Welcome, I am Madhu Viswanathan and we are continuing with our broadcast video from the University of Illinois. This is pre-recorded because of upcoming problem. We are in the applied part of the course, this means analyzing several examples. And it means you'll get more out of the course if you focus on a problem. We see students taking a number of parts to participate in the project. Using the contextual information we provided. One student analyzed an interview transcript. Another student conducted an interview with an underemployed person in a state, in the United States of America. Another student working in Cambodia in a floating village used observations from a previous visit and an interview conducted by a local person. One student visited a training center for low income immigrants in Italy. Students have also posted the types of questions they've asked. One student could not conduct interviews but has posted a very good set of questions. She could not conduct interviews due to an ice storm. We are learning from your creativity in finding contexts to work in. Once student described the emotional connection a subsistence seller has to have with his place of business as well as with the other sellers. The student is focusing on a floating village in Cambodia describes an observation of boats from the interview as to how the waste goes into the water and how close knit a fishing community is. There is one rule we follow in our research when transcribing interviews. To translate word for word, even if does not come out seeming okay. This way we know we are studying and chatting what is closest to the voices from subsistence. One student conducted an interview on an island with women who sell pickles and pies and handicrafts. A large constraint in making more pickles was that bats were eating the fruit. She describes how being open and honest was important, not maintaining a distance allows for freeer exchange of information. Recurring themes were lack of control and uncertainty surrounding the lives of people living in subsistence. One student. Interviews a couple in a low-income agricultural community in Ecuador who sell pastries on the highway and grow fruits and vegetables, focusing on both sides of the coin as buyers and as sellers. Another student studied a the street market in Brazil and writes about how each context is different. One student interviewed two food vendors in a village in India and discussed how survival is the immediate concern rather than environmental issues which are beyond ones control. The same theme is mentioned by a student who interacted with a village vendor in Honduras. One student described what happens when there is uncollected garbage in a low income community. Another student visited an orphanage in Nairobi and learned about the life stories of the children there. We learn from each of these interviews. That is what is amazing and draws you back with work in this arena. Everyone has a story to tell. Now that is true whether they live in subsistence or not. But the stories of resilience and subsistence context often have the added dimension of learning about the things we don't anticipate. They're about contexts that are so different from each other, and so unfamiliar to most of us. I've been thinking about some of the questions from the last broadcast. One of them was, what to do when approaching a new community. If I have a few days, or if I were to design the program for a short student trip, I would divide it into three parts. Exclusive listening and learning. Regrouping and designing. And trying out the beginnings of a solution, which is another way to learn. I said exclusive listening and learning for several reasons. This phase permeates every phase. But it also needs to be done without thought to solutions, or presumptions that we have solutions. Regrouping in design is important, to take the understanding from an intensive field experience and put it in perspective. Finally, I emphasize trying out solutions, learning by doing. This is another very important way to learn, and see how actually trying to provide a solution breaks up into many elements. If I had a few months, I would try to find a local person who cared deeply about the community and who can be semi-dedicated or dedicated to this project. Breaking up a large promise into smaller promises that will actually be delivered is a very important aspect. It is also important to keep the ultimate focus on activities that have a positive impact. In addition to the means of getting there through entities and processes. Thank you for participating. We will see you soon from Tanzania.
