Samenvatting

As the problem of child abandonment in Uganda’s capital city Kampala has risen over the past decades, so has the demand for child care centers to take care of these children. However, the increasing use of institutional care in Uganda has raised questions about its impact on a child’s development. It is widely recognized that children put in child care can suffer from low quality care and therefore can develop social, cognitive, emotional or physical problems or delays. Caregivers’ interactions are associated to have an influential impact on the social development of children. Therefore this study examined the interactions of caregivers at child care center Nafasi. Caregivers’ interactions have been examined at structural and process level and this study subsequent examined how these can be strengthened in order to better support the social development of children. By means of a three pronged methodology with use of literature, interviews and observations, data has been collected for this case study at Nafasi. The main findings of this study are that in principle basic care is provided, however care concerning the social development of children is found to be limited. Therefore this study revealed measures to be essential in order to move beyond the provision of basic care and enhance the social development of children. Concerning process level these are: stimulating children’s play and activities and stimulating children’s social participation in the community. At structural level these are: improving the level of education of caregivers, moving towards consequent record-keeping, reducing caregivers’ workload, increasing communication, sustaining continuity of caregivers and expanding Nafasi’s funding opportunities.​