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On the Ground Research and Meetings in Dublin

By Oyinkansola Akin-Olugbade

On Day 4 of our Women in Ireland trip, it is safe to say we have mastered our approach and routine. Our first stop of the day was meeting with representatives of the Women Federation for World Peace, Ireland. We met at the Belvedere Hotel because they underwent renovations at their Ireland chapter location nicknamed the Peace Embassy. We settled in around a coffee table in a secluded room of the restaurant, which they have converted as their temporary office location. We were attended to by the President, Vice-President, and their Youth Leader. They seemed enthusiastic about meeting us, learning more about our research interests and our work while in Ireland, and echoed the sentiments they had shared earlier about presenting our current findings at a makeshift conference they would organize early next week. We had our usual roundtable explanations about the purpose of the IGL, the Women in International Relations club, and how we received alumni funding to pursue issues pertinent to women on a global scale which led us to choosing Ireland. I usually delve into my research interests in Irish Women in Post-Conflict Economic Reconstruction and how my topic has consistently evolved after each day of meeting such impressive women. Throughout the meeting, they had inquisitive questions about each of our research topics and expressed curiosity. Meanwhile, I learned how diverse cultural perspectives helped explain peaceful transitions and how women engaged in peace should act to bridge more gaps and open avenues for conversation. They also started an initiative that turned into an overarching ideology called “Peace starts with me” which focused on starting at the individual and growing grassroots movements. Our interactions with them were enlightening as it was a welcomed introduction to different opinions as they challenged some of our biases within our research interests.

Unfortunately, Sophia, Olivia, and I left early to make our second appointment of the day with a PhD student focused on development and gender economics and serves as a Research Scholar at Trinity College. I was particularly excited about this encounter as this was a meeting that would answer my gaps of knowledge from an economic perspective. Although she did not have specific knowledge of communities in Ireland, her prior research experience with marginalized communities as well as prior work in gender economics were still helpful to me. Understanding how simply creating jobs and employment opportunities is not sufficient, especially to secure women’s place in the workforce, and how there must be more done at the educational level to tackle the backlash they most often receive from their communities and from society for putting themselves first was just one of the many topics we covered regarding challenging those deep rooted and hindering social norms.

Our last meeting of the day gave us the jolt of energy needed after a long day of back-to-back appointments. On the outskirts of town, about 45 minutes from downtown Dublin, lies the Ronanstown chapter of the Women’s Collective Ireland. We were privileged to discover more about the organization’s missions in women’s empowerment and building their capacity where they already boast a reach of 36,000 women across 17 chapters island wide. We were touched by the testimonies they shared about individual outreach events such as creating crafts-centered events to bridge the language barriers with recently immigrated communities. For my research interests, their report on bridging women and grassroots bonding throughout the island was helpful in understanding the stark differences between the rights, knowledge, and approaches of women in North and South Ireland. We left that encounter refreshed, and enlightened, with more supportive research for our respective topics and some cool merch too!

Our fourth day was once again filled with meeting and learning from women who are doing diverse, important, and impactful work with one common purpose: women’s empowerment. As I sit here reflecting on my day, I am once again excited and anxious to continue shaping and tweaking my research to reflect the wealth of knowledge bestowed on me through these personal, one on one connections on the ground which I, along with my peers, am fortunate to have. 

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Arriving in Ireland, and Starting on Research

By Mika Margalit

Hi from Dublin, Ireland! I arrived along with a couple of the other girls around 8am in Dublin, totaling an hour and a half of sleep on the red eye flight. Thankfully, It was a beautiful drive to our hostel- the lushness of the nature is visible from every vantage point of the city. I spent the past couple weeks leading up to this trip researching migration integration processes in Ireland. My interest in International Relations focuses on the experiences of migrants and how governments/societies implement sucsessful inegration services. After dropping our bags off in the hostel, we headed to Trinity College Dublin to meet with Professor Gizem Arikan ( Associate Professor from the Political Science)! I made contact with Professor Arikan a couple months ago after looking into different academics whose research focuses on migration studies. Much of her research focuses on underlying psychological mechanisms for social attitudes regarding immigration, democracy, etc. I was amazed by her ability to apply a political psychology framework to my research topic of refugee and immigrant integration. She discussed the divergences of treatment of economic migrants vs. asylum seekers through the framework of “in group” and “out group”. Most of the articles I read regarding immigration to Ireland did not take into account psychological frameworks that help explain barriers to successful integration.  Our meeting with Professor Arikan expanded the scope of my topic to detail different lens to understand the process of integration.  

