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Oral history in times of HIV/AIDS
Prof Phillipe Denis, School of Theology, University of KwaZulu-Natal Pietermaritzburg NU Info, Volume 11 Number 17, November 9, 2001
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In South Africa, as elsewhere on the African continent, the number of children affected by AIDS (not to mention those who are HIV-positive) is increasing at a rapid pace. These children need financial assistance. But they also need emotional support.
They are, or will soon be, affected by the death of their mother or their father, but they do not know how to talk about it. They do not understand what happens. Their memories tend to fade away. This creates a state of confusion which prevents them from developing to their full potential.
This is where "Memory Boxes" can play a role. "Memory box" is a metaphor. But the term also designates a physical object: a box which can be decorated with photos or drawings and contains the story of the deceased person as well as various objects pertaining to the history of the family. The purpose of the memory boxes is to promote resilience in children of families affected or infected by HIV/AIDS. To achieve this goal, the families are encouraged to share stories as a way of keeping alive their memories and facilitating the bereavement process. To collect the memories of the family, the methodology of oral history is used.
The Oral History Project (OHP) of the School of Theology, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, is currently conducting a pilot study on the effect of memory boxes on resilience in children. The process is family-centred. Whether the parent is sick or already deceased, the memory facilitators, as the OHP field workers call themselves, meet the family members at their home. This implies that they work in partnership with a community-based organisation. In the present case, they work with Sinosizo Home-based Care, a Catholic organisation which runs an HIV/AIDS home-based care programme in 14 areas of the Durban functional region.
Sinosizo's volunteers regularly visit 800 households. Twenty families, that is, 2,5 % of the total, have been identified for the purpose of the study. All reside in the Durban functional region, some of them as far afield as Stanger. Sixteen are black, three coloured and one Indian. They all have children, ranging in age from one year to 21 years.
At the time of writing, interviews have been conducted in 11 families. Edited version of the interviews, with photographs of the family members, past and present, have been handed over to the families. In six cases, the children have created memory boxes.
Three families were removed from the list almost immediately. For two of them the reason was that the mother had died in the meantime and it was found inappropriate then to propose memory boxes to the survivors. In the remaining six families, the process was interrupted for various reasons (opposition of family members, dispersion of the family, stress, financial constraints). Contact is maintained with these families through the Sinosizo volunteers.
It is difficult to evaluate the impact of the memory boxes on the children. The pilot study, in any event, is still incomplete. Judging from the feedback received from the families so far, the memory box methodology can be said to have had positive results in eight families (out of 17 where more than one visit has taken place). We consider feedback to be positive when the primary caregivers express satisfaction after receiving the visit of the memory facilitators and declare that the interview has improved communication and dialogue among the children and themselves. As far as children are concerned, the act of creating memory boxes seems to indicate that they are eager to retrieve the memories of their parents and therefore own the process. In two cases, the children have written letters to, or about, their parents. This also indicates an active participation in the process.
The second phase of the project is already under way. It consists of testing a training programme with various groups of Sinosizo volunteers. Training of community workers and volunteers with no experience in oral history is no easy matter. Simplified methods have been experimented with. So far the experience has proved to be very positive. Once trained, the volunteers introduce the methodlogy of memory boxes in the families which they regularly visit. A number of interviews have already taken place, with the volunteers recording the conversations by hand. |
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