Abstract

Leadership exists in every aspect of human development, including in child headed households.  The study aimed   to provide greater insight in a leadership experience of orphans in child headed household in Makete District. The study has examined the orphan’s leadership abilities, challenges and support available to them. This study employed a descriptive case study design that employs both qualitative and quantitative Methodologies.

The findings revealed that 5% of all households in the area are child headed, and this is 3.8% more than what was reported in 2002 Tanzania national census.  Moreover, the majority (69%) of leaders in child headed households emerged spontaneously and acquired leadership skills from their respective families. The study found that leaders in child headed household are increasingly exposed to multiple responsibilities in the households irrespective of their age. It was also revealed that leadership in child headed households are more influenced by situations the group experience. Furthermore, the study revealed that leaders in child headed household face a lot of challenges including children being left on their own without visible means of support.

The study recommends that, the individuals, communities, government and non governmental Organizations should integrate leadership aspects in supporting child-headed households so as to enable them to cope with leadership related challenge.

1.0  Introduction

In order to have stable, sustainable and a well functioned society, it is very important for individuals and communities to recognize the children as important group in our societies. Orphan hood in early years of the child development create long term negative impacts on individual child, families and might create dysfunctional adults, which would cause de-functional societies, jeopardizing years of investment in national development (USAID, 2000).

However, in recent years in the context HIV/AIDS, Poverty and social disintegration we experience increased number of children forced to live under the care of themselves without a responsible adult by establishing an household termed child headed household. Children in child headed households among other thing had to assume responsibilities including leadership which formally were performed by their parents. This circumstance not only deprived children’s rights and privileges but also would lead to unstable and de-functional society in a near future.

The study aimed to provide the greater insight in leadership experience of child headed household in Makete District and suggest appropriate intervention for children in these household. This chapter provides an overview of the problem of leadership in child headed household especially the experience of orphans heading household in Makete district. Furthermore the chapter described the background of the study, magnitude, its social ramification, statement of the problem, objectives of the study, research questions, and significance of the study and finally a scope of the study.

1.1: Background of the Problem.

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of orphans in Africa, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa. The fearsome scale of orphaned children has particularly been linked to the poverty, conflict and mostly HIV/AIDS pandemic that has distressed the continent since the late 1980s (UNAIDS, UNICEF, USAID, 2004).

Before AIDS became extensive approximated 2% percent of children in Africa were orphaned. That proportion has now reached 15–17%  percent in some countries and the number of AIDS orphans, was 12 million in 2000 in Africa, and is projected to increase to 35 million by 2010 (UNAIDS UNICEF USAID, 2004).

The more severely affected countries in term of AIDS orphans in 2003 were Nigeria 1.8million, South Africa 1.1million, Tanzania 980,000, Zimbabwe 980,000, Uganda 940,000 (UNAIDS, UNICEF, USAID, 2004).

Following the rapid country assessment, analysis and action planning initiative for orphans and other vulnerable children, Tanzania is the home to nearly 1.5 million most vulnerable children in the year 2004. It was also found that more that 50% most vulnerable children are cared by older people 60 years, A further 12%of most vulnerable children are living in child headed household (RAAAP 2004). A  Study made by UNAIDS, UNICEF, USAID ( 2004) estimated that by the year 2010 there will be 2.9 million orphans in Tanzania and the figure has also projected to increase.

These figures are only shows part of the overall growing crisis of orphans and yet still the peak is not observed due 5 to 10 time lag between infection and death of infected person. Therefore the number of orphans will continue to grow or at least remain high for years, despite the current HIV decline incidences in Tanzania as UNAIDS (2009) latest Epidemiological survey in the country reveals.

The children who become parentless everyday as a result of illness and other causes, traditionally used to be cared for by the extended families and local communities. However  nowadays due to  poverty, social disintegration and HIV/AIDS changes are taking place in care giving arrangements for affected children. An increasing proportion of orphans now end up living in the care of the streets, the elderly and the very young individuals, through the establishment of a household where the eldest sibling takes the household headship in what is termed child-headed household (Foster et al. 1996; Saoke, Mutemi and Blair 1996; Semkiwa et al 2003; Schubert 2003)