Thursday, December 1, 2011

Happened in Unguja





Habari za kazi?

Hello, one more week has passed by in Unguja and we have done village visits each day. We had to reduce the visits for one village per day, since the evaluation takes time, and we have also collected some new groups for the next project at the same time. Tomorrow there is the last village to visit, Kandwi, and after that I'm planning to spend the weekend in Kendwa. It's my last weekend and I would love to enjoy sun and some swimming before getting back to cold and dark Finland.

The photos added tell the story of one village visit in Matemwe. During my interviewing and making the questionnaire for the group members, we heard a sudden collapse and some loud noise. It was the collapse of the brand new water container of the vegetable growing group, and for a minute there was a deep silence. Then, everyone started laughing - what else can you do? But for the group it was no good news, especially since it was the second time for the container to collapse. This is just an example what can happen in the field, and almost every day something unexpected happens or I learn a new thing I've never heard about. Everyday is a new adventure :)

Ofcourse field work is also hard, it's hot and one has to pay attention all the time, and try to understand what people want to tell you. Collegues at the office translate the questions and answers, but already I'm catching some most common words. Sometimes the best way is to see the things by oneself, as we did on Tuesday when we visited a family in Matemwe, to see how they use fuelwood in open fire and fuel saving stoves.

The other thing is to write clear the answers in the evenings and try to write the report. Luckily I still have one more week to do it, and even in Finland I can do some finishing. Next week we are supposed to have a seminar on the results, so I need to prepare a presentation of them, and then we can discuss with the forest department staff. So there is a lot of work but also some relaxation hopefully in the weekend :)

Tutaonana!

Elina

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