From the field: Summer 2018 – flexibility in global health research
Having spent an entire semester preparing for our six weeks in Zanzibar, it seems impossible to believe that our time here is almost over. Over the past month I have been incredibly privileged to participate in research aimed at developing devices to positively impact global health. If I take anything away from this experience, it would be the lessons I have learnt from working in the field.
No matter how well planned out a project is, and the lead detection project was very thoroughly prepped for Zanzibar, there will always be challenges when you arrive and start to get down to business. In our case, we found that our initial focus on heavy metal detection was not a major concern in Zanzibar and decided to restructure our project to address this. The lesson I learned from our change in plans was the importance of flexibility in research. It’s very easy to close ourselves off from data pointing towards unexplored areas and choose to follow our original path. The danger in this is that you miss new and exciting ideas which can radically change your work for the better. In our case, we found that one of the most pressing needs regarding water quality on the island is the ability to treat and monitor water sources. With this in mind, we are drafting new problem statements and device ideas to be developed for potential future collaborations on the island.
The second lesson I learned on this trip is the value of including communities and organizations in research activities. Interviewing the Director General of Zanzibar’s Water Authority (ZAWA), discussing lab protocol with their lab head, listening to community focus groups and learning about daily water practices first-hand were all incredibly enriching to the water quality project. I learned an immense amount from each of these discussions and it was an incredible privilege to connect with so make stakeholders and receive their thoughts, opinions and criticism. Without their input, we would not have been able to make nearly as much progress as we have today. I found that while the material I got from reading papers was informative, meeting people face to face and having a frank conversation will often reveal surprising and insightful information that would never have been in a journal article. Living and working in a community also gives you access to individual’s thoughts and feelings in a way that simply reaching out via email would not. By active participation and observation of daily life, you become more aware of what the real needs of each community are.
My final lesson from this trip is the importance of staying motivated and focusing on your end goals. Working away from familiar surroundings can become difficult sometimes with language and cultural barriers to navigate in addition to the usual mundanities that come with work. Having clear end goals in sight for your work and staying connected with your teammates are the best ways to work through these slumps. Now that we are wrapping up each project and consolidating our work, I am looking forward to moving into the coming year with new goals and ideas based on my time here.
