– Who is Rozhin?

• A researcher
• A dreamer
• An optimist
• A scientist
• A daughter, a sister, and a friend
• A hardworking person

 

– How will you change the world?

• By being a compassionate dentist who can make those who are afraid of the dentist to enjoy coming to me.
• Helping those in need through my work and volunteering
• Establishing a non-profit organization designed to help create free dental clinics in low-income counties in the U.S. and in low-income countries.

 

– What do you want your epitaph to read?

• I lived a good life. Now I’ll have a good rest.
• A hardworking person who can rest peacefully now.

Living an Impact-Focused Life

What’s your Why?

I believe I was put on this earth to:

Just enjoy life as much as possible and gain/go through all kinds of life experiences (whether good or bad).

 

My purpose is to:

Bring happiness to myself and others as well as help people with what I can.

 

I believe (my core values):

That everyone deserves to live how they want to be happy.

 

The one thing I must do before I die is:

Is make my family live a happy and stable life as well as do what makes me happy.

 

My advocates and supporters all believe I:

That I will achieve something great/do great things.

 

The evil I want to eradicate in this world is:

Judgement.

 

I want to work in order to:

Make a better living for myself and my family.

 

Walk the Talk – Your How

If you are truly committed to your Why, you show it in your everyday behavior. It is all air until you do it. Working from your Why, How do you prove that you are true to your Why in all you do?

 

I always:

Try my best in my classes and try to gain experiences, so that I can get into dental school and get a good job, which will allow me to make a better life for my family.

 

I never:

Try to do things that will disappoint my family.

 

My work style is:

Working on my own time and comfort.

 

I try to treat people:

The same way that they treat me. If they don’t I will give them a couple of chances in case they had a bad day, but if their attitude towards me does not change then I will treat them the same way.

 

I approach problems by:

Thinking about them logically and critically to see how I can approach the problem to solve it or if it can be solved. Sometimes taking in other people’s opinions help coming towards a solution sooner.

 

Victories are time to:

Celebrate as well as think about what you have done well and what you can improve on.

 

If another attacks my point of view I:

Try to see where they are coming from and ask them what reasoning they have to have formed that kind of opinion.

 

If I fundamentally do not agree with what an organization or person is doing, I will:

Ignore them because they are not worth my time to argue with if they have such strong beliefs about it and do not want to change their opinion after listening to what others have to say.

 

Your Credibility – Your Whats

You have just spent some considerable time at Lehigh, and specifically in the Global Social Impact Fellowship, on many whats. Your whats include lab research, formal presentations, writing research papers, engaging with people in other cultural contexts, building prototypes, designing and building systems, raising funds, hiring employees, etc. The whats you have collected along the way are critical to your credibility when you are entering the workforce or applying to the best graduate and professional schools. They signify a credible currency to which organizations can assign value. Create a list of your Whats that are truly reflective of your Why & How.  You did these things because you believe (Why) and you acquired them in the following (How) manner. These are examples you can use in interviews.

What Have I Done	List of Experiences, Accomplishments, and Lessons Learned
Degrees, Minors, Certificates, Fellowships	In Progress: Molecular Biology major; Minors: Psychology and Marketing Mountaintop Summer Initiative Fellow Certificate
Research Experiences	–          Mountaintop/GSIF science research –          Psychology – Emotion Lab Research
Inventions and Innovations	None
(Social) Entrepreneurial Ventures	GSIF – Copra Project
Publications (Formal and Informal)	None
Formal Presentations (at Lehigh and Beyond)	Mountaintop/GSIF
Awards and External Recognition	Scholarships

 

Articulating and learning from GSIF-related Experiences. For each of these prompts, we want you to identify one and only one specific and compelling event/incident/experience/moment and identify exactly how you grew personally and professionally through that moment.

Teamwork Experience (and Lessons Learned)	I learned that it may take some time to work and see eye-to-eye with others when two different groups are thrown together unexpectedly and that teamwork can become more solid after getting to know each other better after some time.
Conflict Resolution Experience (and Lessons Learned)	No big conflicts have occurred except some miscommunications that were able to be fixed after talking about them. From those miscommunications, we learned that we need to communicate more clearly instead of assuming everyone knows the same things.
Leadership Experience (and Lessons Learned)	I have been able to take the lead in the science approach aspect by coming up with what kind of research we can do as well as putting those ideas to test through experimentations.
Dealing with Chaos, Ambiguity, and Uncertainty (and Lessons Learned)	The biggest uncertainty was finding the purpose of what I could bring into the team by working on a completely different project than what I had originally applied to. I learned that I can always come up with a purpose to do something if I put my mind into it.
Personally Challenging Experience (and Lessons Learned)	Trying to come up with experiments and execute them was personally challenging during Mountaintop since I had to do everything myself and even write the manuscript by myself while others were able to work in teams. Although it was challenging, I enjoyed being able to do the research and work on my own time and the manuscript was easier to write since I was able to know everything that I needed to write and put in the manuscript. I learned that I work best both alone and in groups, but it just depends on the circumstances to know which one is the best option.
Cross-cultural Experience (and Lessons Learned)	None
An experience that helped you connect your GSIF work to your discipline / major.	It was when I was able to do scientific research which went well with my molecular biology major.
A moment that boosted your sense of agency and self-efficacy – you felt like you can speak for yourself, get stuff done, take on the world and make it better.	When I began college, I started to feel like I could do anything I wanted because of all the opportunities that Lehigh presented us. Being away from home and by myself in college, strengthened my sense of agency and self-efficacy since I oversaw making most choices in my life.
A moment where you felt like you truly have a strong sense of purpose and belonging in this dynamic, globalized interdependent world.	A moment I felt like that was when I began doing work during mountaintop because that was the time that my part of the group was finally able to do more work after finding our purpose in the group and it felt like the research and knowledge that I grasped during that time strengthened how I saw myself being able to bring an actual change to the world and saw what I wanted to do later on in my career.

 

1. If you are the Chief of Police for Afghanistan, what solution would you develop to pay the cops that are actually working, reduce corruption, and boost their morale.

If our team were acting as the Chief of Police for Afghanistan, we would ensure that systems were set in place in order to help address the issue of corruption and boost morale. To begin with, we would ensure that additional administrators are hired in order to manually regulate the payroll system, this way we can help prevent Ghost policemen. These administrators must not only hold themselves accountable, but also hold their coworkers accountable for any acts of corruption. Yet, in understanding that the corruption present in Afghanistan is hierarchical, we must have a leverage point in order to prevent corruption at the administrative level. In this scenario, our leverage point would be increasing the countrywide literacy rate. By increasing the literacy rate we can:

• Increase education and knowledge among the general public
• Allow more Afghani citizens to be involved in their local services
• Increase voter turnout and accountability

These effects experienced by increasing the literacy rate will all directly impact levels of corruption and the likelihood for corrupt officials to stay in power. Additionally, we can also implement activities within the bureaucracy in order to build deeper relationships, increase teamwork, and boost morale.

 

A second solution is to create an anti-corruption agency (ACA) that works independently from the police. The ACA will be held to an international standard of monitoring corruption; its workers will have to go through an arduous screening process before employment to ensure they are noncorrupt. One way to accomplish this is to ask employees to report their official tax and financial records each year. It is important that there is a single ACA, however. In countries where there are multiple ACAs – like Iraq – certain areas are overlooked. Additionally, multiple ACAs compete for the same financial resources so it would deter it from its true mission – to limit corruption.

 

2. If you are the entrepreneur, what multi-final solution will you develop so that you succeed, your venture succeeds (takes water hyacinth off the lake), and the people living along the lakeshore also walk away happy. Please be specific on how your solution might function and precisely whom you would work with. For example, refrain from including vague stakeholders like entire communities.