After our interview and a much-needed meal, our group was running on basically zero sleep. Thus, we napped (which came back to hurt me as I could not fall asleep until 4:30am). After a great dinner at a recommended pizza place, we came back to the hostel and got ready for the next day, aka today.  

Today, we continued our journey hearing from professors whose work centers around applying a gendered perspective to social issues in Ireland. Our first stop of the morning was to Maynooth University to meet with Dr. Camilla Fitzsimmons. Her work focuses on an intersectional approach to feminist studies, and Olivia was the one who made contact with her due to her experience in the abortion rights movement in Ireland.  During our talk, we had the opportunity to discuss with her everything from the repeal of the 8th Amendment to the repeal of the marriage ban. My narrative will focus on stories of the integration of immigrant and refugee women. Dr. Fitzsimmons was a part of a team that recorded Muslim women’s experience in healthcare in Ireland; many of the women detailed rampant discrimination from the healthcare system. This conversation led to a discussion about perceived success of integration in Ireland versus the on-the-ground realities for migrant women. Professor Fitzsimmons mentioned the  need to differentiate between economic migrants versus asylum seekers, as the experiences are incredibly different. Her involvement in research regarding the structural oppression of certain migrant communities has offered me more insight into underrepresented voices in Ireland. Also, Maynooth is basically Hogwarts with many paintings of religious figures.  

Our last meeting of the day was back at Trinity College Dublin, this time with Professor Gillian Wylie and Professor Maja Halilovic-Pastuovic in the School of Religion, Theology, and Peace Studies. During this interview, I learned more from Professor Halilovic-Pastuovic about the integration of Bosnian refugees from former Yugoslavia during the late 90s. Housed at the Cherry Orchard Reception Centre, the Irish government applied a top down integration approach to this community. According to Professor Halilovic-Pastuovic, this approach was really harmful: when Bosnian refugees came, they were placed outside the city center, and taught the “Irish way of life.” It was additionally assumed that the entire community had “one” identity. Bosian refugees ended up revolting against this system, which separated them from the rest of Irish society and assumed singular cultural identity. This part of Irish history has offered me further perspective on handling  bringing in migrants in Ireland, and I will use this story as an integral example of how Ireland has often fallen short to practice sucsessful integration processes.  

After our interview, we finally got the chance to explore the beautiful city we will be staying in for the next week. It has been so incredible getting to see everything, from the different food shops to the sweater stores. We are heading out to dinner now, but I can not wait to hear from more academics and non-profits in the upcoming days. See you guys soon! 

Mika  

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Understanding Sexual and Reproductive Health in Nepal

By Neya Krishnan

As I write, I am currently on my Qatar Airways flight from Kathmandu to Doha, marking the culmination of a truly extraordinary set of eight days in Nepal with the Tufts South Asian Regional Committee. From delicious thalis to unparalleled hospitality to informative and meaningful interviews, my time in Kathmandu has been filled with learning, wonder, and joy.
I came to Kathmandu looking to research the various factors that impact sexual and reproductive health in Nepal and the facilitators and barriers to access to reproductive healthcare and education in rural vs. urban regions. Over the past week, I spoke to various NGOs, community leaders, and ~unexpectedly~ various student activists who held a surprise menstrual health day flash mob in Patan Durbar Square. My conversations with these individuals who deeply care about the causes they advocate for, from undergraduate students to the founders and directors of major NGOs, inspired me and allowed me to crack beyond the surface of the reproductive health issue.


