Mtu ni Watu - Disclosing Hidden Stories of Fieldwork
Cologne International Forum Innovative Tandem Collaboration: 1 January 2024 - 31 December 2024
Dr. Richard Kiaka (Loitokitok, Kenya)
Partner at the University of Cologne: Dr. Hauke-Peter Vehrs (Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology)
Abstract
In anthropological research, field assistants are key characters of our fieldwork. They act as cultural brokers, guide researchers in their daily struggles, translate and interpret languages, manage the complexities and challenges of fieldwork, and offer counsel in critical situations. Many assistants also become associates and co-producers of scientific knowledge. Therefore, they acquire a high status in anthropological work, while at the same time their lives are strongly influenced by the anthropologists’ endeavor. Yet their perspectives and experiences in fieldwork, that have such an enormous impact on anthropological work, are little reflected in publications that emerge from the work they ‘assist’.
In this project we use both a documentary film and scientific toolbox as suitable ways for amplifying voices of field assistants in anthropological research. The production of a documentary film makes the assistant-researcher relations accessible to a scientific audience and a broader public, revealing their experiences and addressing the decolonial critique on the lopsided relations between the Global South and the Global North. The film is based on the long-term partnerships established between Richard Kiaka, Beatrice Taipo and Francis Nkadao, and between Hauke-Peter Vehrs and Charles Lorot in their anthropological fieldwork in Kenya. The scientific toolbox will furthermore document short stories and reflections of all participants – assistants, researchers and members of the local communities – and will be published in an interactive blog. This will allow current and future generations of researchers to reflect on the character of Global North-Global South relations (collaboration, cooperation or partnership).
Film Premiere at the Off-Broadway
Many thanks to our Cologne International Forum Tandem Fellows Richard Kiaka and Hauke-Peter Vehrs, who enriched us with such a meaningful insight into their field work.
Their project concluded in a documentary on the role of research assistants when working in the field.
We learned so much about these field bosses and the human connection between a foreign researcher and the local expert.
Through this documentary Richard Kiaka and Hauke-Peter Vehrs put a spotlight on this core aspect of research in Ethnology and Anthropology.
We are happy to have been able to support this project.
Explore the Wawili Toolbox Blog
The Wawili Toolbox is an instrument designed to capture the results of the project through short stories and reflections from participants, shedding light on collaborations between the Global South and North. The blog entries will provide insights on initiating partnerships, ethical challenges, and the overall nature of these collaborations throughout the project and beyond.
Final Report: Mtu ni Watu – Disclosing Hidden Stories of Fieldwork
Duration: 1 January 2023 – 31 December 2024
Country: Kenya
Participants: Dr. Richard Kiaka & Hauke‑Peter Vehrs
Key Findings
This project centres on field assistants—the local collaborators who translate, mediate, and build trust—highlighting their crucial yet often invisible role in anthropological research. Through long-term partnerships in two Kenyan field sites, the project shows that assistants are co-producers of knowledge, revealing how power, obligation and friendship shape fieldwork. Screenings and public discussions demonstrated strong interest in these hidden dynamics; participants noted that assistants are the “real ethnographers” who quietly steer research.
Methodology
The team explored long-term assistant–researcher collaborations in Amboseli (Kajiado County) and East Pokot (Baringo County). Richard Kiaka worked with Beatrice Taiko and Francis Nkadao on socio-ecological change, while Hauke‑Peter Vehrs collaborated with Charles Lorot using research experience from 2014–2015. They produced a 40‑minute documentary film with filmmakers Victor Anyura and Suleiman Mohamad and created the Wawili Toolbox, a blog on CRC TRR 228’s website. These outputs document the relational labour that sustains fieldwork and allow assistants’ voices to guide the narrative.
Outputs & Continuing Research
The film premiered on 23 June 2025 at the Broadway Cinema Theatre in Cologne and was screened again on 27 June 2025 at ECAS 2025 in Prague, sparking discussions about ethical obligations and community expectations. The Wawili Toolbox currently holds six entries and continues to grow as a resource for ethical field collaboration. A co-convened panel at ECAS 2025 titled “Behind the Scenes: Disclosing Assistant–Researcher Relations in Long-Term Fieldwork” further underscored scholarly interest. Future plans include submitting a co-authored manuscript to a peer‑reviewed journal, presenting at the European Conference on African Studies, continuing blog contributions through 2025, and organizing additional film screenings in Kenya and submissions to festivals in 2025 and 2026.
Dr. Richard Kiaka
Dr. Richard Kiaka completed his Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Hamburg in 2018, focusing on environmental (in)justices in community based-based water and wildlife management in Namibia. Since 2019, he conducts research on community-based conservation in Kenya’s rangelands and agrarian transformation in western Kenya. Dr. Kiaka is currently a lecturer at the School for Field Studies, Centre for Wildlife Management Studies in Kenya (www.fieldstudies.org/centers/kenya/), and teaches in the field of human dimensions in the conservation of endangered species.