Blog Post 11/27

Living an Impact-Focused Life

What’s your Why?

I believe I was put on this earth to: try my best at being a good and loving person.

My purpose is to: love and care for others.

I believe (my core values): in authenticity, compassion/kindness, being positive and humorous even in the face of adversity, being loyal and open to those I love, and creating a world that is peaceful and honest.

The one thing I must do before I die is: create a family of my own, whether that be the traditional route of having children and a loving significant other or through surrounding myself with people that love and push me to be my best.

My advocates and supporters all believe I: am an incredibly empathetic person who has a deep understanding of their emotions and the emotions of the people around me.

The evil I want to eradicate in this world is: hatred.

I want to work in order to: see real systemic change in our world.

Walk the Talk – Your How

I always: try to give people the benefit of the doubt, listen to others, practice meditation so I am more in tune with myself so I can be more present in my day to day life, approach situations or problems from a compassionate and understanding view.

I never: use the word never because I am not a perfect human nor is anyone else so holding myself and others to rigid standards is unfair and ineffective for creating change.

My work style is: emotionally oriented.

I try to treat people: with kindness and compassion.

I approach problems by: looking at external factors that could be contributing to the problem.

Victories are time to: be proud and gain confidence.

If another attacks my point of view I: take a deep breath and try to see things from their point of view.

If I fundamentally do not agree with what an organization or person is doing, I will: attempt to have a civil discussion and take a step back if I feel overwhelmed or angry.

Your Credibility – Your Whats

What Have I Done List of Experiences, Accomplishments, and Lessons Learned
Degrees, Minors, Certificates, Fellowships Sociology, Marketing, GSIF (Ukweli Project)

Lessons learned: there are so many external factors in life that affect the decisions people make and no one should be judged (to an extent) on how they were taught to interact with the world.

Research Experiences

 

 

 

 

GSIF and performing literature reviews for papers

Lessons Learned: time and patience is key.  You will find or learn what you need eventually.

Inventions and Innovations

 

 

 

N/A

 

(Social) Entrepreneurial Ventures

 

 

 

 

Ukweli Test Strips

Publications

(Formal and Informal)

 

 

“Data-Centric Operations Design for Disseminating a Biomedical Screening Technology: A Case Study” for GHTC

 

“WhatsApp Application Trends in Healthcare: A Systematic Review” for ITD journal

 

Formal Presentations

(at Lehigh and Beyond)

 

 

 

Press conferences held during MountainTop on the Ukweli Project

Lesson Learned: I know what I’m talking about.  I shouldn’t doubt my intelligence because I’m afraid someone might know more or question my methods.

Awards and

External Recognition

 

 

 

The Department of Marketing Commendation Award for a Class Project/Paper (Whole Moods Project)

Lesson Learned: With the right team, you can take a complicated project or idea and turn it into something that really interests people.

 

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)

 

 

The Ukweli Team struggled with communication a lot at the beginning of the Spring 2020 semester and we typically made assumptions that the work that needed to get done was getting done.  This led to missing deadlines or rushing to get work done last minute.  I really learned the importance of talking things fully out with your team and double-checking to make sure everyone is on the same page even if you are 99.9% certain you all are.

 

Conflict Resolution Experience

(and Lessons Learned)

At one point, it felt like a few people were doing all of the teams work.  I personally just accepted that fact and hoped it would change but learned from Noah that you must address problems head on instead of quietly being bitter or else nothing will change.
Leadership Experience

(and Lessons Learned)

 

 

 

 

During the Spring Semester, it felt almost impossible to motivate team members to contribute to the blog posts.  I learned that leaders do not passively ask for work to get done but demand that it gets done.  I also learned that arranging times for the group to meet and get work done is an effective way of ensuring everyone makes time to contribute to the project or blog post.
Dealing with Chaos, Ambiguity, and Uncertainty (and Lessons Learned) Working on this project during COVID-19 taught me that you must be flexible at all times because you don’t know how things will change in 24 hours.  Through the end of Spring Semester and MountainTop over the summer, all the teams had to adapt and change the trajectory of their projects. While Ukweli didn’t have major changes to make, we still had to learn to adapt with our new forms of communication and deal with the constantly changing situations of the pandemic.
Personally Challenging Experience (and Lessons Learned)

 

During MountainTop, I was dealing with a lot of personal issues that were effecting my work and the amount of energy I had each day.  I learned that I am much more resilient that I think and to be more gentle with myself when things get hard.
Cross-cultural Experience (and Lessons Learned)

 

Learning and understanding the different communication styles between people in the US and in Sierra Leone was something I never really experienced before.  Being incredibly direct was really hard for me to understand because it felt rude or abrasive. I really learned how to work with different communication styles and broadened my understanding that not everyone functions and communicates in the same way as Americans typically do.
An experience that helped you connect your GSIF work to your discipline / major.

