"Child" Headed Households in Rwanda: Challenges of Definition and Livelihood Needs Maclellan, M.E
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"Child" headed households in Rwanda: challenges of definition and livelihood needs MacLellan, M.E. Submitted version deposited in CURVE December 2014 Original citation: MacLellan, M.E. (2010). "Child" headed households in Rwanda: challenges of definition and livelihood needs. Unpublished PhD Thesis. Coventry: Coventry University Copyright © and Moral Rights are retained by the author. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This item cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Some materials have been removed from this thesis due to third party copyright. Pages where material has been removed are clearly marked in the electronic version. The unabridged version of the thesis can be viewed at the Lanchester Library, Coventry University. CURVE is the Institutional Repository for Coventry University http://curve.coventry.ac.uk/open “Child” Headed Households in Rwanda: Challenges of Definition and Livelihood Needs M E MACLELLAN 2010 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the University‟s requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy COVENTRY UNIVERSITY i Abstract This study is centred on the phenomenon of the child headed household in Rwanda. Such households have become an increasingly common occurrence in Sub-Saharan Africa, as a result, in particular, of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This has caused millions of children to become orphaned, and has brought about new coping mechanisms. The case of Rwanda, however, differs from the majority of countries which have experienced the emergence of these households. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that its child headed households are a legacy of two major factors, that of genocide as well as HIV/AIDS. The genocide of 1994 resulted in the death of an estimated 800,000 people, and prompted mass displacement and estrangement of the majority of the population. There has been considerable interest in Rwanda‟s progress following the genocide on the part of academics, NGOs and development practitioners. Whilst some of this has focused on children and the vulnerable, the long term perspective has not been sufficiently considered. This research set out to address this by undertaking a longitudinal study over four years examining the child headed household in Rwanda. A core group of 42 households formed the sample, taken from urban, peri-urban, and rural areas and from a refugee camp. In the first place the study explores the definition of “child headed household” and offers a typology of the phenomenon. Second, it offers an analysis based on field work of the livelihood challenges to the children within these households, including the basic survival needs of land and property inheritance, income generation and education. Finally the psychosocial needs of the child headed households for acceptance and participation within communities were considered. This work considers the challenges to livelihood survival and the non-material needs of those in child headed households in Rwanda within the realities of daily life. It concludes that child headed households need to be redefined in terms of age, composition, and their particular narratives, and their variable composition is i an integral characteristic. The livelihood needs of CHHs are particularly challenged by the lack of opportunities for income generation, access to land rights and changes in household life, including revisions in programmes and policies. Furthermore the non-material needs of the children in these households are often unacknowledged; their stories frequently portray a lack of family and community support, marginalisation and isolation, which contests widely held and historic understandings of family and community. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly I should like to show my appreciation and gratitude to Pete Andrews and Chrissie and Jano Mulindabigwi of Inkuru Nziza, Kigali. They generously welcomed me into their organisation, facilitated meetings, transport and interpreters, and showed unending support and encouragement. Without their selfless help this research would have not been possible - they are salt and light in Rwanda. Secondly thanks are due to my supervisory team from Coventry University, Professors Bruce Baker, Hazel Barrett and Roy May, for their support both here and in Rwanda. I would also like to thank Ingrid Hutchison and Sue McHugh for their help as research assistants, and for being prepared to abandon family temporarily to travel to Rwanda with me; also thanks to Sue Cutter for her great support and advice in the UK. François, whose help in interpreting with me, and