So you would like to interview someone in Gaborone? All you need is a mobile phone, an eight digit number and some airtime (and of course your respondents' phone numbers; that is where some research or connections may come in). When I first met some of the women MPs they advised me that I would best be able to reach them by texting, not calling. The implication was that their constituents call and I would be better able to get through by texting. And so I have. And it does not matter where they are. I have texted back and forth with them while they were in the US, Nigeria and South Africa. A typical 'conversation':
GB: Dear hon xxxxxx may i interview u for study on women mps in bots have already spoken w 4 others regards gretchen xxxxxx
BT: M IN S A WL BE HME ON FRDY
GB: [very keen to seize upon an immediate reply and apparent willingness] Perhaps we can meet one morning next wk thanks gretchen
BT: OKAY DEAR
I have not noticed many 'blueberries' and think that mobiles definitely predominate. I read recently in a newspaper that mobile coverage in Botswana has now reached a 'saturation point.' I do email with colleagues at UB, those in the donor community, NGOs, the regional and international organizations, and some people in government. (I am liable to text or call them too.) With the one male MP I have so far interviewed I made a phone call, facilitated first by someone else.
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Gretchen:
ReplyDeleteIn one sense the use of cells phone and text messaging allows Botswana to skip technology and hasten "development". No need to string telephone wires all across a vast remote country, like we did in North America. Just utilize the strategic location of cell towers.
Absolutely, one sees that all over Africa. We did not even bother with a landline at home and still have wireless!
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