Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

L’Abandon De L’Excision Au Sénégal D’Ici 2015: Une Analyse De La Collaboration Entre L’Ong Tostan Et Le Ministère De La Famille, Karen Kirk

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The practice of female genital cutting (FGC) in Senegal continues today despite a law banning its practice. This study is a discussion of the collaboration between the NGO Tostan and the Senegalese government (Direction of the Family) as they work toward their goal of complete abandonment of FGC in Senegal by 2015. It examines the different roles of these two entities and how this collaboration will make this goal a reality. Key interviews with representatives from Tostan, the Direction of the Family and a third party provide opinions about this collaboration and whether or not this goal is realistic. La …

Children On The Margins: A Case Study Of I Care's Hope Centre For Street Children In Durban, South Africa, Morgan Sullivan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Seeing street children was a new concept to me, but all too familiar to Durban, South Africa. It is something that had struck me and bothered me from my arrival here in South Africa and an issue that will trouble me for a lifetime. Working with I Care at the Hope Centre allowed me to get an inside look at the lives of some of these street children while building positive relationships with both the staff and the children alike. I began to see the children as children and saw past their rugged, stone-faced exteriors deep down to their desperate, …

“For They Shall Inherit The Earth”: Seeking Solutions For Durban’S Street Children, Allison La Fave

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As a visiting white, American female, I could not help but be struck by Durban’s highly visible population of young African boys in the streets and on the beachfront. Although my experiences at a student-run homeless shelter and in the Housing Unit of Boston Legal Services have made me well aware of urban poverty and racial inequality, I was nonetheless shocked to see the extent to which young people bear the brunt of the problem in one of Africa’s most “developed” young democracies. Interested in what, if any, measures were being taken to curb the problem, I began to investigate …

Tuberculosis Por Los Ojos De La Vida Aymara: La Correlación Entre Estilo De Vida Y Tuberculosis En Los Aymara Del Norte De Chile, Sam Percy

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Background: Explanations for disparities in health between groups of people are complex, and based in differences in genetics, environment, access to medical care, socioeconomic, educational, and cultural factors. In short a person’s lifestyle is inextricably related to a person’s health and their propensity to contract disease. Members of the indigenous group Aymara who live in Arica, Chile have 6 times the rate of morbidity from Tuberculosis (TB) as non-Aymara and 9 times the rate of mortality from the disease. This study examined if there was a link between the rate of TB amongst the Aymaran people and the way Aymarans …

Mitigating The Impact Of Aids On A Rural Community: Observations Of The Inner Workings Of A Rural Non-Governmental Organization, Kara Huselton

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this study project was to understand the impact of HIV/AIDS on a community and to assess the ability of a non-governmental organization to mitigate the negative effects of disease and poverty in the spaces where the government has failed to address community needs. The author observed employees at the Bhekuzulu Self Sufficient Project in rural KwaZulu Natal over a period of three and a half weeks in order to gain an understanding of the work done there. Secondary research was done to supplement these observations and better understand the social and economic impact of HIV/AIDS on a …

Bodhisattvas In The Pagoda And In The World: Socially Engaged Buddhism In Hue, Rachel Cotterman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

How do Buddhist pagodas and other Buddhist institutions, practices, and practitioners engage with the larger realm of society in Vietnam? Does the majority Mahayana Buddhist population enact this tradition's Boddhisatva ideal of helping all beings transcend suffering? What Buddhist teachings might provide a successful model for social engagement today? This paper addresses these questions in the context of the city of Hue, with an in depth case study at Tu Hieu pagoda that is situated within an investigation into the broader culture of Buddhism in this city.

Using participant observation, interviews, and literature reviewed, I explore the vibrant presence of …