Hosegood-Duerr

The paper presented by Lindsey Reynolds gave very interesting insights into the kinship relations among the modern Zulu in her study group. It would seem that a strong family structure still exists even though so many families have lost members to HIV/Aids. The small sample of children who are cited in the paper come across as very connected to kin in spite of their “vulnerability” or orphan status. Both readings seem to show that when one family member dies another family member slides into the role of caregiver of the orphaned child. And when the “new” caregiver dies the family re-groups again. My question here is “what happens to the family/child when there are not enough healthy family members to take care of the sick and the children?” It would seem at the rate of death from HIV/Aids and other causes mentioned in the Hosegood study that a point will be reached when the pensioners pass away where there will be few family members left in hard hit families to care for the orphaned children as well as the adult children who are alive but sick. I am also wondering how many of the orphaned children are HIV positive themselves and what are their chances of survival into adulthood. While this was not a concern of the papers I cannot help but wonder if there is any slow down of the spread of HIV/Aids in rural South Africa. 

One of the implications of the kinship research seems to be that the best ways to assist vulnerable children is to somehow support the family network of which they are a part. The children in Reynolds study on an average named eleven family members as being “relatives that were important to them in their lives.” When a child is connected to various relatives who serve as family, this kin group seems to be the network that needs the greatest support in any policy making decisions regarding the welfare of the orphaned and vulnerable children. 

Reading the Hosegood study gave me a view of sickness and death as the norm for the study families. Studying the impact of HIV/Aids on a household and watching and even participating in the bereavement process must be extremely painful for the researchers. I do not think it is possible to remain detached in this type of study.