Some obstacles and change of submission date

Happy new year everyone!
I seem to be following this trend of delayed updates, but life here takes way too much of my attention.

Even though I was told that going abroad for MFS will not always be as smooth as you want it to be, it is rather more likely that the opposite happens, I am a little disappointed on how slow the work has turned out to be. There have been times where the stress got hold of me with a strong feeling I don’t have enough time to finish it.
Due to different things, almost already from start, difficulties arranging interviews, delays in getting the interviews translated and transcribed, holidays and being sick I have decided to submit my study on a later date in March instead of next week. This decision I made together with my supervisor. She believed that I should give my study the time it needs rather than try to hurry up just for the sake of submitting.
This certainly gave me some peace of mind and I have been able to systematically go through the material. This is my last week in Mumbai. I will try to get some final questions answered from MAVA before I leave. Meet with my translator and some other people I have been in contact with for this study as it is easier while here rather than back in Malmö

I also took some time off to travel for the new years weekend to the countryside outside Pune. The landscape was amazingly beautiful and the sky was clear and full of stars at night. A peaceful New Year’s Eve without the hazzle of fancy dinner and fireworks. The Indian countryside is something completely else from the intense city of Mumbai and it was wonderful to get a break.

 

MAVA and my project

Last week was Diwali, the Hindu festival of light. Diwali symbolises the spiritual victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance. Homes and buildings are decorated with lights, firecrackers are being set on fire in almost every street corner and it is not only cute little *pops* and *cracks* but rather the sounds of tiny bombs. Everyone is laughing at me for jumping of my chair from being startled. It feels like even the cats who lives in my apartment are looking at me weirdly after my little jerking dancemoves.

As promised in my last post I will give you a short introduction to the organisation I will be working with and what my study will be about.

The Mumbai based NGO Men Against Violence and Abuse (MAVA) is the first men’s organization in India directly intervening against gender-based violence towards women. For the past 25 years MAVA has been working on engaging men and boys in India on gender issues and equality. Over the years, they have developed several methods for involving young people through interactive workshops, street-plays, newspapers, poetry reading sessions, talks and discussions.

See their website for more info: www.mavaindia.org

I will be doing a qualitative study on one of MAVA’s programs. A one year mentor-training program engaging male college students in conversations addressing issues related to gender based discrimination and violence. The growing demand of involving men and boys to achieve gender equality has led to an increased number of organisations and programs around the world to answer this demand. Where MAVA is one of them. With the theory that gender norms and social values are socialised from an early age, leading to the unequal power relation, MAVA tries to break gender stereotypes and change men’s and boys’ views on patriarchal society. I intend to interview 10 college students who have recently completed MAVAs one-year mentor training to investigate how they describe their experiences of the program. Focus will be on the training program seen from the participating students’ perspective ending in a report for MAVA to use in developing their approaches and programs.

My overall research question aims to cover: How do the interviewed participants of MAVA’s mentoring training describe the programs content and the impact it has had on how they perceive gender-based discriminations, equality and patriarchal norms in society after completing the one-year program?

Priya and me at Tata Institute of Social Sciences

One last exciting thing before I end this post is that I yesterday met with Priya, my translator for this project. She is herself studying a master in Social Work at Tata Institute of Social Sciences here in Mumbai. It was great to meet her to discuss the best way to go about the interviews which I hope we can start with next week!

Take care,

Petronella

First week in Mumbai

India, Mumbai:
As part of my Bachelor degree in Social Work at Malmö University I spent five months earlier this year in Mumbai to carry out my field placement (Verksamhetsförlagd utbildning). The internship was with a non-governmental organisation called Vacha which focuses on girls’ and young women’s empowerment and education. Vacha is a term in several Indian languages meaning speech, articulation and self-expression and the organisation work to give the girls a voice and a platform to be able to speak up in their communities and public spaces. If you want to read more about their work in their community centres in and around Mumbai you can follow the link below: www.vacha.org.in

 

Going home in the “rik” Click for GIF

I am now back in Mumbai for a MFS and looking forward to further experience this fast paced and intense life that this city, with a population of about 22 million, has to offer. The people, the food, the sounds and the smells. The culture, the colours and celebrations. The luxury and the poverty. The traffic… well maybe not so much the traffic but at least you always have something interesting to look at while you are stuck in an auto rikshaw. Surrounded by hundreds of other “riks”, cars, motorbikes, trucks, dogs, goats, street sellers, all while in 36 degrees, breathing in the heavenly smell of pollution. How can one  not I love it?

