APLICACIÒN DE LA ENTREVISTA
RESULTADOS DE LA ENTREVISTA APLICADA A LOS DIRECTIVOS DE LA UTE LUIS VARGAS TORRES
Studes wth chldren requre the adopton of technques partcularly sutable for them. Ths study employed ethnographc methods sutable for nvestgatng chldren’s agency, perspectves, and daly experences. Largely qualtatve data collecton technques were employed n ths study, the results of whch were trangulated usng a survey to assess chldren’s perspectves on the common llnesses they experenced and ther quests for therapy. What s more, a relatvely dfferent approach for the assessment of emotonal dstress, manly based on chldren’s emc vews of stressors and extreme events n ther daly lfe, were used. Concernng qualtatve technques, chldren were, n the man, asked ndrect questons to elct ther emic views (Bernard 1988; Denzin 1997; Spradley 1979; Wess 2000; Wess et al. 2000). Detals of the qualtatve technques used are gven below.
2.2.1. Study population and case selection
The wartme chldren who partcpated n the study were:
1. Chldren aged 8-1637 years n chld headed households, who had lost ther parents to
armed conflict and HIV/AIDS, lved n resource poor suburbs of Gulu Muncpalty, spendng nghts n nght commuters’ shelters, and studyng at dsplaced prmary schools wthn Gulu muncpalty.
37 No child had a birth certificate. The ages mentioned throughout this thesis are those which children told the author. CrossNo child had a birth certificate. The ages mentioned throughout this thesis are those which children told the author. Cross verification was done with records at the displaced primary schools where children attended and the records at the World Vision
2. Children identified through World Vson’s HIV/AIDS programme for chld headed households, who were takng care of bed-rdden parent(s) lvng n vllages
and camps wthn a 5-7 km radus from Gulu muncpalty.
3. Chldren (frequently boys) n chld headed households, whose parents had rented cheap housng for them n Gulu Town to prevent ther abducton.
4. Chldren whose parents were unable to care for them because they were ether mamed by landmnes, dsabled, or had drnkng problems.
5. Chldren and former chld solders lvng n abject poverty. Abject poverty was ncluded n addton to the four crtera above because there was a need to select a manageable (small number of study partcpants) or ethnographc sample and yet many chldren n Gulu muncpalty met the four crtera above. In addton, some chldren ndcated havng close kn who asssted them n varous ways, ncludng wth materal support, whle others lved on ther own wth no support.
Twenty-four chldren, who met the above crtera, were requested to be study partcpants. Chldren were told about the length of the study, what was requred of them, that they would be vsted regularly to dscuss ther health complants and quests for therapy, and that sometmes they would be called upon to be co-researchers. There was a delberate attempt to nclude both boys and grls. All the chldren who partcpated n ths study gave verbal consent and expressed wllngness to partcpate n an extensve study nvolvng frequent consultatons, sometmes n ther homes. These chldren showed ther ndvdual commtment through suggestng dfferent actvtes, ncludng workshops durng weekends and end of semester actvtes. Although other chldren were nvted for dscussons, and partcpated n surveys and other qualtatve technques, twenty-four chldren partcpated actvely throughout the entre phase of ethnographic fieldwork.
To ascertan whether the selected chldren were from chld headed households and met the four addtonal crtera n the study populaton selecton, chldren were asked specific questions about their origin, whether they knew where their parents lived, whether ther guardans took care of them, f they lved wthn the muncpalty or n camps, whether they spent nghts n nght commuters’ shelters, how they came to lve there, and for how long they had lved n a chld headed household. Chldren takng care of adult kn who were sckly due to HIV/AIDS were recruted nto the study va World Vson food dstrbuton ponts, whch regstered clents n ts antretrovral therapy
(ART) programme. The World Vson dstrct ART programme coordnator ntroduced sx wllng chld partcpants to the researcher who also explaned to them what the study was about and sought for ther consent to partcpate n the ethnographc research.