 

While studying Sociology at Lehigh, We focus heavily on the societal norms that affect us as Individuals that live in the United States and a lot of conversations revolve around our own personal experiences.  Through GSIF, I was able to learn about the cultural differences and societal norms withing Sierra Leone that may lead to women neglecting their health during pregnancy. This allowed me to broaden my understanding of what external factors cause people to make certain decisions outside of the Western world.

 

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.

 

Having to participate in MountatinTop over Zoom really pushed me in terms of having to hold myself accountable for the work I had to do every day.  I really had to create a schedule for myself in a way that I had never done before which has empowered me to become more strategic in the ways I plan out and schedule my work each day.
A moment where you felt like you truly have a strong sense of purpose and belonging in this dynamic, globalized interdependent world.

 

I’m grateful for the opportunity to interview and talk with Ukweli Health Workers about their experiences in Sierra Leone.  Without fieldwork, I was finding it hard to really connect with the work I was doing but performing the interviews restored my sense of purpose.  In the interviews, I really felt like I had an ability to connect with others even from across and ocean.

Blog Post 10/25

Spencer Moros, Skylar Martinez, Noah Weaver

  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.

This issue is a web of interrelationships. However, one long-standing causal factor which if fixed would create a snowball effect is the establishment of strong leadership. As Police Chief, it is important to set an acceptable standard for the rest of the police force. This also would mean personally investigating corruption from the top down. An example of such would be that if a Lieutenant is participating in illicit activities such as corruption that he would be fired, and severely punished. Doing this and publicizing it to the public and the rest of the police force serves two functions: to help reestablish public trust in law enforcement and set an example to other police officers what may become of them if they continue to participate in corruption. Replacing these high-ranking officials with individuals who legitimately perform their duties will be transferred down the hierarchy creating a positive-feedback system of regulation. This also will help improve morale because the police officers will not endure the abuse and be taken advantage of for their commander’s personal gain and they will be reassured that they will receive the resources required to conduct their job. After establishing a legitimate leadership (or at the same time) a better system of financial accounting at the level of each local station (chance of corruption is reduced due to strong leadership). By doing so, this creates another barrier to corruption and also will help to eliminate “ghost” policemen. By adjusting the salaries so that everyone who is supposed to receive some receives the correct amount it is expected that additional money is likely to be left over. Using this surplus, awards could be given to officers who report corruption. Lastly, the issue of defection to the Taliban is the most difficult issue to solve. The Taliban have represented the norm for pseudo-government power for decades and is more prevalent throughout the country. In order to create effective change regarding this dynamic, a potential solution is to concentrate police resources in a smaller region and create a strong relationship with the locals, while cooperating with the Taliban (who are not committing terrorist acts and are religiously extremist, the Taliban in many regions only serve as a regulatory power for the locals). By leveraging this existing power and creating interdependence between the existing local customs (Taliban) and organized police the goal of providing security and governance can be achieved (equifinality). 

  1. 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.

As the entrepreneur, one must shift their focus from making money to how you can leverage your solution to create even more opportunities for the surrounding community.  The people living along the lakeshore have an invested interest in removing the water hyacinth due to it’s obstructive and invasive nature so they would be motivated employees.  Instead of hiring employees to collect, I would create a system where people in the local community can harvest the water hyacinth themselves and bring it to my workshop where it can be exchanged for a set price based on weight.  By leveraging relationships with prominent fishermen and community leaders, I can begin to gauge the potential interest in this partnership and even have them encourage participation among community members as it benefits them by both creating a profit and getting rid of the water hyacinth. This plays on the Multifinality and interdependence tenets of systems thinking because it leverages the differing goals of the stakeholders to reach a larger goal while creating a mutually beneficial system for all involved.  This plan also relies heavily on regulation specifically when it comes to the pricing of the hyacinth.  If there is no regulation, community members may try to raise the prices for the hyacinth and the system will be broken.

