MARCO CONCEPTUAL

The target population for the study was the orphaned children who are below 18 years and living in CHH. The children were attending either primary or secondary school while some had temporarily dropped out of school due to financial reasons. The study population also included an AP, community leaders and members, teachers, headmasters, pastors and child service professionals. These were purposively sampled to include people who frequently interacted with the OVC and the CHH and had ideas on the challenges faced by the CHH and the contextual meanings and perceptions of resilience in Mutasa district.

4.4.1 Sampling procedure

Non-probability sampling procedures were used in this study because the population of CHH in the districts remains unknown. The sample size consisted of ten CHH in the Mutasa district. The inclusion criterion was CHH with heads of household aged between 14 -18 years. I used the legal age limit that defines a child in Zimbabwe, which is 18 years. I however noted that most of the children did not have birth certificates and were estimating their ages. My assumption was that at

these ages (14-18 years) the heads of the households would be in a position to articulate factors that make them resilient. The children would have to be leaving as a CHH for a period of three years and above. The assumption on this criterion was that a period of three years and above would be adequate for the manifestations of resilience characteristics in the CHH. The research participants sample also included purposively selected 10 members of an AP,3 policy makers, 25 child service professionals, 46 community members (including 4 community leaders), and 24 teachers (including 4 headmasers). I specifically selected people who interacted with the OVC frequently.

Purposive sampling

Purposive sampling was used to recruit the research participants. (10 CHH, 10 members of an AP, 3 policy makers, 25 child service professionals, 46 community members, 24 teachers, 5 extended family members of the CHH). In such sampling, the researcher employs his/her professional judgment to select cases that represent the population of interest (Neuman, 2006). In this study certain CHH were chosen to participate in the study based on the characteristics that best met the objectives of the study. I talked to the headmasters about the purpose and objectives of the study and explained that I was mainly interested in talking to those CHH whom they perceived as resilient and coping well given their circumstances. I also asked them to define the characteristics of resilient children and to define the term resilience according to views and perceptions in Mutasa district. The answers on the definitions of resilience included the following;

‘Munhu akashinga, munhu anotsungirira mumatambudziko, munhu anoita kunga pasina zviri kumunetsa izvo zviripo, munhu anogona kuita zvirikuitwa ne vamwe vasina

matambudziko’.meaning ‘a resilient person is someone who is strong and perseveres in hardships, someone who appears as if there is nothing bothering him/her and manages well like those who do not have problems’. (This is detailed in the next chapter on findings and discussion)

After such an enquiry which will be discussed in detail in the results section, I then asked the school authorities to select CHH that best fit into the category of their definitions on resilience. To cross validate these submissions, I later administered the RS to the CHH. The RS which has been validated for use across ages and ethnic groups gives an objective ordinal measure of resilience (Arhen, Kiehl, Lou Sole & Byers, 2006). The headmasters and teachers who took part in the study were those at the schools that the CHH attended. The sample also included the teachers in charge of the guidance and counselling programmes at the schools. I also implemented purposive sampling to recruit community members and leaders from the School Development Associations (SDA) at the schools, and those who were in ongoing community programmes that the child service professionals who participated in the study were involved in. Convenience sampling was used to select the child service professionals who consisted of professionals who were students on the Masters in Child and Family Studies at Africa University where I teach. The 3 policy makers consisted of those who work in Mutare where I live. The AP consisted of Mutasa community members and professionals purposively selected for their cultural knowledge and expertise. The 5 extended family members of the CHH were the ones that were nearby and those who also agreed to talk to me. I did not encounter many challenges in recruiting research participants as the majority of the participants were already involved in issues dealing with the orphaned children. I was also collaborating with an educational psychologist from the provincial education offices who was well known in the schools and communities.

NB: Although the study was mixed method in nature, I had to use qualitative sampling methods due to it being skewed torwads qualitative methods.

4.4.2 Gaining access: Places and people

I had the advantage of carrying out the study in Mutasa district which is the district in which Africa University, the university I work for, is situated. Incidentally, Mutasa district is also my district of origin. I was therefore not totally a complete ‘outsider’ in the district and was able to blend in, in terms of language and other customs related to the Manyika tribe in the district. To gain access to the research participants, I initially wrote to the Provincial social welfare officer, explaining the purpose of my study and the need to carry out the study on resilience in CHH. The provincial social welfare officer directed me to their head office directors in Harare who later informed me through the Provincial Social Welfare Officer that the custodians of all provincial and district activities relating to research was the Ministry of Local Government through the Provincial Administrator’s offices. I then approached the Provincial Administrator’s office and was informed to put my request in writing, which I did and permission for me to carry out research in the province was formally granted. The letter was copied to all the District Administrator’s offices including Mutasa District where I carried out my study.

However, since the study involved children in CHH who were still in school, I had to seek additional permission from the Ministry of Education Provincial offices. Permission was granted on condition that I visit the schools in the company of officers in the Schools Psychological Services (SPS) department who handle issues concerning vulnerable children and those with

special needs. I worked as an educational psychologist in the SPS department of the Ministry of Education before joining the academia. This made it easy for me to gain access to both the Ministry of Education and to the SPS department. I was therefore accompanied and collaborated with an educational psychologist from Manicaland province for the entire duration of my fieldwork. Accessing the teachers, headmasters and the children in CHH in schools became very easy because the educational psychologist who already had a working relationship with the district education officers and the school authorities introduced me to the district education officers and the school headmasters respectively.

The headmasters in turn introduced me to the Teachers In Charge (TIC) and deputy headmasters who selected the orphaned children in CHH at their schools based on the criteria we had come up with. I then purposively selected the CHH who were to take part in the study. The criteria for inclusion and sampling procedures are detailed in this chapter. The headmasters also introduced me to members of the SDAs who recruited other influential community members who formed the greater part of the community members and leaders who participated in the study. I was interested in community leaders who interacted with the CHH on almost a daily basis, hence my decision to choose the SDA leaders. Three child service professionals who are students on the Masters in Child and Family studies programme at Africa University and work with communities in the district allowed me to accompany them on their community outreach programmess to carry out my study. This provided me with significant opportunities to talk to community members who were attending the community outreach programmmes run by the students on our masters programme at Africa University. Therefore armed with the approval letter from the Provincial Education Offices and Provincial Administrator’s offices and

accompanied and supported by an educational psychologist from SPS and community based child service professionals who already had a working relationship with my potential research participants, accessing the places and people vital for my study was made easy.