Hari P. Garbharran

Department of Geography and Geology

Middle Tennessee State University

P.O. Box 9, Mufreeesboro, TN 37132

garbharr@mtsu.edu.

This paper looks at the research effort funded by the Association Liaison Office and United States Agency for International Development that brings together US and South African institutions in joint partnership. Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) is leading the project effort and is joined by Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC). The host institution is the University of Durban-Westville (UDW) in South Africa and other organizations in the research partnership include the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Urban Strategy, Department of Local Government and Housing, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community based organizations (CBOs) in Durban. The research partnership effort targets sustainabilty of informal communities in KwaZulu-Natal. Through this alliance researchers across disciplines have come together to examine water, sanitation and health education issues in informal communities in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The target areas include three communities in Durban: Palmiet River, Kennedy Road, and Cato Crest. The research paper examines the advantages of fostering international partnerships and some lessons learned during the first fourteen months of the formation of such a research partnership

In summer, 1995, the research director visited Durban, South Africa to begin conducting research in the three informal settlements of Briardene, Canaan, and Cato Manor located in the Greater Durban Metropolitan Area (GDMA), KwaZulu-Natal. In the course of this paper informal settlements will interchangeably referred to as squatter settlements, shantytowns, or by the Zulu term, imijondolos. The research director’s field visit to these communities highlighted two important points: (1) mobility and change in the GDMA, especially with the influx of blacks from rural and from within urban areas; and (2) imijondolos generally lacked potable water, sanitation, health, electricity, recreation, infrastructure, and other basic services. The research met with faculty members from the University of Durban-Westville (Geography); head of Environmental Sciences, University of Natal; head of Community Health, University of Natal; Director of the Geographic Information Systems Division at the Human Sciences Research Council in Durban, water quality manager at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and policy operations supervisor at Urban Strategy in Durban to discuss the situation in the imijondolos and possible research collaboration. They concluded that there was need for joint partnership between the institutions in order to create greater international awareness into the squatter community problem. Such collaboration would initiate community outreach programs and stimulate greater research in squatter communities. There was a need to shift the focus of the previous apartheid policy on first world issues to pressing third world problems confronting Mandela’s transitional democratic government in South Africa. Also, it was critical for South African universities and research organizations to forge links with overseas universities operating study abroad and exchange programs in established democracies.

Based on the initial visit the research director made subsequent visits to South Africa in 1997 and 1998 and through this effort the US-South Africa partnership was established with the help of ALO-USAID in September 1999. The following discussion is based on ten lessons learned through this international undertaking and can prove useful especially to research directors interested in establishing such alliances in the future.

Stay in constant touch with the host institution. Do not wait for your host partners to get in touch with you. Initiate the process and email is the cheapest way to communicate. However, also stay in touch over the phone because the personal touch is needed. Project leaders sometimes need to physically hear each other when they talk. Keeping up with deadlines as research director can become a daunting task and experience teaches us not to expect the project manager at your host institution to remember deadline dates. The research director needs to constantly send reminders and get the ball rolling. Always get the upcoming research segment started. It is very useful and important to keep a directory of all local contacts in the host country and be prepared to constantly give these contacts to your program director in your host institution. As research director, you may have to initiate conference calls with different stakeholders in your host country to make sure that things are going according to schedule. For example, if one is doing a survey of human populations in squatter communities, one needs to understand the dynamics regarding protocol of undertaking such a task among Zulus in informal communities. The research director must understand the "structures " that exist in that squatter community and ensure that the host institution project director has secured the necessary permission from leaders heading up various components of that structure.

Be flexible and be prepared to change course and go with the flow. Sometimes the research director will need to adjust dates and study areas originally outlined in partnership in order to accommodate local politics in the host country. For example, in our partnership, project leaders had originally chosen Canaan, Briardene, and Cato Crest as study areas. However, after our first visit to Durban in October 1999, Canaan had experienced landslides and the squatters had been moved out to surrounding squatter communities by local authorities. The research team made site visits and the host institution were already working with the Palmiet River and Kennedy Road squatter communities. Additionally, these areas were easily accessible by the University of Durban-Westville and revisions to the study areas were made based on these events. Coming from the US background, these volatile local happenings might be difficult to accept and handle but it is critical for the research director to understand the politics and culture he/she is dealing with and make adjustments.

 

 

Know the calendar of your host school. Be ready for local happenings such as boycotts that might result in temporary close down of school during the course of the semester. For example, our host institution was going through a boycott in May-June 2000 and two team members of our research partnership were due to visit the campus at that time- unfortunately, the campus had closed down since a student had been killed because of police intervention. This was a serious case and had significant repercussions on the host country campus. The research director has to be in constant touch with the project director of the host institution and decide on the most suitable dates of faculty visits. Timing is critical and an understanding of the boycott process is essential. It is important to be in constant touch with the administration of the host institution because they are in the best position to indicate close out dates and future opening dates for the institution- with regard to the visit of our team members. As a result of such deliberations between the US and the host institution, the project director of the host institution recommended the two weeks that would be the best time to visit. This visit corresponded with the boycott period but is was an opportune time to conduct meetings at that time. Also, the research director must be versatile with airline reservations and be able to cope with a short lead time in ensuring air tickets especially during peak travel. With regard to South Africa, June-July and December-January are the peak times and travel reservations can become complex during these times.