Blog Post 10/9

  1. World Hope International
    1. What constituted the partnership? 
      1. Khanjan provided the relationship developed through a history of other projects
    2. How did the partner help you? 
      1. Provide in-country resources: offices, motorcycles, employees, provide strong basis of support which WHI has created over decades of involvement, legal coverage
    3. How did you help them? 
      1. Provide bandwidth and intellectual resources with the goal of improving the living conditions of people of Sierra Leone, provide access to other funding opportunities not usually open to non-profit organizations
    4. Was this a symbiotic relationship? Why or why not?
      1. Yes this is a symbiotic relationship because as we become more successful we have more to offer and the more WHI is 
    5. What would help strengthen the partnership and make it more equitable?
      1. Create a contract of the partnership
      2. Create a profit sharing scheme for the future if the venture is profitable
  2. Ukweli Distribution Manager
    1. What constituted the partnership?
      1. WHI hired Hassan to work full time on the Ukweli venture. Hassan is well known in his community and has served in public health capacities for several years.
    2. How did the partner help you?
      1. Hassan has allowed Ukweli to distribute its test strips directly to CHWs, expand the venture’s reach by training CHWs to become UHWs, as well as collect relevant data needed for us to show the depth and breadth of Ukweli operations. Perhaps most significantly, Hassan has provided extensive social capital to Ukweli.
    3. How did you help them?
      1. We are able to help Hassan have a regular salary that allows him to not worry as much about financial obstacles in his life. He also is able to make a positive impact in his community, and being able to combine self-preservation with the advancement of the needs of others is, in my opinion, the ideal professional situation.
    4. Was this a symbiotic relationship? Why or why not?
      1. Yes; both the Lehigh team and Hassan are able to mutually benefit in a manner that would not be achievable by either party independently. If Hassan did not have Ukweli/Lehigh, he would likely struggle with finding consistent work/pay needed to survive. On the flip side, the Lehigh Team would be greatly hindered in its ability to access hard-to-reach communities within Sierra Leone without the social capital provided by Hassan.
    5. What would help strengthen the partnership and make it more equitable?
      1. It would be more equitable if we could find a way to give Hassan more bandwidth by hiring another employee. The workload that Hassan is responsible for is considerably greater than when the venture first started, and I am concerned about how equitable it is for Hassan to continue being responsible for the setup of new PHUs/CHWs in addition to the increasing number of previously-onboarded PHUs and CHWs.
  3. Ministry of Health and Sanitation of Sierra Leone
    1. What constituted the partnership?
      1. A Temporary Service Level Agreement that allows us to sell and distribute the test strips across Sierra Leone.
    2. How did the partner help you? 
      1. They give us the legal ability to sell our test strips.
    3. How did you help them?
      1. We are actively working to help increase screening for UTIs and Preeclampsia in pregnant women in an attempt to lower the Maternal Mortality rate.  This helps them because maternal death is a huge health issue in Sierra Leone. 
    4. Was this a symbiotic relationship? Why or why not?
      1. This is a symbiotic relationship because through our work that they approved, we are aiming to solve or at the very least help a major health crisis in Sierra Leone. In return, we are able to take this model and show its usefulness in the existing healthcare system of Sierra Leone.
    5. What would help strengthen the partnership and make it more equitable?
      1. More consistent data reporting (as outlined per our agreement) would allow the Ministry of Health and Sanitation of Sierra Leone to regularly see what progress Ukweli makes towards combatting the maternal mortality rate.
  4. PHUs/CHWs
    1. What constituted the partnership?
      1. Distribution manager initiates and upholds relationships with PHUs, which further allows us access to connections to that unit’s CHWs.
    2. How did the partner help you? 
      1. PHUs give us access to trained healthcare professionals within that local region; they are the direct connections to screening and referring the patients.
    3. How did you help them?
      1. We incentivize the CHWs buy selling them boxes of test strips and allowing them to sell the strips at an increased price for profit. 
    4. Was this a symbiotic relationship? Why or why not?
      1. Yes, this is a symbiotic relationship. The skeleton of our venture is based on the efforts and data collected by the CHWs we partner with, and they are able to make an earning through the selling of test strips.
    5. What would help strengthen the partnership and make it more equitable?
      1. With our WhatsApp communication system, we are hoping to strengthen our partnerships with the individual CHWS and PHUs by creating a line of communication between the Lehigh team and them.  Through this, we can have open communication between our partners and make it more equitable. 
  5. Lehigh University
    1. What constituted the partnership? 
      1. The Ukweli venture’s intellectual/innovator team members are students of Lehigh University.
    2. How did the partner help you? 
      1. Lehigh University provides the reputation of academic excellence and enhances the credibility of the students working on the venture.
    3. How did you help them? 
      1. By advancing the Ukweli venture, we are able to further enhance the reputation of Lehigh University and provide the university with an avenue to attract incredibly talented students.
    4. Was this a symbiotic relationship? Why or why not? 
      1. Yes, because we both enhance the other’s credibility through this partnership. As a result, both the students of the Ukweli venture and Lehigh University as an institution benefit.
    5. What would help strengthen the partnership and make it more equitable?
      1. The partnership could be strengthened with more financial capital being given to the Ukweli venture- this is necessary in order for the venture to continue operating and subsequently furthering the reputation of Lehigh University.