 

One of our solutions will be hiring interested community members who want to work on removing the hyacinth from the lake and getting paid for it. This can especially work well with the fishermen or other community members who have boats, so that they can remove the moss from different areas of the lake. This will work by her giving a portion of her profits in the shape of wages for the workers. It is important to have community members involved in the venture, so that they don’t feel as if they are being excluded. Although this will likely result in having to let go of her current employees, it is more cost effective and a good way to take advantage of the community members’ navigation knowledge of the lake since they know it best and they may know which area of the lake the hyacinths are most densely populated.

 

Another one of our solutions is for her to give a portion of her profits back to the community through charitable donations such as removing wastes and donating to their environmental focused organizations. This will show community members that she is not just there for profits. Additionally, the community will be more willing to help her advance the venture forward if they notice she invests in the local community.  

 

In addition, another solution could be educating the community about the great advantage that she is adding to their environment by removing their water hyacinth infestation from their lake and improving their community’s fishermen’s access and ability to work on the lake without any charge to the community itself.

Q1: Describe at least 5 partnerships with individuals and/or organizations that have been formed to support your project and that impact the success or failure of your venture.

Please identify partnerships at the individual, team, and Lehigh / GSIF level.

1.What constituted the partnership?

2.How did the partner help you? How did you help them?

3.Was this a symbiotic relationship? Why or why not?

4.What would help strengthen this partnership and make it more equitable?

 

University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) (HEED Program)

1. This partnership was born during the assignment or our project. We were given this connection initially.
2. UPD students and a professor have given us insights on conditions in the Philippines as well as contacts for the Philippine Coconut Authority.  
3. No, because of the pandemic we were not able to travel to the Philippines to collaborate with the UPD students. The UPD students were also sent home due to the pandemic where many of them did not have access to wifi so we shifted to communication with Jill Manapat only. However, due to poor connection it is hard to have productive zoom meetings
4. More communication efforts would help strengthen this relationship but given the circumstances of the Pandemic 

 

Prof. Jedlicka

1. Professor Jedlicka is the co-advisor to our project (for both TE Capstone team and GSIF).
2. She provides guidance and insight to our team based on her expertise. We give her more information about different aspects of the copra industry, which in turn allows her to provide us with more suggestions and direction.
3. This is a symbiotic relationship, as we are both reciprocating value. As we navigated through this complex coconut industry together as students and mentors, we taught and learned from each other: we taught her about the coconut knowledge that we found from literature, and she taught us how to better use that knowledge to advance our venture. 
4. An increase in the team’s efforts would strengthen this relationship since the more we put in allows for more input on Professor Jedlicka’s end. 

 

Prof. Haden

1. This partnership was built through GSIF and Professor Haden is a co-advisor to our project
2. She helped us organize our ideas and helped us with where we should start with our project. We have helped her by teaching her about copra and the marketing of it in the Philippines. Also we will eventually publish a paper which will reflect well on her. 
3. Yes, because Professor Haden acted as a guide for where we should start and we were able to teach her about our project. 
4. More communication would strengthen this partnership.

 

Wilber (Brian Slocum and Michael Moore)

1. Our partnership with the Wilbur Powerhouse is based on our need for help in designing and prototyping our dryer. We connected through our advisor and our own relations.
2. They have helped us through the design, but also mainly the physical construction of the prototype through their skill sets, expertise, and their access to Wilbur. 
3. This is less of a symbiotic relationship because they have given us more value than we have given them, through advising us through our designs and helping us build it.
4. A more proactive approach to our design methods and an increase in understanding of the building process from our team. 

 

Lynne Cassimeris

1. Cell Biology professor at Lehigh, whom one of our team members is taking a class with. 
2. This partner has helped in furthering the understanding of what goes on a cellular and molecular level inside of cells, which can be applied to copra.
3. This is less of a symbiotic relationship as she is providing her teaching on her profession and we are learning from it.
4. What would strengthen this relationship would be being in more communication with her and asking more directly about potential guidance on how to work on copra more effectively.

 

Gregory Lang

1. One of our team members worked at Dr. Lang’s Yeast lab
2. Dr. Lang answered an email about what to do about aflatoxins when our team member emailed him and he provided his knowledge as he is a microbiology professor and has experience working on bacteria and yeast.
3. This is less of a symbiotic relationship as we do not have anything valuable from our side of research to offer him in return for his teaching.
4. More communication and working alongside him would strengthen the relationship and bring more equity to our project as we would profit from the more knowledge we gain about how to counteract spoilage and molding.

1. List ten specific ways in which your teaming approach has changed/evolved since you started, teamwork skills you have developed, and lessons you have learned.

• I have become more confident in my purpose in this team and have a clear aim of what I need to accomplish for my time involved in this project.
• I have learned how to lead my team members in terms of accomplishing tasks and reassuring them of what we are supposed to do.
• I have learned more about the difficulties and benefits of doing research and experiments by yourself since I lead the science research team and have had to do experiments and research by myself since Mountaintop.
• I have learned what its like to communicate across different teams since our project is made of up the engineering, business, and science research teams.
• I have become more knowledgeable and experienced about the scientific processes that goes into browning and spoilage of copra as well as more experienced in doing experiments and proper research.
• I have learned how to think outside the box and go the extra mile to come up with new ideas to help advance the project forward.
• I have seen how much better team members work together once they know more about each other and have a good team bond.
• I have learned that it is better to do one thing really well than do multiple things not well.
• I have learned more about how much digging you have to do in your research to find articles and other resources that are what you are looking for or even better.
• I have become better at public speaking and communicating my thoughts.

 

2. Provide an updated Collaboration Plan, clearly articulating your Goals (Small g and Big G), Roles,Procedures, and Relationships.

 

