CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
4.4 Results for research interviews
Interviews were conducted to support and provide complementary data to the questionnaire. The interview questions were designed in accrdance with the research questions in order to obtain more views regarding the impact of SEs on CD. The interviews were held with participants as shown in Table.
87 Table 4.18: Interview participants
Categories Respondents
General questions about SEhip (for habitant) 5
Project related questions (for individual SEs) 2
Project related questions (SOs) 2
Total 9
4.4.1 General questions about SEs for inhabitants
What do SEs mean to you?
It was said by all of five (5) interviewees that SEs meant a source of change to the people in need in their community. The interviewees’ responses pointed directly to Dees (1998:54), who states that whether they are individuals or charitable organisations, SEs are recognised as a powerful change agent for developing communities. Further, one respondent had to say:
As a part of the community it means a lot to me because in terms of development they see the future based on what they are doing currently and see where they going with what they have.
Do you believe that it is possible to combine SEs with inhabitants of the area they serve in order to promote CD?
The majority of four (4) interviewees’ responses pointed to the effectiveness of synergy in terms of changing and developing the community. For these interviewees, efforts between SEs and habitants combined together will have great impact on development.
This result is tied to Lombard and Strydom (2011:333), where the authors justify the importance of involving the local population. They pointed out that CD is all about local communities supporting the programs presented by SEs. One of the responses was as follows:
Combining SEs and populations will make a difference in the community because we are all part of the community; and what they have as an idea and what I have also as an idea could be used to educate people on a big scale.
88 Why should anyone recognise and support them?
Of the interviewees, the majority of three (3) indicated that one should recognise and support SEs as they represent efforts driven to make a difference in the community.
These thoughts are parallel to Davids (2005:18), who stated that social implication in either decision making or implementation of development programmes usually turn those participants that are willing to support the programme to a complete actor in the development process where the benefit of the development opportunity will be shared.
One respondent went on to indicate that:
Social entrepreneurship is a movement that one should know and support because it brings experience and change in one’s life; and one should also support it to make sure that it continues in the future.
What they are doing wrong?
In finding out what SEs are doing wrong, all of the interviewees pointed directly to the lack of focus in terms of activity, purpose and initiative. These views resonate with Gilliss’ (2011:256) study as illustrated earlier. According to the author, even if SEs are selected to be provide sustainable solutions. In practice, this is a major issue as SEs are unable to create sustainable activities that will maintain the sustainability of its outcomes. One respondent went on to say:
There is no right and wrong, but SEs present a certain lack in accountability, they do not want to feel responsible for what they are doing and sometimes act without purpose.
How would you like community to develop?
Of the interviewees, the majority of four (4) expressed that the youth should be a priority for any plan designed for CD. One went further to say:
In the community if people can start to have the willingness of trying to do things without expecting anything in return, the community will develop in many ways. I want people to work with their open mind in the community and assist youths in directing them as they are keys of change.
89 4.4.2 General questions about social entrepreneurship (for SEs)
Could you describe the projects you have been involved in within promoting CD?
In order to understand the activity involved in promoting CD, SEs were asked to describe their activities. Below are some responses from the interview:
As a non-governmental organisation, we have a lot of projects we have been involved in. First, we are concentrated in counselling where we invite fathers to do post parenting as we believe fathers are usually not involved when it comes to their children or engage in family reintegration.
We do create centres of training that are held to motivate and develop skills in young people in order for them to be independent and employable. This also opens doors for the community as the people that come for training are not only for our area but from other areas also.
What need does the project fulfil in the community?
SEs were asked the needs of their projects that they pursue in the community. The interviewed responded:
The need is to bring the family together. The stronger the family, the better community, as we see it. The relationship between the fathers and their children is widening these days, as those children somehow grow up undirected and end up on the street doing drugs and committing crimes, so we trying to close that gap.
Which target group does the project reach out to?
The interviewed SEs responded to the question related to the target group their project is reaching as follows:
Our target is everybody and there are no limits, both the young and adults with needs are welcome. The space is for the community to alleviate their needs, so we do not choose a specific target but we serve everyone.
90 How do you communicate your project to stakeholders?
The researcher asked SEs about how they planned to communicate the project to the community. They interviewees had to say:
We do communicate our project through meetings and during the appearance of our people in needs; where we get a chance to speak to them about current and upcoming projects or events.
We also make the use of flyers and other media such us newspapers.
Word of mouth has been the usual method of communicating our projects to the community. We also recently included social media to spread to the community about what we are doing.
4.4.3 Discussion of results from interviews
The meaning of what SEs represent to the communities is viewed as very important because communities believe in SEs’ involvement in changing their community. The communities expressed their concern as they should be supporting SEs as they represent a movement of change in their deprived communities. The efforts between SEs and the communities have to be tight as synergy in exchanging ideas and working together might bring big scales of change. Lack of focus is a concern regarding the implementation of certain activities and initiatives from SEs.
The interviews show that different projects were undertaken to promote CD such as counselling, training and others designed in order to serve the overall community without boundary. Even if the project is designed to help the whole community, the concern of the youth is the most targeted group where more attention was focused. The communication method to spread the message concerning activity is through different media such as newspaper and mostly word of mouth.