Clara has just returned from her first trip to Chongwe, Zambia. She joined a Mothers of Africa team of Engineers, Doctors and Anaesthetists and carried out some initial ethnographic research that will form the basis of her PhD’s Primary research. The trip was a great success. She was able to meet a range of interesting people and visited a number of exciting locations, including rural health posts, district hospitals, medical schools and Chinese built health facilities.
The trip enabled her to witness and gain an understanding of the issues that must be addressed when designing products for people who live very different lives from our own. Beyond this she was able to learn and experience how aspirations, life style choices, religion and gender, have a major impact on both the appropriateness and availability of products.