A social science student or professional is no stranger to community visits or field visits. Apart from providing insight on the lives of people that we are working with, they also serve in enriching our life by helping us capture some of the most intense humane experiences. 

But a field visit can also be unduly stressful and tiresome especially if you are a first timer! I still remember the first one I went for as a part of my Social Anthropology course to a tiny village in the heart of Guwahati city in Assam called Dolbari. The anticipation of exploring a new culture and people mixed with fear of saying or doing something wrong and alienating the natives loomed large in my heart so much so that when I ruffled a few feathers on the first day because I decided to wear my jeans, I spent hours crying about it on the way back home. 

Today as a seasoned professional who has been a regular visitor on ground  through her 10 year career I can say that they can be extremely fulfilling and heart touching experiences both for the visitor as well as the community with just a couple of things if kept in mind. So here are 6 protips or pointers which can help you excel at your community visit. 

1. Wear Culturally appropriate and Comfortable Attire: 

The saying “When in Rome…..” is totally apt while choosing the attire for the visit. Students often feel that while going into the field they should wear whatever they usually wear and are comfortable in and although that is not a wrong approach to take we also need to realise that the community that we are going into may not have enough exposure and awareness to accept what we are wearing or may not be economically well off to afford our lifestyle. Moreover, your attire is the first thing that people would notice when you enter the community and that can slow down the relationship building that you would want to do to be able to start your work with the community. 

Therefore, always wear something which is culturally appropriate and comfortable. In India I have mostly found normal shirts and trousers for males and salwar kameez for females to be the most widely accepted attire. If you are a female don’t forget to carry your dupatta, for in some specific areas in the community you may need to cover your head too. Also make sure you wear comfortable, sturdy and preferably covered shoes which can be worn the entire day and allow you to walk on rough paths. I once had a thick thorn go through the soles of my shoes on a community visit in rural Gujarat and the only reason I didn’t land up at the doctors’ was because I was wearing thick soled sneaker type shoes. Ouch!    

2. Do your Pre-work: 

This is one of the common mistakes that first timers make. Being not prepared enough. When going for a community visit I would say always try to err on the side of over prepared rather than under prepared. Prepare a detailed plan for your visit keeping in mind the primary agenda including 

• timing in accordance with availability of community members
• necessary permissions required
• availability of a local from the community to chaperone you on the first day
• name and contact details of the primary community members like the village panch or the school headmistress. 

If you are a student and going on a field visit from your school or college then most probably these will be taken care of by the institution. However, if you are going for research or personal project work then make sure you keep these in mind. The first two points are especially important since if you get your timings wrong you may end up not meeting the people you wanted to meet. I myself have learnt this after multiple mistakes where I ended up at the community when it was time for the ladies to go fill water from the tanker and I have had to schedule the visit for another day.   

Here, I would however also like to add that how much ever well prepared you are there will be times when the visit schedule may completely change all of a sudden. In those cases I would urge you to be patient, flexible and have a backup plan if possible!

3. Carry essentials in your Bag: 

You may feel that as long as you wear comfortable shoes and have your phone handy you are good to go. However, like I said previously, being prepared only ends up making the community visit experience so much better. Some essentials that I have often found handy are

• Drinking Water bottle
• Handkerchief or tissue to wipe that sweat off your brow after all the hard work
• Hand sanitiser so that you are able to eat that small snack if you feel sudden hunger pangs
• Sunblock for those sunny afternoon walks
• Torch in case you are going into the community towards late afternoon or evening
• Small Snack like maybe a packet of biscuit or a fruit
• Mosquito Repellent again in case of an evening visit

And last but not the least, for God’s sake! Don’t try to be macho and please carry a Bag!  

4. Immerse yourself in the community: 

While in the community, a good way to build strong lasting connections is to actually participate in community events and celebrations. Go from a space of curiosity and within your own comfort zone participate in trying out the local food, dressing up in the local attire one of the days or just probably taking part in their daily activities of sitting down together in the evening and chatting while sipping tea. Wherever possible extend your help. 

I remember during my rural community visit in Gujarat, my classmates and I decided to cook lunch for the family we were staying with and that completely broke the ice. After that one afternoon we were able to bond with the ladies of the family so well that we could share a lot of our life stories. 

One thing to be aware of here is your own thoughts when you are participating, so that you don’t judge any of the decisions or lifestyle of the community members. Remember, what you see is just the tip of the iceberg of what goes on in their lives and it is not your place to take any judgement calls. Unless it is a gross violation of human rights which you see I would suggest trying to understand them more before coming to any conclusion.  

5. Record your experience but with permission: 

All of us who have been to multiple community visits realise how important it is to record our experience immediately after the visit. For researchers it is natural to record their observations or conversations since they already have a tool handy for it but for all other kinds of onground work it is not. During my early days of field work for my masters, I often used to procrastinate on this part thinking that I would have sufficient time at the end of the trip and ultimately when the time used to come I would be unable to recall parts of the conversations and experience. 

This does not mean however, that we whip out our notebook during our conversation and start writing. This would most certainly lead the conversation flow to be disrupted and the person with whom we are having the conversation to feel self conscious. Another aspect to keep in mind here is consent. Consent from the community members to record any kind of interaction is mandatory. These are people who are sharing their life journey with you, so respect that at all costs and seek their permission before sharing it with anyone else. Also, always seek permission for any photographs that you may take, and be ready to be asked not to. Not everyone may be comfortable with their photographs being taken and that is completely alright. After taking a photograph, do show it to the person so that they feel safe and respected around you.

A general rule of thumb I follow now is that during the visit I explain the rationale behind why I may record some pieces of our conversation and seek consent. I avoid taking notes during the actual interaction. However, after visiting a household or a community member, I quickly note down important aspects in bullet points on my phone or notebook or even send myself a voice note. And then at the end of the day I record the experience. 

Now another important aspect here is the format of the record. I have after many trials figured out what works for me. If you are interested you can find the format in third sector chronicles Blog “How to write an awesome community visit report?”

6. Smile and be ready to share about yourself: 

This is the final tip that I would want to leave you with. The ability to smile and be open to sharing your own stories while interacting with the community will definitely help you ease your way into their hearts as they ease their way into yours. Play with the children, laugh with the adults, spend some time talking to the elders of the community and you will be surprised at how much more you enjoy the experience and how much you learn and how many relationships you are able to form.  

In the end, I would like to say that although I did make a few mistakes over the years I have found field visits to be one of the most fulfilling aspects of my work. Each time I make a visit I feel like it is a completely novel experience and they leave me in awe because I have been able to impact the lives of people in my own small way. So go have fun in your first community visit and cheers to many more coming your way!! 

(Contributed by Muskaan Maharia)