Lamufutures
Process
How could a meaningful collaboration be developed between a local youth organisation and a university program based in Switzerland?
How could research-led pedagogy contribute to local empowerment and transformation?
(Mis)Comunication
We learned that communication is not confined to formal language. It is built through thein-between spaces, the pauses,the shared emotions, and the willingness to create meaning together.
We learned that communication is not confined to formal language. It is built through thein-between spaces, the pauses,the shared emotions, and the willingness to create meaning together.
Home - Field
It’s difficult to anticipate the time and emotion invested in something that initially seems to be ‘outside’ of research, let alone the deeper understandings that being accommodated with a “host family” can bring.
It’s difficult to anticipate the time and emotion invested in something that initially seems to be ‘outside’ of research, let alone the deeper understandings that being accommodated with a “host family” can bring.
Partnerships
Partnerships manifested at multiple scales and took different forms, ranging from institutionally guided to self-initiated.
Partnerships manifested at multiple scales and took different forms, ranging from institutionally guided to self-initiated.
Pedagogy
Exploring donkeys' role in urban life by blending fieldwork and learning through Punda Pedagogy, a research-teaching project.
Exploring donkeys' role in urban life by blending fieldwork and learning through Punda Pedagogy, a research-teaching project.
Translation
Navigating language politics, translation, and communication, shaping inclusive, multilingual research.
Navigating language politics, translation, and communication, shaping inclusive, multilingual research.
Remuneration
Addressing ethical challenges in research compensation, emphasizing fairness, transparency, and contextual sensitivity.
Addressing ethical challenges in research compensation, emphasizing fairness, transparency, and contextual sensitivity.
Care
Care work was a shared practice, fostering well-being, empathy, and connection within our research partnership.
Care work was a shared practice, fostering well-being, empathy, and connection within our research partnership.
Ocean as Method
Mobilising the ocean as both metaphor and material reality, this analytical lens centres the dynamism and fluidity of social processes.
Mobilising the ocean as both metaphor and material reality, this analytical lens centres the dynamism and fluidity of social processes.
Reciprocity
Striving for ways of working and outcomes that benefit all parties involved, emphasizing mutual exchange and understanding.
Striving for ways of working and outcomes that benefit all parties involved, emphasizing mutual exchange and understanding.
Positionality
Understanding how our individual and structural positions and movements shape research processes and final outcomes.
Understanding how our individual and structural positions and movements shape research processes and final outcomes.
Home - Field
Being part of an all-female cohort in 2025 opened up possibilities to us that were, based on cultural implications, more accessible to women. Male researchers, asnon-relatives, can’t be easily hosted in a Swahili-Muslim household. As women, however, we could consider a family home to become a personal refuge for ourtime in Lamu, which came with its own implications.
Daughters
Stepping into the role of ‘daughters’ in a Swahili-Muslim household involved more than just receiving security advice, as the best routes to take, safe places to eat, and appropriate times to come home. It also meant being introduced to people who could support us at any time of day, to trusted moto-taxi drivers, and to shopswhere we could buy necessities on credit. We learned how to navigate the gendered norms of Lamu, knowing who could be allowed into the house and whichmen needed to wait outside while the women of the house put on their veils before receiving them in front of the door.
Friends
Sometimes our presence was less defined by family commitments and more by everyday exchanges. We talked about work, clothes, relationships, sharedconfidences, asked for opinions, spoke about our past and recalled funny stories and trips. Sometimes we would simply spend time together late into the night. This kind of relationship created a space of intimacy and mutual listening. In those moments, we were no longer just "guests" or "researchers" but became part ofthe household's social life. We were close enough to be entrusted with personal stories, but also had the freedom to simply be ourselves.
Ultimately, each family setting was different. Age, occupation, and the general configuration of the family were all relevant factors, as were the personal characters of each individual. Some of us felt anchored throughout the experience thanks to ourhost families, while others had a shorter, but nonetheless enriching, encounter.
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Shared moments of joy - making a Happy-Birthday video
Daughters
Stepping into the role of ‘daughters’ in a Swahili-Muslim household involved more than just receiving security advice, as the best routes to take, safe places to eat, and appropriate times to come home. It also meant being introduced to people who could support us at any time of day, to trusted moto-taxi drivers, and to shopswhere we could buy necessities on credit. We learned how to navigate the gendered norms of Lamu, knowing who could be allowed into the house and whichmen needed to wait outside while the women of the house put on their veils before receiving them in front of the door.
