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The Institution of Marriage: A Case Study on Social Pressures Surrounding Marriage in Muslim Indian Communities in Johannesburg
Get PDFThere is an undoubted societal focus on marriage in many, if not all, communities. This is manifested in social media, television, almost every movie, novels, children’s storybooks, conversations and the internet in forms of online articles and blogs, which emphasize a pressure on women to get married or have a companion. This paper discusses the institution of marriage and the societal pressures surrounding matrimony amongst members of the Muslim Indian community in Johannesburg. In this paper, I illustrate that marriage is a necessary condition, especially for a Muslim Indian woman’s constructive and participatory role/identity in society. The significance of marriage can be seen to be embedded within Islamic practices. However, this dogmatic view of marriage does not explain the pressures placed on individuals to get married. Islam advocates for fate and trust in God, therefore it can be argued these pressures are socially constructed as opposed to religiously inflicted. This article uses feminist methodological tools and theories in an attempt to debunk the role of patriarchy in modern society. The paper is set as a case study that conducted semi-structured interviews. It concludes that unmarried women feel ‘judged’ and ‘scrutinized’ because of their marital status
Revisiting Grey Street: The Grey Street Writers Trail in the Context of Urban Regeneration
Get PDFThis paper emerges from joint research by scholars in South Africa and Germany on a literary trail devised in 2006 by the research project KwaZulu-Natal Literary Tourism. This urban trail, set in a historically Indian-occupied area of Durban, highlights writers who lived in and wrote about it. Coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the Grey Street Writers’ Trail in 2015, the literary trail was the focus of an MA dissertation by Bettina Pahlen on the relationship between the literature trail and ongoing urban renewal activity in the quarter.The research suggests that the Grey Street Writers trail represents a narrative of what trail designers, guides and authors consider meaningful about a place. Participant's engagement with this trail narrative shows its potential to change the perception of the area under regeneration. Informed by the work of Michel de Certeau (walking the city), Hubert Zapf (literature as cultural ecology), Throgmorton (storytelling in urban planning) and Edward Relph (placemaking, sense of place), this paper investigates factors limiting the trail’s contribution to urban regeneration in the Casbah. The questions asked by this paper is first, how the literary trail draws on and is impacted by experiences of urban renewal, and secondly, how the influence of the literary trail narrative on trail participants is limited by design and modified during implementation
HIV/AIDS and Muslims in South Africa: The ‘Untouchable’ Disease
No full textUNAIDS (2015) reports that globally there are currently 36.9 million people living with HIV/AIDS. Despite the extensive biomedical, social and cultural research that has been conducted globally, Muslims have largely been absent in the discourse on HIV/AIDS. Worldwide, studies are few and statistical information about Muslims living with HIV/AIDS is lacking. The formulation of intervention programmes, amongst Muslims, is therefore challenging when information about the particular population group is scarce. This paper seeks to conceptualise HIV/AIDS amongst Muslims of Indian descent in Durban, South Africa, with an aim to uncover the social and cultural context of the disease. South African Indian Muslims are part of the worldwide Indian diasporic dialogue and as such certain cultural traditions are shared which influence the manner in which the disease is interpreted and experienced by this group. The study is exploratory in nature and seeks to understand the social and cultural challenges that HIV+ Muslims of Indian descent in Durban, face. Research findings are based on life histories that have been conducted with key participants in order to reveal the hidden nature of HIV/AIDS in the Indian Muslim community of Durban, South Africa.Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Muslims, South Africa, Indian, Socio-cultural challenge
Religion as Situated Knowledge for Social Transformation: The Case of the Mashobye Women’s Manyano of Limpopo Province
Get PDFReligion as a form of situated knowledge has historically influenced a gendered conception and acquisition of knowledge. As one of the dominant voices in society, it has created and maintained social hierarchies by discriminating the equal identity, interest and experiences of women. As a result, emerging ideologies, historical and socio-cultural factors normalized thought patterns of particularly an inferior and dependent perspective about women. In most of the African countries, missionary and colonial teaching undermined women’s indigenous knowledge on food production and experiences as heads of households. Through the Victorian family model, women were removed from participating in agriculture to the domestic sphere where they had to perform duties of housewifery. In case of transforming a situation of poverty, hunger and diseases prevalent in Sub Saharan Africa and rural areas of South Africa in particular, religion constrained processes of positive knowledge construction as women’s roles and activities were mostly limited to private space. The aim of this paper is to explore ways in which the Women’s Manyano organization can be an agent of transformation to communities of women in the rural area for food autonomy and maternal health
‘The Glory is Here!’ Faith Brands and Rituals of Self-Affirmation for Social Responsibility in Kenya
Get PDFFemale Pentecostal-Charismatic (PC) church leaders have a quest to legitimize their leadership at all levels. This quest for acceptability and legitimacy to the congregation they lead can be daunting especially in the context of a male dominated religious field such as we have in Kenya. Some female PC leaders in Kenya manage the desires and beliefs of their audiences through religious programmes and slogans that enhance social participation and solidarity. This article examines the programme and slogan ‘The Glory is here’ broadcasted by one Kenyan female PC church leader, Margaret Wanjiru of Jesus is Alive Ministries (JIAM). Through the faith brand ‘The Glory is here’, Wanjiru, in the marketing of religion, distinguishes herself from others in the market place and promotes her product and services in order to develop a consumer base. Her programme as a female PC Televangelist functions as an empowering ritual of self-affirmation of women. Both her faith brand and repeated rituals of self-affirmation serve to enhance her solidarity with women of all ages, and serve as social and psychological support to the community
