GSIF Week 4!

*Based on your life experience, skills and interests, what would a design process that is both uniquely yours and effective look like? 

Our team decided for this question that we would answer on a personal note rather than collective. I think a design process that would be uniquely mine is one that utilizes compassion and emotional drive in an efficient and responsible manner. To elaborate, I believe no work can be completed without a heart for people or a project, but heart alone is not enough. Our heart and personal agendas can sometimes blind us to the reality we face as a group as well as the well being of other; this means because we care, it is important for us to use our emotional drive to pursue growth, discipline, and collaborative work to impact and influence systems that continue to oppress people. Maybe this is a harsh mentality for some, but as a very emotionally passionate individual I must be in a critical environment that allows my team members and I to use our passions in a realistic and effective manner.

*Identify your three most important stakeholders and list five UNIQUE attributes for each one of them. 

Mothers→ low income, located in rural areas of Sierra Leone, price sensitivity goes up during the wet season, Religions: Islam and Christianity, low education level 

World Hope International→ Organization, Core Values: Transformation, Sustainability, Empowerment, and Collaboration, Christian, Motive: “To empower the poorest of the poor around the world so they can become agents of change within their communities.” (https://www.worldhope.org/about-us/), some staff members located in the U.S. and Makeni, Sierra Leone

The ordinary citizen of Sierra Leone: this is a key stakeholder because of the importance of mothers in the Sierra Leone household. Attributes include: dependence on the mother’s contribution to the household, personal interest/stake in the life of each mother, ability to encourage/support the mother throughout their pregnancy, influence on the mother’s mental well-being, and the motivation they may provide the mothers to seek better health when they think about how their health (the mother’s health) affects the whole family unit.

 

*Identify three ways in which you will validate your project concept, technology, usability, and business model.

Validate Business Model→ Does it solve a real burning problem? Yes, Sierra Leone has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world.  A lot of women go untested for UTI and preeclampsia which can lead to birth complications.  

Competitive advantages over other ventures? Strong community connections on the ground, incredibly important for distributing and gaining trust from CHWs.

How do they solve the problem now? Currently people in rural areas of Sierra Leone visit Community Health Posts (CHPs) to receive basic medical care, however they are normally not screened by any diagnostic test due to lack of resources.  

Validate Usability→ How does it compare to the user experience of alternative

approaches? 9 parameter UTI test strip→ much more expensive, more complicated with 9 vs the 3 our strip has (color scheme harder to analyze). 

How easy/difficult is it for each stakeholder to interact with the product? CHWs are shown how to use it and read the results during training. 

Will people use your product? We currently have UHWs purchasing and using the test strips.

 

Give three examples of something very interesting you learned from a friend that was a completely alien concept to you.

Two things I was taught by my friend Samuel is that building connections and relationships with others is something that requires a great deal of time and open-mindedness, as well as that contrasting skills and personalities can strengthen a team rather than hinder it. I am very outgoing and extroverted so I always assumed building close connections was a rather quick process; it only took until college for me to realize a flaw in this idea was that many of my friends were also extroverted and outgoing. Sam and I never got along much last year as we had vastly different personalities (and I would tease him, as he would with me). Alas, we were both leaders for our on-campus ministry so we had to learn to work together without irritating each other constantly and getting our work done. The next year we ended up living in the same house and always walked home together. Little by little over a year of walking together, I found someone who I constantly bickered with became a close confidant and team member. Some of the advice that helped me to grow as a leader, teammate, and friend was from Sam, who I saw valued diligence and focus on everything he did. Sam and I are still close friends now but he helped teach me that contrasting personalities can be used for incredible connections if you are willing to take the time to value the other person’s differences and skills, because it may make a stronger team that works better together. 

One last concept that was alien to me (at the time) was the concept that any form of impact-centered work should be addressing the system causing an issue rather than the issue itself. Although I was quite young at the time, probably around eleven years old, a missionary, mentor, and friend of mine (Billy) played a significant role in my development of core standards for impact, sustainability, and compassion for all peoples. When onsite in the Afar region of Ethiopia, I witnessed much of his logistical processes established for localizing water purification projects and he was never shy to explain why it’s important to not just give our friends clean water. In simple terms he stated that we are not there to be gift givers, but we were there to understand a need and be willing to collaborate, allowing a system that taught locals how to build these purification processes and teach others. This also meant hiring local staff members, ensuring at least a minor growth in the job market near and around the Afar region. “You have to keep in mind how it is going to continue after our time, a good heart alone does not make the work good or long-lasting”.

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