574
their phones or used the video setting on the digital cameras we provided to record
sound. Others did not have this opportunity, so they simply took hand-written notes
to accompany the photographs. At the end of the field visit, students were happy
with what they had gathered in a relatively short space of time. Farmers were happy
to actively cooperate, but we respected that their time was valuable and we did not
want to overstay our welcome.
The group spent the final day of the first week in the classroom at LUANAR’s
Bunda campus. The group worked individually, selecting a series of photographs
from the previous day. Individual photographs were captioned accordingly with
students working either from their recordings or from their notes. Captions were
both in the native Chichewa language and translated to English. Photographs
were printed using a Canon Selphy portable printer, accompanying captions
were typed up and printed, and the 11 resulting photo-essays were displayed,
discussed and refined. This provided a valuable learning experience for the students and the photo- essays provided the basis for the subsequent image-based
digital stories.
We visited the second project site in February 2018. Three of the students accompanied us to the SEED-Fish project in Vinthenga village, Nkhotakota District on the
shore of Lake Malawi. This field visit followed a similar format to the previous one,
with the students being paired with fishers and fish processors. One student collaborated with a husband and wife, one with a local fisherman, and the other with a
group of fish processors. However, after the initial pairing and photography, photographs were printed using the mobile printer before students returned to their
respective partners to record the narratives. Not only did the printed photographs
then truly act as an elicitation tool, but they were also left with the participants as a
record of the day’s activities.
4 Results: Stories from Dedza and Nkhotakota
From Dedza, there are specific themes that are common throughout the photostories. Firstly, they all include a portrait of the beneficiary with an accompanying
caption (see Fig. 1 for an example). Prominent themes include family (Fig. 2), livestock (Fig. 3), financial benefits from dairy farming (Fig. 4), crops (Fig. 5), and
agricultural technologies (Figs. 6 and 7). Other themes include the health benefits of
milk (Fig. 8).
The photographs from Nkhotakota contain similar themes. However, one notable
difference is that participants highlight some of the major challenges involved in
their project. This includes the damage to and subsequent lack of maintenance of the
solar dryer tent (Fig. 9).
Once all the raw material was gathered and the photo stories finalised, students
and a facilitator collaboratively produced the digital stories. Several of them
recorded third-person narratives to accompany their photo-essays. Others worked to
structure the digital stories using their previously recorded first-person narratives.
N. G. Davey and M. K. Moulton
their phones or used the video setting on the digital cameras we provided to record
sound. Others did not have this opportunity, so they simply took hand-written notes
to accompany the photographs. At the end of the field visit, students were happy
with what they had gathered in a relatively short space of time. Farmers were happy
to actively cooperate, but we respected that their time was valuable and we did not
want to overstay our welcome.
The group spent the final day of the first week in the classroom at LUANAR’s
Bunda campus. The group worked individually, selecting a series of photographs
from the previous day. Individual photographs were captioned accordingly with
students working either from their recordings or from their notes. Captions were
both in the native Chichewa language and translated to English. Photographs
were printed using a Canon Selphy portable printer, accompanying captions
were typed up and printed, and the 11 resulting photo-essays were displayed,
discussed and refined. This provided a valuable learning experience for the students and the photo- essays provided the basis for the subsequent image-based
digital stories.
We visited the second project site in February 2018. Three of the students accompanied us to the SEED-Fish project in Vinthenga village, Nkhotakota District on the
shore of Lake Malawi. This field visit followed a similar format to the previous one,
with the students being paired with fishers and fish processors. One student collaborated with a husband and wife, one with a local fisherman, and the other with a
group of fish processors. However, after the initial pairing and photography, photographs were printed using the mobile printer before students returned to their
respective partners to record the narratives. Not only did the printed photographs
then truly act as an elicitation tool, but they were also left with the participants as a
record of the day’s activities.
4 Results: Stories from Dedza and Nkhotakota
From Dedza, there are specific themes that are common throughout the photostories. Firstly, they all include a portrait of the beneficiary with an accompanying
caption (see Fig. 1 for an example). Prominent themes include family (Fig. 2), livestock (Fig. 3), financial benefits from dairy farming (Fig. 4), crops (Fig. 5), and
agricultural technologies (Figs. 6 and 7). Other themes include the health benefits of
milk (Fig. 8).
The photographs from Nkhotakota contain similar themes. However, one notable
difference is that participants highlight some of the major challenges involved in
their project. This includes the damage to and subsequent lack of maintenance of the
solar dryer tent (Fig. 9).
Once all the raw material was gathered and the photo stories finalised, students
and a facilitator collaboratively produced the digital stories. Several of them
recorded third-person narratives to accompany their photo-essays. Others worked to
structure the digital stories using their previously recorded first-person narratives.
N. G. Davey and M. K. Moulton