Doctoral research, COVID-19, and political crisis in Ethiopia, Sudan, Rwanda, and the UK: challenges, responses, and recommendations

Collaborative autoethnography

We have used a collaborative autoethnography (CAE) approach to document our COVID-19 and political and military unrest-related experiences lived during our PhD training journey. CAE is an extension of the autoethnographic research method. Autoethnography is a study of a self that is grounded in stories/experiences collected from an individual's own life experience (Hernandez et al., 2017). The self-stories/experiences are central to autoethnographers as they rely on self-stories/experiences to shed retrospective light on the ways we are connected to the external world (Hernandez et al., 2017).

A profitable way to unpack the ways in which socio-cultural realities shape researcher stories/experience is to use multiple self-stories/experiences through a collaborative autoethnography (CAE). As the 5S participants are on the same scholarship, CAE offers us the opportunity to reflect on ways our socio-cultural realities shape our perspectives, behaviours and stories. CAE allows researchers to gather self-stories and interpret them in a collective manner (Hernandez et al., 2017) and its use by qualitative researchers has been especially encouraged at unprecedented times like these (Roy & Uekusa, 2020). In so doing, the CAE creates the spaces for us to strengthen our friendship and illuminate the ways our experiences inform our actions and lives during this critical time. CAE is also especially well-suited to giving voice to the powerless and marginalised. By sharing experiences, it helps a group of people to highlight commonalities in their experiences, identifying where change is required. CAE offers the less powerful a chance to have a more significant, collective say in organisational trajectories, practices and policies and to promote collective action in campaigns for social justice (Lapadat, 2017). As all contributors are “vulnerable” in sharing experiences, the power differential between them is also levelled, and this in turn fosters the building of a team and of trust (Lapadat, 2017). Furthermore, as Chang et al. (2012) explain, a trusting and supportive team environment can be ‘cathartic’, especially helpful when the research is focused on sensitive or difficult areas.

There are some supposed methodological and ethical limitations involved in the use of autoethnography and CAE, which we recognise, but limitations further that our specific project is perhaps not as susceptible to. The issue of privilege and non-representativeness, for example, applies less in our context as we are almost all Global South researchers conducting our research in our respective countries at a time of global and local crises, and crises which we are in the middle of. In this respect, we give voice to ourselves, the more marginalised and vulnerable of the researcher community, albeit from a position of privilege vis-à-vis our relation to others locally. Ideally, it is suggested (Chang et al., 2012), CAE members should number no more than five so that coordination and collaboration does not become overly complex and too challenging, but as a group of seven we have not encountered any significant problems. In fact, despite our supposed selectivity, subjectivity, “potential for narcissism and self-indulgence”, and unavoidably emotionally-charged readings of our experiences of crisis (Roy & Uekusa, 2020), we have, among other things, been able to identify in our experiences overlapping themes and intersubjective commonalities.

As is also recommended (Roy & Uekusa, 2020) we have been measured in our preparation, planning, and practice and so further addressing these methodological and ethical limitations with CAE. There has been “frequent and open communication among the members” (Roy & Uekusa, 2020), for instance. We have interpreted and scrutinised data collaboratively and employed shared documents to record thoughts and ideas in the same way a research diary might be used. Participation has been completely voluntary, the focus of our collaboration has secured the agreement of all, and has been conducted non-hierarchically and non-coercively (Lapadat, 2017).

Initially, we recorded our individual stories and reflections independently, with each of us writing down a summary of our experiences. We started planning for our collaborative research and writing our experience in September, 2021, and the manuscript had been fully written in June, 2022. During biweekly meetings we updated each other on our personal experiences, and shared our stories in a group, and shared minutes. This prompted questions and allowed a deeper understanding of the reflected issues in each story. After sharing our stories in the group, all stories and reflections were combined into a shared document text, which we then analysed and thematised.

A standard thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Braun & Clarke, 2021) has also been carried out both individually and collectively (Hernandez et al., 2017). After the combined document was shared, each read the document and created initial codes. The initial codes were combined and distributed and from this a master list of themes was created. Overarching themes were then identified and shared with our advisors for suggestions and further input.

Similarly, the manuscript has also been completed individually and collectively. Initially, our article was divided into sections, with each of us assigned a section. This helped us save time and ensure collaboration (Hernandez et al., 2017). Later the sections were combined to produce a final shared document text to be reviewed, edited and approved collectively.

1. New Ways of Working & Its Impact

The COVID-19 pandemic and, in Ethiopia and Sudan, political and military upheaval have severely impacted our PhD research. The upheaval caused by the pandemic, in particular, has forced us to adopt new ways of working, the use of virtual learning technologies and working from home, and new ways not always with positive results.

