Turning Troubled Water into Drinking Water
Written by Renee Greene with Abdalla Karoyo
Abdalla Karoyo has long held an interest in water quality. His bachelor’s degree focused on it, and his PhD covered water security. But what drove him to his current research project as a Saskatchewan Centre for Patient-Oriented Research (SCPOR) / Indigenous People’s Health Research Centre (IPHRC) Trainee, working with Principal Investigators Lee D. Wilson from University of Saskatchewan’s Department of Chemistry and Lalita Bharadwaj from School of Public Health, was the element of community. “Water quality has been my interest for a long time. The fact that there is a community involved makes this project even more important, because there’s another dimension – a very important dimension!” says Karoyo.
In patient-oriented research (POR), patients are partners on the research team. In some cases, communities take on the role of Patient Partner, as is the case with the Muskoday First Nation, a community located about 20 km from Prince Albert, partnering on this project.
Karoyo and his team are working to address the issue of environmental pollution as it affects the health of Indigenous people. “It’s a community problem,” says Karoyo. “We know the problem, but they know the problem better than us. We can’t do something they don’t approve of, or don’t agree with. At the end of the day, they’re the ones that live with the outcome of the research.”
Karoyo’s team ensured the community was engaged throughout the process and initiated partnerships before funding applications were submitted. Says Karoyo, “Community members voiced their concerns and we incorporated those into our research objectives. The community members play a significant role in giving suggestions, designing some of the programs, outreach and engagement, sampling when possible and whatever ways they can be involved.”
One of the ways Karoyo and his team are working with the community is through an outreach program with the school to ensure long-term self-sustainability within the community. Says Karoyo, “We need to engage the youth in the importance of the environment and how to be responsible, because part of the contamination problem is coming from us – the people. We want to work on the problem with them, but we also want to engage them in science and technology because they are the future. And the students have become very excited when they see the some of the fancy stuff that comes out of science!”
Unfortunately, COVID-19 has had a detrimental effect on the initial plans. Many programs, including the outreach program within the school, had to be paused. However, work continues despite the challenges. Koroyo and his team have moved to virtual communications to carry out conversations with different community members in areas of health, education and justice, technicians from the water treatment plant and Elders. These conversations have been important in determining capacity and technology of the community water treatment plants, sources of water and water uses.
Karoyo is also keen to maintain culturally respectful relationships with community members.
“You have to be aware of their culture and traditions and I have enjoyed things like praying together or taking part in ceremonies that puts people closer to their communities and beliefs. I have learned a lot from the community members about their traditions and customs,” he adds. “It’s great when you’re dealing with the community members directly and you get to hear their stories, told by them. We can see commonalities between us, from the perspective of Indigenous communities.”
It’s these rewarding experiences that have compensated for other challenges the team has faced. “Sometimes working with communities causes delays – sometimes it takes time to get approval for things to happen or get agreement from all parties. But it’s been a respectful process and overall a positive experience.”
While the project is in its initial stages, Karoyo shares some of what he hopes to achieve through his research. “This research can have a big impact on the community. For example, some people are using soda as a replacement for water because they don’t trust the water. We can look at the water treatment plant and determine if the treatment plant is sufficient or if we need to add this or that to make the water usable for human consumption. Safe water can help improve their lifestyle.”
“For me, when I do community research, it has to benefit them – the community members. We don’t want to do research for the sake of research. Every time, I ask myself, how is this going to benefit them? This community is spending a lot of money to move water from Prince Albert. With this money, they could have a functional treatment plant, which they’re in the process of commissioning. They’re moving in the right direction and hopefully this research can help them get from point a to point b.”
The work Karoyo and his team are doing has far further reaches than the Muskoday First Nation. Water security is an ever-present topic of concern in Canada. “So many communities are working towards having access to clean water. I’m hopeful this research can impact and benefit the community in one way or another. In the future, I hope we can develop something that is specific to certain communities based on what they have in their water. It’s a huge problem, but it’s nice to be working towards change. We will get there – it’s just a matter of time.”