 

Adventures in South Mumbai

 

 

India is the fastest growing economy in the world. However, not everyone seems to be onboard the fast moving train of progress. The Indian middle class might be growing but there is, for example, a gaping rural-urban divide as well as a gender discriminations when it comes to economic progress and development. So yes there is a whole bunch of inequalities in this country. Not only economic, but also when it comes to social rights  and opportunities. But there is also good things happening:

A ban of single use plastic
Decriminalizing homosexuality

The above links are just two examples of big top-level decisions. However, on grassroot level great things are happening every day. I have seen this during my internship and I get motivated by these hardworking people that want to see positive change in their communities and country.

So follow me on my two months minor field study to see where it takes me. In my next post I will introduce you to my project and the organisation I will be working with – Men Against Violence and Abuse.

Take care of eachother,

Petronella

Coming to an end

Now I find myself in paradise. No kidding. Dolphins swimming, palm trees swaying, waves crashing and birds singing. So, once we landed in Arambol we realized what a crazy place it was. Filled with drunken Russian kids, harassing sales men and loud clubbing music. Not really our scene. We succeeded in getting up early to watch the dolphins and hide from these obnoxious masses, but soon they would fill the beach and shopping areas and we were overwhelmed again. In the midst of this chaos I got sick, but was ok with spending my days in my room with AC away from these intense cultural chasms. Agnes hated Arambol even more than I did and took a train from north to south Goa. She said it was a lovely quiet ride and recommends it to future visitors to this south west coast. Once I was feeling better I took a taxi ride down with a frustrating driver who continuously asked me to date him. I lied and said I was married with kids, but this had little or no effect on his advances. In my mind I was ready to smack him silly if he tried anything, but thankfully this was not needed. Soon however I made it to Agonda where a wide white beach, calm sweet cows, more dolphins, and wild horses greeted me in the sun. I felt as if I had gone from party-ville to paradise. Here Agnes and I were able to focus and finish our analysis. It was a complicated procedure since we had 12 pretty individual and long interviews, but we managed after some time to categorize our material and then lay them in themes. If one wants to visit Goa I recommend visiting Agona, its quiet and beautiful. We stayed at a guest house called Monsoon, run by a German guy and a sweet Nepalese family. I made friends with adorable calves who rule the beach and learned to love paneer tikka. After ten days in the Agondan paradise Agnes flew back home and left me to fend for myself in the beach life. I bunkered down for three days and worked until my bum was sore from sitting, and finished my results. Or rather the first draught of part of the results. Then I took a day off, nice. After diving into Agonda it was time to move to my next destination. Little did I know it would be an even more secluded and surreal paradise beach. Its called Little cove beach or Little Cola beach, depending on who you talk too. I met Nina, my fellow nurse colleague, and we have been soaking up the sun, eating yummy food and learning to stand on our heads. I can’t complain. It’s an awesome place to spend the last couple weeks of my India adventure. Also a pretty good place to try to finish this paper before I go back to Sweden. Im hopeful that I’ll succeed even though its extremely tempting to just space out and watch the waves and palm trees. So, yeh, needless to say I recommend coming to this little gem of a place if you like the quiet things in life.

From monsoon to sunshine

Since last time I wrote much has happened. Agnes and I completed our six interviews at Aster Medcity hospital within three days and feel like we got a lot of nice information. Everyone at the ward where we conducted the meetings were curious and sweet and helpful. The following couple days we ventured around and went to Fort Cochin and Marina drive. We took a local ferry for 12kr and was given the grand tour in a language we didn’t understand, it was perfect. We also ate and drank our fair share of dosas and over sweetened tea and coffee, delicious. In southern India there have been monsoon rains and one night we ended up standing in this wet downpour and watching the lightning illuminate the canals. One such bolt struck the water and cracked open just above us, that’s when we realised it was time to go inside. We followed the monsoon to Chennai and arrived to overfilled reservoirs and rivers. We stayed at a nice hotel but the rain came through our windows and made big puddles on the floor. The interviews went great at SIMS hospital and we completed six meetings within two days with extremely qualified nurses from every kind of ward. The director of nursing was very helpful and gave us a tour of the hospital and a meeting with the director of medicine. We felt a bit under qualified for all this attention, but also intrigued by the details in the hospital and the different varieties of patients. After four nights in Chennai we realized that the city is not much fun in the rainy season. There was also flooding around us so we decided to seek out some sunshine instead and bought another flight, with an earlier date that originally planned, to Goa. I was very grateful to get out of Chennai as I’m not so into loud and complicated cities, and felt like I wasn’t able to move or breathe. It’s interesting to come from an extreme Indian metropolis to a very differently categorized bustling beach town with tourists sprouting from every corner. I however really appreciate the ability to walk on the beach alone without feeling like its inappropriate. I’m also stoked about the amount of restaurants and juice places and actually just stuffed my face with a huge fruit and yoghurt bowl. So, now the challenge is to enjoy this sunny place while actually get some writing done. As of now we are in the midst of transcribing and will soon start analyzing. Wish us luck!

