Embracing Emotions: Unspoken Narratives in Fieldwork

Taxi in front of clinic

A taxi in front of Oduman Health Center, the nearest clinic for both the Manhean and Afuaman communities.

Published July 25, 2016, last updated on October 17, 2017 under Voices of DGHI

By Olanrewaju Adisa

The journey from Tamale in the Northern region to the Greater Accra region was accompanied by the breathtaking scenery of the luscious green hillsides upon entry, hiding the reality of the bustling commercial port city. 

In a way, this route sort of depicted the thrill of the uncertain terrain that we would be stepping into. An entirely new project, gracefully supported by both new partners on the ground and our very dependable advisors back home, was waiting for us in Ghana’s capital. 

“Expect the unexpected in global health” reverberates through the walls of many global health courses at Duke. The statement can be applied to fieldwork in every aspect, from project logistics, to budgeting, to even falling ill at the most important stages of your research. We were unsure about our new project, and also very stressed about the pace with which we would now have to work. Another period of waiting was upon us, but it was in a new place. 

The unexpected that I truly didn’t expect, however, is the emotional response to the narratives not directly presented to us.

We waited in the office lobby of the labor ward of Ridge Hospital, expecting the arrival of our new on-ground advisor. He was the single consultant obstetrician for the regional hospital and considered the local champion. 

As we waited nervously, not knowing what to expect, a man down the hall disrupted the usual ambience of the hospital. He began pacing, praying and shouting, “My sister will not die, my sister will not die!” I suspect that his sister or friend was having complications during labor. Reality struck, and I knew then that our anxieties about research approval and logistics are nothing in comparison to the narratives of the issues that we would be dealing with. 

The new project, assessing the barriers to accessing maternal and neonatal healthcare using a mixed methods approach, would expose us to some emotionally charged stories from expecting mothers, health care providers and community members. With blessings from the regional director of Health for the Greater Accra Region, two communities in the outskirts of Ga West municipality would serve as the cases for the exploration. 

The rocky path from the highly developed Accra central to the Ga West district alone revealed to us how transportation could be a major barrier to accessing maternal health care. My teammate Derek and I ate a heavy breakfast the first morning of community entry, and later, in the car, we felt the food uncomfortably rumble in our stomachs. 

I couldn't help but imagine the ride for an expectant mother on the verge of delivery. The uneasy feeling of food churning in my stomach seemed utterly inconsequential when I thought about women with a little ball of life shaking in their body, traveling in a taxi to a major hospital because of complications they faced at the local clinic. The discomfort of something as simple as a rough ride to and from Ga West became an unexpected lens for us to reflect on our privilege.

From the days when we first learned about the scientific method in middle school to crafting complex methodologies for fieldwork and analyses in college, research has been presented to us as simply a monolithic process to gather evidence, solve problems and exercise controlled curiosity. What I was unprepared for, however, was the process of internalizing the sadness, joy and anger that are inextricably attached to seeing and hearing narratives in the field. 

Without reflection, we would not truly embrace the emotions that we experience every day on the ground. Fieldwork really comes to life with reflection, because I believe it is only then that we shift from the toxic mentality that our work is merely to assess and then solve the world’s ills. 

I might never know what it is like to pace a hospital in fear of losing a friend during labor. I will never feel life rumble in my stomach. However, I hope that, with reflection and embracing the emotions associated with experiencing these unspoken narratives, I will never reduce these issues to easily solvable problems. Maternal health care utilization here in the Ga West municipality is such a complex topic; every anecdote points towards that. 

Embracing this complexity and reflecting on the emotions we experience on the ground is the first step to even understanding the issues, let alone solving them.

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