Team Name: COPRA                                                                          Date: 09/29/2020
Goals	Personal goals: Brianna:  Make as much useful contribution as possible, positively influence the group, create strong relationships,Improve my group work skills, ask more critical questions.  Then I hope to use all these personal improvements to make a social impact that matters. Tri: Learn more about coconuts processing and get hand-on experience on making coconuts dryers! Build life-long friendship with peers at Lehigh and those in the Philippines Jake: Provide hands on help with computer aided designing, fabrication (if at all possible), and testing of our drying chambers. Provide next year’s team with the necessary information to build off of and move toward getting our venture going. Sammy: Gain experience in conducting meaningful research and working on an interdisciplinary team. Make valuable contributions to move the project forward and create sustainable impact. Improve my interpersonal skills and develop a new mindset  Ami:  Contribute to the project in a meaningful way, understanding my own strengths and weaknesses , and learning how I can efficiently and effectively work within a diverse team. Help to better enforce communications within the team and outside the team, and become a better researcher and writer. Improve my own hard and soft skill sets including communications, and better understanding design thinking, engineering design, and supply chain. Rozhin: Complete experiments and write results in a lab report Publish a paper about the experiments and their relationship to the overall copra industry and how the result is an asset to copra farmers. Michelle:  Publish a paper about the different antioxidants we have researched on Pinpoint one antioxidant we can use for the copra processing  Continue with our research and see if there are other things we can improve on Brianna C: Help team with adding background information to paper to provide readers with a deeper framework and history of its problems and clarity on why proposed solution are innovative and helpful Project Goal: The project aims to improve copra processing and process streamlining for elevating the livelihoods of copra farmers by generating additional income. Is our Project Goal scaled to our resources (dreams, materials, skills, differences, etc.) and constraints (assignment, time, skills, etc.)? As a team, we have the given resources and knowledge needed to design and prototype a device that can better process copra. Unfortunately, due to given circumstances, our access to both each other and the tools required are constraining the timetable for which this project will operate on.   Since COPRA is a multi-year project, we as a team will lay up a strong foundation so that we can transfer the knowledge to other teams. The hope is that future teams will be able to scale upon the ideas and designs we come up with throughout this year.   Metrics for Success Design, energy efficiency, and sustainability of the processing technique Amount of high-quality copra that can be produced using new methods Amount of additional income that can be generated for copra farmers Scalability and Sustainability of the business model (can we actually get people to use this)
Roles	Who is responsible for which deliverables? Rozhin, Michelle, and Brianna C. will be responsible for the antioxidant testing and the deliverables that come from this. Jake, Tri, Brianna W, Sammy, and Ami will be responsible for the engineering components and the corresponding deliverables that arise from this. Which deliverables that require collaboration, subgroups & individual work? Who does each person depend upon to succeed? Deliverables  Presentation – Collaboration Preliminary Design Concepts – Sub group/Collaboration Prototype – Sub group/Individual Testing Data – Sub group/Individual Final report – Collaboration Do we need a project manager to coordinate?  Yes, we do need one. However, specific to our group, we rotate our project manager once every three weeks so that everyone has a chance to step up and take responsible for the group’s success We realize the importance of having a manager to help organize and coordinate group work and research, but believe that having a rotating leadership position helps alleviate the stress from one individual
Procedures	Decision-making  Consensus, our group has had very few disagreements If consensus can’t be achieved we will default to majority rules/the advice of our project advisor Effective meetings We’ve conducting weekly meetings (along with multiple weekly sub meetings) to keep everyone on track and updated with all the key information regarding our project Before each meeting we lay out an agenda to increase efficiency of meetings and help steer the conversation in the right direction We write weekly briefs (in accordance with our TE 211 course work) to keep documented records on what work and research we do each week We plan to continue holding these weekly meetings over Zoom at the same time and in the same fashion Keep track of time during meetings At the end of every meeting we make sure to assign weekly work to each group member to ensure that we can hold each other accountable Meeting roles During meetings the leader will facilitate the meeting and assign a different scribe for each meeting. The leader role will be rotated every 3 weeks Communication Up until this week we had planned Zoom meetings once a week on Fridays from 2:00 – 3:00 PM Bi-weekly meeting with two sub-groups, Prof. Jedlicka, and Prof. Haden
Relationships	Teamwork Our team has been very agreeable up to this point – we’ve had few disagreements if any Our assumption is that transitioning to video chatting as our primary form of communication will not be a problem For the Engineering team: We have backgrounds in Materials Science Engineering, Mechanical Engineerings, Industrial Systems Engineering and Product Design The team also consists of different backgrounds such as athletics, international, cultural, and greek life. We have different interests outside of engineering: make-up and sports, band music, music composition, nature, and chess. The Science Research and Business teams have been added to the to Copra team The Science Research team have backgrounds in biology and are working on developing antioxidant research and experiments to help further the project The business has background in economics and international relations which will help further the project in terms of working on the business background of the project  Listening – As a team we enter group meetings with an open mindset and are ready listen to each other  Team Name– Copra

Team: COPRA

Members: Ami Yoshimura, Michelle Hu, Sammantha Powers, Jake Donoghue, Brianna Wanbaugh, Tri Nguyen, Brianna Cimaglia, Rozhin Zahrouni

 

Top 20 FAQs and Answers

 

 

• What happens to the middlemen if you eliminate them in the supply chain? (Ami)

 

A: At this stage, we don’t have a concrete answer yet, because we are still in the development phase of our products. 

 

 

• What is the scale of the coconut farms in the Philippines? (Tri)

 

A: The majority of coconut farms are small to medium sized (around 5 hectares / 40 – 100 trees per farm).

 

 

• How will you implement your product in the Philippines? (Sammy)

 

A: We are not yet sure at this stage, as we do not currently have a definite business model since we are still developing our product. 

 

 

• How do you know that there aren’t better antioxidants out there that are just as effective or more than the antioxidants that you are using now? (Rozhin)

 

A: We have done extensive research on many different potential antioxidants and have read many scientific articles and journals on them before coming into our conclusion of the top antioxidants for us to use on our experiments. Unfortunately, there is no way for us to know about all of the potential antioxidants that exist, however, we believe that from our research we have found the best ones that are available and cost-effective.

 

 

• What are some of the current solutions to the aging tree problem in the Philippines? (Bri C)

 

A: There are replanting, intercropping, and education programs designed by the Philippines Coconut Authority to address these challenges.

 

 

• How do you make sure the coconut farmers will benefit from your solution? (Tri)

 

A: We will provide coconut farmers the cost-effective technology to produce high-quality copra and higher-value added products that they can sell directly at a higher price, which will earn the farmers additional income.  

 

 

• To what extent do coconut farmers have access to energy? (Tri)

 

A: It is noted that 6.1 million households (half of the rural population) have no electricity in the Philippines. Our investigation suggests that more than 30% of coconut farmers do not have access to the power grid.

 

 

• How will this solution be sustainable? (Brianna W)

 

A:  We hope to partner with a company based in the Philippines that can continue to aid and distribute our solution after we leave the Philippines

 

 

• How successful are efforts to address the aging tree problem? (Bri C)

 

A: The PCA has established a few programs to address this issue, but many of them are purely informational with little execution and direct aid to farmers. These programs have certainly helped inform farmers about the issues, but there has not been significant change.

 

 

• How long will this copra & antioxidant experiment take? (Rozhin)

 

A: This is a two part experiment that has been started from July, however, since it was decided that better results were needed with improved procedure plans, the experiment will be restarting during the fall semester and will most likely finish before the end of the semester depending on the results found.

 

 

• What do you expect to see in your experiments and what is the goal of the experiments? (Jake)

 

A: On the engineering side, the experiments are set up with the goal of optimizing air flow inside the drying chamber. We expect to gather data that will allow us to decide whether we should utilize horizontal or vertical airflow moving forward.

 

 

•  What are your next steps for the venture? (Ami)

 

A: The next steps entail testing antioxidant solutions, prototyping the dryer, and submitting research proposals to a few conferences. 

 

 

• What are you doing in your experiments currently and what is next? (Jake)

 

A: We are constructing benchmark prototypes of our drying chambers and comparing the effectiveness of horizontal vs. vertical airflow on drying time. The goal is still to uniformly dry all the coconut meat in the drying chamber as fast as we can, so whichever method works better is what we will include in our drying design moving forward. Once we have identified the optimal air flow method, we will move to experimenting and designing our heating source and heat exchange mechanisms. 

 

 

• Why are you doing this experiment and how do these antioxidants work on the copra? (Rozhin)

 

A: The current problem is the copra browning which reduces their financial value because of their unappealing visual quality, even if they are safe to consume and use even for other means. The browning of the copra occurs from a chemical reaction from its exposure to oxygen, known as enzymatic browning. The enzyme that plays the major role in this chemical reaction is called Polyphenol Oxidase (PPO) and another major enzyme that contributes to the enzymatic browning and is involved with the internal browning is called Peroxidase. Therefore, this reaction can be prevented from occurring through the application of higher acidity (pH<4), which lowers the chances of oxidation of the food and causing the enzymatic reaction to occur. Moreover, the copra also needs to have antimicrobial protection, so that they can last longer and prevent spoiling. Since the best antioxidants that we have chosen from our research are both acidic and have antimicrobial properties (which we also plan on combining the best ones together to create an even stronger antioxidant preservative), they are one of the best natural and cost-effective preservation methods for us to use on the copra.

 

 

• Why are natural antioxidants being used instead of cheaper alternatives? (Rozhin)

 

A: Natural antioxidants are the best materials to use as preservatives of copra as this will make it safe and have no/less harmful side effects than other chemical or other cheaper alternatives. Natural antioxidants are the next best option, from their effective protection against oxidation and microbes, in comparison to more expensive preservation treatments (e.g. freeze drying), so they are the best option considering their ease of access, effectiveness, and reduced cost.

