The opportunity to come to Sierra Leone, my country of origin, this summer as a LEAD fellow is critical for my journey as an emerging global mental health researcher. There’s always something about being in one’s country of origin i.e. home and having the opportunity to learn. I was born in Sierra Leone and fled the country at age 12 during the civil war and over the last decade I have worked in Sierra Leone through my Co-Founded Non for-Profit organization Girls Empowerment Sierra Leone. Now as a Ph.D. Student at New York University Silver School of Social Work, my goal in conducting research in Sierra Leone is because of both my lived experience and my work with girls and young women.
My research site is through Research Program on Children and Adversity (RCPCA’s ) project at Boston College titled the Youth Forward Initiative led by PI Dr. Theresa Betancourt in partnership with Caritas Freetown Sierra Leone. I generally start my mornings working with data on the Youth Readiness Intervention for War Affected Youth as well as engaging in project meetings as I am needed. As someone interested in working with girls and young women in Sierra Leone, it is critical for me to understand how to do research in an ethical manner in Sierra Leone. One of the components of effective ethical research I am learning is the relationships between partners conducting the research. Here are 3 preliminary takeaways I have learnt about qualities of collaborative research partnerships:
- Ownership of the research projects:
One of the things I admired during my first week here, is how invested the colleagues who work within the research projects partners are, and how they see this work as their own. There is a pride and joy I have noticed when colleagues talk about the different projects they are working on.
2. Supportive and Cohesive Teams:
RCPC has project managers who ensure that the research assistants and team leads are supported in what they are working on and ensuring the projects run smoothly. Last week the RA assigned to the ISWAY project Ms. Kashiya Nwanguma helped the team do some trouble shooting on some of the REDCAP data software as they prepare for a pilot which will entail data collection in Bonthe District Sierra Leone. I also witnessed cohesion and support across the team lead in the US and the team lead in Sierra Leone on one of the projects.
3. Investment in the research projects:
I also noticed how the team members were excited about the expansion of projects. This showed me that as staff have some investment in the work that is implemented and they want it to continue. Also seeing that some of the staff have been with the research for over a decade shows their investment and commitment to the research.
Next week, I will be headed out with the team to observe some piloting of data with 12 families in the region of Bonthe District in Sierra Leone. I look forward to sharing learnings from my experience as I continue over the next few weeks.