Until now the main focus of my blogs has been in relation to the projects that I’ve had the joy of being involved with in various African countries. That work has been such an incredible part of my life journey, and I’ve had the privilege of working with many wonderful and inspirational people. I’ve witnessed amazing acts of faith, had my own attitudes challenged through the selflessness and generosity that I’ve seen lived out by others, and gained a new perspective on my theology as I’ve wrestled with issues that are part of day to day existence for large swathes of society.
As far as I know (and let’s face it, none of us really know what is round the corner in life) that side of my existence will continue, and I will carry on blogging about these experiences as and when they happen.
But, over the past year or so, my life has gained a new dimension, and as it is going to be such a large part of my thinking, it makes sense to introduce it into these blogs, in case any of you find it interesting to read more about.
This new dimension takes the form of a research PhD which I am doing through the University of Gloucestershire. It all came about a bit randomly during the first Covid lockdown – that time when we all found ourselves with time to stop and think and review life. Well, I did some of that, and one of the things that came from it was a re-entry to the academic world.
The research that I’m going to be doing is an exploration of what wellbeing means, and how it is understood and experienced, for women from marginalised communities who have a lived experience of conflict-affected trauma. It ties in with one of the CRED partners that I do work with, and with some of the communities that I have been deeply inspired and challenged by.
They are part of the reason why I went down the route of exploring if research is an option. I’ve been working with these wonderful folks for so long now, and learnt so much from them, as well as having the joy of delivering training to them on various things, including more recently my 360 Life programme of materials. But through out it all I’ve been aware of a cultural mismatch that lurks in the background, and have always had a subconscious desire to explore if there is a way to overcome it / smooth the path. My lockdown reflective time gave space for that subconscious to bubble to the surface and, combined with some random conversations that in retrospect were God-inspired and not really random at all, I got the courage and impetus to make enquiries.
Thankfully the University of Glos made the next steps very easy, and I felt very welcomed into the postgrad research fold, and as though I was supposed to be there. The bubbles of excitement were very real, and I knew that God was directing my steps and showing me how I can take the past years of experience and turn them into something that honours and gives voice to those who previously tend to be overlooked. God even gave me a supervisor whose father was a church leader, so she understands that side of my life, and of the lives of so many of those I will be working with out in the field – that felt like an additional little affirmation.
Looking back I can see many other ways in which God has been lining things up for me. This research is about justice, and giving voice to the voiceless, and that has been a passion of mine for all time. Right back to doing Christian Aid collecting with mum when I was little, and doing their annual sponsored walk – I’ve always been proactive in finding ways to speak up for the marginalised, to share their story, to challenge the dominant discourse and to advocate for ‘the other’.
This research is another step along that journey. At the heart of the data will be interviews with South Sudanese refugee women living in a refugee community in northern Uganda, and with displaced Acholi ladies living in an informal settlement in Kampala. Both groups of ladies are there because they fled conflict, both groups of ladies are rarely listened to, their views are rarely sought.
Wellbeing has been a thread that has been weaving through my life over the past years as well. Whether it is through my involvement with the UK charities Renew Wellbeing and JIGSAW Thornbury, both of whom address the pursuit of wellbeing in certain ways; or through seeing a number of people, young and not so young, struggle with a lack of wellbeing; or through my own journey of trying (not always successfully) to achieve wellbeing – I have been thinking about the concept more and more in recent years. It also features as a concept in the 360 Life training materials that I deliver, and it is one of the sustainable development goals, and as we all know, rarely a week goes by when it doesn’t feature in some shape or form on the radio or TV or other social media outlets.
But when one digs below the surface to find out what is meant by ‘wellbeing’, things become a little less clear. There are loads of descriptions, and quite a few definitions, leading to murky waters when it comes to working out what ‘achieving wellbeing’ looks like. But the concerning thing is that all of those descriptions and definitions tend to come from the global north. I wonder if anyone from Uganda was involved in determining what wellbeing is, and what it means to achieve it? Did anyone ask refugee women who are living in a refugee camp? Did anyone ask the ladies who fled for their lives from men with guns?
Through my research I will be asking some of those questions, and putting the voices of some of those ladies on the academic map. Yes it will only be in a very small way, but they will be silent no longer, they will be unheard no longer, and for me that is the most exciting aspect of embarking on this journey.
I’ll still need my hard feet as I travel out to Uganda to do the research, and I’ll still need my soft heart as I interview the ladies and hear their stories. All of that is to come, along with lots of thinking and pondering and reading and writing. But for now – well at least you have some background understanding of my research, what I am aiming to do, and why I am doing it.
Until the next time, sending love and prayers…
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