Where ‘heaven and earth’ meet: Religion and Social Responsibility
Get PDFIn this discussion the question to be addressed, will not be as much as to present direction in the format of religious participation in social responsibilities. Such a question assumes that religion does indeed have a social responsibility. This discussion here rather wants to question the question: does religion indeed have a social responsibility? There are two possible positions on this: (i) it is obvious that religion has a social responsibility and should act upon it; and (ii) it is not so obvious that religion has a social responsibility and should refrain from social participation in social issues. Both positions are supported by good arguments. The former position is supported by the assumption that human nature is filled with virtue and humans have the moral capacity to influence society in a positive way. The religious idealists are convinced that an utopian society can be created on earth; almost make heaven touch earth. The second position is underlined by the argument that human virtue and moral capacity is over-estimated. Reinhold Niebuhr (1936) elaborated on this matter. Society is however much rather governed by self-interest and ignorance even under the veil of religion. There are dangers (i.e. reductionism, selectivism, antagonism and utopianism) involved when religion participates in social activities. The discussion here wants to present a third possible way by suggesting a tempered approach when religion participates in social activities. Rather individuals ought to be educated to act morally and responsibly in society
The Intellectualisation of African Languages for Higher Education
Get PDFThis article was originally presented as a keynote Address at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Language Planning and Development Office (ULPDO) language symposium from 19-20 October 2015 at the Unite Building, Howard College, Durban, on the theme: Advancing the Intellectualization of African Languages in Higher Education. The position paper examines the challenge of how to intellectualise African languages and bring them up to speed with the linguistic techniques of modernity and advanced contemporary thought
Store-and-Forward Teledermatology Using Mobile Phones: Clinical Efficacy in a Rural Primary Healthcare Centre Free Clinic Setting
Get PDFBackground: Technological advances increase the feasibility of mobile-phone teledermatology (mdermatology). By saving time and costs, underserved areas lacking dermatologists may benefit greatly. Objectives: To assess the clinical efficacy of mobile-phone store-and-forward mdermatology compared to face-to-face consultation. Methods: Patients from a rural health centre in Batangas were randomised to either mdermatology or face-to-face group. In the mdermatology group, a general practitioner (GP) assessed patients, took photographs using a cell phone camera and sent these via e-mail accessed via the GP’s mobile phone to the mdermatologist’s mobile phone. In the face-to-face group, the GP assessed patients and then referred them to the face-to-face dermatologist. Both the mdermatologist and face-to-face dermatologist provided assessments and plans for patients in their respective groups. Clinical outcomes were assessed after two and four weeks. Results: A total of 123 patients were included, with 60 participants in the mdermatology group and 63 in the face-to-face group. In both groups, most participants improved. There were no significant differences in clinical outcomes assessed by GPs (p=0.074), dermatologists (p=0.172), or participants (p=0.405). The diagnostic strength of agreement between the GP and the dermatologist differed between the two groups (Cohen’s κ=0.5775 vs. 0.2735), but management concordance was similar (p=0.775). Conclusion: Store-and-forward teledermatology using mobile phones in the dermatologic management of patients in a rural primary healthcare centre free clinic setting is feasible. This study did not find mobile teledermatology inferior to face-to-face consultation
Attendance and Certification Modules in the Management System for Tele-education of the Telehealth Center - HUUFMA
Get PDFThe Telehealth Brazil Networks Programme is a national action that seeks to improve the quality of care and primary care in the Unified Health System (SUS), which offers conditions to promote Tele-assistance and Tele-education. One of the major areas, Tele-education, is based on the use of information technologies to provide web conferences, courses, and classes. Due to the limitation of the broadcasting platforms to track the detailed users’ information, it was necessary to the Telehealth Center of the University Hospital of the Federal University of Maranhão (HUUFMA) the development of a web system to automatically gather this data. The current release of the system enables users to register in web conferences activities, and the information such as professional area, location, personal info are stored, so the system can track all the activities the user has participated and then automatically generate certificates at any time after the end of the activity
Implementation and Preliminary Results of an Interoperable, Standardised Clinical Registry on Cardiovascular Surgery
Get PDFThe implementation of a Clinical Registry in a hospital environment becomes a challenge in the face of different types of treatment, care culture and non-standardized records. Objective: To describe the implementation and preliminary results of the Clinical Registry of Cardiovascular Surgery. Methods: The Registry was designed using REDCap, with remote access via a web interface. The registry included patients older than 18 years undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting, valve repair or replacement, aortic surgery, congenital heart disease and cardiac transplants, at the Cardiology Institute of RS - Brazil. Data elements were nationally and internationally standardized (STS Adult Cardiac Database and Bypass - Brazilian Registry of Cardiovascular Surgery in Adults). Results: Data were collected at pre, trans and immediate postoperative periods, in the intensive care unit, at hospital discharge, at 1 and 6 months, and annually after surgery. The dataset included 650 variables. A team of approx. 18 professionals were involved in data collection and management. The first year of data collection was completed in November 2016, reaching 1,000 patients. Male prevalence was 66.4%, mean age 62 years, use of the Public Health System 67.8%, procedures were myocardial revascularization surgery 60.9%, valve surgery 39.6%, aortic surgeries 10.5%), congenital heart disease 1.8%, and heart transplantation 0.2%. Conclusion: The registry allowed the identification of measures to evaluate care quality and cost efficiency. Successful interoperability with other registries in cardiology, will contribute to new discoveries and quality care improvements