My first interview was on Tuesday with Jagadishwor Ghimre, country director of Ipas Nepal, an NGO focused on promoting the sexual and reproductive health rights of women and girls in Nepal through policy advocacy, training workshops, and more. One of the most interesting insights Ghimre offered was that policy decisions on abortion and contraceptive use in the United States have broad and far-reaching impacts on the funding of organizations such as Ipas in Nepal. In fact, Ghimre closely monitors changes in US policy, especially a potential Trump presidency, to plan accordingly for budget changes within Ipas. Later that day, I met with Dr. Suman Rawal, Disaster Risk Management Coordinator at ADRA Nepal, an NGO working in more than 50 Districts across all 7 of Nepal’s Provinces with programs that relate to Maternal and Newborn Health, Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health, and Family Planning among several other health realms. One notable insight Dr. Rawal revealed was ADRA’s role in supporting women during earthquakes by building several reproductive health camps and distributing dignity kits, even as recently as November 2023, in the Jajarkot district following the Karnali earthquake.


The next day, I attended a session one of our team members, Ishika, was able to set up with UNICEF in Nepal’s United Nations House, and through that, I made contact with Ajay Acharya, a program analyst at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The UNFPA is a branch of the UN that fights for universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights across the world. My conversation with Ajay and his colleague Dr. Yilma Alazar offered fascinating context into the relationship between intimate partner violence and sterilization as a means of contraception, as well as considering Mother’s Health Groups and Father’s Health Groups as a way of encouraging discussion on taboo topics related to reproductive and sexual health, specifically in Muslim and rural communities.


A series of invaluable perspectives on the reproductive health question in Nepal came unexpectedly one day as we were riding in a taxi back from an interview with UN Women Nepal and noticed a group of students outside of Patan Durbar Square holding signs related to menstrual health. I immediately asked the taxi driver to stop and went outside to ask the students dispersed across the square why they were there and what they were advocating for. Here, I spoke to Shrijana Gautam, president of an NGO called We for Change, who organized this major event in collaboration with AFH Nepal for Menstrual Health Day. The number of men in attendance was refreshing, and hearing their reasoning for attendance- specifically, their desire to fight for a more just future for their mothers and sisters, was impactful.


My last in-person interview was with Anand Tamang, founder and president of CREPHA, a nonprofit consultancy and research organization with expertise in reproductive health, abortion, gender, and development research. Anand highlighted the interconnectedness of research and policy impact. Interestingly, the effort CREPHA made in surveying and collecting quantitative data on abortion led to the legalization of abortion in Nepal in 2002.
One of my favorite non-academic highlights of this trip was getting our own personal tour guide of Kathmandu in Hanshika, a Tufts student who was an invaluable part of our research trip and is originally from Kathmandu. She kept us from getting scammed by taxi drivers, confidently negotiated down prices with shop vendors in Thamel and Bhaktapur, and brought us to her home, where her parents welcomed us with delicious food and complete warmth. I had a blast exploring Kathmandu with Ishika, Jewel, Priyanka, and Hanshika, and I’m so grateful to every person who made me feel welcome in Nepal, from the front desk workers at the NGOs I visited to the staff at the Boutique Heritage Home. Kathmandu, cheers to you until we meet again!!

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Researching Sino-Latin American Relations in Mexico

By Yilan Batista

My research subject focuses on Sino-Mexican relations and how Chinese economic engagement with Mexico has shaped the everyday lives of Mexican citizens, and how diplomatic relations between the two nations have impacted Mexican society’s attitude toward China and the United States. The topic of Sino-Latin American relations has always held both significant academic and personal meaning to me, as a student of International Relations with Chinese and Cuban heritage.  

Before traveling to Mexico City, I was already engaged in self-study on Sino-Latin American relations. I am fascinated by the divergent narratives across the world on the nature of Chinese engagement with the Global South. On one hand, there is the official political narrative within China and many Latin American governments about mutually beneficial, non-exploitative engagement; there is also a more practical side of non-ideological economic engagement between Chinese and Latin American businesses; and finally, there is the political belief in the United States that China is seeking to expand its harmonic dominance across the Global South. I wanted to study this topic in Latin America itself to understand better how Mexican society actually perceives Sino-Mexican relations.  

