CINQ 387 Blog 2

Step 1: Determine the facts in the situation

• We are outside researchers in a foreign country
• We are conducting research on the water, which is an essential part of life
• Significant assistance is needed from the community in order to locate the water sources
• We are required to have some sort of conclusive research because of several expected publications
• There are no clear incentives for locals willing to participate
• Some sort of approval was done, in order for the research team to visit Lesotho
• We don’t know of any indigenous knowledge that may already exist concerning the water
• We don’t know of any researchers or have any connections in Lesotho who may already be working on a similar study
• We don’t know very much about culture in Lesotho

 

Step 2/Step 3: Define the Stakeholders and Assess the motivation of the Stakeholders

• • Lesotho locals: Having clean, portable drinking water and the knowledge of which water sources are contaminated. By understanding the potential symptoms that arise from ingesting/using the contaminated water, this can help guide the locals to change their behavior of where and how they should source their water. However, vulnerability may stem from working with these locals, which could stimulate them to stretch the truth, become overly helpful, or even tell you what you want to hear, but not what you need to hear. Also, a small developing country such as Lesotho is unlikely to have a lot of visitors, so they would be more inclined to building relationships with outsiders and participating in projects.
  • Smallholder and Subsistence Farmers: They may depend on local water sources in order to cultivate crops and livestock in the agricultural sector. Lesothos agriculture also provides employment for 63 percent of the country’s inhabitants, which is over ¾ of the rural population. So imagine, if the main water sources were contaminated. This would affect farming, food imports/exports, employment and the overall economy.
  • Lesotho government: Provide its citizens with portable drinking water and ensure outside influences aren’t negative or exploitative. By learning about this pathogen through the research, it can motivate the government to invest in future research/related developments. Another possible thought is that it might attract tourists with cleaner water, subsequently helping the economy.
  • Researchers and their institution: Researchers are motivated to help the community and learn from the locals about how and where they source their water. In order to create a comprehensive pathogen profile, they not only need to understand the biology but also the social perceptions around local water sources. Their interactions and relationships with locals will allow them to get a realistic sense of the attitudes and perceptions surrounding different water sources that may or may not contain the pathogen. This can benefit the researchers when attempting to communicate and educate the community about water sources contaminated with this pathogen. This can potentially disseminate the research found to companies that can make solutions a reality, open source research journals, and local community leaders; allowing this project to be a foundation to advertise for future-related projects.
  • Research journals: Publish new, credible, concrete research that garners recognition and can be used as a basis for further research and/or future innovations
  • Outside institutions: Can use the publications that come out of this research to further expand the work conducted and replicate the study to test new hypotheses or confirm conclusions
  • Investors/Funding agency – public and private sector: Be involved in the breakthrough of the research project and connect you with important people
  • Manufacturers of chemical additives: Since there are no current additives for this pathogen in the market, there is an incentive to be the first in creating the market for this product, which could also lead to further research.

 

• Healthcare workers: Although they are not directly involved with the work, they can be leveraged to distribute information.

 

Step 4: Formulate alternative solutions

• Potential solution: Because Lesotho’s rural and urban citizens already have a difficult time accessing safe and clean drinking water, often having to travel long distances for hours to just reach water access points that may/or may not even work, the demand to have clean and safe water is significantly high. However, because the researchers are foreign to Lesothos, an informed consent/educated process must be provided from the team. Before even doing so, the team must make connections with trusted local leaders and/or current researchers to garner the locals attention and awareness of this issue. By establishing a local connection and having them speak for us, will allow the people of Lesothos to be more comfortable and understanding of what the research is trying to do. The education process must also describe the pros and cons of the research happening, in order for the people of Lesothos to see the bigger picture. 
• Ethical Principle or code: There should be no added incentive to this solution because having cleaner water is already beneficial because Lesothos significantly lacks clean accessible water. An incentive will only attract unwanted attention, and hidden motives. So, participation in this research must be voluntary and through a signed agreement that states the entire research process and risks. As a researcher, in this field, the ethical principle they must follow is to help guide the Lesotho’s communities to access cleaner water safely in the long-run.
• Pros: 
  1. It would allow locals to make an informed decision.
  2. The locals will retrieve new knowledge about their water sources.
  3. Having participants go through an entire process will prevent the team from lawsuits in case something goes wrong. 
  4. Locals will be more inclined to listen to a trusted local compared to outsiders (who are not familiar with how their lifestyles/traditions/cultures), which can prevent offending anyone
  5. The research team will be able to learn more about the locals, with more consent and personal interactions with them
  6. The research team will be able to designate a solution that fits into the Lesotho’s lifestyle
  7. The research team will understand the environment and landscape of Lesothos more with the participation of locals
  8. The researchers could learn if there are current implementations already done to attempt to clean the water
  9. Connect with community health workers from the beginning (they are identified and sanctioned by the locals)
  10. Have a meeting w/ a governing body and request help for certain things at certain times
      1. Request specific people and let the community pick the best people