 

 

• How do you imagine implementing these antioxidants into the supply chain and how will the farmers gain access to them? (Rozhin)

 

A: We are still in the process of determining which antioxidants will be used for preservation, so we have yet to know the full logistics of when and how they will be incorporated into the supply chain. We imagine that the antioxidants will be either sold to the farmers in packages or the farmers will be taught how to make those antioxidants treatment themselves (depending on the antioxidants chosen as preservatives).

 

 

• How will the optimal antioxidants be integrated into the engineering team’s product? (Sammy) 

 

A: The antioxidants will be included in the drying and preserving process, though we are not sure exactly how until we discover more through our experiments. We are still determining if the antioxidants will be put on the copra before or after drying, and if they will be included as a part of our product, or if they will be sold separately.

 

 

• How will you be able to scale this effectively? (Ami)

 

A: By improving one niche/aspect of the drying process and building a better drying solution with affordable materials, accessibility will be easier. We also have connections in the Philippines who could help with distribution. 

 

 

• How likely is it that farmers will take to this kind of solution? (Jake)

 

A: This is something that we still need to figure out. Given that our project is in early stages, and that we have not been able to conduct field work, it has been rather difficult to gauge interest in our ideas. 

 

 

• Why are we choosing the specific antioxidants we are using?  (Michelle)

 

A: All the specific antioxidants  we are using are all cost effective so it will not be another hardship on the farmers. Also all of these antioxidants do not affect the taste of the copra or the texture and they are accessible. 

Team members: Jacques Pelman, Rozhin Zahrouni, Nathaly Rodriguez, Ami Yoshimura

Ethical Decision-Making

Step 1: Determine the facts in the situation-obtain all of the unbiased facts possible. Clearly state the ethical issue.

• 35% of children have stunted growth
• The research group received a grant 
• The longer the mothers breastfeed the more likely the babies are to be exposed to HIV/AIDS
  • After 6 months almost guaranteed to be infected
  • Few women are tested for the virus 
• 500 women interested in cooperative 
• The food may contain pesticides which may transfer in the breastfeeding process
• Crops are grown in the area 
• Mothers are concerned about the health effects of pesticides 
• There is a taste testing that the mothers will take part in

 

Step 2&3: Define the problem and the stakeholders – those with a vested interest in the outcome & their personal/professional motivations

• Mother
  • Highly believe that the gruel is beneficial for their children
  • Can’t easily trust foreigners who say they are supposed experts on telling the mothers what to feed their children
• Kids
  • Want good tasting food, may reject food if tastes bad
  • Want/Need to eat 
  • Don’t want potential adverse health complications 
• Researchers
  • Want to make the cooperative succeed
  • Want to gain publicity and build up their credibility.
  • Want to help the children from being stunted from eating non-nutritious gruel
  • Want to give the kids a nutritious porridge
  • The ingredients of the porridge may give potential adverse health complications as a result of the pesticide, but the porridge would still be healthier than the gruel
  • Want to convince the mothers that the porridge is more nutritious for their children

Secondary Stakeholders:

• Government (Secondary)
  • Want to improve the livelihood of those in East Africa 
• Donors (Secondary)
  • Want their investments to be fruitful
• Men (secondary)
  • May take money from the women
  • May want their children to be healthy

        

Ethical Problem:

• Children being infected by HIV/ AIDs through breast milk vs being infected by pesticides 

 

Step 4: Formulate (at least three) alternative solutions – based on information available, to have a win-win situation for your relationship and your venture.

 

1. Having an educational portion led by respected members that guide mothers through wean process 

• • Ethical code: consequence-based thinking this would help most people even if they do not buy our product
  • Pros: 
    •  Fosters community and healthier children
  • Cons:  
    • May cost way more money to compensate the respected members more than they already are
    • Incredibly time-consuming 
    • Less likely to scale 

 

1. Create a gruel additive that will nutritionally enhance the gruel with packaging 

• • Ethical code: virtue-based because a person who is a professional would try to create a product to solve the solution
  • Pros: 
    • Adding more food ingredients by enhancing the original gruel recipe
    • Healthier children
    • The packaging would have an education component about nutrition and suggestions on how to use the product
  • Cons:
    • Very small amounts of social change to change the current formula

 

1. Continue with breast milk until the babies are 4 months old instead of 2 months

• • Ethical code: duty-based thinking model because this would be our recommendation along with the WHO on how to prevent potential HIV transmission
  • Pros:
    • Reducing the risk of HIV/AIDS
    • Receive more nutritional 
    • More diversity 
  • Cons:
    • The potential risk of health effects from pesticides earlier than usual 
    • Families and children may be reluctant to use it

 

Step 5: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate – previous cases, peers, reliance on personal experience, inner reflection

• Use alternative home-made made milk powder that is cost-effective and natural
• Thought leaders and those experienced in operating successful cooperatives 

    Peers and the Professor helped us optimize our rough ideas into a more polished solution.  

    Personal experience about how babies work.

 

Step 6: Select the best course of action-that which satisfies the highest core ethical values. Explain reasoning and justify it. Discuss Your stance vis-a-vis other approaches discussed in the class.

• The best course of action is options 2 and 3.
• This solution is also ideal and is better than including option 1 because it will ultimately scale better, which is a huge component of this situation and problem. Having an educational component is not only incredibly time-intensive but also extremely expensive. 
• All stakeholders will be somewhat satisfied with the solution, with this consensus

 

Step 7: List the sequence of actions you will take to implement your solution.

1. We would create and perfect our product and packaging and test the tastes and convenience of it with children and mothers.
2. Next, we would create the packaging and what exactly it would say and make it easy to understand. After this, we would mass-produce the product. The information on the package would include when exactly to start weaning the baby onto the formula. 
3. Lastly, we would make sure the product is at an adequate price that is available to most if not all mothers. An extra step would be to continue to take customer surveys to help improve the product.

Grassroots Diplomacy Strategy

Step 1: Determine the facts in the situation-obtain all of the unbiased facts possible

• 35% of children have stunted growth
• The research group received a grant 
• The longer the mothers breastfeed the more likely the babies are to be exposed to HIV/AIDS
  • After 6 months almost guaranteed to be infected
  • Few women are tested for the virus 
• 500 women interested in cooperative 
• The food may contain pesticides which may transfer in the breastfeeding process
• Crops are grown in the area 
• Mothers are concerned about the health effects of pesticides 
• There is a taste testing that the mothers will take part in
• The women work for about nine hours every day and earn KES 300 (about $3).
• They are not necessarily opposed to the men taking away their money but are upset that their hard-earned money is not used to feed their children.
• Cooperative lets them grow their money, unlike banks that take away money to save money 
  • Men are less likely to take money away from women when its a larger sum that has been saved up 

 

Step 2&3: Define the problem and the stakeholders-those with a vested interest in the outcome

• Mother
  • Personal:
    • Highly believe that the gruel is beneficial for their children
    • Can’t easily trust foreigners who say they are supposed experts on telling the mothers what to feed their children
  • Profesional 
    • Want a source of income and keeping their income for essentials
• Kids
  • Personal:
    • Want good tasting food, may reject food if tastes bad
    • Want/Need to eat 
    • Don’t want potential adverse health complications 

 

• Researchers
  • Personal:
    • Want to gain acknowledgment and build their resume by working in this project
  • Profesional: 
    • Want to give the kids a nutritious porridge
    • The ingredients of the porridge may give potential adverse health complications as a result of the pesticide, but the porridge would still be healthier than the gruel
    • Want to convince the mothers that the porridge is more nutritious for their children 

 

Secondary Stakeholders:

• Government (Secondary)
  • Want to improve the livelihood of those in East Africa 
• Donors (Secondary)
  • Want their investments to be fruitful
• Men (secondary)
  • May take money from the women
  • May want their children to be healthy

 

Step 4: Formulate (at least three) alternative solutions-based on information available

Solution 1: Give choice between food and other essentials as payment instead of money

• How does it solve the problem?
  •  Pros:
    • Prevents husbands from taking extra money in certain situations Children are more likely to be more well-fed.
  • Cons: 
    • May take the extra money away from the mothers

 

•  How does it save face of those involved?
  • It saves the face of the coop. from having to tell the patriarchal side of the families how to use their money. This way the woman can use their work profits in the way that they want to spend it – on their children and household instead of alcohol and other things that their patriarch could spend the woman’s work income on. This choice would grant the woman the liberty to not have to give up their money to their male counterparts to use on stuff that does not bring the family any benefits or food. 