Cochin

Its been a little while since my last blog and much has happened over the past few days. Diwali, the festival of lights was celebrated with fireworks, tasty treats and festivities in accordance with tradition. Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism observe various customs related to Diwali. I enjoyed the candles lit in oil and the sparkly fireworks painting the sky and lighting up everyone’s faces.  Another favorite part of the last few weeks has been watching the sun sink into the ocean. Its red turning deeper as it slowly dips into the sea, illuminating the sky into a surreal pink and orange, all while the crescent moon watches from above. Here in India the moon is turned the other way than in Sweden leaving it like a fat grin in the sky.

This week I received the most amazing massage called Abiyangha with Shirodhara. This is a full body oil massage with an oil running on to the forehead. It is the most wondrous experience which turns your mind off, leaving you in a state of utter calmness and satisfaction, I highly recommend it. Between these luxurious moments I have also been delving deeper into the background of our paper, analyzing what communication really is in its multifaceted definitions and usages. I also tried to pinpoint what we really are searching for with our questions and how to foresee all the outcomes and possible misdirection which we may encounter during the interviews. It has been a little surreal to work with Agnes across the different continents, but this week she arrived which has been a great a reality check.

On Wednesday October 25th I drove down from Guruvayur to Aster Medcity hospital in Cochin to meet the doctor and become entrusted the nurses. The hospital is like its own city on an island between marshes and palm trees. All very organized and clean, perfect for the international clientele, yet surprising in the midst of India and its other bustling and busy ways. That night Agnes arrived to our funny and fancy hotel on Willington island, which turned out to be a navy base. So, we are surrounded by military airplanes and military grounds with very little space to actually wander. But its ok right now because it helps us stay focused on our paper, and an excuse to just sit by the pool. Once we’re finished with the interviews we’ll venture out to explore fort Cochin. Yesterday day Agnes and I drove to the hospital again and started our interview process. We met two highly qualified and extremely sweet nurses whom were fun to chat with, and I think we acquired some useful information from the interviews. Today we head back to the hospital for two more meetings and then probably dinner by the pool, watching the bats and crows.

Week 1

I find myself in the southern most state of India. The beautiful, lush and green Kerala. People here are curious and friendly. Working their jobs, far more hours than we are accustomed to, but still with a smile. Its impressive and thought provoking

My trip over here was long yet good. An eleven-hour layover in New Delhi could have been worse without a Holiday Inn hotel at the airport and masala chai down the terminal.

I have been here for six days now and am so happy to be spending some time on the Cochin beaches soaking up the sun, walking in the hot downpours of monsoon rains and eating delicious food, before we start the interview process. I was also able to watch a theater and dance performance which was fascinating even though I didn’t understand what was happening most of the time. The movements however were beautiful, sometimes terrifying,  yet fascinating. One part of our project is looking into medical tourism, not because its a focus of our paper, but because it is a factor in the interviews for our study. Most patients who our nurse participants care for are people from other countries who come to India for medical treatment, this so called medical tourism. While India has very good western medicine they also incorporate other types of holistic care into their healthcare system. So, while Agnes is still back in Sweden finishing exams I am spending this first period of the trip receiving Ayurvedic treatments, another kind of medical tourism. I have so far met people from many different parts of India, as well as people from France, Russia and Germany. Not a bad place to work on the background of our thesis, formulate and reformulate the interview questions, and again contact the hospitals. I have so far reached the supervisor/gatekeeper at the Aster MedCity hospital in Cochin where we will be conducting our interviews and solidified some dates. It feels goo to start setting specific times for this next part of our research even though I know that these plans can and probably will change many times over.

Vecka 8 i Kapstaden och vägen hem.

Hej!

