Daddy was like we need to go and see the pastor before you travel… Yes!! I’m from West Africa, Ghana to be precise where you talk to the pastor and generally hide your travel plans from the public until landing because we can be a superstitious people.  After weeks of careful preparation, the time to travel was surely upon me, travelling to the Northern part of the world. This was both exciting and frightening as I did not know what to expect and how I really felt. Why? Because that was the first time I was travelling to Europe and to top that I was doing it alone. As a young and upcoming researcher this was a great opportunity to learn and broaden my perspective about what exist elsewhere, different culture and have different perspectives about issues, understanding the varied culture, weather and infrastructure and how to fit the different context, this was my mentor’s foresight, Prof. Mary Boatemaa Setrana but I didn’t see that until I experienced the different context.  Upon landing and rushing to the stop to catch my bus, the moment I exit the airport, I was hit by the cold weather and my inner being recited NOW THIS IS EUROPE!!! Luckily I had a winter jacket which made the shock to my system a lot easier. The reality was that spring for Europeans felt like winter to me, since I’m from the tropics. This trip was made possible through funding from Uppsala university, as the Co-lead for the  Africa-Europe Cluster of Research Excellence on Migration and Health (CoRE). CoRE, a coalition of partners starting from South Africa in the south to Sweden in the North, focuses on understanding migration’s impact on health, particularly along the AU-EU corridor, to train and support future leaders and to facilitate evidence informed policy making.

My stay in Uppsala was interesting as the staff and PhD students at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Uppsala University were extremely hospitable. I was introduced to their PhD students to interact and learn from them. My PhD co-supervisor and host, senior lecturer and co-host of the CoRE, Soorej Jose Puthoopparambil, along with the CoRE coordinator Jecinta Okumu, made my stay comfortable by making all the necessary arrangements. I had the opportunity to join lectures on Migration and Health which were insightful and I learned how to support development of evidence informed policies which was a key takeaway. I defined the scope of my project with the help of my supervisor. As a young researcher, learning from such an expert was a great opportunity, and helped me unlearn and learn new habits. His selflessness during this process of knowledge sharing is something I must applaud. I learnt how to do thematic analysis which is a process on its own, which will hopefully help me to write a paper as a contribution to the CoRE. This opportunity was instrumental in training me as an early career researcher and a great opportunity as my PhD research aims to explore the intersection of forced displacement, gender, access to water and sanitation services and potential health outcomes.

I had weekly meetings with my supervisor where he taught me how to structure questions for the interview guide, to make my questions more opened in order to get more information. He broadened my knowledge on quantitative research methods, what to do, how to formulate questions, and what’s needed to publish a quantitative and qualitative paper. On that note, he referred me to a PhD student of his to take me through the concepts in quantitative work which helped my understanding a lot.  I received numerous tips but I will keep that to myself.  The CoRE coordinator Jecinta Okumu also had sessions with me where she took time off her busy schedule to teach and direct me on how to properly do thematic analysis and the needed basic knowledge, I need to build myself as a young career researcher. These selfless contributions will definitely help me to achieve my dream of becoming a researcher and academic. I will always remember these people were a big part of my journey.  I also had interactions with Sarah Dickin where we discussed some of her works on women’s empowerment, WASH and gender in Ghana and other countries and she went ahead to share her papers with me to broaden my knowledge on the research area I want to focus on.  I had the chance of discussing research methodologies with other PhD students at the department on their PhD research projects and what methods they are employing and why they chose to focus on such areas such as mental health. One thing I must commend is the effort put into research in Uppsala (Sweden), there are a lot of young researchers in the field and I find that interesting since in my University most people who pursue PhD are much older, I didn’t feel too young since those I met were my peers and that was great.

The highlight for my stay was when I was given the opportunity to give a two-hour lecture on Internal Displacement to Uppsala masters students offering Migration and Health, I must admit I was a bit nervous and didn’t know if I could live up to the task, however, this was an enriching experience especially considering I had never done this before. The discussion with the students was interesting and exciting. Again, at the Friday seminar at the Forum for African studies, Uppsala, I had the opportunity to present my research project which helped shape my perspective and broadened my thoughts on my research. I must admit my supervisor not only supported me on my research work but also improved me professionally by advising me where he felt I needed it.

It was certainly not all work and no play but I took the opportunity to visit the busy capital of Sweden(Stockholm) which was very exciting with the well-functioning transport systems. Amongst the places I visited were the popular VASA museum, technology museum, police museum, Skansen museum and Stockholm Royal palace. I visited Gamla stan which was a guided tour and had the chance to go for a three-hour cruise in Stockholm which was so exciting. Indeed, Sweden is one of the countries with the most Islands. In Uppsala I visited the Uppsala Library and Cathedral, took walks through the gardens and tried Fika which was great. I also experienced Valborg and the first time I saw Uppsala with such crowd, and wandered where all these people were hiding.

My stay in Uppsala, Sweden was both exciting and a great opportunity to learn as a researcher and a professional. I believe it is a good first step to achieve my goal of being a relevant international researcher. Some of the key takeaway that will impact my life going forward are work life balance and punctuality. Being able to express my thoughts and articulating my thoughts in the right way is another lesson I hope not to forget.  I must admit that, my trip to Uppsala has not only impacted my career but has made significant impact on how I think. Lastly, it just took me writing this blog about my stay in Sweden to realise I just experienced one of my dreams. To all those who made this dream a reality, thank you and may you always be blessed.