Infrastructure

The transition to online learning has been especially problematic. One key issue for us has been the greater pressure this has placed on already fragile local internet services and electricity infrastructure. In Ethiopia, for example, it has been revealed previously that online education is a luxury for Ethiopian students, 80% of whom are living in rural areas without access to electricity and essential electronic devices. According to Global Broadband Speed League (2021), Ethiopia, Sudan, and Rwanda, with an average download speed of 1.2 Mbps, 1.8Mbps and 6.28 Mbps respectively, have among the slowest internet speeds on the continent. Already fragile infrastructure coupled with comparatively slow internet connections have in the cases of Ethiopia and Sudan been placed under even greater stress, however, by political and military events.

Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, Dereje, for example, has experienced “frequent power and Internet blackouts”, disrupting online meetings. Internet access, he explains, is provided by only one company in the country, the government owned Ethio telecom, and internet demand “skyrocketed” during the lockdown. He writes of having to wait “in a long queue” to gain access to the Wi-Fi modem in his house. The skyrocketing demand and queues for access this has caused is, however, Dereje explains, compounded by the “frequent” power blackouts that disrupt internet connections and meetings and workshops further. Further exacerbating this has been the unstable political situation in the country, which led to shutting the internet down completely at one point. As Dereje writes, in June 2020 the Oromia region and capital city Addis Ababa suffered further political upheaval and one of the government’s responses was to shut down for more than two weeks the internet throughout the country, including university local area networks. In Dereje’s case this internet blackout coincided with the date of submission of his research plan and as a result he was unable to submit it on time.

Unsurprisingly, a number of us, Dereje included, write of how internet access and connection issues have been a cause of significant worry, not least when there are important deadlines approaching, or workshops, training, seminars, or supervisory meetings planned. Indeed, when in the middle of these important meetings, where we may be presenting research progress, for instance, there has been the not unreasonable worry that internet connectivity would be lost.

Tseganesh, for example, tells us that:

The crux of the connectivity issue in Ethiopia, according to Addisu, is attributed to the government’s view of social media as a major force that “fuels violence” in the country. He related this to the situation in western Oromia, where there had been an exclusive interruption of the internet, for the area has long been associated with political instability. Given repeated internet blackouts in the area, where his hometown is also located, Addisu also recalls how he struggled to attend online classes, seminars, trainings and supervisory meetings.

Sudan

Based in Sudan, Badraldeen writes of similar issues with internet access and connections caused by much greater pressure on already fragile infrastructure. As in Ethiopia, this has been compounded by political instability and electricity shortages as well as blocking of roads and bridges. He writes that he lost internet access, “when there was a confrontation between the military and the civilians, or the party's leaders announced a demonstration in the capital Khartoum.” In late 2021 he continued to be “extremely affected” by connection to the internet being cut off. At one point, the entire telecommunication network was shut down for more than three weeks. “These setbacks,” he writes, “completely prevented me from attending my session and other activities (workshops and training) with BSMS.”

Because of the precarious nature of Sudan's infrastructure, Badraldeen adds, the rainy season and floods and rainfall that can follow have a greater impact on everyday life. During the last rainy season in 2020, the central capital of Sudan experienced flooding and heavy rainfall, and from June to late September 2020 the intense amount of rain destroyed roads and some residential areas. A large number of people lost their livelihoods and some lost family members. At this time there were also electricity shortages, as the electricity supply was not sufficient for the country. In fact, he explains, such was the lack of electricity supply that local authorities used to switch the electricity supply between different areas in Khartoum and he suffered from a lack of electricity for several hours a day.

Another issue making matters worse for Badraldeen in Sudan has been rising fuel prices. In response, for electricity and to access the internet Badraldeen would go to the Mycetoma Research Centre (MRC) in Soba, the southern part of Khartoum city, about 14 kilometres from the city centre but 26 kilometres from his house. However, to reach the MRC costs a lot in fuel, as to avoid the blocked roads he had to drive for more than one and half hour to reach the MRC, and fuel costs which he paid out of his own pocket. This has had other consequences, which again have compounded matters, as this impacted his car's performance and it needed spare parts and repairs to keep it running. Queuing for fuel and other basic items also took up time, “several hours”.

While Badraldeen has made use of various technologies to continue his PhD research, Zoom, Telegram, WhatsApp, Messenger, Microsoft Teams and Doodle, using the internet itself also remains very costly. As he explains,

Rwanda

If not as unstable politically, in Rwanda, where Ursin and Jean Paul have been based, the infrastructure situation has been similar. In particular, there has been the same frustration and anxiety that the internet would be cut off, or as Jean Paul explains, that the internet connection would be too slow or unstable. So frustrating and worrying has been the experience regarding internet connectivity during the pandemic that, he writes, it has had a “significant effect on me.” So much so that he no longer trusts his home router or cell phone internet connection. “When I thought about an online meeting,” he explains, “I am always worried about the internet.”

