Field work

Hey from HOT Monze...

I’ve been an office worker for the past few months. Sure, I’d get out to the field every now and then, but nothing to write home about. This week, though, has changed that. Starting the field work for my research projects has made me remember why I love my job so much. On Monday, I travelled with my colleague, Pederson, to an area called Chona. Chona is characterized by hills, impassable roads, and scattered households. Our assignment for the day: visit 4 villages where water points had been constructed by WaterAid and make appointments through the head person to hold interviews and community meetings the following week. This turned into quite an adventure.
Immediately from the health clinic, we started down a rocky, steep ‘road’. Stopping along the way to ask for directions was easy at this point – there were still houses to be seen. As we moved farther and farther into the bush, the roads became less obvious. They had turned into footpaths through the tall grass or had eroded away into pits. Some of the hills were so steep that you felt as though the motorbike would just tip over backwards! There was actually a moment when we had been riding for a while without seeing another soul that I thought ‘this is the only place in Monze where I wouldn’t be surprised to find a lion’. It made me wonder how the road system had affected the development of Chona over the years. A vehicle would not be able to pass through most of the area, let alone a drilling machine for boreholes or a truck transporting cement. Doing anything in Chona was just that much more difficult. I’m sure that many funding agencies had become discouraged by the rough terrain and moved on to more accessible villages within which to inject their efforts. It never struck me as starkly as it did today the importance of basic infrastructure to a community’s fight against poverty.
The people I met that day were helpful and happy to see some new faces. I admired them, these people who farmed on inclined fields and seemed to have just a little more stacked against them. Some lived atop mountains and had aerial views of landscape for which others would pay thousands of dollars. I swear, at one point, we were actually higher than the setting sun. Magnificent. Along the way, we came across a large banana and orange tree orchard. I was in awe at its unexpectedness. Some people were making progress. This type of battle would require a little more creativity and perseverance. But it wasn’t impossible. Even without a lot of outside support, people were still managing to move forward.

Lots of love,
Jenn