Be ready for disappointments regarding ongoing cooperation from the administration of your host school. South African higher education is undergoing a tremendous change in its administration and schools are currently being reclassified. This procedure is ongoing and will result in schools either being up-scaled or down-scaled. The research director needs to know what is going on in the overall structural change and possible impacts on the host institution. Understanding the process is critical because one identifies a noticeable change in research partners at the host institution during this transition period. If one does not understand what is going on in the host institution one can jeopardize the viability of the project and make unreasonable demands on the host partners. It is a time to be sensitive of what the host institution is going through and to be supportive with the project director and their team in the host country.

Be ready for volatility in terms of staff/faculty changes in your host school. With the changes going on in higher education structures in South Africa, and with the implementation of affirmative action procedures, it is common place for existing faculty to become redundant or move to other jobs that provide greater stability. Be prepared for the faculty and research team you began with in the host institution to change drastically during the course of the partnership. This becomes critical especially in terms of sustainability since the research director generally invites host institution members to the US for training. The research director needs to get a sense of those members that show commitment to the project and indicate the importance of training and application of knowledge in order to ensure a sustainable and successful partnership. Our partnership is currently going through this process and a research team member from our host institution is being trained in water modeling in Orlando and provided with the software to take back with him to Durban. The trainee will then be traveling to Illinois to be with the project director at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC) to continue with his training and guide him in preparing a water forecast for Durban. The research director will also be joining the team at SIUC and will follow up in December with a trip to Durban to ensure application of training. The research director will work with the trainee in his model application and in forecasting water use for Durban. With regard to visitors, be prepared to be challenged in confirming their hotel reservations because not all visitors have visa charge cards. Also, the research director needs to be aware of currency exchange ratios that exist between the US and the host country.

The research director must always display leadership qualities. As research director one needs to give and take but one will have to lead or else the research project will become too complex to manage. Experience has taught researchers that during the course of the semester professors become so wrapped up with their departmental and teaching responsibilities that they sometimes find little time in getting project items completed. The research director needs to show true leadership qualities at these times and show initiative and commitment by beginning the process. One needs to lead by example and hold regular meetings with the partnership team in the US and abroad. The director must inform the group of progress and update the team constantly. With this type of leadership, group members get motivated and very positive teamwork and team spirit is cultivated. For example, three members of our research team attended the recent Pan African AIDS conference in Nashville and that togetherness provided a powerful feeling of accomplishment and tends to strengthen the commitment and determination among team members.

Be prepared and always have an alternate plan. As research director one is constantly in touch with the project director in the host country and one must be ready for constant challenges and changes in strategy. Even if both partners have agreed to a plan of action, one must be prepared to change course at a moment’s notice. One can look at it as a hindrance but such an attitude is dampening and damaging to the project. The director should look at such change in course as challenging. Obstructions on the way can be turned around and viewed as pivotal in uniting the team in finding an alternate way to get things accomplished. When one works with another culture in the host country, a well prepared and flexible research director is critical to spearhead efforts and mobilize resources among the research team by seeking alternatives.

A thorough understanding of the population one is working with is critical. As research director one must remember that one is interacting not only the local culture of the host institution but also the cultural diversity among populations displayed in the research study areas. It has already been stated that administrative issues governing one’s school will be different from that existing in one’s host institution. Besides being mindful of that difference, the research director must understand the culture of populations being researched. For example, our partnership is concentrated in three squatter communities that are dominantly Zulu. The director must ensure that the US research team understands the relevant culture. A knowledge of the culture is very important since this background becomes a powerful tool in the research process especially if the research effort involves surveys, community outreach and training individuals in that population.

Practice equality, fairness, and equity. As research director, one must be fair to all players in one’s team. Embrace the host country players as an integral part of the research effort and ensure that they feel they are equal partners. It is critical that whenever a research director is at symposiums, conferences, or meetings with other stakeholders especially in the host country, that one encourages input from host players and offer them a lead role whenever appropriate. US research directors need to always remember that they are guests in the host country and they should be prepared to be in the background if the situation calls for it.

Protect yourself from being accused of exploiting the host country. US institutions have commonly been blamed for taking advantage of the third world institutions. Take good care of your hosts especially when they visit the US. Generally, Africans are very warm and hospitable to Americans and foreign visitors. Research directors should create that awareness among their team members and ensure that host country visitors are accorded that respect and caring. African cultural traditions should be honored and members of the US team should verbalize to their visitors the importance their visit and their input in the research partnership. Sometimes, host institutions misunderstand the meaning of winning a proposal and may perceive the US institution as winning a whole lot of money and as a result they may demand payment for every bit of work they put into the research. The research director needs to clarify the budget process at the very outset and familiarize the host country project director with regard to the operational definitions regarding travel, accommodation, per diem rates, and reimbursements.

This presentation is based on the author’s first hand experiences as project director of the US-South Africa partnership during the past fourteen months. The lessons learned have caused a reasonable amount of frustration but the rewards have far outweighed the pain. These lessons have made the research director more effective in terms of interaction with the host institution and has allowed for productive development of the partnership. These lessons should be viewed as integral to the success of the partnership and future sustainability and viability of the project.