Enabling households to successfully support young AIDS migrants in southern Africa.
Int Conf AIDS 2002 Jul 7-12; 14:(abstract no. LbPeE9048)
Ansell N, Young L Brunel University, Uxbridge, United Kingdom
Background Most southern African orphans are cared for by extended families, but the implications of the spatial dispersal of southern African families are seldom recognised: orphans migrate to new homes and communities. This paper compares orphans' migration experiences to assess how successful migration might best be supported. Methods Research was conducted in urban and rural communities in Lesotho and Malawi. Qualitative and quantitative methods were employed with 822 10-17 year olds, and 40 guardians. In particular, focus groups and storyboards were used to elicit children's AIDS-related migration experiences. Results Most children found migration traumatic in the short term, but over time many settled into new homes and communities. Although much AIDS policy in southern Africa stresses the role of communities, in practice communities were found to have little involvement in caring for in-coming children. Instead the burden lay with extended family households. Failed migrations, which resulted in renewed migration and trauma, were attributable to one of two household-level causes: a change (often economic) in guardians' circumstances; or orphans feeling discriminated against in their new families, including through harsh punishments, hard work and withdrawal from school. Sometimes this treatment was rooted in economic necessity. In other cases it reflected resentment of their presence in the household. Regardless of the cause, many such children chose to leave, moving either to other relatives or onto the streets. Conclusions Policy interventions to reduce disruption and trauma for young AIDS migrants should focus on enabling households to provide care. Reducing the economic costs of caring for children, particularly school-related costs, would help: allow children to stay with those relatives best able to meet their non-material needs; reduce the resentment of foster children in impoverished households; diminish the need for multiple migrations.
Keywords: AEGIS, Family Characteristics, Transients and Migrants, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Foster Home Care, Africa, Southern, Emigration and Immigration, Family, Residence Characteristics, Caregivers, Public Policy, Malawi, Lesotho, Child Welfare, Health Services Needs and Demand, Family Health, Child Health Services, Child of Impaired Parents, Child, Human, Economics
