Meet Sara & martina
We got the opportunity to have an interview with Sara Flygar (left) and Martina Eichler (right), who just finished their Master thesis as a Field Study to Quelimane, Mozambique. They were eager to tell us about their adventures.
What did you study?
We studied for our Master's degree in Engineering at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm. Sara in the master program Integrated Product Design and Martina in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management.
Where did you go for your field study, and what was your project?
For our field study we went to Quelimane, which is a smaller city located in Mozambique. Both of us worked on building an anaerobic digester for rural households. Sara’s focus was on designing the prototype with consideration for the user and analyze its feasibility for households. Martina researched on how NGO’s in low-income countries handles their knowledge management with stakeholders such as students, municipalities and other NGO’s. She used Project Vita and the current project with the anaerobic digester as a case study.
What is an anaerobic digester?
An anaerobic digester is used to convert organic waste mixed with water into biogas, which can be used as cooking fuel. The process also creates a sludge, which can be used as fertilizer. Biogas can be an opportunity to minimise deforestation, but also indoor smoke from cooking with biomass such as charcoal used for cooking fuel. Mortality rates from indoor smoke is a major issue in societies living in poverty, and biogas does not cause this issue in the same way.
How has your project continued after your Field Study?
The municipality continued to experiment with the anaerobic digester especially since they were involved throughout the project. Besides that, our project was important in spreading knowledge about biogas and alternative potentials with organic waste, such as cow manure.
How was it to travel to Mozambique on a Field Study?
Both of us had travelled a lot before the Field Study, but still none of those trips could be compared to what we got to experience during our adventure in Mozambique. Even within the country there were major differences in nature, culture and traditions. We felt safe travelling by ourselves in the country and people were friendly, genuinely happy and curious to meet us. They were very understanding to our poor Portuguese too. Most of all, we were very happy to see that the food was delicious and, for our happy surprise, not too spicy.
What was it like going on a Field Study with Project Vita as your local contact?
We felt that we got very personal help from Project Vita and felt a lot of trust for our local contact Michel. He had a great way of managing both the Swedish and Mozambican cultures, to help us avoid culture clashes and how to best show respect. This helped us get into the society much easier and be open to all opportunities.
Which is the most special memory from your Field Study?
When one of our local contacts Christina helped us find a local tailor that could help us design and tailor our dream dresses in the local beautiful fabric called capulana. She assisted us to make sure we got what we wanted, since the language barrier was high, but she got us. The second memory was when finally, after weeks of work managed to create biogas, it was such a joy and victory for us! Especially to short after presenting it to the municipality, a local university, and a spontaneous visit from a TV channel. Also to not forget, when we got to visit the rural areas of the city which gave a lot of positive and enlightening impressions for both us and the people we met that were not used to having visits from foreigners.
Do you have any advice for future students traveling to Linga Linga?
Travel with an open mind and willingness to get to know the local culture, people and traditions. But be eager to share yours as well because people want to get to know it to! Second, make sure to have a plan and understand it will most likely fail. Still, having a plan means that you have looked up as much information as possible and will handle deviations from it better.
Personal advice from us would also be to take some additional weeks to travel while writing the thesis. That is what we did, and it was a great opportunity to see more of Mozambique and some neighbouring countries. This is a great opportunity to explore and get to know different cultures, which will be more challenging to experience when starting to work.
What are the pros and cons of doing a Field Study for your thesis?
The Field Study has helped us to better understand global issues and other cultures. Both of us experienced that our CV stood out when applying for our first jobs, which was expressed by both our employees. A Field Study shows determination, self-leadership, organizational skills and passion.
You will from time to time miss the ones at home, so it was great to be able to give video calls now and then. Another downside is that you are more likely to earn some money if you do your thesis at a company at home, but we felt it was very much worth it and have no regrets of our choice. The experience it got was far more valuable! If it is difficult to pay for the Field Study there are student grants available, like the MFS through Sida.
Has your Field Study affected your view on development work and your role as future engineers?
As mentioned earlier, it made us stood out as candidates when applying for jobs at our employments AFRY and Electrolux. Our time in Mozambique has also made us understand the great opportunities one as an engineer have to make a difference on many levels in societies, both high- and low-income countries. Many times we got to see how investments in engineering project could at a relatively low cost make a difference with a solution-oriented mindset that collaborates with local engineers and users. Also, that it does not require large investments or NGO’s to have an impact, it can also be smaller initiatives and together it makes a huge difference in the living standard for people living in poverty.
How has the Field Study affected you?
It gave both of us new perspectives and really changed how we define things like what a good life is, well-being and poverty. Perhaps even a new definition for what is important in life. One thing that really grasp both of us is how lucky we are to especially as women being able to have such high level of education for free in our home country. We got to meet women in our age that worked very hard in getting the education they deserved, but met many challenges when it came to structures, money and responsibilities. We have also gotten better at adjusting our way of communicating to match the receiver depending on time, message and culture.
The Field Study has also caused us to join Project Vita and continue being active in development projects in Mozambique.
Would you recommend others to travel on a Field study?
YES! You will not regret it.
If you wish to hear more about Sara’s experience she joined EWB podcast in Spring 2021 to describe her time at KTH and work at both AFRY and Project Vita. Both Sara and Martina has been interviewed by KTH about her Field Study, which can be read on their homepage about their MFS program.
Finally, 5 Quick!
Flip flop Ski boots
Coconut Blueberries
Beach Snow
Palm tree Pine tree
Girafe Moose
To learn more about Sara and Martina’s project, follow Project Vita on Instagram or Facebook. If you would like to learn more about volunteering, please fill out the form on our volunteering page.