African Languages and Societies Commons^™

A Displaced People: Documenting The History And Displacement Of The Batwa Tribe In Bundibugyo District, Uganda., Marcos S. Turk

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Batwa in Bundibugyo are an indigenous minority group that originated in the forest of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since then, various displacement factors have taken effect that have forced them out of the forest. Currently they live in Bundibugyo District, Uganda. This study aimed at identifying those displacement factors while also investigating Batwa history and culture as they are a relatively undocumented group. The Batwa have various traditions they established while in the forest, such as unique methods for hunting forest animals. Because Uganda forced them out of the forest, many of their cultural practices no longer occur. …

Investigating White Hegemonic Masculinity Among Sadf Veterans In Durban, James Marculitis

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In order to enforce apartheid at every level of South African society, the national party government required their white male security forces to share a uniform identity and ideology. This ideology relied on a hegemonic masculinity that would be willing to aggressively protect racism, patriarchy, and cultural conservatism. A whole generation of white men are now reckoning with living in an entirely new country, one where their white masculine identities are not able to be practiced in the same way as they were under an oppressive racist regime. This study will build on existing literature of masculinity in South Africa …

Analysis Of The Moroccan Government & Ngos Responses To Migrant Health Crisis, Jepchirchir Mutwol

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Healthcare access in Morocco for migrants has been a topic of growing interest. With the implementation of migration reforms in response to Morocco becoming a destination for migrants, it is important to assess the effectiveness of government policies in aiding migrant health. Additionally, assessing other political actors' influence in government policies is equally important. Through research of existing scholarship, I theorize that the biggest issue impacting migrant access to health is the illegalization of migrants. Without being a legal resident, let alone in asylum or a refugee, migrants cannot access public health services without the fear of deportation. Local and …

Cbos As A Tool For Sustainable Community Development: The Case In Kapchorwa, Annie Manges

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this research was to assess the ability of Community Based Organizations, or CBOs, in the Kapchorwa District of Uganda to create long-term and sustainable community development that meets the needs of their community. To provide the necessary context for the study, I conducted a literature review of poverty in Uganda, theory in sustainable and community development, the connection of CBOs to sustainable community development, challenges and strengths for CBOs, and the general context of the structure of and the regulations for a CBO in Uganda.

The participants in the research were members of CBOs in the Kapchorwa …

Landmine Removal In Post-Conflict Rwanda: The Connection Between Demining, Reconstruction, And Reconciliation, Riley Hinklin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Landmine contamination negatively impacts the health, safety, and economic potential of the affected community. As such, removal of landmines, or demining, is an essential part of post-conflict recovery. Tied to this idea, is the idea of mine action, which goes beyond just demining to include other measures such as education and assistance to help the communities impacted by mines. This study looks at the application of the principles of mine action in Rwanda, a country which saw landmines used during the civil war and 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi. From there, the study explores possible connections between mine action and …

A Hidden Emergency: Transgenerational Inheritance In The Next Generation Of Rwandans, Neila Gross

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Cases of physiological and psychological health disorders in the generation succeeding generation of the 1994 genocide are rising at an alarming pace. The presented work herein details a qualitative and quantitative approach to understanding the transmission of trauma from the surviving population of the 1994 Genocide Against Tutsi in their offspring using the APA PTSD System Scale-Interview (PSS-I). Several variables including age, gender and background were employed in this study. The results indicate that offspring born of targeted survivors of the 1994 Genocide Against Tutsi show increased trends of experiencing PTSD symptoms with children born in 1994 exhibiting the greatest …

Development-Induced Displacement In Kiryandongo District: A Case Study Of The Karuma Hydroelectric Power Plant, Remington Fritz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper assesses the effects of the development induced displacement due to the Karuma Hydroelectric Power Plant on the Awoo village and surrounding areas in Karuma Town. Recently, Uganda has pursued several large-scale development projects that have repeatedly displaced people. Despite having strong displacement and resettlement framework, there is a continued pattern of failing to implement such framework, threatening the livelihood and well-being of those displaced.