 

• Implications on the venture
  • Short-term
    • The woman would be able to choose to receive food in place of their money income, which will mean that those families will be able to eat better food without having to worry about unnecessarily spending the money
    • The men of the family may tell the women working in the family to receive the money instead of the food, so the women may not be able to have the individual choice in the matter.
    • They can choose between money and food in case an emergency comes up where they need money (e.g. hospital bills, debt, etc).
  • Long-term
    • The families that we’re able to get food instead of money can give their kids and other family members nutritious meals.
    • The families that constantly choose money instead of food, may still come across the same problem of not being able to use their money for food and other beneficial things for the family as they would have to give up their money to their male counterparts.

 

Solution 2: Give food and other home essentials such as diaper or clothes

• How does it solve the problem?  
  • Pros: 
    • Prevents husbands from taking extra money
    • Children are more likely to be more well-fed. 
  • Cons:
    • Takes the extra money away from the mothers
    • Potential for conflict between women and men, especially since women did not have an issue giving them the money
      • Can give a negative light to the cooperative that leads to losing workers 
• How does it save face of those involved?
  • It saves face on the Co-op by making sure the social goal is achieved. It saves the face of the women by still bringing home goods by working and improving the lives of the children. Stops the men from using their money on booze and other nonessentials entirely. However, this may anger the men because they won’t have extra money for the nonessentials. 

 

• Implications on relationships
  • Short-term
    • Solves the issue of women wanting the children to have their essentials
  • Long-term
    • Men can still take the items and sell them for booze if they are that desperate for money
    • Can create distrust in relationships since the women have been receiving some sum of money already so if it suddenly stops that can lead to issues. 

 

Solution 3: Giving a smaller portion (⅓) of money earned to women for their usage (that can and may likely be taken by men), but keeping a larger majority (⅔) inequity within the Co-op, while also providing small servings of porridge every day. 

• How does it solve the problem?
  • Pros: 
    • Allows the moms to not cause strain on their relationships while still getting some money.
    • Creates a good and convenient way of saving money.
    • Still allows the children to have a better quality of life
    • Equity stake in the Co-op will exponentially increase as it scales, which means the money that they might cash out in the future will be much higher than when started and men will be much less likely to use it for other things.
    • Still provides some “beer money” for men, while the money in equity can’t be taken away immediately 
    • Still will be able to have food due to the small servings of porridge that is provided. 
  •  Cons:
    • Men still have the opportunity to take all the money
    • If women don’t trust the Co-op entirely they may be skeptical about saving their money there.
    • If an emergency happens the women may not be able to easily withdrawal their savings 

 

• How does it save face of those involved?
  • It saves face on the Co-op by making sure the social goal is achieved. It saves the face of the women by still bringing home goods by working and improving the lives of the children. Discourages the men from using their money on booze and other nonessentials entirely.

 

• Implications on the relationship
  • Short-term:
    • Both men and women are happy since they are both getting what they want
  • Long-term:
    • A potential issue is when men see that women receive the other sum of money, they may try to cash out all the equity and use it for themselves

 

Step 5: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate-engineering codes of ethics, previous cases, peers, reliance on personal experience, inner reflection

• Thought leaders and those experienced in operating successful cooperatives 
• Peers and the Professor helped us optimize our rough ideas into a more polished solution.  
• Personal experience about how babies function, e.g. what nutrition they need to grow and what they normally consume.

 

Step 6: Select the best course of action that solves the problem, saves face, and has the best short-term and long-term implications for your relationship and venture. Explain reasoning and discuss your solution vis-a-vis other approaches discussed in class. 

• The best course of action would be solution 3 because it creates a situation where you are still providing money when it is needed for the women in the area of big cash withdrawals. You satisfy the men by the small income. There is still some food being given to the women and their families which allows the children’s quality of life to improve.
• In comparison, the other ideas fall short in terms of not being able to facilitate a stable relationship where in the second option the men may get mad at the women and it wouldn’t allow the women to buy things that they need cash for. The first idea falls short because the men will have full opportunity to take the money.

 

Step 7: (If applicable)What are the implications of your solution on the venture. Explain the impact of your proposed solution on the venture’s technology, economic, social, and environmental aspects.

• Technology:
  • Giving them access to a system on a computer that allows them to see how much has gone to the men vs how much is being saved in their account. It can be as simple as an excel spreadsheet or more high tech depending on budget 

 

• Economic:
  • Create an ability for the family to save up money for large purchases like weddings, home improvements, and funerals. Doing all this while still providing them with healthy food to give to their children. 

 

• Social: 
  • It would create more agreement between the relationship of the women and the male figures in their lives as this would give the men their needed money to spend frivolously and the women the credits and food to support their family otherwise.

 

• Environmental:
  • If there are no conflicts between women and men in terms of money, cooperation is more likely to continue running. This means that the land will continue to be used for agriculture. 

GSIF Post #15

 

Grassroot diplomacy: A set of delicate and deliberate techniques for working harmoniously and effectively with diverse entities to catalyze social change

 

Grassroots Diplomacy Strategy Development Methodology

Step 1: Determine the facts in the situation – obtain all of the unbiased facts possible

-Jack living at youth center for 5 months

-Donor Org sent gifts and staff invited Jack to hand them out

-Four kids did not receive gifts and were handed black hats after the ceremony had ended

-Only one kid looked upset with Jack for not giving them a gift

-Staff upset at jack for bringing up such a trivial problem

-Cultural differences between staff and Jack→ American vs. Kenyan

 

Step 2 & 3 : Define the problem and the stakeholders – those with a vested interest in the outcome

The problem is that Jack wants to make the kids that were not gifted happy without making the staff or the kids that were gifted upset.

• Staff
  • Professional→ give out what they were given/doing what they can do
  • Personal→ saving face→ it’s not their fault the kids didn’t get gifts
• Jack
  • Professional→ having good relationships with the children during his stay
  • Personal→ saving face→ kids blame him since he gave out the gifts
• Kids that were not gifted
  • Personal → want to receive their gifts in a ceremonial manner
• Kids that were gifted
  • Personal → want the situation to be fair to everyone

 

Step 4: Formulate (at least three) alternative solutions – based on information available, to have a win-win situation for your relationship and your venture.

Dance Performance 

• How does it solve the problem? A dance performance event can be made for which all the kids and staff can attend. The kids that were given only the black hats can be taught a choreographed dance in which they get to perform by highlighting their hats during their dance. Afterwards, the staff can also have a dance off and the other kids who want to dance can also participate in a free dance at the end of the event. The point is to highlight that the four kids were able to use their hats in a special way that will make it more memorable for them than having the toys.

 

o Pros: 

• The ungifted kids can get their own special moment and find a better use of their hats
• The staff can also participate in the dance, so there would be less chance of them not liking the idea 
• The gifted kids can cheer on their peers who are doing a dance routine (the ungifted kids) and then they can also show off their dance skills during the free dance part of the event
• Doesn’t add additional costs to make this event 

o Cons: 

• The staff may not want to throw the event as they have other plans for the kids
• The kids may not want to take the time to learn the choreography
• The ungifted kids may not like having the dance event instead of gifts
• The other kids may get jealous of the ungifted kids being given preferential treatment to have a choreographed dance and be the center of attention of the event

 

• How does it save face of those involved?

