, active civil society, functional governments and integration of civil society and government approaches, emerged as the pillars for creating a substantial financing plan for education. Recommendations for further study articulated next steps in establishing a sustainable financing framework. These include investigating what was, what is, and what should be the relationship between stakeholders and education financing to develop an in-depth understanding of current status quo and how it can be improved

An Intersectional Understanding of African Graduate Students\u27 Experiences in U.S. Higher Education

The adjustment of African international students in the United States may be different from the experiences of international students from other regions as African students are considered racial/ethnic minorities in the U.S. who can be exposed to racism, nativism, and other discrimination. This study focuses on the structural systems impacting African international graduate students in the U.S. and the intercentricity of various forms of opportunities and oppressions impacting their experiences. Findings revealed four themes: (1) Assumptions made by American Peers and Faculty (2) Adjustment Challenges Situated within Campus Systems (3) Campus Internationalization Rhetoric (4) Conflicting Worldviews. While these themes illustrate how students’ experience negative social positioning and other challenges on their campuses, they also demonstrate students resisting marginalizing experiences

Effect of multivitamin supplements on weight gain during pregnancy among HIV-negative women in Tanzania

Multivitamin supplementation has been shown to reduce the risk of low birthweight. This effect could be mediated through gestational weight gain. However, the effect of multivitamin supplementation on weight gain during pregnancy has not been fully studied. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of multivitamins on pregnancy weight gain. We enrolled 8468 HIV-negative women from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in a randomised, placebo-controlled trial of multivitamins on birth outcomes. Women were randomly assigned to receive either a daily oral dose of multivitamin tablets or a placebo and were weighed every 4 weeks from enrolment until the last visit before delivery. Intent-to-treat analyses were carried out to examine the effects of multivitamins on pregnancy weight gain. Multivariate linear and binomial regression models with the log-link function were used to examine the association of weight gain during pregnancy to birthweight. The overall total weight gain was 253 g (SE: 69, P: 0.0003) more, while the overall 4 weekly weight gain was 59 g greater (SE: 18, P: 0.005) among women who received multivitamins compared to placebo. Women in the lowest quartile of gestational weight gain had babies with an average birthweight of 3030 g (SD: 524), while women in the highest quartile had babies weighing 3246 g (SD: 486), on average. Prenatal multivitamin supplements increased gestational weight gain, which was a significant predictor of birthweight

THE SCHOOL AND MY HEALTH: (RE)CENTERING YOUNG WOMEN’S VOICES IN PEER-LED SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH (SRH) EDUCATION IN MACHAKOS, KENYA

This dissertation examines young women’s school-based sexual and reproductive health (SRH) experiences in relation to a peer-led education program at a vocational school in Machakos, Kenya. The phenomenological study centers their voices to understand their SRH challenges and the program designed to meet them. Studies have noted the importance of school-based peer education programs in improving young people’s health behaviors. However, there is a dearth of evidence on how SRH peer-led education programs address SRH challenges in developing countries from young women’s perspectives. Additionally, while certain gender and cultural norms contribute to some of the unique SRH challenges that young women face, they are not the only contributing factors. Yet research about young women’s situations in Africa often reduces the challenges that young women face to “harmful” cultural and traditional practices. Guided by a Postcolonial feminist theoretical lens, this study recognizes that forces influencing women’s education and health operate at many levels; “the body, home, communities, nations, international political economies” (Stahaeli & Lawson, 1994, pp.98). In the study, participants revealed that their experiences are influenced by a range of factors related to contemporary and historical social, political, religious and cultural structures in their contexts. At the macro level, poverty is a daily reality for young women and profoundly shapes their lives, including the choices they make to combat its effects. The SRH challenges that young women face include school dropouts, early pregnancies, lack of income opportunities, menstruation management problems, abortions and limited access to comprehensive SRH education and services. Additionally, teachers and parents experience discomfort in providing young women with holistic and comprehensive sex education due to religious, moral and cultural reservations. Through participants’ narratives, the study shows that when seeking to address SRH issues through peer education programs, there many cross-cutting issues emerge. These include poverty, gender dynamics, cultural and religious practices. Overall, the intersections of young women’s experiences underscore the need to have SRH education approaches that are participatory and inclusive of their voices to mitigate the impact of poverty on SRH

An Intersectional Understanding of African Graduate Students' Experiences in U.S. Higher Education

The adjustment of African international students in the United States may be different from the experiences of international students from other regions as African students are considered racial/ethnic minorities in the U.S. who can be exposed to racism, nativism, and other discrimination. This study focuses on the structural systems impacting African international graduate students in the U.S. and the intercentricity of various forms of opportunities and oppressions impacting their experiences. Findings revealed four themes: (1) Assumptions made by American Peers and Faculty (2) Adjustment Challenges Situated within Campus Systems (3) Campus Internationalization Rhetoric (4) Conflicting Worldviews. While these themes illustrate how students’ experience negative social positioning and other challenges on their campuses, they also demonstrate students resisting marginalizing experiences.52-6