Participatory Action Research in Marginalised Communities: safe drinking water in rural Bangladesh

This paper provides an example of an application of participatory action research (PAR) to the current crisis of arsenic poisoning in rural Bangladesh. The approach was used to link the author’s doctoral research with the work of the Arsenic Mitigation and Research Foundation (AMRF), a small group of researchers and practitioners involved in both research and implementation. Since 2001, we (the coordinators and staff of AMRF) set out to establish safe drinking water supplies in several marginalised and arsenic-affected communities—a matter of grave urgency after the discovery of arsenic in the groundwater more than 15 years ago. Millions of groundwater users are exposed and the implementation of solutions across Bangladesh is generally lacking or inadequate. Closely aligned with AMRFs aims, the general objectives of the author’s doctoral research (2006–2009) were to better understand the situation, and to search for more adequate approaches. The research was predominantly informed by project activities on the ground and, in turn, this learning experience was fed back into our program to help guide new activities. Essentially, the author was involved both as an observer and practitioner. To fulfil this double role, PAR provides a potentially useful but also challenging methodology. This paper presents our experiences with PAR in the field; reflects on the value of its participative, qualitative and cyclical characteristics; and discusses some of the barriers that emerged in the process.