1. While I'm over in Gulu, Uganda, the LRA decides to move back to where they started, which is in Gulu. Oh gosh, that better not happen. So then I get an email from BYU saying that I need to leave asap. (or if for any reason it's not safe for me to be in Gulu anymore)
If I was in some sort of immediate danger, I would quickly take the bus into Kampala and find some place to stay there until I could figure out the next best thing to do. Depending on how much time I had left in the field, I would either go home a little early or see if I could find some way to join the field study group in either Ghana or South Africa. I would of course check with the field study department to see what they recommended for me to do.
2. None of the women agree to tell me their stories or answer any of my interview questions.
I will just use the information I gather while in the field from observing the women and talking to them casually for my project.
3. I get really sick and can't work on my project for a few weeks.
I designed my project in a way that it can be pretty flexible. I didn't set a huge standard for myself in order to allow for things like this to happen. I am only hoping for at least three women to agree to a more structured interview with me, so cutting out a couple weeks from being sick will definitely make it more difficult to get to know the women as well as I could have and give me less time to conduct the interviews, but I think it will still be possible. I know that I will need to be flexible because I can't see every challenge I will face in the field, so I will have to work with whatever information I get and of course try my best, but not set myself up for failure. I understand that if I don't stick to my schedule exactly, it won't be the end of the world.
4. For some reason, African Promise Foundation shuts down, so I don't have an organization to work with anymore and I can't just go to work and see the women, who are the participants in my research.
Since my brother knows all of the women already and has visited many of them in their homes, I would try to visit some of the women who had worked for APF in their homes and try to get to know them that way. I would probably have my brother come with me depending on the situation, since he knows the women better than I. This would shift the location of the majority of my research from the workplace of the organization to the homes of the women. This would add a really interesting twist to my project because they women would probably have a bitter taste towards APF because if they shut down, that means the women would lose their jobs. I would still try to find out the impact that working for APF had on their lives.
If I am not allowed into the homes of the women and there's no way for me to conduct my original project, then I will probably try to work with this other organization over in Gulu called Straight Talk Foundation (STF) that is an Ugandan NGO that specializes in communication for social change. I would figure out some project to do related to this organization and the issues they address.
I know that I will face many challenges while in the field, but I also know that this is what I'm supposed to be doing-going to Gulu, Uganda. Whatever happens, this will be an experience that will force me to learn and grow in ways that might not be possible anywhere else.
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