The staff wouldn’t have to take the blame for not giving the 4 other kids any gifts by having the dance event to make up for it. Jack could take part of the blame and make the hats more special to the kids without needing to buy more gifts. The ungifted kids would get to feel “equal” next to the gifted kids for having these “special” hats.

 

• Implications on relationships

o Short-term – The staff may be hesitant to help set up the dance performance, so the relationship may be momentarily tense

o Long-term- The relationship of the kids + Jack and the staff + Jack won’t be compromised

 

• Implications on the venture

o Short-term – Kids will be happy with the opportunity to receive their gifts in a ceremonial way

o Long-term- May be difficult to get good data from the staff members if they were unhappy with the solution

 

Jack goes out and buys 4 gifts for the Kids who didn’t get anything 

• How does it solve the problem?  
  • Pros→ children feel special, Jack saves reputation with children 
  • Cons→ staff upset at him for intervening, give staff the impression he’s a “white savior” and is just doing this work to make himself feel better, teaches kids that if they complain they will be rewarded, the gifts may not be unique to “western” toys that the other kids got from the international donors.

 

 

• How does it save face of those involved? 

 

• • Saves Jack’s face because he is able to reestablish to good relationships with the children

 

 

• Implications on relationships 

• Short-term→ good relationship with kids, especially the kids who were left out originally, staff members’ trust in Jack diminishes

• Long-term→ agitated relationship or continued lack of trust with staff members due to Jack undermining them, children expect gifts regularly from Jack 

 

 

 

• Implications on the venture 

• Short-term→ staff members unwilling to participate in aspects of the venture or interact with Jack, lack of motivation to help the venture succeed, added cost of buying gifts takes away from other aspects of the project

• Long-term→ flawed data due to lack of trust from staff, staff members don’t trust anyone from the venture (even if Jack leaves)

 

 

Jack apologizes to the staff and proceeds to present the remaining kids with the black hats and other gifts through another ceremony

o Pros: Jack will allow the staff members to save face, the children will be happy that they are receiving unique gifts in a ceremonial manner

o Cons: Costly for Jack in terms of money and reputation

 

• How does it save face of those involved? The staff will be relieved of some of the burden associated with making a mistake, as Jack will be taking ownership for the mistake while also making up for that mistake

 

• Implications on relationships

o Short-term – Kids will be happy and so will the staff

o Long-term- The relationships will continue to grow without tension

 

• Implications on the venture

o Short-term – Since the relationships are healthy, there should be no issues with uncomfortableness or lack of participation

o Long-term- The venture will continue to grow

 

Step 5: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate – previous cases, peers, reliance on personal experience, inner reflection

• Ask the four kids personally on if they would like the hats replaced with another gift (and if so, then what – within budget and reason) or if they would like to learn about how else they could make cool uses out of the hat – such as dancing with the hats, doing magic tricks with them, or personalizing the hats with available materials.

 

• Jack could ask just one of the staff members about their opinion and what the kids usually enjoy, so that he could get to know the kids better before making a decision on what to buy or substitute for the gifts. This would also be helpful later in being able to persuade the rest of the staff, given the staff who helped would also be willing to convince the rest of the staff on why your idea about what to do next matters and to pull them on board.

 

Step 6: Select the best course of action – that solves the problem, saves face and has the best short term and long-term implications for your relationship and venture. Explain reasoning and discuss your solution vis-a-vis other approaches discussed in class.

• The best course of action would be setting up the dance performance event – specifically for the ungifted kids. The ungifted kids can have a choreographed dance involving the use of their hats, so it highlights them and makes the hats an iconic part of their performance. This way the ungifted kids can feel better about being given the black hats and have a special memory attached to them. Having this unique hat performance in front of the other kids can make the other kids want the hats too, so it would make the ungifted kids happier to know that they have something that other kids don’t, which can make them feel unique and special about having it. The staff and other kids can also dance in the event after the special performance of the hat kids, so they would also get the opportunity to show off their dance skills and have fun without feeling left out. This saves the face of the staff and Jack from having to take a huge blame for not gifting the remaining kids and it can make the ungifted kids feel equal to the kids that were gifted. The short-term effect on the relationship might be that the staff may feel hesitant to set up this event because of needed space and possible costs, but the ungifted kids may feel happier and not blame Jack anymore for not being given a gift. The long-term effect on the relationship may be that none of the relationships will be compromised between the staff, the kids, and Jack. The short-term effect on the venture would be that the kids would be given the opportunity to present their hats and themselves in a ceremonial and special way, so they would feel happier about being given that opportunity. The long-term effect on the venture may be that either the staff will acknowledge Jack’s ideas/opinions more in the future or they could sour their relationship between the staff and Jack even more if they are not happy with the results of the event. This event could be fairly cheap to produce given that the event could be put in the same room as the ceremony was (which we presume the youth center owns) or the dance could be done outside during the day and either live music can be played (vocally or instruments) or it could be through the radio or recorded music and played through a speaker or on high volume.

 

• In comparison to the other approaches, the dance event is able to save more money and make good use of the hats to make the kids feel more grateful for them. The other solutions would cost Jack money for having to buy those gifts for the remaining kids out of his own pocket and it may or may not make the kids feel happy as they are not gifts donated from an international country, but bought from their own country. Another negative factor of the second solution is that Jack would not be apologizing to the staff for making himself look better in front of the kids and for not taking part of the blame for the remaining kids not being able to receive any gifts during their ceremony even though he’s not directly responsible for this problem. Another factor would be that the kids could feel being given petty gifts for only being able to receive hats and they may not feel good about that depending on their age range. In addition, the other kids may feel like the ungifted kids are being given preferential treatment if another ceremony is done just for them to receive those gifts along with the hats that they received last time.

 

Step 7: List the sequence of actions you will take to implement your solution.

Economical: The most pricey situation would be if the previous ceremony/auditorium room was rented and they also hired a live music group to play music for them. However, the cheapest option would be if they did the dance outside (the audience would sit to watch the performances and then join in dancing at the end) and the music was played through the radio/other music devices or if some of the students knew how to play some instruments and sing and they volunteered to do it.

 

Environmental: This solution would not have any immense impact on the environment unless the kids decided to litter their hats or there was a sudden increase in sale of purchasing these hats that the production may or may not be bad for the environment.

 

Social: The kids would be happier knowing that they were not left out and that their opinion matters. This could make the relationship between Jack and the kids stronger and the staff might also like and appreciate Jack’s opinions more if the kids also like him.

Technology: This may require a radio or another technological device that has music in it. If there are no radios/music devices nor any music instruments, then Jack will have to make the music either vocally or create makeshift instruments to make music/sound for the dances.

Step 1: Determine the facts in the situation – obtain all of the unbiased facts possible. Clearly state the ethical issue. 

 

• The research team (10 people, including you) is going to Lesotho for two weeks to conduct research on the pathogen in their water source
• The goal of the research is to investigate the lifecycle and chemical/biological features of disease-causing pathogen
• There are no stated benefits to the locals in their research proposal
• The results from this research could be used to develop chemical additives to make the water safe to drink.
• The researchers will release publications on their findings of the pathogen
• The researchers will need the help of the local people to locate where the people obtain and store their water.
• Assume we have all necessary approvals needed for research
• Ethical issue: As of right now, the locals are not benefitting from the research in any way, and the academic researchers have no intentions to pay the community members.

