Understanding household water practices using ethnographic research methods, 2013.
Water Information Network (WIN-SA), South Africa.
This study had no hidden agenda or desired outcome. It was non-interventionist. Its only aim was to provide the community with different perspectives on their own practices. What they decided to do with the information was entirely up to them.
This study was innovative in a number of ways, due to its non-interventionist nature: It was designed to give a visual tool to a rural community to capture, analyse, interpret and present their household practices from their own as well as from other perspectives.
The community had the opportunity to interrogate, analyse and interpret other perspectives against their own perspective. This generated debate and learning about their own practices.
This study has clearly shown that the ethno-visual tool can be used in a participatory noninterventionist manner in rural communities. Apart from the film footage, other material collected was graphically and visually provided to the elders in the community, allowing for debate on a level previously unknown to them.
Although further development and/or shaping of the tool may be required to fit the profiles and problems of specific communities, it is envisaged that the ethno-visual tool would have substantial value in similar situations in other communities, specifically to contribute to the discourse on community led participation. It would also allow for comparison of the use of the tool with other participatory rural research methods.
