Journal of Social Development in Africa (1997), 12,2,3-4 
Editorial 
This issue of the Journal brings together a variety of articles. The contribution by 
Madzingira provides some insight into how poverty is affecting the elderly in 
Zimbabwe. She uses statistics provided through the recent Poverty Assessment 
Study Survey to highlight the plight of the elderly who remain one of the most 
disadvantaged groups within the country. In addition to their economic 
marginalisation, the elderly have to shoulder the additional burden of caring for the 
increasingly large numbers of "AIDS orphans." She proposes among other 
strategies that planners should try to enhance family-focused social welfare 
services, promote community-based care and create income security for the 
elderly. 
Hall, Kanyowa and Mathe investigate an area new to this Journal, but one which 
is increasingly gaining in relevance to social development within Africa - building 
the capacity of social workers' associations to deliver professional services to their 
members. Social work has not developed to the extent that it should have as a 
professional activity, yet social workers are engaged in a wide variety of occupational 
settings, many of which are critical to development within Africa. There are 
many reasons why social work has remained a "Cinderella" profession, some of 
which are outlined in the article, but there are strategies that could be employed to 
reverse this situation and make social work much more meaningful as a professional 
activity. The experience of the National Association of Social Workers 
(Zimbabwe) in developing a workers' education project, assisted by the International 
Federation of Social Workers, provides one model which could be used by 
other aspiring associations to assist them in developing an organisational development 
strategy. 
Kaseke takes the theme presented by Madzingira of the need to improve income 
security for the elderly further by examining the status of social security systems 
in eastern and southern Africa. He points out that no country in the region - apart 
from South Africa- has a comprehensive social security system. Kaseke examines 
the various types of social security systems and then proposes possible options - 
which include a mix of contributory and non-contributory forms of social security. 
He points out that it is important to improve the productive capacity, particularly 
of the rural population, if they are to be able to contribute to social security schemes, 
as the major problem that all the countries in the region face is a weak resource base 
to fund these schemes. 
The article by Clarke-Ekong provides an interesting arena of social activity 
which has not been previously explored by the Journal - the importance of
4 Editorial 
traditional festivals as public events that provide social meaning and cultural value 
.to society. Ghana is the country selected for this study. Clarke-Ekong points out 
that although Ghanaian festivals serve many traditional functions, they also have 
a powerful role in the political and 'nation-building' sense. They are vehicles that 
can be used in developmental activities, where "culturally comprehensive integrative 
principles" must be taken into account if development is to have any validity 
and if it is to be accepted by the people. 
Dube continues a discussion that started in a previous issue, concerning the 
impact of HIV/AIDS on the population of street children found in most African 
cities. Harare is chosen as the focus of this study and Dube provides us with 
information on the various patterns of risk to street children, their misconceptions 
and views of the disease. It is clear that street children are seriously at risk of 
contracting HIV, due to their vulnerable lifestyles which inevitably bring them into 
exploitative and abusive relationships with adults. By focusing on the way that the 
children themselves view the problem, Dube presents some useful conclusions on 
how to approach the children and educate them to reduce their risk of infection. 
Muzvidziwa continues many of the concerns raised by Dube, focusing instead 
on another "vulnerable" group, that of prostitutes. This presents the findings of 
field research conducted by the author in Masvingo, Zimbabwe. Using an anthropological 
approach, Muzvidziwa provides a very detailed and compelling account 
of life as it seen by the prostitutes themselves. He categorises the different types 
of prostitution engaged in by the small group of prostitutes he observed, and 
indicates the costs and dangers involved in this activity. The author views 
prostitutes as "vendors of another type" in the sense that they are doing what they 
can to survive in difficult times. However he also indicates that our reaction to their 
activities is in many ways unfair and stigmatising and that they suffer exploitation 
in their own right, for example by law enforcement agents. 
The article by Zindi discusses the concepts of open and distance learning and 
how these systems can assist persons with physical disabilities. Distance education 
is an educational tool which has not been fully utilised within Africa, yet with 
recent technological developments a higher quality of distance education is now 
available. The programme is very cost-effective and appropriate for a widelydispersed 
population where formal education systems are expensive and impossible 
to provide to everyone. Distance education offers new possibilities, especially 
for the those with physical disabilities who experience the added problems of 
transport and the need for aids and appliances in order to move about.