Men who Care: men’s motivations in taking up positions in community mobilisation organizations in Gugulethu to improve the public healthcare system
type: CreativeWork
description: Many men in South Africa (SA) want to participate in improving their community. Having lived in the community, they are more attuned to the immediate needs of the community - and male members of the community’s needs in particular - compared to NGOs or external support systems that may try do social development work in SA. There is a great opportunity to include more men in community mobilisation (CM) work and health systems strengthening programs in SA and beyond. Historically, volunteer work, including CM has been seen as a job for women. There are fewer male volunteers in CM than there are female volunteers; hence, more research has been conducted around female volunteers’ experiences and motivations. In order to support the greater inclusion of men in volunteer work, this mini-dissertation explores men’s motivations to participate in CM work. This mini-dissertation is divided in the following three parts. A research protocol (Part A) which focuses on understanding the motivations of male community mobilisers who are involved in activist community work in the Gugulethu Township. A literature review (Part B) which examines existing literature on volunteer work and how gender affects experiences of, and motivations to volunteer. Lastly, a manuscript for Social Dynamics (Part C) that focuses on the gendered experiences and motivations of men who participate in CM work in the Movement for Change and Social Justice (MCSJ), a community organisation in Gugulethu, Cape Town. The knowledge gained from this mini-dissertation can feed into the larger debate present in SA surrounding the need for more male-centred interventions in the public healthcare system and aims to show how the visibility and representation of male volunteers in the health system can have a positive impact on men’s health seeking behaviours in communities through increasing their linkage to and retention in care.
abstract: Many men in South Africa (SA) want to participate in improving their community. Having lived in the community, they are more attuned to the immediate needs of the community - and male members of the community’s needs in particular - compared to NGOs or external support systems that may try do social development work in SA. There is a great opportunity to include more men in community mobilisation (CM) work and health systems strengthening programs in SA and beyond. Historically, volunteer work, including CM has been seen as a job for women. There are fewer male volunteers in CM than there are female volunteers; hence, more research has been conducted around female volunteers’ experiences and motivations. In order to support the greater inclusion of men in volunteer work, this mini-dissertation explores men’s motivations to participate in CM work. This mini-dissertation is divided in the following three parts. A research protocol (Part A) which focuses on understanding the motivations of male community mobilisers who are involved in activist community work in the Gugulethu Township. A literature review (Part B) which examines existing literature on volunteer work and how gender affects experiences of, and motivations to volunteer. Lastly, a manuscript for Social Dynamics (Part C) that focuses on the gendered experiences and motivations of men who participate in CM work in the Movement for Change and Social Justice (MCSJ), a community organisation in Gugulethu, Cape Town. The knowledge gained from this mini-dissertation can feed into the larger debate present in SA surrounding the need for more male-centred interventions in the public healthcare system and aims to show how the visibility and representation of male volunteers in the health system can have a positive impact on men’s health seeking behaviours in communities through increasing their linkage to and retention in care.
author: Malunga, Samantha
date published: 2018
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:23:47Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Department of Public Health and Family Medicine

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/30170