Memories and dreams

Before getting started, an explanation of the project methodology:

Methodology

Before our first field trip, I drafted the questions and explained to Arn, my project partner, what I was looking for: stories about their lives, and anything they want to tell us, anything, for whatever they say deserves to be heard.

After the first few interviews, we knew what questions worked and what needed be rephrased. You can read our sample questions below.

Because I don’t speak Lao, I gave all the interview work to Arn, who so responsibly grabbed every chance to talk with the girls at VFI Shelter or in the car on the way to/from the villages, and villagers whom we came across. An advantage of doing so is that Arn, a native Lao, knows what I do not: cultural norms. How do you start and sustain a conversation with villagers, how do you approach a teen girl, how do you ask a stranger about his/her life, how do you explain what you do using the language that villagers can understand… Researchers need to be culturally sensitive and appropriate — for we are only guests, and our “subjects” are really the main characters who (should) lead our studies.

Another advantage is that Arn, who has worked with many villages for 3 years, has already established trust among the villagers. While stories can be made up or exaggerated,

One-on-one interview

Group discussion

Questions

  1. What are the major events in your life that make you who you are today?
  2. Compare yourself today and yourself before going to Thailand/when you were in Thailand. How have you changed?
  3. What do you like about your life right now? What do you enjoy doing? What do you want to change about it?
  4. Tell me about some of your childhood memories – what you like and didn’t like about.
  5. What are your dreams/life goals? What difficulties would you face and how would you overcome them?
  6. Imagine if you were granted 3 wishes, what would they be?
  7. What is happiness?
  8. What does your family need?
  9. What does your village need?

For VFI social workers who work with villagers:

  1. What are the major events in your life that make you who you are today?
  2. Tell me about some of your childhood memories – what you like and didn’t like about.
  3. What inspired you to work for the fight against poverty? Please tell me about your experience working the field – your feelings, thoughts, opinions and how did they change over the course of your work.
  4. Is there any story that leaves a strong impression / influence on you (ideas, feelings, etc.)?
  5. What do you think we can do to help poor villagers more effectively? What more can be done?
  6. What are your dreams/life goals?
  7. Imagine if you were granted 3 wishes, what would they be?
  8. What is happiness?

Limitations

  1. Visits were short, because a) the main purpose was to conduct follow-up surveys with VFI’s beneficiaries (trafficked women), b) it took a long time to get there and we had to leave before the evening to get back to the guesthouse – because we didn’t plan to stay at the village, we are what Robert Chambers calls Rural Development Tourists, and that limits our ability to understand the whole picture.
  2. Inaccessibility of the remotest villages, because it was during the rainy season and roads to these villages weren’t accessible, so we are missing part of the pictures here.
  3. We were accompanied by government officials as required by law. Villagers are less willing to share with us their thoughts under the presence of government officials.
  4. I don’t speak Lao, so I couldn’t conduct the interviews myself and direct the flow of the conversations. I was fortunate to receive help with translation from my colleagues, but language barrier still existed and some ideas were lost in translation. But we tried our best to explore the inner world of our interviewees and bring some stories to surface.