Narrative Representation

Evaluation Practice Around the World

South Africa

A Lonely Black Elderly Man Smiled

South Africa and its people are consistently being challenged to deal with changes on various levels. Since the political changes in 1994, exciting possibilities have arisen that allow for innovative training and transformational [Page 269]community work initiatives. Initiatives in community intervention shed light on the multicultural nature of the population, as well as its limited financial resources, and set the stage for the development of an evaluation approach that highlights the historical, sociopolitical, and collective nature of people in a particular context.

The political agendas of apartheid and integration of the South African society were and still are a challenging process for the perpetrators, as well as the victims. This may be illustrated by a community initiative in the context of an old age home, consisting of mainly White elderly people and only one Black elderly man. Volunteers from the student community were asked by the management of this retirement home to interact with the residents because many of the elderly had been abandoned by their families and would welcome contact with young people.

A final-year undergraduate student, Refilwe, who was able to communicate with the only Black resident, Mr. Buys (not his real name), in an African language, visited him once a week over a period of 10 weeks. According to the staff, Mr. Buys did not want to talk to any of them or with the other residents. He spent most of his time sitting in the sun and waiting for the days to pass. Refilwe entered into the relationship with the intention of understanding Mr. Buys' expression of integrity or despair (based on Erikson's stages of development) and to learn from the process.

The context described here illustrates the mismatch between traditional evaluation, the changed sociopolitical situation, and dynamic learning environments, and it sparked interest in developmental evaluation. Developmental evaluation has sustained interest in participatory and experiential learning processes. Experiential learning proposes a cycle of concrete experiences, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. To make sense of an experience, it is necessary to think about it and to reflect on it; to be actively involved in construing experiences; and to maintain a holistic view of the social, cultural, and emotional context in which learning occurs. Refilwe's seventh visit with Mr. Buys is an illustration of the reflective observation that is part of this process: “Today we spoke about the regrets in his life and he told me that the biggest regret in his life is not finding himself a wife. From where I was sitting I could feel a mountain of regrets overwhelming him. His life has been one big regret. It was written all over his face.”

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