Field Research = A Lot of Time in the Car

Alexis, Wayne and I (the UW 3) are in the field for the next few days conducting usability tests and design ethnography activities at the MVP sites and it is going really well! However, it is most definitely dry season because the amount of dust has doubled on the roads which makes driving out into the field and back a gritty ride. In some steep areas our car slides a bit as if we were on ice - due to loss of traction. Luckily our driver is amazing, minus the bird we almost hit today and the goat we buzzed by yesterday. Oh, and the chicken and pig we might have lightly grazed. Thankfully the children run to the side of the roads.

Although parts of the road to the villages are being smoothed out for Sachs arrival on Friday, this is what most of them look like.

Passing boda bodas on the way to Kabuyanda.

As we're flying by Ruhiira.

This little girl was very interested in what I was doing while sitting outside of the maternity clinic.

On the way back to Mbarara we passed the machine responsible for our smoother rides.

But we were forced to stop due to a traffic jam.

Here's a truck filled with matoke. We pass several of these a day.

Best part of today was our drive back to the city. I'm not sure whether the cassette tape belonged to our driver or our translator but it consisted of 60 minutes of remixed 70 and 80s music - like When a Man Loves a Woman, Lean on Me. Alexis and I belted out the best ones - making Wayne's trip back absolutely enjoyable!

Tomorrow we head to Ntungu and Ruhiira for more focus groups and interviews. The day will be long but we've been able to collect a lot of data for future papers and grant proposals. Sadly Alexis and Wayne return to Kampala on Thursday.

I'm hoping to skip town Saturday and visit Queen Elizabeth Park with a couple of my housemates. More zebras, hippos, monkeys and hopefully some lions. Woohoo!