Where dogs, ghosts and lions roam: learning from mobile ethnographies on the journey from school
This paper draws on mobility research conducted with children in three countries: Ghana, Malawi and South Africa. It has two interlinked aims: to highlight the potential that mobile interviews can offer in research with young people, especially in research contexts where the main focus
is on mobility and its impacts, and to contribute empirical evidence regarding the significance of everyday mobility to young people's lives and future life chances in sub-Saharan Africa. During the pilot phase of our research project on children, transport and mobility, the authors undertook
walks home from school with teenage children1 in four different research sites: three remote rural, one peri-urban. As the children walked (usually over a distance of around 5 km) their stories of home, of school and of the environment in-between, gradually unfolded. The lived experiences
narrated during these journeys offer considerable insights into the daily lives, fears and hopes of the young people concerned, and present a range of issues for further research as our study extends into its main phase.
Keywords: educational access; environment; gendered work patterns; hazards; walking
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: 1: Durham University, Durham, UK 2: University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana 3: University of Malawi, Zomba, Malawi 4: CSIR, Pretoria, South Africa
Publication date: 01 May 2010
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