Rough Roads to a Successful Research
Rainbows and butterflies? Not all the time. It takes a lot more than just taking notes with pen and paper. This past week I have interviewed over 30 farmers, and next week Morgan and I are traveling to Tanzania to Interview more farmers. This might not seem like a big deal. But when you are crammed in a car for 6 hours every day, traveling on unsurfaced roads, and struggling with a communication barrier that makes interviews longer than anticipated… Let’s just say it can become a bit overwhelming. However, in the end, I have learned so much from all the bumps in the road and have really enjoyed learning from the farmers and their inspiring stories. At the end of it all, being their voice and learning from them is my ultimate goal!
Off-roading
When Morgan and I first went out to the field to talk to the farmers; we had no idea on how rough the roads would be in rural areas. Made me think that gravel roads in Iowa weren’t so bad after all! The next day I knew it was time to pull out that Dramamine. These roads are nothing like the gravel or dirt roads from back home. No, these roads are Green Laning roads with large potholes, rocky surfaces, and river overflows. The driver faces unsurfaced roads, while maneuvering between the livestock roaming the middle of the roads and oncoming traffic. At times it can be a little dangerous, but it has been an interesting adventure!
The Interviews
After two hours in the car to reach our destination, we will meet an average of five farmers per stop. The process goes something like this; We will introduce ourselves and find a place to sit and begin our interviews, right away there is a communication barrier. Although Morgan and I each have a translator with us; we still end up running into some bumps. In Kenya, the type of English spoken is Queen’s English. Some farmers have expressed that we speak way too fast, or that we just have bad English in general. Morgan and I just smile, because there’s nothing we can do about our accents. But we try hard. And this has given me a whole new perspective on people that work hard to speak English, yet struggle with accents.
Appreciation of the Bumps
With the long hours and communication barrier, I’ve come to appreciate the bumps in the road. When meeting the farmers and their families, it has given me inside of the day to day life of the Kenyan farmer. Push-Pull farmers are seeing progress in their fields! This has helped with income to afford school fees, a more diverse diet, and invest in livestock. Before push-pull farmers were not able to afford school fees for their children, buy nutritious foods or provide nutritious feed for livestock causing many animals to suffer from diseases. The barriers and bumps in the road that I have faced in my internship and research are teaching me patience and understanding of others.
