The advantage of living in the “Red Zone” is that you are in the middle of everything and the buildings of most of the organizations of your interest are all in close proximity. I hope I don’t take that for granted, as I am quite lucky. Today I had a phenomenal meeting with a wonderful person, who spent a lot of time with me, at the Pakistan Secretariat. This was my first time visiting the Pakistan Secretariat in the Nation’s capital and I am grateful I had the opportunity. It was a very old building, that housed the Ministry of Planning, Development, and Reforms. I got to meet the Senior…

What I am learning as I am immersing in my fieldwork and developing the momentum, at an even greater level than I understood before, is that conducting field interviews itself involves navigating social structure and social dynamics in and of itself. Perhaps a paper can be written on this topic upon the completion of fieldwork, even one that could expand on this post… Just like the deeply embedded hierarchies within the Pakistani society, and within development policy in general, navigating fieldwork in certain environments and contexts much also be hierarchical. In some contexts, going by reference top-down in your snowballing technique is absolutely necessary in order to even be able…

This week has been very fruitful so far. However, time is flying by fast. It has already been 12 days and it still feels like I just got here! I guess 10, not counting the weekend I arrived. I am getting a little concerned about how fast time is drifting by. The pace I am going is not nearly at the pace I need to be treading, in order to be able to reach my targets. Nevertheless, progress is evident and I have to appreciate what I am getting accomplished. I began the week by returning to the National Rural Support Program again, located at the Institute of Rural Management…

          A few nights ago, in the weekend, I walked into the back area of my residence here in Islamabad, to get some fresh air. The night was clear, and the moon was more than half full, but bright and gallant. The Full moon will be coming this Wednesday on United Nations Day. I am looking into seeing what kind of activity there may be for UN Day here in Pakistan. After a brisk walk, I sat on a park bench and just breathed in the fresh air and stared at the moon for a while. I then took out my notebook and favorite pen and…

It is truly a blessing to witness the sun glaze the mountains in Islamabad, when I leave the lodges just several minutes before it’s time to set. My mind is rushing with so many thoughts about all I have to do, and all the people I have to meet, and at the moment in particular, another critical “informant” I must convene, but I cannot forget to take in the surroundings as well. Just like when you hear the Azaan, five times a day, no matter where you are in Pakistan, you stop and take a moment to listen, meditate, forget everything, and just remember God. Some of the best field…

It has been going full speed in my first week of fieldwork in Pakistan. I did not anticipate this, and although the jet lag hasn’t worn off, I am definitely very pleased and excited about what I am learning, exploring, seeing, sensing, hearing, experiencing even in these first initial days and it is only the middle of the week. Today, I visited the headquarters of the World Bank project in Islamabad. I had a meeting/field interview with the Task Team Leader of one of my major case studies, situated in the Sindh Province. I appreciate that many of these areas are in close quarters to my residence and from each…

A major part of conducting field interviews is the employment of the “snowballing” strategy. When you speak to one person, you ask if they have contacts, and then speak to those individuals, and ask for their contacts, until you have a sufficient number of interviews at the end of your fieldwork timeline. This is also a key method for Social Network data collection. Today, after several months of contact while in the States, and from Karachi last year, I finally had my meeting with my contact at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, and specifically the headquarters in Islamabad. The Sustainable Development Policy Institute is a research policy think tank, conducting…

Immediately, Day 3 upon arrival within Islamabad, I had my first field interview. I was very happy that, similar to my first field interview in Pakistan Last December when I first arrived in Islamabad, it was with a woman CEO of a rural development organization. That is quite remarkable from my purview, not only for breaking down barriers, but also for debunking misconceptions and assumptions about women in Pakistan. Today, I had a fantastic meeting and interview with the CEO of the National Rural Support Program Network (NRSP), a key organization to help provide their insight on what “successful” locally-owned, sustainable programs look like, adopting social capital generation through social…