Blog Post 10/2

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

  1. the team gained clearer, more direct communication
  2. we got better at delegating of tasks instead of just hoping someone remembers to do it
  3. We all have learned how to respectfully communicate where I feel other people are lacking
  4. we had collaboration on projects instead of one person doing it alone
  5. I’ve learned to listen better to other people’s ideas
  6. I can understand different points of views
  7. I have more empathy for what others are dealing with on top of their assigned work
  8. I am better at giving feedback on how things were done
  9. I am better at receiving feedback and understanding it’s not a critique of who I am
  10. I’m more confident at voicing my point of view or my idea

 

During Spring 2020/Week 7, Your team developed a Collaboration Plan for your team clearly articulating your Goals (Small g and Big G) Roles, Procedures, and Relationships. Provide an updated Collaboration Plan.

Team Name: Ukweli Test Strips                                          Date: October 2, 2020
Goals Project GOAL (Big G): Create a self-sustaining system that changes the way maternal conditions are identified and followed up with appropriate care, improving maternal health and reducing maternal mortality from UTIs and preeclampsia to zero

Scaling: Our project goal is not scaled to our resources 

Metrics for Success:

  • Number of Women screened
  • Number of women who test positive for one or more parameters and receive follow-up care
  • Number of women dying from preeclampsia or UTIs

Personal GOAL (Small G): 

Spencer: Ensure the continued success of the venture through identifying and submitting applications to multiple funding sources

Noah: Finish writing a robust data analysis for screening metrics

Skyler: Conducting and managing the WhatsApp Communication study 

Anneke: Provide support to the team for WhatsApp Communication Study and personal support to individual team members

Roles
  • Spencer: Shaper, Resource Investigator
  • Creating proposals 
  • Applying for funding
  • Collecting a list of sources for funding
  • Skyler: Shaper
  • Conducting WhatsApp Interviews
  • Mapping locations/finding system for that
  • Applying for funding 
  • Noah: Coordinator
  • Discussion and Analysis of WhatsApp content (later in semester most likely)
  • Wrap up of data analysis paper
  • Coordinate team responsibilities in conjunction with Zach
  • Regular communication with the Distribution Manager in Sierra Leone
  • Anneke: Team Worker 
  • Conducting WhatsApp Interviews
  • Funding
Procedures ·  Decision Making – What process shall we use: deference to expert→ refer back to Khanjan before making any decisions to get his input.

·  Meeting roles: Zach Day = Scribe

Communication – Meetings Once a week with Khanjan over Zoom, daily communication over GroupMe, additional meetings added throughout the week if needed (Blog Post Meetings, larger group meetings)

Relationships
  • Team Diversity
    • Disciplines: Bioengineering, Health Medicine & Society, Sociology, Marketing, Molecular Biology
  • Work Experience: Healthcare, Customer Service, Retail, Food Service
  • Backgrounds: Christian Ministry, Community College
  • Listening – Give each group member a turn to speak. Listen thoughtfully and wait to come to a conclusion until everyone has gone.
  • Team Name– Ukweli Test Strips

