S & M Limitations Although there were set criteria to guide the choice of geographical area and groups to ensure a good spread of factors, the reality was that other issues came into play which also determined which areas to visit, and whom was to be visited . This included issues such as the availability of project field staff , the availability of children (although we tried to timetable children’s work during out of school hours and in particular at the weekend), distances involved to travel to some communities especially where time was a limiting factor. A number of key staff had left the project since August 2008, or were away at the time of data collection (KANCO,TILLA, HAPSCO, NACWOLA-Luwero). Many interviews required the use of a translator and these were not ‘official translators’. This resulted in ‘summary’ information sometimes being provided during discussions. In relation to the attitudinal information collected, every effort was made to check for clarity. In some settings the memory work was one of a number of projects being implemented by the partner organisation. This sometimes posed a challenge around disentangling the activities and trainings which were part of the memory project, and the impact that they had. In these cases, care was taken to look at the ‘added value’ of memory work. There was some baseline data collected in three out of the five countries (In Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe). These baseline studies provided some insight into key issues, but were small scale and qualitative in nature. No quantitative data was collected at the start of the project, such as the number of people on treatment, or taking up other types of services. It is therefore difficult to measure change over the four years and attribute this specifically to the memory work project. Where relevant, information from the baseline is referred to and comments made about any changes observed. Unfortunately because of the recent political stability in Zimbabwe the evaluators were not able to carry out field work in Zimbabwe. A face to face interview with the programme manager was carried out in Ethiopia, and other key staff sent a questionnaire by email. In terms of beneficiaries, the FACT staff were keen to do some direct evaluation with young people and parents, and made use of the same evaluation tools to conduct two FGDs. This material was not included within the analysis but was a useful secondary source of data. Despite these limitations, a very broad range of secondary data was used to triangulate the findings and to ensure the validity and reliability of findings (see section 2 above for the full list of materials), and both consultants worked closely together to discuss the emerging issues and key themes on an ongoing basis. Ethical issues – around interviews with children . Also agreement to provide feedback to children
In explaining this, focus on the practical aspects of what we do in the countries eg. improving their access to health services, improving the delivery of services by health centres by addressing the communication angle. We address the role of communication in research-policy-practices
Memory work enables children to: understand more about HIV and AIDS, understand what may be happening to their parent, guardian or family member who is affected by HIV and start to prepare for a future where they may be separated from their parents.