 

Step 2 & 3: Define the Stakeholders and assess their motivations 

• Academic researchers:
  • Test the water in Lesotho for disease-causing pathogens
  • Understand the lifecycle and characteristics of the pathogen
  • Write several publications from the research study → further your professional career
  • Possibly develop chemical additives to make the water safe to drink
  • Patent discover to possibly profit from findings 
  • Driven by social impact or fame in helping the local community

• Locals 
  • Provide location of water sources 
  • By providing access to the water sources, they contribute to the development of chemical additives in hopes of getting access to them for safe consumption of water
• Your research university/institution:
  • The findings could add to their reputation, making them highly regarded
  • Strengthen new/existing partnership with other funding agencies
  • Open rooms for future collaborations within the area/country (e.g., new ventures)
  • Create opportunities for students to gain experience on social impact projects
• Sponsors of the research:
  • Want to gain the benefit of discovering a new pathogen
  • Gain the opportunity to develop chemical additives against any harmful chemicals that are found in the water
  • Can potentially earn monetary benefit from the chemical additives that will be developed
  • Gain a better reputation and have their name attached in the breakthrough of helping treat water issues in another country
  • Publicity that will aid in gaining funding for other projects or investigations
• Local government: 
  • Make sure the research team does not cause any harm (mentally or physically) to its own citizens (for example, poison the water sources, etc)
  • Validates whether or not the water source in the area is safe to drink for the community
  • Ensure that the citizens have accessibility to the research
  • Ensure the area have some sort of benefit to the chemical additives that is developed if pathogens are found in the water
  • Building/expanding relationships with other funding agencies/countries 

 

Step 4: Formulate (at least three) alternative solutions 

 

1. Potential Solution: Get a map to find the water source (Use sources like Google Earth which 3-D renders Earth)
   1. Pros:
      1. Not have to rely on locals for help/take time out of their day
      2. Less of an obligation to pay back locals in some way
   2. Cons:
      1. Maps may not be updated
      2. Local knowledge can be really useful, and we wouldn’t have that in this scenario
      3. Not using locals can create distrust with the researchers – conflicts can complicate things
      4. Do not have access or knowledge to places that the town is storing water (the storage area could be a potential location where the pathogen is entering the water source)
   3. Ethical Principle: 
      1. Concern for others: we would be doing the work on our own, reducing disturbance among the locals, keeping them in mind

 

1. Potential Solution: Ask the government to assign some local leaders and supervisors to assist the research team to find the locations of the disease-causing pathogenic water 

1. 1. Pros:
      1. Local leaders might also help facilitate the communication between the researchers and the locals 
      2. Local government permission makes the research less intrusive 
      3. Researchers will obtain guides or a map of the locations of the water source and storage location
   2. Cons:
      1. Might be more work to set up beforehand
      2. Might cost a lot of money to train locals to properly extract the water sample (assuming locals do not have the education to do so)
      3. Local government may not welcome the research team to conduct investigation on their water
   3. Ethical Principle: 
      1. Respect for others: we would be communicating with local leaders to get their insight and expertise on the community, respecting them and their culture

 

3. Offer the local government access to the research and a promise to provide/implement water purification system to clean their water if harmful pathogens are discovered (could be through an organization such as Engineers Without Borders)

1. 1. Pros:
      1. Locals benefit! They will be happy that their water is clean
      2. Locals will have access to the researcher’s findings
      3. A relationship between the institution and the local government can be created
      4. School receives prestige through findings and project
   2. Cons: 
      1. Cost a lot more money to implement -promise to clean water
   3. Ethical Principle: 
      1. Promise Keeping & Trustworthiness: we will keep our promise to the community and earn their trust through them having access to all our research and us aiding them in implementing a water purification system

 

1.  Share the information/results to the Lesotho government; make the publications accessible to the research community (who focus on researching disease-causing pathogen)
   1. Pros:
      1. Advance the knowledge frontier of disease-causing pathogen that can benefit the community (e.g., development of chemical additives that make water safer to drink).
   2. Cons:
      1. There might be competing interests among the researchers about the use of insight gained from this study (e.g., profits, reputation, service)
   3. Ethical Principle: 
      1. Transparency: We are giving the country of Lesotho access to all of our findings in exchange for conducting research in their country. This way they would see all that we did and not question any of our intentions. This can also add to trust worthiness.

 

1. Creating clean drinking water for Lesotho, which can increase tourism 
   1. Pro
      1. Tourism can bring more profit for the government, which could be a good motivator for why they should allow us to do research for them in order to create a potential solution for their contaminated water
      2. The locals will be able to drink clean water and not get sick as well as experience their country become wealthier through tourism
      3. Potentially create more jobs for locals as a result of the success of the tourism
   2. Con
      1. Not many foreigners might know that Lesotho is a tourist worthy-destination, so the government might not be able to afford the promotions to advertise their country as a tourist destination and they could have a low tourist turn-out.
      2. Might not be able to create a solution that is affordable or available to clean all the drinking water sources in Lesotho, so the deal would not be able to be met and the government/locals might not receive any benefits
   3. Ethical Principle:
      1. Care-based thinking: Create/maintain a relationship between the researchers and government/locals of Lesotho by being granted to find solutions to the contaminated water problem and in return, the clean water as a result of our solution can bring better health to the community and possible tourism for its beautiful scenery.

 

1. Reach out to healthcare workers in Lesotho and convince them to help educate the locals about the methodologies to have a safer way to drink/clean water/persuade locals to support researchers in their study. 
   1. Pros
      1. Healthcare workers would be able to understand the benefit of the research to the community and help the researchers in gaining access to the water sources
      2. Educate the community on methodologies in obtaining clean drinking water and improve their health
      3. Trusted by the local community
   2. Cons
      1. Not that easy to reach out and find the right people to trust or understand your research 
      2. Healthcare workers may be too busy or limited in number to help
      3. Healthcare workers may not know where the water sources are located
      4. The locals may or may not have other superstitious beliefs about the causes of the illnesses that happen from unclean water, so they may or may not believe that it is caused by bacteria and unsanitary water.
   3. Ethical Principle: 
      1. Virtue-based thinking: Researchers would help educate the locals on methodologies in obtaining safe drinking water in exchange they would get aid in their research.

 

Step 5: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate – engineering codes of ethics, previous cases, peers, reliance on personal experience, inner reflection 

• Peers: listening to other classmates talk about their thoughts and ideas, helped with creation of some of our ideas and overall collaboration 

 

• Treat a local for lunch to find out their thoughts and determine which approach would be the most appropriate solution

 

Step 6: Select the best course of action – that which satisfies the highest core ethical values. Explain reasoning and justify. Discuss your stance vis-a-vis other approaches discussed in the class. 

 

• The best course of action would be to offer the local government access to the research and a promise to implement a water purification system to clean their water if harmful pathogens are discovered. Through this, the research team would be able to do their research comfortably and build a good relationship between the government and their school (who’s reputation and prestige will also rise from the researchers’ findings and solutions towards combating the problem). Institutions that have or gain high prestige and reputation are usually well-funded by their alumni, donors, and the government, which means that the school would be able to fundraise enough money to help implement the solution such as creating a water filter that the community will be able to use or help create a water filtration system by collaborating with other non-profit organizations such as Engineers without Borders and other organizations that can help send interested volunteers to help deliver this project. 
• The fulfillment of this project, would mean that the locals will be able to enjoy clean water and eradicate the disease from disease-prone pathogens in the water. The purification of the water could potentially interest more tourists to visit Lesotho to view its grand scenery, which means the government will be able to create more jobs for their people and gain more money. On the other hand, if the school is not able to get enough funding to help deliver on their end of the promise, then that could cause a bad relationship between the Lesotho government and the institution, if not the government of the country that the institution is localized.

 

• The other solutions mentioned above such as the using a screenshot of a digital map to get out of the sense of obligation to pay back the locals for helping them find their drinking water sources, but this could provide many problems such as the map not being able to show all of the water sources available and the researchers could get lost on their way. Another potential solution like asking the local Lesotho healthcare workers to help advise and teach the locals about the problems that the unsanitary water they could be drinking can cause them. This could potentially not work as it might be difficult to find a healthcare worker willing to spend so much of their time to help out the researchers and teach the public or the locals may or may not have other superstitious beliefs about the causes of the occurring water-borne diseases (pathogens), so they may or may not believe that it is caused by bacteria and unsanitary water.