Blog Post 9/25

  1. What makes your product better than any competitors in the region?
    1. The product itself isn’t any better: it’s the system created around the product that makes Ukweli better. By integrating the strip into the pre-existing community health worker system, a method of distribution and trust with individual participants is established. The bare bones approach of the 3 parameter strip (instead of the standard 9-parameter) ensures that the strip is more affordable and accessible to underserved communities.
  2. How does the 3-parameter test compare to the standard 9-parameter test in terms of specificity and sensitivity? 
    1. Utilize same mechanism as FDA approved test strips in US; same specificity and sensitivity – unable to get testing for our own produced strips due to expense
      1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4408713/
    2. Repeated testing throughout pregnancy helps to reduce low specificity of the test
  3. How do you establish trust with the communities you deserve? Do they have a distrust of Westerners?
    1. The CHWs (which are certified UHWs) are nominated by their communities to serve in such a capacity, and using Lehigh’s relationship with the non-profit WHI within Sierra Leone, we are able to establish as much trust as possible while maintaining accessibility to the strip.
  4. How do you plan to establish relationships with other government agencies beyond Sierra Leone?
    1. We are utilizing our network as well as the network which our partner World Hope International currently has in other countries. We hope to leverage the support from the government of Sierra Leone and success on the ground to support the adoption of our venture elsewhere.
  5. What are the preliminary results from the WhatsApp Communication Study Interviews?
    1. Currently, we are still working on transcribing and coding the interviews but as a group we have noticed some trends already. For example, cultural and language barriers have been a very common issue that’s come up when talking about educating women.  This can help us understand how we can shape our WhatsApp messages to be specific for the UHWs and the problems they’re facing. 
  6. How do you choose participants for the WhatsApp Communication Study?
  7. What metrics are you planning to measure during the WhatsApp Communication Study?
    1. The metrics themselves are partially shaped by the participants themselves. The overall goal of the study is to identify emerging themes through messages sent between the UHWs and the interviews of each participant. Such examples of what we might identify would be encouragement, clinical questioning, and advice, and then those would fall under the larger category of teamwork, and we can do those for multiple themes.
  8. What issues have you identified during the WhatsApp Communication Study?
    1. Within the study, issues we have identified primarily revolve around internet connectivity concerns and reliable access to the internet for our UHWs. From the UHW perspective, we have come to reinforce our understanding of the challenges women of Sierra Leone face when seeking medical treatment (traveling distance, lack of time, lack of money).
  1. How do you stay within the scope of your project without the “white savior” complex? 
    1. We seek to ensure that any aspect of operations incorporates the collaborative nature and overall focus on the women, other locals, and government/medical operatives of Sierra Leone. For example, are pre and post-WhatsApp survey questions are designed to encourage honest and genuine answers from the UHWs who are involved to give us direct feedback. This would be opposed to pressuring them to falsely believe their feedback may influence or hinder they ties to Ukweli, this way we create a comfortable environment for all parties. 
  1.  Where are the test strips produced? 
    1. Our test strips are produced by an OEM in China. 
  2. Does your OEM engage in unethical treatment of minority populations? How do you address this from your perspective of a social venture?
    1. Beyond the fact that our OEM has all necessary regulatory approvals and meets all legal requirements set forth by China to operate, we don’t know. Besides that, it is not clear what demographic works for our OEM. As a social venture, we are only able to tackle so much at a given time, and our efforts need to remain concentrated on the exceedingly high maternal mortality rate in Sierra Leone and beyond.
  3. How has COVID-19 impacted your venture? What adjustments have you had to make?
    1. I would say the biggest impact was on the new team because they were unable to travel to Sierra Leone this year.  It made it hard to really communicate and gain the trust of our distribution manager.  On the distribution of the test strips, the impact was pretty minimal besides a temporary price reduction in March from $50,000 to $30,000 due to economic hardships that CHWs and frankly everyone was experiencing.
  4. How do you validate your data?
    1. In order to validate our data after paper copies are collected by our distribution manager from each PHU, our distribution manager enters these values into a google forum. This data automatically is populated into our data backbone. Additionally, the paper forms are scanned and emailed providing a redundant system to check the data through regular auditing by the Lehigh Team.
  5. How do you know which specific Ukweli operations enhance screening participation?
    1. We have performed an analysis of our data using a method known as multiple linear regression analysis. This type of analysis allows us to find which metric(s) are the most influential on increased screenings. We looked at the data on a monthly basis between PHUs with a minimum number of x screenings, and found (insert here).
      1. *We still have to finish the write-up of the paper doing this analysis, but we will be able to answer this question fully by the time our presentations are due for submission.
  6. Have you considered looking at other metrics? If so, why/why not did you decide to evaluate them further?
    1. We have considered metrics such as the rate of follow-up care received by women who screened positive for any of the parameter within our test strip, but we have chosen to forego some valuable metrics because of the inconsistencies and lack of reliability associated with gathering them. In an LMIC setting, it is already difficult enough to gather reliable data on the strip itself where it’s a “once-and-done” situation (i.e. was the screening positive? If so, what?). However, following up with those same participants is an entirely different challenge by itself.
  7. You mentioned in previous presentations that you were having some difficulties coordinating with your employee in Sierra Leone. How have you progressed since?
    1. Yes, we have. We have increased the frequency of our communications with our onsite employee and in the process have allowed a stronger bond and trust between the Lehigh team and him. Even through technical difficulties, he understands the importance of completing his duties given specific circumstances, as we develop a better understanding on ways we need to accommodate to his circumstances.
  1. How do you incentivize UHWs to participate in the Ukweli screening program?
    1. The UHWs are able to buy the test strip boxes (50 strips in each) for roughly 25,000 SLLs, and they each can be sold at around 50,000 SLLs for them to turn a profit. 
  1. How do you know the venture has actually had an impact on maternal mortality?
    1. Determining Ukweli’s actual impact on the maternal mortality rate in Sierra Leone is nearly impossible due to the lack of regularly collected census data as well as the numerous ventures in the area that have the same goal as us.  However, we can look at our own personal metrics of success, like number of boxes sold and number of women screened and treated, in order to determine how successful the venture has been.   
  2. What was the regulatory approval process to sell test strips in Sierra Leone? 
    1. We were required to complete a Service Level Agreement (SLA) between Ukweli and Ministry of Health and Sanitation which allows the venture to operate in Sierra Leone’s healthcare industry. Also, we obtained a Marketing License from the Pharmacy Control Board of Sierra Leone by providing information about the test strips and allowing us to sell the strips commercially.
  3. Where do you plan to get more funding from?
    1. We are looking to a variety of charities which support initiatives and research for preeclampsia and maternal health.