Interview with key informants from several government agencies, such as the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development the National Environmental Management Authority and Ugandan Generation Electricity Company Ltd have illustrated the political framework and …

Through The Eyes Of Lawyers And Advocates: Navigating The Court System For Women Impacted By Domestic Violence In Morocco, Emily Atieh

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

How do Moroccan women impacted by domestic violence navigate criminal legal systems in Morocco? Is the progressive family law present in Morocco due to recent reforms fully implemented in court systems? How can systems be improved to better support women impacted by violence? This study originally sought to answer these questions by surveying lawyers at NGOs in the Rabat area who act as advocates for women impacted by domestic violence. As a result of their expansive knowledge of criminal legal systems and experiences aiding hundreds of women, lawyers are in a unique position to critique the criminal legal system and …

The Modern-Day Sand War: A New Dimension Of The Morocco-Algeria Conflict Explored Through Youth, Alec Stimac

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Since the 1963 Sand War, there has been a constant progression of tension between the countries of Morocco and Algeria. From physical space–the Western Sahara and border denotation–to diplomatic relations, Morocco and Algeria may never be the same after their colonization in the early 19th century. Due to the rise in extremist rhetoric, political accusations, economic instability, and social violence, the Moroccan-Algerian relationship can only get worse from here. Do these signs point to a modern-day Sand War approaching? This paper seeks to examine the existence of a modern-day Sand War and its consequences, specifically through the lens of youth …

The Multi-Step Approach To Covid Prevention In The Casamance Region, Saraí Hernandez Salguero

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Located in the Oussouye Department approximately 43 kilometers away from the city of Ziguinchor in the Basse Casamance region of southern Senegal is the Oussouye commune where I had the pleasure of staying for three weeks. I had learned that the inhabitants of this village were not significantly impacted by the Covid-19 virus since it became global knowledge at the start of 2020. As of March 2020, the village had only reported 69 active cases and the department saw only 8 deaths in total. I sought to figure out what could be the cause of this and through a series …

The Gap Between Policy And The People: A Case Study Of The Buikwe Fishing Communities, Capri Gutiérrez

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

To examine the implementation of Local Government development planning in periphery and hard to reach communities in Uganda, the fishing villages of the Buikwe District were used as a case study. The objective of the study was to explore how Local Government development planning is implemented in the fishing villages to identify gaps. Implementation was broken down into three areas: consultations, needs and services, and service delivery.

The study mimicked the bottom-up approach to decentralized development planning in Uganda, beginning with seven focus group discussions in five fishing villages of Buikwe. Eleven key informant interviews were then conducted with Local …

Disability And Healthcare Access In Morocco: Social And Cultural Influences, Christa Shipman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

I stepped into the SIT Multiculturalism and Human Rights program as a pre-physical therapy student with experience working and volunteering in the disability rights arena. Striking personal encounters with Moroccans combined with these past experiences drew me to investigate how social and cultural factors influence access to healthcare for people with disabilities. I hypothesized that access to medical care is limited by social or cultural mindsets, perceptions, or beliefs for those in my target population. This subject is relevant to Morocco as a developing country and as a society with, in some cases, fixed social dynamics, while in other areas …

Analyzing The Social Impact Of Gacaca Courts In The Reconciliation Process In Rwanda, Mary Thibodeau

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Restorative justice is often misunderstood by Western academia in the context of community-based justice systems in African nations. The Gacaca courts used in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi are frequently criticized for their procedures and outcomes. However, a majority of these criticisms come from Western authors without having engaged in conversations with Rwandans and observing the effects of the trials within the nation. The only people who know and understand the impact of the Gacaca courts are Rwandans. I have been researching how the Gacaca trials contributed to homegrown solutions and their impact within communities in Rwanda …

Gender-Based Violence During The 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic: New Challenges And Adaptations At Haguruka, Asia Korkmaz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Haguruka is a Rwandan NGO founded in 1991 that works to ensure Rwandan women and youth’s access to their legal rights. In addition to providing free legal aid, Haguruka runs educational and capacity building programs across the country to combat gender-based violence (GBV).1 When the Rwandan government instituted lockdown measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in January of 2020, many of Haguruka’s programs were no longer feasible under the new guidelines. Additionally, emerging research has shown that incidents of GBV have increased globally due to policies to combat COVID-19.2 Rwanda is no exception. Through a desk review, …

Understanding Residential Segregation: Community Relations And Marginalization For Migrants From South Of The Sahara In Rabat, Morocco, Ben Hickman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Migrants from South of the Sahara living in Rabat face violence as they attempt to navigate public space. The majority of these migrants live in the neighborhoods of Takkadoum and Yacoub al Mansour. Even within these two neighborhoods, migrants must manage and avoid racially motivated violence. This paper explores these two neighborhoods and the lives of migrants within these neighborhoods, how they find or create safe space, community relations between migrants and Moroccans, and their experience of segregation/separation. Understandings of defended neighborhoods and immigrant integration founded a theoretical basis for this paper, thus better exploring how migrants settle in new …

E-Waste Shouldn’T Be Waste: A Study On The Practices, Perceptions, And Policies On E-Waste In Urban Arusha, Tanzania, Melanie Mckenzie

