Below I have summarized my findings so far. I have two weeks left and several interviews still to go!

The aim of my research is to understand how the relationship between ideology and its effects on socio-economic development. After two months within the Mudasoma commune and one month of interviewing members of CHH their relatives and local leaders. I have already began to generate a sense of some of the problems people in the area face and how this to contributes to the common ideologies of Mudasoma.

General Observations:

Environment and Living Conditions

Although farming is the main source of income and sustenance, the land is infertile and many people including those from CHH lack fertilizers and seeds. Their homes are mostly made of mud and thatch or tiles. Some of the wealthier homes are built from cement. In the poorer homes the kitchen area may sometimes double as a bedroom too.

I took a trip into the market understand what was available and at what cost, I looked at both food items and clothing.

Stereotyping

It was interesting to observe how sensitized people in the community have become to outsiders. This is both good and bad. The positive aspect of the sensitization is, they are aware of what NGOs and other humanitarian organizations can do for them, and know what to say and how to behave to attract attention and assistance. Many of my interviews sounded like petitions for aid, and whilst people were indeed poor, I felt that at times they exaggerated their circumstances in order to make me feel pity for them. Their portrayal of their circumstance made some of them appear needy, helpless and hopeless. I also noticed that they would contradict themselves at times when talking about where they were getting their money from and how much they had. The negative aspect of the sensitization seems to retard their ability to initiate change and generate alternative solutions to their problems.

In some cases CHH described themselves as being thought of by the other members of the community as, irresponsible, disrespectful, selfish, thieves, prostitutes and bearers of the AIDS virus.

In other cases CHH (particularly girls) described themselves as being thought of as, responsible, strong, independent and admirable individuals.

When I interviewed local catholic sisters their views coincided with what I was hearing from the girls. They also regarded the CHH as strong, independent and respectful.

Teachers at both the Mbuga primary school and the Mbuga Teacher Training School, described their students from CHH as burdened, anti-social, difficult and comparatively less successful academically than other students.

Ideology and attitudes

From the interviews it appears that people either see themselves helpless against their circumstances, or else wish to be seen in this way. Although the obstacles against farming are great it is still regarded as the first source of income and sustenance. One youth said he would look for work after spending the night hungry. Others will describe the difficulty in attaining school fees, talking about the number of times they have already been sent home for incomplete payment of fees, yet they have opted to board at school (the more expensive option) when their homes are within walking distance. Some people said they were waiting for God to provide, mean while they are sitting at home, not helping with household chores, not looking for work, not looking for training in some other profitable skill. If you ask if they have sought help they say no, or they have made singular attempts and stopped at that.

There were some who where enterprising and determined to save money and make obvious improvements to their living environments, and lifestyles. Those I found to be more ambitious were older and being assisted by WVR. However assistance is not the only criteria for progression as there were some who were being assisted but still found it difficult to invest in their own advancement.

It seems that people believe it to be the duty of both NGOs and government organizations to administer assistance and provide alternatives and solutions to problems. During focus groups it required a great deal of prodding to produce a list of available resources and alternatives solutions to their problems. I have talked with other people who have also observed a similar mentality within rural regions in Rwanda. When asked about the formation of local associations, a ten-cell leader said that, "in order for one to receive loans from the government one needs to be a member of a local agricultural association." So even here community activities geared towards economic development need a government push to initiate and maintain them. This is a general assessment of attitudes and ideology.

Difficulties

Convincing interviewees that I really was not a sponsor or interested in sponsoring anyone has been quite challenging, and has led to many of my interviews having an application for sponsorship feel.