He too has had to travel a long distance in order to access the internet for his PhD research, explaining that,

Jean Paul also recounts how he experienced difficulties accessing resources. Online libraries required some sort of software to download an article and books were available in libraries but not digitalized and so not available online. As result, he writes, the 5S Foundation management purchased some books and shipped them to Rwanda, but there have been restrictions on travel between districts because of COVID-19 and so it was difficult to travel from his home town to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda where the University of Rwanda to which he is affiliated is located. This has meant employing transport agencies to deliver books, as these had been allowed to operate during the inter-districts travel restrictions here in Rwanda.

2. Change & Delay

In our stories, there were also commonalities regarding the themes of change and delay. In particular, the pandemic and political and military unrest affected our research sites and conducting of fieldwork and research activities.

Research sites

One consequence of the pandemic and political situation was to delay visits to research sites and in one case led to the choice of country being changed altogether. This delay and uncertainty has taken its toll psychologically. This is revealed in the literature, also. Alamgir (2017) underlines how political insecurities in a country, Bangladesh, can be disruptive, with such insecurities creating panic and affecting travel within and outside the study site.

Corinna originally planned to do her fieldwork in Ethiopia. However, the political situation in Ethiopia made things very complicated and eventually she had to change the whole plan of her PhD project. The long-time plan to go to Ethiopia seemed impossible because of the unpredictability of the situation. This, in turn, affected her dream of visiting the country, meeting Ethiopian people and working on her project. Even if Corinna has never been to Ethiopia, she explains, the “unexpected turn of events” made her feel a ‘break-up’ with the country.

Jean Paul’s story was similar to Corinna’s. With travel restrictions within districts in Rwanda, he was unable to visit his study setting in which he was supposed to go to gather data for his research (“The access to all kinds of aspects was severely affected by the restrictions enforced to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.”)

Fieldwork and research activities

In our personal experiences of trying to conduct PhD research at a time of health and political crisis, a further strand to the theme of change and delay related to fieldwork and research activities. Dereje, for example, was unable to contact key informants for his research and other important people who had direct contact with the community, “some of the officials of health bureaus at the regional and zonal level”, as they had “either joined the government forces in the warfront or engaged in community mobilisation activities.” The expansion of conflict in the northern part of Ethiopia forced the government to declare a state of emergency, and this state of emergency also severely affected Dereje’s fieldwork activities, and he was left not knowing when he was going to start his fieldwork. Despite gaining all the required ethical approvals, a process that takes a number of months, he was unable to undertake field activities and eventually postponed his data collection. He had to follow “a wait and see approach to proceed with the fieldwork” until he received updates about the current situation. Addisu also experienced delays to his research activities and fieldwork because of ‘the volatile nature’ of political instability in Ethiopia and the internal conflict in his specific study area.

3. Mental Health and Well-Being Impact

All of these changes caused by COVID-19, and political and military strife, to our ways of working and the pressure and strain it has placed us and our relationships under, have unsurprisingly had a big impact on us psychologically. Indeed, diminished levels of wellbeing among doctoral researchers due to the COVID-19 pandemic have been reported in numerous studies (Atkinson et al., 2021; Donohue et al., 2021). Other studies have also documented similar psychological challenges among students in the COVID-19 era. For instance, increased overall stress levels (Guintivano et al., 2021), experiences of high levels of mental and physical exhaustion (Stamp et al., 2021), feelings of loneliness and exclusion (Pyhältöa et al., 2022), and anxiety and fear (Kee, 2021) have all been documented. Poor work–life balance and mental health problems were indicated as common challenges of doctoral students posed by COVID-19 (Pyhältöa et al., 2022). Moreover, the closure of campuses served to exacerbate the more testing elements of the doctoral student experience by intensifying the barriers and psychological risks to students (Webber et al., 2022).

For Dereje, news of military conflict has been “disturbing” and has affected his emotional wellbeing immensely. Badraldeen writes of the time of the COVID-19 pandemic being a time of “massive stress”. During lockdown, he used to stay in his room for long hours and this led him, he believes, into deep depression and anxiety. Also, he adds, the fear of death made him paranoid and he had terrible nightmares. “I felt isolated and depressed, he explains, “and I was in low mode and less productive mode for more than three months.” The “unpredictable political situation in Sudan is another burden”, he adds. This, he explains, is because,

For Tseganesh, news and information about COVID-19 - “the numbers of new cases of COVID-19 infections and deaths that I read in newspapers, and heard on the radio, and watched on the TV” - made her struggle with life and gave her little hope:

Among other things, writes Jean Paul, it was stressful and bothersome to juggle PhD training at home and family duties in difficult moments of the pandemic with lots of uncertainties about whether it would improve. No single day passed, he writes, without asking himself when things would go back to normal:

4. Qualities & Capacities

A final major theme to emerge from our personal experiences of COVID-19 and political and military crisis during the pandemic is that of qualities and capacities this situation has brought out in us, and the different coping strategies we have employed to help us.