Nu har det gått några dagar sedan vi kom hem till Sverige igen. Sista dagarna i Kapstaden spenderades dels genom arbete på uppsatsen på kontoret men också med att hajka, paddla kajak och äta på restauranger som vi ännu inte hunnit med att äta på. På paddelturen hade vi turen att se delfiner en kort stund och se Kapstaden från havet. På onsdagen så spenderade vi vår sista dag på University of Cape Town, och tackade av vår handledare Roger Behrens med en bukett blommor, kvällen spenderades på utomhusbio i Kirstenbosch botaniska trädgård, där det visades into the wild för kvällen. Har ni någon gång vägarna förbi Kapstaden och ni inte vet vad ni ska göra en onsdagskväll kan jag varmt rekommendera det!

Torsdagen var sista dagen för oss i Kapstaden, vi passade på en sista hajk upp för Lions Head för att få njuta av utsikten för sista gången på det här besöket. Torsdagen var en helgdag i Sydafrika eftersom de firade Freedom Day, och det var fullt med människor som tog sig upp för berget.

Efter en natts resa, med mellanlandning i Istanbul, landade vi på Arlanda halv tio. Skönt att vara på svensk mark igen, även om det känns lite konstigt efter två månader i Sydafrika. Snart är långhelgen också slut och då är vi tillbaka i Malmö. Vi har cirka två veckor kvar innan vår sista inlämning till handledare, så det gäller att fokusera den sista tiden. Vi kommer också hålla i två små föreläsningar där vi kommer att berätta om vår resa, när detta blir vet vi inte riktigt ännu men det kommer säkert information om det.

Nu tackar vi för oss! Här kommer lite bilder från de sista dagarna.

Ta hand om er!

Vinprovning i Constantia.
Kaffe på Hope & Glory.
Vi på toppen av Lions.
Jakob på toppen av Lions Head.
På väg hem till Sverige.
MyCiTi stationen vid flygplatsen.
Elin vid utomhusbio i Kirstenbosch.
Devils Peak och Taffelberget från kajak.
Elin och Anna i full paddelfart.

Blommor till handledare.

Familjeliv, turistande och reflektion av Nicole!

Oj vad tiden flyger iväg. Vi hade inte internet där vi bodde mellan 6–19/4 vilket såklart gjorde det något svårt att blogga…

Jag (Nicole) ska nu sammanfatta dessa veckor och ifall någon i min situation vill söka MFS kan detta med fördel läsas som exempel och alternativ. Den situation jag syftar på är att jag började plugga senare än de flesta och därmed hann skaffa familj innan. Jag har tre barn som är mellan 7–14 och att vara iväg från dem under två månader har varit svårt och konstigt. Att jag ändå ens började fundera på att söka MFS och sedan gjorde det, är grundat i att jag tror på att ta tillfället när det kommer samt att jag vill visa barnen att allt är möjligt, även om det inte är enkelt. Jag har också haft fullt stöd av min man annars hade det inte gått!

En förutsättning för att jag skulle åka var att vi kunde ordna så att familjen kom och hälsade på, och det var precis vad de gjorde under den här perioden. Passande nog var det ju påsklov. Min flygrädde make övertalade min syster och svåger så att han skulle slippa flyga själv med barnen och hela gänget (8 st) landade i Kapstaden den 6/4! För den här tiden hade vi hyrt ett hus i Fish Hoek, lite utanför Kapstaden där vi alla fick plats, inklusive Nikki som fick smaka på vårt smått tokiga familjeliv med fem barn (mellan 7 – 14) och fyra gapiga vuxna (med serbiskt påbrå så flerspråkigheten flödade!). Eftersom Nikki inte är av den blyga tysta typen så smälte hon bra in och under två veckor var fokus snarare på att utforska Sydafrika/Västra Kapprovinsen/Kapstaden än plugg.

Det var ett bra tillfälle att läsa på om teorier om metod och analys som vi ändå behöver för examensarbetets del. Men i ärlighetens namn var det Nikki som gjorde mest läsning och anteckningar, det är helt enkelt så det är att plugga när man har barn. För att med gott samvete kunna sätta sig och odelat läsa kurslitteratur och annat så måste i alla fall jag känna att jag gett barnen full uppmärksamhet när det behovet finns. Det är så jag har tagit mig igenom fem års studier. Jag har fått vara lite striktare i min planering av min studietid än mina kursare som inte har barn. Efter fem veckors bortvaro var behovet stort, vilket jag anat så jag hade läst lite mer innan, och kommer få ta igen läsning nu efter medan Nikki kan streama serier på Netflix… Det var det värt!

