Following a trail of Fieldworkers in Malawi

My personal  story to get involved in Medical research started in the year 2007 when i was recruited  to be a fieldworker (Staff members who have a face to face interaction with study participants in research) for one of  the studies in Blantyre, Malawi. Having no any medical background i found it very hard to  establish myself into the principles  of conducting research, lack enough my team was so supportive such that after a year i started  developing  interest to learn more about  Good Clinical Practice, a course which each  research staff undergoes at the beginning of his/ her involvement in research.  After my involvement in a number of studies i was successfully offered a position which allowed me to  practice community engagement but all the same i still had a passion for my previous job; i still cherished the memories i reserved in my mind while working as a fieldworker.  I loved riding motorbikes, spending more time in the field other than in the office, i enjoyed interacting with  community people in the localities some of them inviting me  for  lunch while some of them were  pleading with me to have at least a present from them.

I still remember some of the days soaked in rain trying to meet my targets for the day getting home tired  feeling like not waking  the next day but the job was already part of me, i had no choice. Having such memories and experiences in mind, an opportunity showed up  last year in 2014; together with my supervisors we thought of applying for funding to dip deep into the issues surrounding fieldworkers in Malawi, we developed the interest to explore their experiences and address the challenges which they face in their daily work. After a lot of team work we managed to secure funding to to conduct a qualitative study on Fieldworkers.

Elvis Moyo - Presenting a poster for Fieldworkers in Vietnam

Basing on my experience and of course  on the studies that have been conducted by well known researchers, fieldworkers face a lot of challenges, this group of staff are neglected yet the play crucial role in research. one the their roles is being agents of community engagement for the respective  studies involved. I believe  this project will stimulate the way institutions manage and support the cadre in the country.