• Cons
  • Because participation has no incentive and is voluntary, locals may choose not participate in the case study.
  • Locals may change their behavior toward foreigners
  • Worst case scenario: locals may refuse to have the research conducted in their community at all
  • It may take a while to train the locals about the research or have them understand what the research is about, because some of them may have never learned of certain scientific concepts
  • Retrieving incorrect information from unreliable sources or people
  • Focusing on a disease that affects few rather than many
  • Potential to mix solutions together, need for analyzing feasibility/benefits/costs/inequities

Step 5: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate

• Engineering Code of Ethics: As a researcher, we have our own agenda, but if we are planning to release several publications, a true proactive researcher will look for a more in-depth connection with the community and its people. For research to be successful, it needs to be supported by different parties, and in this case with the people that actually know where the water sources are. In addition, for the research to become successful in the long-term, we must establish some type of connection with them so the communities will become more open to other related research or partnerships like these in the future. This connection can be formed by building a relationship with village elders / local community leaders / past Lesotho researchers so that we have the trust of respected people to ease our transition into Lesotho.
• Previous Cases: There are two current ongoing projects in Lesothos: The Highlands Water Project and the Metolong Dam Project. The Highlands Water Project helps generate revenue for Lesothos to function as a country, while the Metolong Dam Project is planned to have water be easily accessible for the locals. However, because the Metolong Dam Project is still in progress, this has caused numerous problems with critical water shortages within low land districts. Seeing how the local communities are strongly relying on these projects, this research to test if there is disease causing pathogens in their water will likely be strongly relied on also.
• Reliance on Personal Experience: As previously mentioned, water is an essential life necessity for all forms of life. If Lesotho’s people were deprived of water, because of disease, the entire population of the country would be in trouble. Similarly, other countries buying water from Lesothos will face the same danger.
• Inner Reflection: From seeing that previous projects have been implemented, I could see its not the lack of water posing the problem in Lesotho, but the lack of knowledge and technology provided to access water for these lowland districts and rural communities. As of right now, Lesotho’s water is considered the largest single source of foreign exchange, but it seems like the focus needs to be on helping the nation’s citizens. If the research team were to add this project on top of the other two ongoing projects, it would be difficult for the government to continue finishing all three. Therefore, I believe that more technology and especially education of these projects will help motivate communities as a whole to effectively and efficiently finish these projects to have the necessary access to safe water.

 

Step 6: Select the best course of action

• Because Lesotho is a small developing country, their people and communities may not understand how pathogens/diseases work or even not believe they exist. Therefore, educating the people is critical, because allowing them to know what is going to happen may allow them to be more accepting of research, and if they could benefit from the research, in this case, better quality of water and sanitation. With that, it is important to involve any current leaders and/or researchers who have the trust from their communities, because they are likely to have indigenous knowledge. 

 

Step 7: What are the implications of your solution on the venture

• Economic: Although constantly testing the water may become expensive, possibly installing a pH, bacteria reader or some type of purification method that consistently runs, could help cut down the costs for testing multiple times. 

Also, Lesotho’s economy depends on these water resources to produce revenue for the country. There is a project called, The Highlands Water Project where it raises millions of dollars per year for this low-income country by selling water to neighboring countries, specifically South Africa. If their water had potential disease causing bacteria, that could affect countries like South Africa, cutting off their revenue and trust.

• Social: The community would have common ethical requirements that does not involve someone getting hurt from participating in the research and having the choice to understand what the research is about.
• Environmental: Testing which water sources are much more cleaner, can prevent the possible spread of diseases. If certain water sources are identified as contaminated, there could be a shift in where people source their water. Also, certain regions have a specific area where they mainly get their water from, so it may be likely that their food that they eat (crop) and their livestock would be using the same water source.
• Technology: Irrigation systems can be constructed for locals to source their water from uncontaminated sources; along with chemical additives, there could be low cost filtration systems constructed as well. This can help grow agricultural crops, maintain the landscapes and help revive dry areas during periods of less rainfall.