Connecting Citizens to Science – S4E1 – Storytelling and visual methods with people living in informal settlements

In this week’s episode we are talking to Inviolata Njoroge from LVCT Kenya and Shrutika Murthy from The George Institute for Global Health (TGI), India. They have shared their experiences of using visual methods and storytelling to bridge the power-laden distances between lived realities of waste pickers, child headed households, the elderly and people with disabilities in urban informal communities and research and policy. We hear about: 

• methods that have been used to connect with the most marginalised and often hidden people in urban informal communities 
• how different intersecting identities and inequities add new layers of vulnerability in urban informal settlements  
• the use of participant shadowing as an activity to capture experience and context of vulnerable people and what needs to be considered before using this as a method to connect with people 
• how the photovoice method has brought out silent voices and stories that are often left unheard  
• The importance of considering researcher and community mental health when using these in-depth exploratory and creative methods with vulnerable populations 

Guest presenter for this series is Robinson Karuga

Research, Evaluation and Learning Manager, LVCT Health