Blog Post 9/18 Part 2

Part 2: Grassroots Diplomacy

  • Step 1: Determine the facts in the situation – obtain all of the unbiased facts possible 
      • Women’s cooperative takes off→ women work nine hours every day and earn KES 300 (about $3) while also having the opportunity to sell the produce grown on their small farms to the cooperative
      • Women enjoy their time and it saves the time and money but once they return home they must hand over their earned money to the husbands, father, or brothers→ cultural expectations at play that differ from the US
      •  the men waste it on alcohol and frivolous things
      • not achieving the twin social outcomes of improving the nutritional status of children and the livelihoods of rural households.
      • You don’t have a say in the cooperative’s functioning→ one of the seven members of the leadership committee that oversees all operations
      • The committee is elected on an annual basis and you have six months left on the committee→ after you will leave the cooperative completely
      •  other six members of this committee are local women who understand the problems and want things to change→ 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
  • Step 2/3: Define the problem and the stakeholders and motivations
  • Problem: women are working hard but when they go home their money is being taken and used for alcohol and other unneeded things
      • Women at the Cooperative
        • Personal→ want their money being spent on their children 
        • Professional→ they made that money so they should decide where it goes 
      • You
        • Personal→ wants the women to feel empowered through their work and not have that empowerment taken away when they get home
        • Professional→  need to accomplish the twin social outcomes that the donor wanted
      • Other Committee members
        • Personal→ local women so they also don’t want their money being used on unnecessary things
        • Professional→  want to see the cooperative thrive and meet the twin social outcomes
  • Step 4: Formulate (atleast three) alternative solutions
  • Hold a seminar for the men in the area to spread knowledge of what the cooperative is supposed to be doing
  • How does it solve the problem?
  • Pros: educate men on what the goals of the cooperative are, not aggressive b/c it is just an education session and they don’t have to do anything with the information, opens up conversations for women to have with their male counterparts
  • Cons: the men don’t have to come/care so they may continue to spend the money on unnecessary things anyway, 
  • How does it save face of those involved? Saves face of the women, you, and the other committee members because it’s not an aggressive route. Everyone is allowed to remain neutral while the men just become more educated. Whatever they choose to do with the information they learn is up to them.
  • Implications on relationships
  • Short-term→  women and men are able to have better conversations due to education without feeling like the women are going against the men, everyone remains on good terms
  • Long-term → could potentially not change any relationships/way the money is handled
  • Implications on the venture
  • Short-term→ extra time spent to educate the men as well, 
  • Long-term→  could not change anything and the venture fails to meet the twin social outcome
  • Equip women with the tools to tell their husband, fathers, or brothers no
  • How does it solve the problem?
  • Pros→ actually starts conversations on the topic of where the money is going, forces men to listen,
  • Cons → could potentially put women in a bad situation if the conversation isn’t received well, could come off more aggressive than intended.
  • How does it save face of those involved? Saves face for you and the committee because you just gave the women the tools while the women have the conversations. 
  • Implications on relationships
  • Short-term→ relationships with women in the cooperative could become strained if the conversation doesn’t go well for them due to no trust, committee members and women turn against you and your ideas
  • Long-term→  strained relationships between everyone, you don’t get a good farewell at the end of your time.
  • Implications on the venture
  • Short-term→ women don’t trust you, women may begin to leave the cooperative
  • Long-term→ lack of trust with anyone else that tries to come in to support the venture, venture falls apart.
  • Create a condition within contracts that the money earned must go towards necessities in the household/to children
  • How does it solve the problem?
  • Pros: makes sure that the money is going directly to the needs of the women and children, reduces the risk for women straining their relationships with their husbands
  • Cons: aggressive approach, men might get frustrated because it feels like an attack on them, interfering heavily with cultural differences that you don’t understand
  • How does it save face of those involved? Saves the face of the women while the blame falls on you and the committee members because it was incorporated into a contract with the cooperative. 
  • Implications on relationships
  • Short-term→ men less willing to trust the cooperative, women might begin to think negatively of you and the committee due to their personal relationships falling out
  • Long-term→  women might begin to drop out or see the benefit and become more involved with the cooperative
  • Implications on the venture
  • Short-term→ interfering with cultural norms that you’re knowledgeable on gives off the feeling that the venture is white savior oriented
  • Long-term→ feelings of support from the venture, more women getting involved because their pay is protected, potentially women dropping out due to the aggressiveness of the contract
  • Step 5: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate – previous cases, peers, reliance on personal experience, inner reflection
      • From what we’ve learned in the course, inserting your personal beliefs onto a different culture could potentially be very negative for everyone involved. Education on the mission of the cooperative without imposing your own views and values is the best way to create change without forcing change on a community that might not want full change. (especially since the women aren’t mad at the men taking the money but that it’s being used for unnecessary things) 

