Care

Making such partnerships work in healthy and just ways depends on the wellbeing of all partners. During such intensive and immersive learning experiences, care work is essential labor on which the collective experience and the personal growth and development of everyone depends. It is not the responsibility of any single partner or participant, but featured in the 2024 research process as a shared practice that responsibilized all participants to each other within and beyond the demands of the research partnership, including in each other’s lives.

“Instead of teaching what power relations exist, guide participants how to recognize and best address these hierarchies. This might include practicing empathy, acknowledging privilege, sharing vulnerability and care for others” (Dimitrakou, Hilbrandt, and Ren 2024, p. 29).    

Concretely in Lamu and within the partnership itself, care work took the form of running errands for one another, acknowledging and practicing gratitude for each other’s efforts and assistance, listening to each other’s experiences without judgement, mediations to resolve conflicts and misunderstandings, and attending to each other’s illnesses, personal hardships, and grief. In difficult times, care work was often accompanied by the dual recognition of our shared vulnerability and the structures that perpetuate uneven harm and suffering. In better times, it could also be a playful practice. To overcome various frustrations and delays that came with the research schedule, the mischievous card game Frantic provided levity and reprieve, particularly in moments of unexpected or extended waiting. 

Dedicated times and spaces for acts of care to be initiated and practiced are built into our partnership. Tuesday dinners at the Lamu Youth Alliance among all participants and juice nights hosted by and for University of Basel student participants allow for lighter moments as well as the deepening of connections between participants.

“My teammates were always there for me.”
– LYA member