IMPLEMENTACIÓN DE ESTRATEGIAS

The qualitative researcher consistently reflects on who they are in the research and must be sensitive and have awareness on how their identity affects and shapes the research process (Yin, 2009). Introspection and sensitivity to values, biases and interests is crucial in qualitative research as it brings in an element of transparency and honesty to the research process, ‘the personal self becomes inseparable from the researcher self’ (Creswell, 2002:182). I have therefore included statements of personal reflections on most chapters of the thesis.

I had to incorporate participant observations into the other phases of the research and had to do it during the interviewing and FGDs processes because as mentioned earlier, one household that I stayed with for two days started to view me as a maternal figure within the household and they began to refer some of their problems to me. In qualitative research the line between researcher

and participant can become blurred and data collection methods continuously evolve depending on incoming information (Creswell, 2007; Curry et al., 2009). One of my assumptions and the assumption that most researchers hold is that participants would be truthful in answering the questions. I however sensed that research participants had their own assumptions regarding the purpose of my study, inspite of me imparting to them the reasons behind the study. My view is that they held the idea that my talking to them especially about the problems they faced as CHH and as communities would translate into some form of tangible material support and assistance for them. Hence, participants could have exaggerated the problems they face. I had to counter this by making use of a variety of data collection instruments and asking questions that could elicit similar responses. I would then note the consistency of the responses across participants and data collection instruments.

I also brought into the research setting my own assumptions and perceptions on the notion of childhood and what it entails. My perception on childhood has been shaped by my upbringing. My idea is that children should grow up in the presence of a responsible adult who helps and directs them in the process of growing up to becoming an adult. This notion ran counter and was the exact opposite of the reality I was seeing with the CHH. My researcher role sometimes became blurred as my maternal protective instincts got the better of me. I sometimes would feel an urge to protect the children from all the challenges and problems they were facing. In some instances, I found myself questioning the rightfulness of my study and would ask myself weather it was fair to expect children to cope and manage under such conditions. I began to understand the position that was held by some scholars whose views Theron (2012) interrogated, when they questioned the ‘ethicality’ of childhood resilience studies, arguing that children need to be

provided for and not to be expected to cope under adversity. I therefore constantly had to remind myself of the purpose of carrying out such a study. It is of no use turning a blind eye to the existence of CHH because they are a reality. Society has to find ways and means of recognising them and understanding how they survive. This would enable duty bearers to capture and address their concerns at policy level. It would also encourage the adoption of intervention strategies that build on their existing strengths. Therefore the purpose of any resilience study should be focused on positive support and the provision of ‘ingredients’ for use in intervention programmes (Luthar & Brown, 2007; Theron et al., 2011, 2012; Panter-Brick & Leckman, 2013). This indeed was a study that impacted me in all spheres of my life - emotional, spiritual, social, cognitive and economic domains. My challenge was to stay as objective as possible in spite of all these impacts. I somehow managed to achieve this by occasionally taking time out from the study, reflecting on it and talking to colleagues about the study and the unfolding findings. These sessions helped me to unwind and maintain momentum in terms of the study.

The main issue that kept arising during the interviews with the CHH and focus group discussions with the other research participants was the mistreatment and exploitation that the CHH were exposed to and receiving from those they thought would help them, for example, the extended family members using the assets left behind by the children’s deceased parents for their own benefit and community members excluding the CHH from NGO programmes meant to benefit the CHH, people using the CHH as cheap labour and sometimes not paying what was due to them and policies that were not addressing their needs. During the process of data collection, I kept asking myself, if I was also not getting into the same category of ‘those people’ who were ‘exploiting’ the CHH. I was getting information from the CHH for my studies, but what exactly

where the CHH getting from my study? I therefore kept asking and reminding myself of the benefits that would accrue to the CHH from my research. However, when the CHH speak of benefits, they refer mainly to tangible material things that meet their here and now needs. My idea of the benefits of my research to the CHH was in terms of having policies that address their needs, development of appropriate intervention strategies and the generation of knowledge on resilience factors that would benefit children who find themselves in difficult circumstances. Although the rationale behind these benefits was clear to me, I was not sure if the CHH shared my views. These benefits could be abstract for people battling with survival basic issues.

I shared my dilemma with my undergraduate research methods class and also with a colleague, whose wife was in charge of a community project that caters for the needs of vulnerable children in one of the high density suburbs in Mutare. Without my knowledge, my undergraduate research methods class sought book donations from other students and the following week presented me with books to donate to the CHH. My colleague also donated books from the project ran by his wife. This made me realise that it does not take much to change communities for the better. It is the little actions that go a long way. The issue of providing incentives to research participants is one that has raised a lot of unanswered questions (Yin, 2003; Munhall & Chenail, 2008). This is discussed later in some sections on this chapter.