Vi hann med en hel del på nästan två veckor. Pingvinstranden Boulders Beach i Simons Town, Hop-on-sightseeingbussar, Kirstenbosch Botaniska trädgård, Akvariet i V & A Waterfront, World of Birds med fler än 400 olika fågelarter, köra Chapmans Peak Drive, Drakenstein Lion Park som räddar illa behandlade lejon från hela världen och ger dem ett värdigt liv. Robben Island som blev en historielektion där jag och Nikki fick förklara, översätta och anpassa fakta till barnens referensram – bra lärarträning! Turen ner till Cape Point och Godahoppsudden med en utsikt som hissnade i magen där uppe på den helt oskyddade klippan som störtade rakt ner i de vilda vågorna nedanför. Inte ett staket, rep eller ens en markering som visade var det var lämpligt att stå. Som svensk är man van vid ett helt annat säkerhetstänk och jag drömde mardrömmar om barn som snubblade hela natten efter den utflykten.

Jag är väldigt glad att mina studier gett mig möjligheten att komma hit och erbjuda mina barn den här upplevelsen. Även om jag (och maken) fick jobba extra under hösten för att få ihop till resan, och även om det innebär att sommaren tillbringas hemma så är jag övertygad om att det är något de kommer att ha med sig. Kanske bli inspirerade till att själva ge sig ut, söka stipendier, plugga utomlands och framförallt våga ta de chanser som erbjuds. Jag är oändligt glad och tacksam för att Nikki upptäckte MFS och att vi la ner så mycket tid på ansökan att vi faktiskt fick stipendiet! Och så är jag glad att MFS finns! Mitt råd till alla och envar är att söka! Lägg mycket tid på ansökan, projektplanen och planeringen i förväg så har man störst chans att njuta av upplevelserna på plats.

Over and out från mig! Det kommer fler uppdateringar om vårt arbete snart!

Pingviner på Boulders Beach i Simon’s Town
Canopy Walk i Kirstenbosch Botaniska trädgård. 13 m över marken på vissa ställen!
Sydvästligaste punkten i Afrika. Helt utan staket eller liknande…
Mängder med fåglar i härliga färgen på Birds of Eden
Utsikt över Hout Bay från Chapmans Peak Drive. Magiskt!
Kapstadens version av Nobeltorget! Nobel Square med stayer av 4 Sydafrikanska nobelpristagare: Albert Luthuli 1960, Desmond Tutu 1984, FW de Klerk 1993 och Nelson Mandela 1993.

Tappat räkning på veckor hahaha^^

Hejsan!!!

Förlåt för sen uppdatering. Har aldrig haft en vana av att skriva en blogg eller något liknande tidigare så det händer ibland att det sipprar ut från mitt minne 😉 Men anyway nu är jag tillbaka! Så förra inlägget var jag lite för optimistisk haha. Jag trodde jag skulle vara klar med intervjuerna men självklart är det inte sant. Istället har jag kommit i kontakt med mer människor som jag kan prata med. On the plus side, jag känner att min intervju teknik bara blir bättre och bättre so yay! Så just nu sitter jag och transkriberar dem intervjuerna jag redan genomfört och det är såå extremt jobbigt… *suck. Dem gångerna jag inte kunnat spela in har fungerat minst lika bra så funderar på att skippa inspelning de sista intervjuerna och bara ta anteckningar istället… decisions decisions ;).

Själva skrivande fortsätter med sin snigel fart framåt men jag har en deadline som kommer upp på torsdag så så fort jag känner pressen då kommer kreativiteten, haha. Får bara inflika att min födelsedag är på onsdagen men tack vare deadlinen får jag skjuta upp firandet en kväll vilket är helt okej ändå. Ska bli trevligt att hänga med några kompisar och äta go mat. På tal om vänner, träffade några härliga personer som är bosatta i Kakata, vilket är typ nästan två timmar utanför Monrovia. Funderar på att hälsa på dem men ett evigt problem med resandet i detta land är bristen på kollektivtrafik så får räkna med att det kommer kosta en liten summa då jag måste ta en taxi hela vägen ut.

Annars är det inte mycket att skriva om. Eller ah, det inleddes en strejk i staden idag. Nästan alla affärer, inklusive matbutiker och frukt/grönsaks stånd, är stängde men vi stockade upp våra förråd i helgen så vi klarar oss nog. Men nu ska jag upp till en vän för en middag så vi ses!