Kevin and Spencer

Thursday, July 7, 2011

(Kevin) Went to a place, where no cars go.


This week was big! Besides celebrating both Malawian and Canadian independence, I spent 3 days with extension workers, and one big day in the field interviewing communities about their new borehole.

A one-day field visit?! What’s the point of that?

First off, it turns out that 13 litres of fuel and oil (5500MK ~ $35) buys you only one day on a motorcycle in the most remote area of the district (especially when the roads are poorly maintained, and communities are far apart). Ideally, I would have liked to visit the 8 communities that I planned for, but that 13 liters only took me to 4 of them. Was it worth it? Definitely, and here’s why:

1) I was able to continue my relationship building with the extension worker:
Extension workers are people with access to many conversations and a lot of information. By spending 3 days with him, bouncing ideas off of him, and showing him the purpose of my research, I can sense that he’s more comfortable sharing with me. This is great! And exactly what I need – both to feel more human here, and to get a more holistic perspective of the situation on the ground.  

2) II’m able to further understand who puts boreholes where, and how they make those decisions:
I met with the Traditional Authority – a very powerful man who has a lot of decision making power in his area of the district. He explained to me the procedure for boreholes allocations when new projects come to his area. Which communities gets them? What criteria is used to select certain communities over other communities?
The theoretical procedure is great to understand – but is it actually followed step by step? Most likely – the answer is no. Biases exist, and no system is perfect. The challenge is finding the disconnections and loose connections between procedure and practice. Admitting such things makes people in power vulnerable, making this information tough to come by.

3) I was able to create 4 case studies around water access in Ngokwe:
Of the four communities I visited, I heard some really interesting things from communities - particularly around their ability to pay for their new borehole from the African Development Bank*.
*The project requires that communities raise 15000MK (~$100) before they receive their new borehole.*
Some things worth mentioning:

1) One community was dropped from the list to get a new borehole because they weren’t able to raise the funds. Why? The 6 community members I interviewed told me it was because one of the village headman insisted the location for the new borehole be in his compound. The issue was never resolved, community members refused to pay, and they lost their chance for a new borehole.

2) Almost all communities I interviewed reported that low tobacco sales have really inhibited their ability to raise the 15000MK. One conversation informed me that Canadian influence to reduce smoking rates in Malawi has been a big contributing factor. Whoa..

3) A campaigning Member of Parliament provided boreholes and spare parts for 2 of the 4 communities I met. It has been documented by many people that such a practice undermines communities based management, and discourages communities from taking ownership and responsibility for water point maintenance.

4) The ADB database indicates that one community has 0 BHs. When I went to visit that community, it turns out that they actually have 3. Where did this number come from? Was this a miscommunication, or an intentional error?  
Right now, I have the advantageous tools of time and freedom to visit the field and do verifications for my research here. But of course, my information is not 100% accurate, and this WAS only 4 communities, so my glimpse of the picture is small.

The consultant would never have the time or resources to do verification in every community. A lot of trust is put into people to be honest during this project. The district, Traditional Authories, extension workers, communities – half truths or biases anywhere along this chain can have huge impacts on the ground for Malawians.

The water point database used for this project can tell a million stories. How many will I get to hear before I leave?

Much love, and be well.
Kevin

2 comments:

  1. That's quite the action-packed day Kevin! It seems that when you answer some questions, it just raises so many more. How do you keep focused on the information that you're looking for specifically and not get lost chasing down tangents and other issues? It sounds like you're making progress and learning a lot :).

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  2. That’s a really good question, and something I think about a lot. Sometimes it’s a matter of throwing up the blinders – trying not to get distracted as you look for information. There are many problems when it comes to water in Malawi, and it’s easy to get side-tracked. Other times though, it’s better to take all the information you can get. I’ve learned that when you go into a community or workplace interaction with a really rigid agenda and purpose, it can affect the honesty and depth of your interactions with people. I’ve started to just ‘go with the flow’ – taking everything in, and reflecting after my interactions about the things that are relevant, and the things I can throw away.

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