Friends
Sometimes our presence was less defined by family commitments and more by everyday exchanges. We talked about work, clothes, relationships, sharedconfidences, asked for opinions, spoke about our past and recalled funny stories and trips. Sometimes we would simply spend time together late into the night. This kind of relationship created a space of intimacy and mutual listening. In those moments, we were no longer just "guests" or "researchers" but became part ofthe household's social life. We were close enough to be entrusted with personal stories, but also had the freedom to simply be ourselves.
Ultimately, each family setting was different. Age, occupation, and the general configuration of the family were all relevant factors, as were the personal characters of each individual. Some of us felt anchored throughout the experience thanks to ourhost families, while others had a shorter, but nonetheless enriching, encounter.
Is it ethical to include informal dinner table conversations in our field notes? When does research begin — and when should it pause?
Can it even?
Shared moments of joy - making a Happy-Birthday video
Without hesitation, most of our host families introduced us to their relatives, neighbours and friends across Lamu. This helped us familiarise ourselves with thestreets and form relationships with local people. As some of us began to recognise faces and greet people, we witnessed an ever-growing sense of safety in navigating the ‘field’.
Coming ‘home’ meant returning to a space of routines, responsibilities, and roles to which we gradually attuned. This process inevitably took time and mental resources, but it also allowed us to engage with life in Lamu as active members of local communities, finding and shaping our roles depending.
Aunties
Sometimes we would become more like ‘aunties’ or ‘big sisters’, as we would spontaneously help out by picking up the kids from school, baking a cake for them, or spending evenings full of fun and laughter. But beyond these voluntary responsibilities, many opportunities emerged for us to experience life as part of our host families.We were naturally included when family members attended social events. Weddings, in particular, gave us insight into the importance and distinctcharacter of joyful, all-female spaces, as these gatherings, like much of Swahili social life, are organised along gender lines. Other occasions, such as birthdays orfamily outings, introduced us to the dynamics of a closely-knit extended family network.
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Baking Swiss bread together with the host family
Reconciling our research work, personal needs and feelings with domestic routines was at times challenging.
By getting to know each other and establishing an honest basis of communication with our host families, we slowly learned to navigate these questions. By building trust and deeper relationships it became clearer what was personal and what was a cultural practice. Understanding this required the involvement of ourwider networks, including families, research partners and local interlocutors.
In a research environment that was emotionally intense and often uncertain, for some of us, the families provided a sense of belonging that made the stay in Lamu not only more manageable but meaningful. This was initially overlooked, but later, while turning our research into seminar papers, we realised how much would have gone unnoticed if our host families hadn’t allowed us to immerse ourselves so deeply into their lives.
The ‘field’, we came to realise, didn’t stop at our doorstep.
Coming ‘home’ meant returning to a space of routines, responsibilities, and roles to which we gradually attuned. This process inevitably took time and mental resources, but it also allowed us to engage with life in Lamu as active members of local communities, finding and shaping our roles depending.
Aunties
Sometimes we would become more like ‘aunties’ or ‘big sisters’, as we would spontaneously help out by picking up the kids from school, baking a cake for them, or spending evenings full of fun and laughter. But beyond these voluntary responsibilities, many opportunities emerged for us to experience life as part of our host families.We were naturally included when family members attended social events. Weddings, in particular, gave us insight into the importance and distinctcharacter of joyful, all-female spaces, as these gatherings, like much of Swahili social life, are organised along gender lines. Other occasions, such as birthdays orfamily outings, introduced us to the dynamics of a closely-knit extended family network.
Baking Swiss bread together with the host family
Reconciling our research work, personal needs and feelings with domestic routines was at times challenging.
Is there ever a right time to withdraw to do some reading or writing, or just to have a moment to yourself, without being rude or missing out on family life?
By getting to know each other and establishing an honest basis of communication with our host families, we slowly learned to navigate these questions. By building trust and deeper relationships it became clearer what was personal and what was a cultural practice. Understanding this required the involvement of ourwider networks, including families, research partners and local interlocutors.
In a research environment that was emotionally intense and often uncertain, for some of us, the families provided a sense of belonging that made the stay in Lamu not only more manageable but meaningful. This was initially overlooked, but later, while turning our research into seminar papers, we realised how much would have gone unnoticed if our host families hadn’t allowed us to immerse ourselves so deeply into their lives.