The social ecology of Malawi orphans
Date
1999
Authors
Okumu, Christopher
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Abstract
This is a study of HIV/ AIDS orphans in Malawi. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world but with one of the highest HIV seroprevalence. Peace Corps (1998) approximates that 13% of the Malawi population are infected with HIV/AIDS. All Africa News Agency (AANA) states that as of June 1998 there were over 600,000 orphans in Malawi. This is a doubling in three years of the 300,000 number reported in 1995. This study used a descriptive research design to outline the social environment of Malawi orphans using Bronfenbrenner's (I 979) Socio-ecological Perspective and Erikson's (1997) Life Cycle frameworks. The study used archival data from the Malawi project "Starting from Strengths" 1996-1998. The research methodology for the study was Content Analysis within the critical social science paradigm. The question in this research is "Who are the prominent individuals and institutions in the "social ecology" (Bronfenbrenner 1979) of orphans in Malawi and what is their impact on the development of these orphan-children?" The unveiling of the identity of individuals and institutions active in the social environment of Malawi orphans exposed the orphan-care social network and the key problems affecting orphan care in Malawi today. Orphans in patrilineal Malawi were found to be more "at risk" than those in the matrilineal cultural setting due to the differences in: the ages of care providers, the access to inheritance, and the prevalence of polygamy in the patrilineal cultural setting. Advocacy work for Malawi orphans grounded on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) is one intervention strategy that can empower orphan-families to take ownership of the fight against the HIV/ AIDS carnage. This study provides the leadership that is urgently needed in the fight to mitigate the plight of HIV/ AIDS orphans in Malawi and elsewhere and provides the stepping stone from which to launch future ecological studies.