Ethnography

I’m finally getting into the meat of my work here, and I’m sad that my internship will end so soon. The past few days I’ve been observing classes both at MSS and at my friends’ NGO, Sambal Sansthan, as part of research for my best practices report. The days have yielded very interesting observations and I’m kicking myself for not doing this earlier.

Despite my cognitive knowledge of the importance of finding out what locals think and going “to the ground”, I never thought to do this earlier. I never thought it would be necessary for my project, which I felt initially focused on the NGO’s operations. I’m used to looking at an organisation from an administrative, managerial point of view and forgot that a comprehensive evaluation of a non-profit must also take into account the beneficiaries’ experiences and well-being. That involves observing MSS classes and the dynamics between students and teacher.

Although I’m kicking myself about not doing this earlier, I also realise that I’ve only just begun to feel like I have a proper understanding of how things work here, and so the frame through which I view interactions is only now closer to the truth, less coloured by my foreign perspective. I’ve also only just begun understanding how disparate pieces of the women’s empowerment puzzle fit in together and so can now ask relevant questions. I still have 2 weeks left here; I need to make the most of it and leave behind a trail for those who come afterwards.