Rescheduling research activities
With the coup d’état in March 2012 my research stay in Bamako was interrupted for more than one year. I finally decided to continue my research in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. I am grateful for OeAD’s cooperation and flexibility in this regard. In retrospect, the unplanned change of my research strategy broadened my knowledge of historical, political and other contextual factors that shape the attitudes, discourses and actions regarding the urban environment. Meeting local researchers, representatives of community-based organisations and international NGOs as well as professionals in waste management and sanitation helped me in better understanding local challenges. In addition to interviews, I also participated in street cleaning and waste collection activities. I was impressed by the entrepreneurship of individuals who earned their living in faecal sludge collection and treatment, waste picking or recycling.
Ethnographic research is much more than research
The fieldwork taught me lessons about practices of solidarity in families and neighbourhoods, about perseverance, the power of philanthropy and humour. But as a young female researcher living with host families in Bamako and Ouagadougou, I was also confronted with traditional gender roles. In my position as a white researcher, residents, neighbourhood associations and professionals had high expectations that I could not always meet. Back in Europe, I appreciate the respect for human rights and democratic principles, reliable public services and greater personal freedom. I am still in contact with my former host families and some research partners who became friends. While holding a seminar on informality as an urban way of life in West Africa at the University of Bremen in 2020, I invited some former research partners to virtual sessions. Unfortunately, the political situation does not allow for a resumption of research activities in the region.