Before embarking on the trip, I was already aware of how Mexico would be a special case study in Sino-Latin American relations. Chinese engagement with Latin America has long been impacted by great power competition between China and the United States. Mexico would then present a special case because of its unique interconnectedness with American politics and economics. My assumption was corroborated by the various professors that I interviewed. I learned that Mexico is unable to establish a free trade agreement with China due to a clause within NAFTA that prohibits members from engaging in free trade with non-market economies. I also learned that a lot of negative sentiment in Mexico toward Chinese investment and Sino-Mexican trade is influenced by pressure coming from Washington.  

 I also learned that there is not one single attitude in Mexico toward the idea of China as either a non-exploitative partner preferable to the US, or as an imperialist partner operating upon unequal power dynamics. Rather, Mexican sentiments toward China are constantly in flux and dependent on changing economic and cultural conditions. For example, in the early 21st century when China still exported largely low-technology products, Mexican society and workers felt much more negatively toward China due to greater competition between the two nations within the global economy. Now, this antagonism is not a major concern anymore. And while Mexican society held a deep racism against Chinese people in the 20th century, recent attempts at cultural diplomacy has lessened these prejudices. Nevertheless, tensions still persist, especially in relation to how Chinese imports destabilize local Mexican industries and how this impacts the livelihoods of ordinary Mexican citizens.  

 Perhaps one of the most interesting realizations that I gained from the professors that I interviewed is that Sino-Mexican relations is not heavily influenced by ideology. One would assume that the current Mexican administration under the leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) would present a political rationale for collaborating with China; but my interviewers shared that AMLO is simply seeking to diversify Mexico’s economic relations as a whole.  

Overall, I came away from this trip with the knowledge that Sino-Mexican relations is defined by many different currents of thought. I hope to continue communication with Mexico’s cultural and professional experts on China, and to expand my study on Sino-Latin American nations to other countries in the region as well.  

  

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Handicrafts in Nepal

By Jewel Kyaw

Our first few days in Nepal were filled with sightseeing temples and trying delicious local dishes. I was charmed by the monkeys that watched us from the trees, some of them showing off the food they took from unsuspecting tourists. After our weekend full of mountains, we were ready for the interviews we had scheduled for the upcoming days.


On Monday, we got ready to head to the office of the Association for Craft Producers. ACP is a not-for-profit Fair Trade organization dedicated to the social and economic empowerment of low-income artisans, primarily women from underprivileged backgrounds. The mission of ACP is to provide comprehensive support through design, market, management, and technical services to artisans, which not only supplements their family income but also gives them the skills to start their own enterprises.


When we arrived, we were greeted by Soni, whom I had emailed leading up to the trip. She informed us that we would get a tour of the facilities before the interview. We explored the vast 43,000 sq. ft. building that housed 80 staff and in-house producers. Besides the offices, there are different units for specific crafts like felting, weaving, pottery, glass, and more. Neya was able to make a bowl on the pottery wheel with the help of the technical skills expert. The glass unit was the newest addition; the artisan we met inside explained to us that she started as a general unit producer but attended a glass sculpting workshop ACP held with a visiting glass expert. She was able to continue learning more about glass and now leads and manages the glass unit at ACP. She proudly showed us the beautiful glass turtle she finished before we came in.


As we walked around the buildings, we saw how they posted their fair trade principles on every wall, from the cafeteria to the stairwells. Our tour guide even showed us their strategies to be more environmentally friendly. All of the building have gutters connecting them that carry rainwater into a giant underground water tank below their courtyard. They use the water for dying raw materials and have special tanks that process the dyed water to be properly disposed.


After the tour, I was able to interview Revita Shrestha, the chief executive. She explained to us one o the biggest challenges at the start of ACP, was convincing women to leave the home. Many of them carried generational knowledge of handicrafts, but faced barriers from being able to start their own businesses and sell their crafts. They could not get loans from bank due to not owning enough property for collateral and face social stigma if they did not dedicate all their time to their domestic responsibilities. Shrestha continued by bringing up that one of the biggest barriers was internal, the lack of selfconfidence.
By being able to learn technical skills at ACP, the women artisans were able to start generating income along with balancing a family and farm. As a result they gained more confidence but also respect from their families. Shrestha told us stories of women that created their own businesses started to employ their husbands and family members. They stepped out of the traditional structure where the men are the primary income earner.