 

Step 7: (If applicable) What are the implications of your solution on the venture. Explain the impact of your proposed solution on the venture’s technology, economic, social and environmental aspects.

 

• Economic: The Lesotho government will be able to profit from having their people live longer and healthier due to the cleaner water as well as the incoming tourists. This could produce more jobs for the locals as well because of the increase of tourists and ability to work better from having a healthier body from the clean drinking water. This could help boost the economy of the country and institution of which the researchers are from as their discoveries and potential solutions could become renowned.

 

• Social: The locals will be able to live longer and healthier lives from drinking the clean water. This could improve their social lifestyle as well.

 

• Environmental: The cleaner water will be better for the environment as more animals and other species will be able to drink or live in the clean water and live longer if the pathogens were negatively affecting their bodies too.

Ethical Decision-Making Post

 

Facts/Ethical Issue:

• Syringe designer
• The addition of the auto-disable function significantly adds to the cost of the design
• The auto-disable function after use is an important safety feature
• The syringe will only be single-use and not cost-effective for its low usage at such a high price
• Not adding the safety feature is a safety hazard and potential for spread of diseases
• The syringe design price must be low cost in order for hospitals and clinics in low-income areas or developing countries to be able to afford it
• Since the medication will be readily provided inside the syringe, if the auto-disable function is used, then the vaccine can become ineffective due to freezing/heating exposure
• Should the syringe be low cost and accessible to get to more patients or, instead, should the syringe contain the auto-disable function in order to help prevent the potential spread of diseases?

 

Stakeholders:

• Self (Designer)
  • Maintain job
  • Try to gain more experience/improve skills
  • Possibly make a name for yourself by making a revolutionary design that is cost-effective
• Company
  • Get revenue from making/selling products
  • Help make a product that can help patients in developing countries
• Hospital/Clinics
  • Treat spread of diseases
  • Buy Cost-effective, but effective products to use for their employees (medical staff) and consumers (patients)
• Doctors/Nurses/Staff
  • Help patients from getting diseases or illnesses or help treat them for it
• Patients
  • Get health treatment safely at a low cost

 

Three Alternative Solutions:

1. Oral Vaccine Immunization
   • Oral vaccinations are already being used for some diseases such as Cholera and Typhoid, so oral vaccines could become the main focus to further develop to be able to target a wider selection of viruses and bacterias. 
   • Pro: Would not need trained doctors or nurses to inject the vaccine, which is very helpful for rural underdeveloped countries.
   • Cons: The research needed to create an effective oral vaccine could be costly and take a long time to develop. The oral vaccine would also be most effective if the administered route mirrors that of the natural infection site.
   • Ethical Principle: Consequence-based thinking

 

1. Teach the medical professionals/staff preventative measures against needlestick injuries

• • Teach medical staff in developing countries how to reduce the potential of needlestick injury through recorded instructional video tapes/CD’s that they could watch after being sent to them.
  • Pro: Much cheaper method and most likely will be very helpful for many who did not have that prior knowledge, like how they can use a traditional syringe and needle which they can laying the needle cap on a safe and stabilized surface before trying to insert the needle inside the cap without touching the needle cap until the needle is mostly inserted inside. They could also be taught how to properly discard their needles and other hazardous materials into a designated hazard bin.
  • Cons: Language differences might get in the way as there are different dialects, so they could possibly mistranslate/misunderstand some of the instructions given verbally while showing how to do it. The videotape/CD could get lost in the mail or take a long time to reach them since they might live in rural areas. It does not help save the patients who are already inflicted by the disease and are in need of the vaccine to help them survive and prevent spreading it to others.
  • Ethical Principle: Consequence-based thinking and virtue-based thinking

1. Fundraising or reach out for extra funding
   • Get more funding, so that the cost of adding the safety feature is not an object that can get in the way of it being sold cheaply to needed areas.
   • Pros: The safety feature can be added and sold cheaper than the initial thought of the final marketing price
   • Cons: Could take more time to be able to get enough funding to make a lot of these syringes to sell
   • Ethical Principle: Care-based thinking
2. Skin Patch microneedles

• • Very viable to be used for vaccination as it can just be attached to the skin for the vaccination to occur and can expand vaccination coverage in developing countries. Has been used and developed in many scientific researches and has given excellent results (such as the microneedle skin patch for tetanus vaccine inducing superior immune response in pregnant mice which allowed for a 100% survival rate of their infants which in comparison to the pregnant mice given tetanus shots intramuscularly, none of their infants survived past 6 weeks, this shows amazing progress in coming closer to creating a more cost-effective and extremely viable vaccination option)*.
  • Pros: It is making great strides in scientific research already, so it is possible to create an effective vaccine using microneedle skin patches. Would be much more cost-effective and less dependent on medical professionals to administer it.
  • Cons: Could take more time to develop, which might potentially allow for the disease to spread to more areas while waiting for it to be developed and sold.
  • Ethical Principle: Consequence-based thinking

 

Best Course of Action:

• The best course of action would be to try to get more funding, send mostly visually-focused instructional videos against needlestick injury to medical staff in developing countries after contacting them ahead of time about it, and to use the remaining funding to develop effective and cheap microneedle skin patches. The instructional videos can help reduce the amount of needlestick injuries occurring from the lack of prior knowledge about preventative methods – reducing the spread of diseases through injury, meanwhile, the cost-effective and viable skin patch vaccines to be further developed and sold, so that no potential hidden, but enormous errors or mistakes can happen unlike if they were to be rushed to develop it. 
• This approach seems like the best option as it provides more time to further develop the vaccine and make it effective, much easier to apply, and very cost-effective (also potentially environmentally sustainable if the patches are made with recyclable materials). The skin patch vaccine would be able to be used for a wide variety of vaccination uses and it would be infused into the skin and transmitted into the bloodstream much faster than the oral vaccine (which would be limited to mostly intestinal infections as those are the most effective approaches for it to be used).

 

Impact of the solution on venture:

• This solution would be able to be the most economical, social, and environmental choice as it is able to be much cheaper than needle vaccinations, be more affordable to people of all social classes, and be more environmentally sustainable than plastic, single-use syringes. The full development of this technology would be revolutionary not only in the healthcare system, but also socially, economically, environmentally, and in the medical and microbiology science fields. The assistant that the instructional videos could provide to rural communities and for allowing more time to develop the product after getting more fundraising for designing this revolutionary product for all to use, it seems like the best and most realistic option to select to allow the improvement of better vaccine designs. 

 

• The downsides of this solution would be problems such as not being able to attain enough money and time to create this device and test it out before making it available to purchase. This could take many years or more than a decade to get enough money, experiment and develop the product, test it out, make it affordable, and possibly sustainable. If the product is not sustainable then it could pollute the environment like plastic syringes are and it could probably be more expensive as it is non-recyclable. Furthermore, if the company decides to increase the product’s price in order to make more profit out of it, then this could mean that hospitals and clinics in developing countries will either not purchase them (which would mean that the product was not able to deliver on its promises and it could damage the company’s finances as they have spent a lot of time and money towards producing and marketing this product) or not be able to purchase many of the skin patch needles (which means many patients will not be able to receive the vaccine through a skin patch needle and the medical professionals will not be able to prevent needle-stick injury from happening to them if they run out of the skin patch needles or not have any to use because of its high cost, which defeats the purpose of the product).

 

*E. Stein Esser, AndreyA. Romanyuk, Elena V. Vassilieva, Joshy Jacob, Mark R. Prausnitz, Richard W. Compans, Ioanna Skountzou,“Tetanus vaccination with a dissolving microneedle patch confers protective immune responses in pregnancy”, Journal of Controlled Release,Volume, 236, 2016, Pages 47-56, ISSN 0168-3659,

(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168365916303935)