My first day of data collection made all of the stress, work, and anxiety of the last year totally worthwhile. In fact, the whole month of data collection went off almost flawlessly and put a lot of things in perspective. All the work I put into the research and moving to another continent seems incomparable to that experience.
I was blessed with a charismatic and hard-working team of data collectors, and we went all over Swaziland together. When I worked with the RHMs (the population I was surveying in my study) as a Peace Corps Volunteer, I had an impression of their work and their burden, which prompted the study. But as the time neared when the study would actually take place, I started to worry. Am I, as a foreigner missing the point? Are my impressions off? Am I doing this study for nothing? Will there actually be a change coming out of the work I am doing?
All of those fears came to rest when I went to a preparation meeting where I asked the RHMs if anyone had ever asked how they were doing. All 100 women responded loudly, “Kute!” which means that no one had. Countless times when we were surveying the RHMs, they came up to me afterwards and thanked me for coming, for caring, for paying attention to their needs. Participants called me “Sibusiso” meaning blessing, or gift from God. (Now, this could have been because all of the participants received an incentive of E25!)
Apart from the satisfaction of doing something meaningful, it was extremely fun and an incredible learning experience going out every day with my team to do the research. I rented the University kombi (15 seater van) and met half of the team at the University. Mary, one of the data collectors, insisted we pray before leaving. The driver would even turn off the engine while we prayed for a safe journey and successful work. If we forgot to pray, Mary would remind me, and the driver would pull over on the side of the road so we could pray.
We would pick up two more data collectors along the road, and met the final group in Manzini, and then proceeded to wherever the destination was for the day. It usually took us more than an hour to get to our destination, and in some cases it took 2.5 and up to 3 hours because we went to very remote places. When the data collectors asked why we were going so far, I always remembered my experience of being a frustrated Peace Corps Volunteer in Mambane, which was so remote, most NGOs would not come to help me on projects. I didn’t want to be like them!
The long journeys felt like a mini road trips, and afforded me the opportunity to have long discussions with the data collectors. It was cool seeing them get into the research. Some of them discovered they have a natural aptitude for research and community work. Many of the data collectors were from urban areas, and it was interesting seeing how much they learned about the challenges in their own country, and as always it was a wonderful learning experience for me too.
They were also incredibly patient with me, as it can be challenging to design and implement a project in another country and culture. I never knew exactly where we were going, and relied heavily on our driver to get us places. Misunderstandings occurred, including forgetting to tell the research team that we were headed to an umphakatsi (the chief’s place), where certain attire needs to be worn. This made the women scramble at the last minute to find cloth to cover their pants and their heads with. Opps! They were yelling, “you didn’t tell us!” and answered, “I didn’t know!” Afterwards we all had a good laugh.
Surveying 930 participants in one month all over Swaziland was exhausting, and we often had to change our plan on the fly and be flexible. I have learned a great deal about communication, flexibility, and perseverance. Most of all, I learned to listen. The data we collected was at times very sensitive information, including illnesses (many had HIV) and depression. We asked about their sex life and other personal questions. So I really wanted to make sure participants were surveyed in as confidential setting as possible. I knew that most of the time the surveys would be done outside, under a tree, and you can’t always control if people walk past. But I was determined to make the settings as confidential and consistent from place to place to make sure the data was valid.
But I learned a remarkable thing about Swazi culture verses American and Western culture in this respect. On the very first day, the data collectors started to interview 2 participants at once. I quickly told them to stop and do them individually because I was afraid that participants would not feel comfortable being completely honest with another participant listening in. A data collector pulled me aside and said that the participants had asked to go together. Not only does it save time, but doing a survey was new to them, so they felt more comfortable doing it with a familiar person. When I brought up confidentiality, the data collector stated that he asked the participants, and they said that they all know about each other anyway, and that they don’t have a problem. I was skeptical. Are they really going to be honest? Will my data be valid?
I could see that this was something the participants had asked for, so I allowed them to be surveyed in groups. I asked the data collectors afterward, and they responded that many participants were open and reported HIV+ statuses, and that they found that they were more honest in the groups. What they found was that the participants knew each other so well, that they would call each other out if they were lying! How remarkable!
This example and many more taught me that while I had graduated from university and had experience in research, my data collectors were experienced in ways I was not. I learned to listen and change my perspective based on their recommendations. I felt there was a healthy give and take among us where we questioned and pushed each other to make the study better and more relevant.
As is almost always the case, I learned much more from my Swazi counterparts than I taught them, even if I was the “boss” of the research. I know I have been enriched by this experience and I hope they were too. Who knew research could be this fun?
:) awesome.
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