Rafiki au hapana?

My research experienced a bit of a glitch yesterday. I am on my second round of interviewing the same participants about their crops. Everyone has been excited to talk to me about their experiences with crop damage, but not yesterday. We visited the brother of one of our participants and he seemed to be completely friendly and welcoming, even greeting my ‘mtoto.’ But after I asked the first question, he began asking Rose questions very quickly in Swahili. Apparently, he is completely suspicious of my intentions and went as far as to explain that maybe Rose and I were spies for someone who wants to buy out the farmers of the village to expand the protected area for wildlife. Of course this seems completely ludicrous to us, but I should explain this man has not had any school and if you have been keeping up with my previous entries, I think you could see that there are many reasons to be suspicious of people in Tanzania. It does not bother me at all if people are uncomfortable with my research and choose to withdraw their participation in my study, but I was worried that he would infect my other participants with his suspicions. So, Rose and I had a meeting with the chairman of the village. I went through my entire interview process with him and he of course understood the value of my research. Then, the man showed up. The way things stand now is that the chairman is going to meet with the man today (without Rose or I present), and then the chairman will tell us if we should proceed or not. I have complete confidence that the chairman will be able to help the man understand my true intentions, but it has made me realize how valuable each and every participant is and how vulnerable my research is to gossip or suspicions!