Research that Benefits Children and Families

     In my life experiences, most families I have had contact with have children and some adult to care for them.  In sub-Saharan Africa there are households that have no adult. They are called child-headed households.  Some people attribute it to the AIDS epidemic.  There has not been a lot of research conducted in this area.  In my dreams my positive contribution to this study would be to supply data that would convince people of Africa that AIDS is not a death sentence, respecting women of this continent is paramount, practicing safe sex is possible, and taking medication is not taboo.

     In a perfect world, my research results would convince people to have the courage to be tested, believe the doctors results and recommendations and have hope for a long life living with AIDS.  My research results would also reduce the incidences of child-headed households due to relatives understanding the disease and coming forward to care for the children left behind.

  

My Personal Research Journey

My Personal Research Journey

 I chose the topic the effects living in informal settlements in Sub-Saharan Africa has on children’s health.  I chose this topic due to my experience volunteering in schools in informal settlements and seeing children coming to school with ring worm, untreated skin conditions and other illnesses that clearly needed medical attention. 

The research process seems a bit intimidating. I do not have prior experience with researching so any help from my colleagues would be appreciated. I’m sure I will rely heavily on the text book and other resources from the class. One resource in particular is, A practical guide to reading research articles, has been particularly helpful. In this article I learned reading the entire article is not necessary.

For those of you lacking experience like me, remember it’s all a process.  If we take it one step at a time, I’m sure we will be successful.

ReferencesLepuschitz, J.K. (2011).  A practical guide to reading research articles.  Laureate Education Inc., Baltimore, MD.

    

 

    

 

 

Family Comes First

I took the summer off from studying to travel to the United States. My break included seeing relatives and travelling to universities my daughter is interested in attending. That included 11 universities across the Southeast United States. My family comes first but I'm glad to be back home in South Africa and at Walden!