Step 6: Select the best course of action

  • I believe the option of holding an information session/seminar on the Cooperative would be the best option.  This is the least aggressive option and saves the face of everyone involved. The women are able to encourage their male counterparts to attend but it is completely optional. It gives the men the education they need to fully understand the goals of the venture while also getting to know more about what their female relative/spouse is doing in her time.  This also makes sure that women who don’t mind their husbands, fathers, or brothers taking their income to spend aren’t forced into having any uncomfortable situations.  You don’t understand the cultural differences so the best option would be an informative but nonforceful route. 
  • Step 7: List the sequence of actions you will take to implement your solution.
    • Bring your idea to the committee and explain the benefits of education the men
    • Talk to a few women, who you know are frustrated, on how they think it might work or anything they think would be beneficial to mention/aide in convincing the men that pay should go to the children/livelihood of the family
    • Work with the committee to arrange the seminar and encourage women to invite their families
    • Hold the seminar while also leaving places for discussion and conversation that way women have a safe place to address issues with their husbands in a more open manner.  
    • Follow up with the women and get feedback on how the seminar worked and if anything changed.

Blog Post 9/18 Part 1

Part 1: 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 in East Africa are stunted in growth due to poor nutrition 
      • Maize and Bananas used to make gruel (starts being used for infants at ~2 months to go with breastfeeding until ~24 months)
      • Mothers believe it is beneficial but it lacks key nutrients
      • HIV/AIDS is prevalent in the region
      • WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months but the longer a child breastfeeds the higher chance they have of contracting HIV from their mothers
      • Received grant for Women’s cooperative →  donor wants to simultaneously improve the nutritional status of children and improve the livelihoods of rural households
      • Enough money to process and market a nutritious, shelf-stable porridge made from a large mix of locally grown produce→ wean kids off breastfeeding at the age of 6 months
      • 500 women from 3 close locations are interested but are skeptical of the porridge 
      • Use of pesticides on some locally sourced crops could cause harm to children 

 

  • Ethical Issue: The risks of prolonged breastfeeding in an area where there is a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS and few women are tested for the virus, very early introduction of supplemental foods to the diets of infants, and the possibility of pesticide residues in foods developed for infants and young children. 
  • Step 2/3: Define the Stakeholders and motivations

 

      • Women in the 3 areas
        • Personal: want a healthy and safe way to take care of and feed their children
        • Professional: join the cooperative to feel more empowered and self-sufficient
      • Children/Infants: have a sufficient amount of nutrients and good health for their lives
      • You
        • Personal: help increase children’s livelihood in the region
        • Professional: fulfill the donor’s expectations
      • Donor
        • Personal: help increase children’s and mother’s livelihood in the region
        • Professional: ROI

 