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study examines the e-waste stream in urban Arusha, answer the questions of where electronics go, how people usually dispose of them, if people are aware of the impacts of e-waste, and what next steps are necessary. The study took place in November 2019 in urban Arusha, Tanzania. Through snowball and convenience sampling in 4 quotas (community members, electricians, business members, and a policy maker), the study finds that there is no place for the proper disposal of e-waste in Arusha. Many electronics are disposed of improperly by being put into the landfill or burned. Most participants were unaware of …

Foreign Direct Investment In Kigali’S Special Economic Zone And Its Impact On Rwanda’S Economic Reconstruction, Sabrina Roberts

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Vision 2020 is a development strategy implemented by the Rwandan government. It aims to make Rwanda a middle-income country with a per capita income of $1240 USD. One pillar of this strategy is increasing regional and international integration. The Kigali Special Economic Zone (KSEZ) was created in direct response to this pillar.

The paper begins with an introduction to Rwanda’s post-conflict economic situation and goes on to describe and explain the role that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the KSEZ has played in reconstructing the Rwandan economy. The study focuses on the impacts of the KSEZ and the significance of …

Multicultural Narratives: Language As A Site Of Struggle For Amazigh Rights Activism In Morocco, Joyce Lee

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Moroccan constitutional monarchy’s officialization of the Amazigh language in 2011 was its response to a building coalition for Amazigh rights, which simultaneously narrowed and broadened the scope of the Amazigh Rights movement. This study’s purpose was to analyze Tamazight as it has currently manifested in the urban space of Rabat as a site of struggle for Amazigh people. The questions the study attempts to answer are: a) Has the Moroccan government found success in its chosen goal of standardization of the Tamazight language in schools? b) Do Amazigh activists share this same goal? c) Whose needs do the goals …

Motorbike-Related Injuries & Safety Practices Among Motorbike Riders In Kisumu, Western Kenya In 2019, Rowan Poehler

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Road traffic injuries are a growing public health problem throughout the world. Kenya has is known for having unsafe roads with an estimated 13,463 road traffic fatalities in 2016 and 24% of road traffic fatalities coming from 2-and 3-wheeled vehicles (WHO, 2018). This study sought to analyze road safety measures and road traffic injuries amongst motorbike taxi drivers in Kisumu, Kenya. A qualitative survey was administered to 152 motorbike taxi drivers in Kisumu over a two-week period in April 2019. The results were then analyzed. Results showed that 70% of drivers owned a helmet for themselves and 48.3% of drivers …

Home And Healing In The In-Between: Migrant And Refugee Mental Health In Tunisia, Donia Torabian

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research is a study of migrant conceptions of home and healing in Tunisia. It seeks to understand the ways in which migration, trauma, and healing interact as lived experiences for people who migrate for various reasons to Tunisia. Using past research from Terre d’Asile and Médecins du Monde, the research seeks to understand the main risk and protective factors of migrant mental health. The research is a qualitative study of the ways in which migrants identify with having experienced trauma and the healing practices they may have brought to or learned in Tunisia. It also hopes to build connections …

Perspectives On Community Policing Of Durban Juveniles Living On The Streets, Dena Cheng

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The aim of this project is to critically analyze the structure and performance of the South African Police Service (SAPS) at the nexus of juvenile criminal justice and homelessness. Facing issues of social discord, legitimacy, and patterns of corruption following the era of apartheid, SAPS plays a critical role in both preventing as well as eliminating crime. Therefore, this project focuses on a particularly marginalized community, under-aged street children, since the treatment of youth crime and/or criminality in Durban serves as a microcosm of a larger system of practices implemented by SAPS. Through in-depth interviews with local social workers, a …

"Root Causes Not Symptoms": Sustainable Organizational Structures, Réseau De Lutte Contre La Faim: The Decision-Making Process In Combatting Systemic Issues, Ambar Deleon

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper attempts to understand the basis for how an organization structures itself and their vision. This research draws its focus to the civil society sector in Cameroon, particularly looking at Reseau de Lutte Contre la Faim (RELUFA) and their organizational structure in the battling against systemic issues. The main research question for this study looked at how RELUFA reflects and monitors its performance to keep the organization sustainable in the long-term. For this research the methodology included interviews, observations and secondary resources along with tertiary resources that offered the context for the analytical part of this research. The interviews …

Z4, A Slow Puncture: An Autoethnographic Exploration Of Language, Embodiment, And Meaning-Making, Charlotte Rose Samuels

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In my ISP, I explored language as it relates to the ways in which people living in Cato Manor make sense of HIV/AIDS in their community. With 7.1-7.2 million people living with HIV (PLWHIV) in South Africa, individuals across the country are either infected or affected by illness. KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), the province with the highest rate of HIV, is also the province that was surveyed with the disproportionately highest internal stigma rates for PLWHIV. High prevalence of HIV, particularly in KZN, calls for a constant contextualization of life in the presence of illness.

