Acknowledgements
Thank you to …
Kurt Madoerin who was a co-researcher and mentor and whose experience
with children and clear conceptual thinking has helped me to interpret what
the children have said.
Antidius Rutayuga who was a co-facilitator and interpreter, his gentle manner
and clear intelligence created a participatory environment in which the
children felt free to speak.
The staff of the Kwa Wazee Project for organising the groups of children, the
venue and all other logistics.
World Vision International for providing the funds to do this research.
Introduction
Many children have been left as orphans as a result of HIV and AIDS. In
much of Africa it is grandparents who have stepped into the care gap. In sub-
Saharan Africa the percentage of orphan children estimated to be living with
grandparents in 2000 was 61%
1
. Over 50% of children orphaned by the HIV
and AIDS pandemic in Tanzania live with their grandparents.
2
Given this situation it is important for us to begin to understand more about
the lived experience of children being brought up by grandparents. The Kwa
Wazee Project (see below) provided a unique opportunity to work with groups
of children living in elderly-headed households. This report is the result of a
series of participatory workshops with children who are part of the project. It
gives a useful understanding of the issues children are facing and directions
for policy and programme intervention. What is important is that the report is
based entirely on what the children have to say for,
If we are unaware of the problems and issues that concern children
and young people we cannot hope to devise strategies or solutions that
will address their concerns, and will constantly be struggling to make
sense of the world without some of the vital information we need.
3
This study is a companion study to a study that looks at the impact of a cash
transfer on the lives of the grandparents and the children in their households.
4
The reports should be read together.
Kwa Wazee Project
The Kwa Wazee Project is a project that works with grandparents and their
children in the Kagera district of Tanzania (see red arrow on map).
1
UNAIDS (2004). Children on the Brink 2004: A Joint Report of New Orphan Estimates and a
Framework for Action. New York: UNAIDS, UNICEF, USAID
2
Clark, F and R. Monasch (2004). “
Grandparents’ growing role as carers,” Ageing and Development,
Issue 16, June 2004.
3
Ivan-Smith E and Johnson V (1998) The Way Forward. In Stepping Forward. Children and young
people's participation in the development process. London: Intermediate Technology Publications
p299
4
Hofmann, S, Heslop, M. Clacherty, G and Kessey, F. (2008) Salt, Soap And Shoes for School
The Impact of Social Pensions on the Lives of Older People and Grandchildren in the Kwa Wazee
Project. Tanzania. Dar es Salaam: REPSSI, Help Age International, SDC:
www
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps
/africa/tanzania_pol_2003
.
The main activity of the Kwa Wazee Project is to provide a cash transfer
(pension) to grandparents (mostly grandmothers). The project started at the
end of 2003. Grandmothers are selected based on several vulnerability
factors such as age, lack of a relative who provides regular remittance, lack of
land to farm etc. Grannies in five areas - Nshamba and the neighbouring
villages of Ngenge, Mubunda, Kishanda and Buganguzi get small monthly
pensions for themselves (TShs 6000) and for the grandchildren they support
(TShs 3000 each). By September 2007, 560 grannies and 502 grandchildren
had received support.
In addition psychosocial support groups are run with some of the
grandparents and grandchildren.
This report is based on discussions held with about 70 of the children who are
part of the Kwa Wazee Project. Some of the children were part of the regular
monthly psychosocial support meetings (30) and the others were children who
participated in the Impact Study referred to above (40). Both children from
households where a cash grant was received and children from households
that had not yet accessed a grant (20) are represented in this study.