**6. Methodology**

This phenomenological qualitative study seeks to gather in-depth information about the perceptions and lived experiences of the caregivers in coping with orphans and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe. The phenomenological methodology was considered appropriate in this study because it draws on the lived experiences, perceptions, feelings, and views of the participants [26]. According to Husserl [27], in the process of developing the concept of phenomenological philosophy, phenomenology was defined as a philosophy of experience and hence this study is an examination of the lived experiences of the community leaders, caregivers and 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children within the local rural community of the Gutu District of Zimbabwe. Gutu District is one of the largest, most marginalised, and poverty-stricken rural communities in Zimbabwe.

A total number of 20 participants, which included 15 caregivers and 5 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children, was purposively selected to participate in this study.

#### *Parenting - Challenges of Child Rearing in a Changing Society*

In-depth information was obtained through in-depth interviews about their experiences, feelings, perceptions, and views of the challenges they face in the care and support of 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children in Zimbabwe. Purposive sampling was used to select the most appropriate information-rich sources for this study. Patton [28] posits that purposive sampling is the most appropriate method of selecting information-rich sources with small numbers of individuals or groups in a qualitative study.

Tongco [29] similarly observes that through purposive sampling, it is the researcher who decides the individual participants or groups that provide the study with enough information on the human perceptions concerning the social phenomenon under investigation. The criteria used in selecting the caregivers was that they were people living in the Gutu District, taking care of 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children and members of Batanai HIV/AIDS Service Organisation. Similarly, the 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children were chosen on the condition that they were either orphans or vulnerable children under the age of 18 living with a caregiver within the Gutu District of Zimbabwe. On that premise, a typical example of the questions which were posed to the participants include the following:


To mitigate the challenge related to language use, the indigenous language was used to collect data and was then translated into English by linguistic experts for accuracy. The data transcripts were anonymised first before the data were coded and analysed, to make sure that the readers of the papers will not be able to identify the interviewees. Braun and Clarke's [30] thematic data analysis was used to present and analyse data in this study. Thematic analysis was used because it provides an accessible and flexible approach to analysing qualitative data. Braun and Clarke [30] indicated that the thematic analysis process involves the researcher's familiarisation with the data, reviewing themes and defining themes. As such, an inductive method of theme development was undertaken based on the content of the data. Lincoln and Guba [31] explain that the trustworthiness of the study is enhanced by triangulation of sites and sources, using purposive sampling, and providing a detailed description of the methods used.

Regarding ethics, pertinent ethical issues were considered and resolved before the commencement of the study. In this case, ethical approval from the relevant department such as the National University of Science and Technology and the Social Welfare Department was required. Furthermore, the proxy consents and approvals for the minor 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children were established and consent for the adult caregivers was also sought before the study commenced. The information leaflet about the researcher and purpose of the study was written and comprehensively explained to the participants to assist them to understand their position about issues of voluntarism, confidentiality, and anonymity.

Since this study touches on sensitive issues, precautions were taken to ensure that the focus was on eliciting information about coping strategies and avoiding as much as possible discussing emotional issues such as the loss of parents or other loved

*The Caregivers' Perspective in Coping with the Challenges Faced by Orphans and Vulnerable… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101232*

ones. In addition, prior arrangements for the services of a professional psychologist and a social worker were made in case of any emotional and traumatic challenges during the research. Legal guardians of minors accompanied their minors to the hospital if the need for psychological counselling arose. Before the interview session of the OVC, the social worker was requested to give counselling to the children, and it contributed to the commendable outcome of the interview sessions. All costs related to travel, accommodation and food incurred during such trips to the hospital would be provided for by the researcher. However, during this study, there was no incidence regarding the emotional challenges of the OVC happened, despite the supportive measures put in place. Thus, no costs were incurred towards the hospitalisation of any of the participants as was anticipated. It is also important to mention that since the study purposively sampled caregivers from Batanai HIV/AIDS Service Organisation Support groups, the participants were requested to meet at a central place in the Gutu Mpandawana growth point where the interviews were to be conducted. This environment was very conducive for the interviews because all the participants were used to hold their meetings and support group workshops. Lastly, questions in the study tools were focused on the topic and as far as possible, nothing outside the scope of the study was discussed.

#### **7. Presentation of the findings**

This section presents the findings from the study regarding challenges that families are facing in providing care to 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children. The findings from both the caregivers and 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children predominantly revealed food and nutrition and psychosocial support as the main challenges faced by caregivers in their endeavours to support 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children within their households in Zimbabwe. Although, this research is predominantly qualitative, for this data presentation, the views of the participants were quantitatively presented. This exercise was informed by Sandelowski [32] who argues that frequency rate reporting and counting are integral to the analysis process and numbers in qualitative studies are used to establish the significance of findings. They are also used to recognise patterns and to make analytic generalisations from data. **Figure 1** below shows the distribution of the views of the 20 participants who participated in this study.

As illustrated in the figure above, the distribution of the views of the participants shows that 40% of the participants indicated that the caregivers are exposed to the psychosocial related challenges of themselves and the OVC under their

**Figure 1.** *Distribution of views of the participants on caregivers' challenges.*

custodianship. This was followed by 30% of the participants who said the caregivers often face the food and nutritional-related challenges of themselves and the OVC their jurisdiction. Furthermore, 20% of the participants emphasised that the caregivers are more exposed to the educational related challenges of themselves and their OVCs. Lastly, 10% of the participants indicated that the caregivers are often facing shelter and clothing-related challenges. Whilst all the above challenges are a true reflection of the challenges that the caregivers are facing in the Gutu District of Zimbabwe in their commitment to sustain the livelihood of the OVC within their custodianship, the findings predominantly show that the psychosocial support and the food and nutritional related challenges are more outstanding than the other challenges. Thus, for analysis and discussion of these findings, the two predominant themes (psychosocial challenges, and food nutritional challenges) have been subsequently analysed and discussed.