Throughout the world, metaphor and symbolism is …

From The American People: An Autoethnographic Exploration Of South African Ngos' Perceptions Of Pepfar, Antonia Asher

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The aim of this research was to understand what the ideal partnership would be between United States (US) governmental aid agencies and South African non-governmental organizations (NGOs), specifically concerning HIV/AIDS programs funded by the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), from the perspective of NGOs. PEPFAR is the largest relief fund for a single disease; thus, I additionally sought to deeply reflect upon myself as a US citizen in South Africa, a country that has received trillions of dollars from taxpayers such as myself.

To accomplish this, I interviewed NGO staff about the nature of current partnerships, outcomes …

Cancer Management In Kenya - Awareness And The Struggles Patients Face To Access Treatment, Care & Support, Ashley Nmoh

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The amount of cancer cases in Africa, and Kenya specifically, are rising at an alarming rate. This study was conducted to determine the challenges that patients with cancer in Kenya face to access treatment, care and support. Thirty-nine cancer patients were interviewed and thirty cancer patients filled out a questionnaire about their experiences of having cancer in Kenya. In addition, twenty key informants were interviewed including doctors, caregivers, cancer NGO executives, a researcher, a psychologist, a National Health Insurance Fund official and a director from the Ministry of Health. A breast cancer awareness survey was also administered to fifty-nine women …

Humanitarian Assistance In Protracted Emergencies: Rethinking The Role Of Food Aid In Adjumani, Victoria Puglia

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Humanitarian food assistance is incredibly susceptible to funding cuts, which reduces the quantity of food available to refugees. If refugees depend solely on food aid for survival, the implication of reductions is increased food insecurity at a household level. The Government of Uganda champions a self-reliance strategy that has failed to support refugees to the desired extent, especially when food rations are low. This study aims to assess the impact of humanitarian food assistance on the socioeconomic structures of refugee settlements in Adjumani, Uganda to understand the consequences of unstable food aid. The research was conducted over a four-week period. …

Supplying Slaves: The Disguise Of Greener Pastures: An Exploratory Study Of Human Trafficking In Uganda, Kyla Johnson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this study was to evaluate labor migration in Uganda with a specific focus on the role labor recruitment agencies play in transporting people and how certain circumstances such as lack of knowledge of safe migration can leave people vulnerable to human trafficking. Labor externalization is beneficial specifically for developing countries because it provides jobs for the robust and available labor in these countries. Nonetheless, when reports appear that young girls are stranded abroad in the middle east after being taken there for work, labor recruitment agencies are first to receive the blame. Although Uganda issued a ban …

Post-Colonial Restructuring Of Human Rights Systems In Morocco, Kristen Hansen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

A surge of academic criticism has followed the NGO corporatization trend (‘NGOization’) of the 1980s. NGOs have been called an extension of neoliberal ideology as they are pressured to depoliticize and corporatize their structures. NGOs have been forced to fit into an international schema of aid work that compromises their ability to bring about impactful change within their own communities. This trend has been cultivated by shrinking neoliberal governments and an intensified reliance on NGOs to fulfill international human rights requirements. This project examines the role of Rabat women’s rights organizations within the context of Morocco as a neoliberal state …

Repatriation Of Rwandan Returnees In Kigali: Integration Of Those Born And Raised On Exile As A Result Of The 1959 Violence Wave, Cristina Taulet Sanchez

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study explores the repatriation process of millions of Rwandans that returned to Kigali after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, focusing on those that were born and raised in Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, and Burundi as a result of the ethnic violence in 1959 and its aftermath. To complete this project, both theoretical and empirical research was conducted, including academic perspectives, numerical data analysis, and one-on-one interviews on the field. By examining the previous living conditions in the host countries, alongside the process of return and resettlement once in Rwanda, this study presents the physical and emotional …

Challenges To Democratic Inclusion And Contestation Of Space: Contemporary Student Activists In Transforming South Africa, Momo Wilms-Crowe

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Twenty-four years into democracy, in a time marked by stark inequality and rising levels of political disillusionment, student activists are key players in the pursuit of a more just, more equitable, and more democratic South Africa. Using universities as spaces to contest, disrupt, and challenge the status quo, student activists challenge narratives of youth political apathy and act as agents of change, encouraging society to meet the goals established in the 1996 Constitution, the document enshrining the very promises they were born into believing would be their reality. Through mobilization and organizing, student actors boldly engage in questions of substantive …