IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRAINING PROGRAMME IN MPOPHOMENI

Comparison of Professional 'others' versus Caregivers

4.7 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRAINING PROGRAMME IN MPOPHOMENI

stop. And those who don't have

a

certificate, can come and catch up and that has given me enormous confidence that we can go on with

a

group of dedicated trainees, friends, CDRC helpers to take the CDRC message further.

The director clearly felt encouraged by the relationships developed and the participants' enthusiasm for the work of the CORC.

from the community was the deciding factor that made this course so successful.

She said:

.... ..1think this is what held it, plus the fact that she was an inspired trainer and she had people visiting her home for extra training extra information.

But it was community-based trainees from the community.

This therefore indicates the potential for community development via empowered members of the same community.

4.7.2 Feedback regarding the specific modules

All of the participants interviewed gave very positive comments about the various modules. The research assistant conducting the focus groups was not known to them in any capacity, and there was no fear of being 'rejected' from the CDRC if they did make negative comments since they were not affiliated to it in any way.

Some of the general positive comments made by the participants in terms of awareness of disability and acceptance were:

• Not to believe in witchcraft or that you inherit it (disability) or that it is somebody's fault.

• I learn not to leave my child inside or hide her but to involve her in the community.

• As adisabled person, I feel accepted in the community after this.

• You can have an affair with

a

disabled, they can love and have relationships.

In terms of the various skills the participants were shown, it appears they learnt a great deal.

• For

a

disabled child to play, it helps for her to develop.

• You don't need togoto the shop to buy toys, but you need to make them.

• To hold

a

child in

a

goodposition can stop the damage to be worse.

The weaknesses in the programme that the participants suggested related to the venue:

• The place was fine butas a disabled person I had a problem with the

door,

it was

too

tight forme.

• The place was

too

^{small and}we were disturbed by those people who were in and out.

An interesting comment was that one participant did not like being taught in Zulu. She was thinking about how to use this training as part of her

employment. She said:

Our trainer was teaching us in Zulu but we will have a problem if we go and work somewhere else.

Most of the negative comments and requests for improvement were related to the course being more practical and the strong desire to visit day care centers and actively gain experience with disabled children. This is demonstrated in the following comments:

• We weresuppose to have the disabled children present just tosee them and to practice.

• We would like to seethose centers where the disabled children are.

• Its much clearer to learn something in front of us, like disabled children, sPeCial chairs, standing frames.

A positive outcome that came from the training course was that many

participants wanted to build a day care center in Mpophomeni. As a result of this, a committee was started involving some of the graduates, and a centre was developed in 2000. It was named after the 'original' community worker's

disabled child. Three of the graduates started working on a voluntary basis.

Understandably, since they attend everyday and generally run the entire center

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they are currently requesting some form of monetary recognition. To date, the situation is that the center may close down unless these resources are found.

This chapter of the research project has intended to present and analyse the findings according to an action research model. The data came from three sources and three research assistants. This data was combined and provided a qualitative evaluation of the course, according to each specific module and to the overall running of the course. The final section presented the differences noted between the Mpophomeni course and the CORC based course.

The following chapter will summarise and discuss these findings in the light of the literature presented in Chapter Two.

The following chapter explores the findings that were presented in Chapter four and discusses them in the context of the literature review. Due to the nature of these findings, it proved more comprehensive to summarise and discuss them in terms of the strengths and limitations of the training programme and relate these various points directly to the literature presented. As such this chapter consists of two sections, namely: a discussion of the findings and recommendations for future training initiatives in the area of caring for disabled children. This chapter also responds to the final research question, viz: to inform future training

initiatives on the content and the mode of delivery of training caregivers in the area of caring for disabled children.

At the outset, it is important to emphasise that the conceptualisation and delivery of the training programme arose out of a strong humanistic element on the part of both the director and the staff of the CORe. They identified a need in the population with whom they had daily contact and they wanted to provide the appropriate intervention to meet these needs. This earnest and sincere response to a perceived need is commendable and deserves adequate

recognition from the participants and the researchers involved. Their work gives us the opportunity for examining, reflecting and evaluating the nature of the intervention. It is hoped that such efforts will contribute to planning and

undertaking interventions dealing with disabled children in South Africa, in ways that help to ensure more effective and sustainable support for disabled children, their caregivers and communities.

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