Ya rayah (Arabic: يا رايح)
Many scientists work abroad, often in Western countries, joining a growing number of expatriates from their home countries. The struggles and sacrifices faced by these individuals are portrayed in the popular Algerian ballad “Ya Rayah,” meaning “The Traveler” or “The Exiled.” Originally written and performed by the Algerian musician Dahmane El Harrachi in the 1970s, my personal favorite version is the cover by the late Algerian rock star Rachid Taha. Taha’s “gruff voice” — as described by the New York Times in his 2018 obituary — combined with his own activism for immigrant rights, lend a deep emotional weight to the song.
“Ya Rayah” is my story, and perhaps your story too. This post is to explore what we can do to help advance science back home and in other countries. It’s easy to make a difference. Don’t underestimate the power of small contributions. Even seemingly insignificant actions can have a huge impact. For example, sharing an idea or providing feedback can lead to breakthroughs in scientific research. Every contribution, no matter how small, has the potential to make a difference.
Climate change also affects scientists
Scientists in developing countries face numerous challenges. During a visit to my homeland of Tunisia in March 2023, I learned about one striking example of these challenges. A first-hand experience like this can be a powerful motivator for taking action.
The country is currently experiencing an extreme drought that is affecting every sector of society, including scientific research. I was devastated to hear that Dr. Salem Marzougui lost his entire barley breeding program in the semi-arid El Kef region due to the drought. Typically, this region receives around 250 mm of rainfall between December and March, but this year it only received 30–40 mm. Dr. Marzougui has also reported similar drought conditions in Siliana and Zaghouan. The drought has caused significant losses for cereal farmers, with reports indicating that about 70% of cultivated land is affected. These losses have far-reaching impacts on the livelihoods of farmers, their families, and the broader economy of the country.
The loss of Dr. Marzougui’s breeding material serves as a striking reminder that the impact of climate change is being felt by scientists and farmers worldwide. The significant decrease in rainfall levels this year in Tunisia and neighboring countries is a clear indication of the severity of the issue. It is crucial that we take action to mitigate the effects of drought and ensure food security for all.
How can expat scientists help advance science back home?
- Focus on early-career scientists because they represent the future of scientific research and innovation.
- Mentorship: Expat scientists can offer guidance and support to colleagues in their home countries by serving as mentors. This can include providing advice on career development, offering guidance on research projects, and helping to connect early career scientists with resources and networks.
- Collaboration: Expat scientists can collaborate with early career scientists on research projects, either remotely or by visiting their home countries. This can provide early career scientists with valuable experience and the opportunity to learn from more experienced researchers.
- Funding: Expat scientists may be able to use their own resources or connections to help secure funding for early career scientists in their home countries. This can include providing seed funding for new research projects or helping to secure funding from external sources.
- Networking: Expat scientists can help to connect early career scientists in their home countries with other researchers and organizations that may be able to offer support and resources. This can include introductions to funding agencies, academic institutions, or professional societies.
- Sharing resources: Expat scientists can share resources such as research materials, equipment, or software with early career scientists in their home countries. This can help to overcome some of the challenges that early career scientists may face in accessing these resources.
Overall, the key to helping early career scientists in developing nations is to provide support and resources that help them to build their skills, gain experience, and succeed in their careers.
TEAM — Together. Everyone. Achieves. More.
As I wrote before, it’s well-established that teams can achieve more than individuals, especially in complex and specialized activities like scientific research. Creating teams that facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations and foster diversity can bring together unique perspectives and expertise, resulting in more innovative and impactful research. I want to revisit this topic because I think this is one of the main issues that is holding back science in developing countries.
Teamwork and networking are critical in advancing science in developing countries because limited resources can hinder individual progress of isolated students and researchers. Working together, researchers can leverage their collective skills, knowledge, and resources to achieve more than they would be able to alone. Unfortunately, in some cases, the lack of resources can create a competitive or adversarial culture that hinders progress and collaboration. This is where expats can make a significant difference by helping to change this culture and promote collaboration and knowledge-sharing. Expats can leverage their connections, expertise, and resources to help build networks and promote teamwork among researchers in their countries. By promoting collaboration and knowledge-sharing, expats can help to overcome resource limitations and accelerate scientific progress in their home countries.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Saskia Hogenhout for comments on the post and Salem Marzougui for inspiring the post by sharing the photos and details of the barley field trials. This post was written with assistance from ChatGPT.
This article is available on a CC-BY license via Zenodo. Cite as: Kamoun, S. (2023) Ya rayah — How expat scientists can help advance science back home. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7794860