T
wo more children from St Kizito Alero-Cuku disclosed during interviews that their parents were regstered at Lacor Hosptal for regular medcne collecton. From chldren’s descrpton of ther parent’s health status and types of medcnes they accessed from Lacor hosptal, and through ntervews wth the parents, I recruted them n the study. The parents of the two chldren were regstered clents for ART at Lacor Hosptal as part of the Presdent’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relef (PEPFAR). The remanng eghteen chldren who extensvely partcpated n ths study were chldren who lved n chld headed households wthn Gulu town, orphans who spent nghts n shelters and attended dsplaced prmary schools.Recrutment of chldren for extensve follow-up seemed a consderable and tedous exercse for the followng reasons: 1) A substantal number of chldren, especally those who attended dsplaced prmary schools and lved n nght commuters’ shelters, met all the four orgnal crtera for partcpaton n the study; 2) Owng to the profound need to nclude only a lmted number of chldren for extensve follow-up, a substantal proporton was excluded, much as they met the study recrutment crtera. Hence, an addtonal crteron was added to the proposed four – ndcated n the eght month paper submtted to the Amsterdam School for Socal Scence Research (See Akello 2005); 3) Only chldren who lved n abject poverty and barely accessed ther daly basc needs, n addton to meetng the four crtera n sample selecton stated n (Akello 2005) were recruted nto the study. That s how twenty-four chldren were selected for ntensve and extensve partcpaton n the ethnographc research; 4) From the chldren selected, those excluded were sblngs, and a number of chldren who ‘knew’ the common crtera NGOs employed when recrutng chldren for ther projects. In order to nvestgate gender perspectves, both grls’ and boys’ llness experences and quest for therapy were examned. As n any ethnographc study, wllngness to partcpate was paramount. The chldren selected were of a mnmum age of eght, a decson premsed on chld development psychology assertons that t s from age eght that chldren are able to nterpret bodly changes, such as n the case of illnesses, and act upon them (APA 1990; Garmezy & Rutter 1985). As mentoned earler, the upper age lmt of sxteen years s consstent wth both the natonal and nternatonal age brackets for chldren.
2.2.2. Data collection
Katwikirize & Odong (2000), Weiss (2000) and Weiss et al. (2000) suggest techniques for rapd apprasal whch could be used to assess ssues pertnent for communtes, through ther partcpaton. Wess (2000) recommends the use of rapd assessment procedures (RAP) to dentfy what the populaton perceves as ther major problems or needs. Based on these prortes and avalable resources, NGOs and humantaran agences can select the ssue(s) to address. Rapd assessment procedures essentally involve a participatory problem-solving process, where beneficiaries identify and rank problems, analyze priority problems and their root causes, rank potential solutions to address root causes, and subsequently develop a plan to address top rankng solutons (Katwikirize & Odong 2000; Weiss 2000; Weiss et al. 2000). For example, results from a RAP among dsplaced persons n Gulu dstrct showed that lweny (nsecurty) and congeston are the two problems of greatest concern for the camp populaton. The other prorty problems were kec (hunger) – where the most vulnerable were dsabled persons, wdows or wdowers, and orphans or chld headed famles – and two (sckness), lack of land for cultvaton, lack of drugs, and poverty (Wess 2000). In addition to first hand data collection techniques used to elicit wartime boys’ and grls’ emic views, this study benefited from existing studies by various researchers in Gulu whch have extensvely assessed psychosocal dstress n chldren. Key nformants were also interviewed to explore their viewpoints about what children identified as healthcare ssues and to assess ther perspectves n provson of healthcare servces to chldren lvng n context of war. Nevertheless, chldren’s perspectves were central to ths study. Listed below are the specifically adapted techniques which I used for eliciting children’s perspectves durng data collecton.
Qualitative Techniques
1. Typical day: Chldren were requested to lst ther daly actvtes, the challenges