Outside of technical skills training and distributing raw material, ACP is able to support their artisans through social wellness programs. There is an education allowance that encourages artisans to send their daughters to school and a higher education scholarship that pays for the tuition of the top scoring girls. ACP is able to economically empower the artisans and uplift their role in the community.


I learned so much about ACP, but also the gender dynamics within communities in Nepal from Shrestha. I felt incredibly grateful to see their expanded facilities and greet the artisans. After the interview, we were treated to an amazing lunch in their cafeteria where we met some new artisans that traveled into the city to learn.


We were excited to hear that the ACP’s store, Dhukuti, was not too far from where we were staying. Hopefully sometime this week we will be able to visit the massive store filled with crafts.

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Nepal: A homecoming journey of Research and Discovery

By Hanshika Neupane

As an international student, embarking on a research trip to Nepal, which is also home to me is truly an experience to write about. As I write this blog post from the heart of Nepal, with the hustle and bustle of the city, the ringing of bells from nearby Temples, the chitter and chatter of neighbors greeting each other loudly, and fruits and vegetables vendors out in the street selling the freshest produce right outside of our homes, I am filled with a sense of both familiarity and strangeness. After spending a year studying in the United States, coming back to my homeland has been an extraordinary experience. When I first landed, this place felt equally foreign. I had almost forgotten the smell of the air, the chaos in the streets, the noise, and familiarity in people’s faces. I had missed being able to talk in my mother tongue. As a FGLI student, having spent all my life in Nepal, I waited all my life to escape from this chaos. But almost a year later, when I was presented with the opportunity to return to Nepal for research, I couldn’t have been more excited.

Along with four of other SARC members traveling to Nepal, we embarked on this academic as well as cultural experience. The first two days after our arrival in Kathmandu was full of showing my friends around the city. As a local person to Kathmandu, I knew I had to take them to my favorite spots around to give them the most authentic experience. Be it taking them to Swayambhunath also known as monkey temple to witness monkeys eating ice cream and sipping on boba tea, or leading them through the bustling streets of Thamel to experience the lively nightlife, or altering the menu for “life-changing momos”, I was committed to giving them a genuine taste of Kathmandu.

Our research trip was an intense and enlightening experience, deeply rooted in the exploration of women’s issues in Nepal. As five women researching various aspects of women’s lives, we found ourselves frequently bonding over our shared experiences of growing up in South and Southeast Asian households. These conversations added a personal dimension to our work, enriching our understanding of the cultural nuances that shape women’s experiences in the region. These conversations only further enhanced my passion for the research topic I am looking at. Despite being born in Nepal and having an intrinsic understanding of the caste system and its pervasive hierarchy, talking to experts on history and sociology has been profoundly eye-opening. The caste system in Nepal is deeply ingrained, with the term “Dalit” referring to the lowest social group in this hierarchy, historically known as Shudra and often labeled as untouchable. I am passionate to explore the Dalit movement post-1990, following the restoration of democracy, focusing specifically on Dalit women who constitute 15% of the population. This demographic has often been excluded from historical narratives, particularly in the context of political upheavals.

Throughout our trip, we had the privilege of meeting with a diverse array of experts, professors, and officers from various UN departments, including UN Women and UNICEF. These interactions provided us with valuable insights into the systemic issues affecting women in Nepal, particularly those from marginalized communities. I had the opportunity to visit organizations and speak with anthropologists and authors who work heavily with digital archives and repositories. One of the most impactful experiences was coming across a photobook that collates photographs of Dalit lives and resistance spanning the last six decades across Nepal. This powerful volume, enriched with essays exploring the economic, social and political dimensions of Dalit struggles, highlights the historical presence and contributions of Dalits in Nepali public life. The conversations I had with the authors and translators of this book has further increased my interest in the role of visual media in advocating for social justice and definitely enriched my research on the lived experiences and resilience of Dalit women in Nepal.

This research trip has just not been about academic inquiry, it has also been about the commitment in whatever tiniest ways of rectifying historical imbalances and contributing to ongoing efforts towards justice and equity in Nepal.