conducting interviews in my absence, has also played an important part in accomplishing this and I am very grateful to him and wish him well for the future. Central to this work, however, was the cooperation of child headed households in Rwanda; I am filled with admiration for these young people who graciously welcomed me, and were prepared to open their homes and hearts to me for this research; I thank them wholeheartedly and am humbled by their lives. Finally I would like to thank my husband and children who have borne my absences when on field trips and working at home, and have always given me the greatest encouragement, love and support. Bless you all. iii Table of Contents Page Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Chapter 2: RWANDA PAST AND PRESENT: POLITICS, SOCIETY AND THE CHILD HEADED HOUSEHOLD 11 2.1 Background 12 2.2 The Course of the Genocide 16 2.3 Consequences and Demography 19 2.4 The Impact of AIDS 22 2.5 The Child Headed Household 23 2.6 Rwandan Government: Policy and Vision Post Genocide 25 Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODS 31 3.1 Theoretical Perspectives 31 3.2 Qualitative Research 32 3.3 Research with Children 35 3.4 Sampling 36 3.5 The Sample Group 39 3.6 Research Structure 43 3.7 Methodological Tools: Theory and Practice 49 3.8 Challenges Encountered in using Methodological Tools 57 3.9 Positionality and Ethics 59 3.10 Interview Dynamics 62 3.11 Realities and Context 70 3.12 Triangulation 71 3.13 Personality and Positionality 74 3.14 Limitations in the Research Methods 75 iv 3.15 Summary of Research Method 77 Chapter 4: DEFINITIONS AND CHALLENGES: THE CHILD HEADED HOUSEHOLD– A LITERATURE REVIEW 79 4.1 Definitions of Orphans 80 4.2 Age as Definition 84 4.3 Household Definition 86 4.4 The Child Headed Household 89 4.5 AIDS 101 4.6 Livelihood Needs 103 4.7 Psychosocial Needs: Safety and Belonging 110 4.8 Rwanda and the Child Headed Household 114 4.9 Definitions: The Rwandan Context 115 4.10 Livelihood Needs: Rwanda 119 4.11 Psychosocial Needs: Rwanda 126 4.12 Locus of Research 128 Chapter 5: DEFINITION: THE CHILD HEADED HOUSEHOLD AND RWANDA 130 5.1 Age and the Child: Limitations 131 5.2 Childhood: Concepts and Realities 132 5.3 The Rwandan Experience 143 5.4 Numerical Age 143 5.5 Experiences and Childhood 145 5.6 Household: Definition and Reality 147 5.7 Processes of Formation 151 5.8 Reasons for Formation 154 5.9 Failure of Coping Systems 156 5.10 Household Size 161 5.11 Household Roles 174 v Chapter 6: CHALLENGES OF LIVELIHOOD NEEDS: LAND, INCOME GENERATION, AND EDUCATION 180 6.1 Needs and Livelihood 181 6.2 Land and Property 184 6.3 Land and Orphans 187 6.4 Housing Arrangements 194 6.5 Income Generation 210 6.6 Income Generation Changes Over Time 225 6.7 Education 233 6.8 Secondary School: Impacts of the Boarding System 246 6.9 University and the Sample Group 247 6.10 Vocational Training and the Sample Group 250 Chapter 7: PSYCHOSOCIAL NEEDS: SAFETY AND BELONGING IN THE CHILD HEADED HOUSEHOLD 257 7.1 Security and Protection 259 7.2 Belonging and Community 265 7.3 The Rwandan Community 267 7.4 Community Support 271 7.5 Ethnicity 274 7.6 Community: Marginalisation and Participation 276 Chapter 8: POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS 287 8.1 Disaster Management 287 8.2 Defining Child in “Child Policies” 288 8.3 Information dissemination 288 8.4 Appropriate programme provision 290 8.5 Community 291 vi Chapter 9: CONCLUSION 294 References 303 Appendices 328 vii Index of Figures Page Figure 1.1 Structure of thesis 8 Figure 1.2 Map – Rwanda with interview locations 9 Figure 1.3 Map – Child Headed Household locations: Kigali 10 Figure 3.1 Sample classification 47 Figure 3.2 Carine‟s drawing: household composition 53 Figure 3.3 Household roles: researcher‟s pictorial prompts 54 Figure 3.4 The child/adult paradox 56 Figure 3.5 Interview dynamic 63 Figure 3.6 Possible Individuals present at interviews 66 Figure 3.7 “Triangulation” of Joceline‟s story 73 Figure 3.8: Doughnut diagram: community integration 77 Figure 4.1 Household structures 88 Figure 4.2 Impact of HIV/AIDS on Coping Capacity for Orphans 97 Figure 4.3 Reasons for establishment of child headed households 100 Figure 4.4 The link between children‟s property rights and other rights 107 Figure 5.1 Adult/child model in CHH 138 Figure 5.2 Child headed household formation model 152 Figure 5.3 Child headed household formation: parent alive 154 Figure 5.4 Catalysts of CHH formation 155 Figure 5.5 CHH – causes of formation 156 Figure 5.6 Timeline of Carine‟s household 163 Figure 5.7 Carine‟s household over 3 visits (4 years) 164 Figure 5.8 Intergenerational households led by “children” 167 Figure 6.1 Maslow‟s Hierarchy of Needs 182 Figure 6.2 DFID‟s Sustainable livelihoods framework 183 Figure 6.3 Housing histories 194 Figure