Identifying assets in the memory-box-making-process with vulnerable children

Abstract

Many children are left vulnerable due to circumstances beyond their control, for example, poverty, violence, limited education and the HIV&AIDS epidemic. One way of supporting vulnerable children is by making memory boxes. This study endeavoured to identify the assets during the memory-box-making process with vulnerable children. The aim of the study was to contribute towards an understanding of vulnerable children in South Africa and the memory-box-making process that frames vulnerable children in terms of assets, resources and capacities, instead of deficits. A combination of an interpretive and constructivist paradigm was used within an action research design. The site of the study was a deep rural community in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. Five participants and one helper contributed towards the research process. Primary data was collected within the memory-box-making process – by means of simple and participatory observation, individual and group interviews, audio-visual methods and field notes. Fifteen memory-box-making sessions took place over a period of six weeks. The data analysis consisted of a theme analysis that utilized the asset-based approach as a theoretical framework. The results from the study indicate a wealth of internal and external assets during the memory-box-making process with vulnerable children.