  • Step 4: Formulate (atleast three) alternative solutions – based on information available, using basic ethical core values as guide 
  • Include the women in the creation of the porridge/educate them on the potential benefits of the porridge and risk associated with breastfeeding for too long
  • Ethical Principle or code: Respect for Persons, Beneficence
  • Pros: creating a collaborative effort by including the women makes them trust the product more, education on the nutrients that infants need as well as what crops provide them would be empowering for the women, children are able to reduce the risk of transmission and get the necessary nutrients 
  • Cons: pesticides still play a factor and could be potentially damaging to the children, too many opinions involved in the creation of the porridge could lead to extended time for production  
  • Incorporate a cleaning system for the crops that are used (10% salt 90% water solution) and educate the women on why it’s important to clean the crops, why the porridge could be beneficial to the child, and why it’s important to reduce the amount of time a child spends breastfeeding
  • Ethical Principle or code:  Justice, Respect for Persons, Beneficence
  • Pros: education is empowering for the women, children are able to reduce the risk of transmission and get the necessary nutrients, not as much collaboration means more time spent on education and getting the product into the market, women are educated on the product so they’re more willing to trust it.
  • Cons:  None that come to mind
  • Create and Implement the porridge yourself
  • Ethical Principle or code: N/A
  • Pros: porridge gets done quickly and you can begin implementation, some time spent on education but most of it is spent on production 
  • Cons: women not trusting the product, children still at risk for pesticides and HIV transmission because women are nervous about the porridge
  • Step 5: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate – engineering codes of ethics, previous cases, peers, reliance on personal experience, inner reflection

 

      • Through some research, I have found that it’s easy to wash off 4 of the most commonly used pesticides by making a solution of 10% salt and 90% water.  This is an easy way to clean the crops without extensive resources.  Education is also the best way to make people aware of problems as well as comfortable with talking about and utilizing different products. 

 

  • 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 is to incorporate a task force to clean the fruits and vegetables before they are made into the porridge and then educating women on why you’re doing this and how it could help.  This option is better than the others because it fulfills the donor’s expectations by empowering women with knowledge and expertise on cleaning crops and making the porridge while also improving the livelihood and nutrition of the children.  This solution also satisfies all core ethical values by reducing the harm for the women and children, educating them on the potential risks that are currently present in their communities, and giving them a solution to reduce those risks. 

 

  • Step 7: (If applicable) What are the implications of your solution on the venture. 

 

    • I believe this would only have positive implications for the venture besides extended time in the country for educational purposes.  The venture would be on time for production and eventually, even education could be spread by leading women in the communities once the researchers must remove themselves.  The donor would be incredibly satisfied with the results as the women are being educated and empowered while their children are getting the nutrients they need.  This may also lead the donor to donate even more money in order to spread the venture to other areas. 

Blog Post 9/11

  • Step 1: Determine the facts in the situation – obtain all of the unbiased facts possible
    • Jack living at a 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/motivations
    • Problem is that Jack wants to find a way to make the 4 kids who did not receive a ceremonious gift happy while avoiding backlash from the staff and other kids.
    • 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 → wants to receive their gifts in a ceremonial manner
    • Kids that were gifted
      • Personal → want the situation to be fair to everyone
  • Step 4: Formulate alternative solutions
    • Potential Solution 1: A group dance performance that centers around the children with the 4 black hats
    • How does it solve the problem? This solves the problem because it redefines the meaning of the black hats for the four kids without having to undermine the staff or create more tension between the children.  All the children will participate (making it a group activity so no one feels left out) but the four children will be centered and use their black hats as props.
      • Pros: hats feel special to the four kids after the dance, staff can participate with the kids or assist in the creation of the dance so it becomes not only a bonding activity for Jack and the children but also the staff, no additional costs are required, all the children participate and no one feels left out
      • Cons: four kids potentially unsatisfied with their gift after the dance, other kids may get frustrated if they feel the children with the black hats are getting preferential treatment
    • How does it save face of those involved? Saves Jack face because he can insist that these children were chosen for a reason and create better relationships with them, saves the staff’s face because nothing was done to undermine their authority/all the kids are happy, The four kids feel equal to their peers again because they got these special hats.
    • Implications on relationships 
      • Short-term: hesitation from the staff on the idea may lead to some tension, kids excited to have this activity with Jack
      • Long-term: The relationships between everyone involved will not be compromised
    • Implications on the venture
      • Short-term: trust established between the staff and Jack as well as the children and Jack
      • Long-term: Staff members are more willing to trust other members of the venture after Jack leaves
    • Potential Solution 2: Buy four toys for the four children.
    • How does it solve the problem? The four kids who didn’t get toys now have toys.
      • 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, other kids upset b/c those four kids got new toys and a hat, 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 good relationships with those four kids.
    • 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)
    • Potential Solution 3: Recollect the hats and hold another ceremony for the kids.
    • How does it solve the problem? Children not only didn’t receive toys but they also were not given the hats during the ceremony.  This makes the hats even worse so by providing a ceremony you’re reestablishing that the hats are just as special as the other toys
      • Pros: hats feel equal to the other toys, no extra money was spent, easy fix without having to engage the staff
      • Cons: kids still left disappointed they did not receive a toy
    • How does it save face of those involved? Saves Jack’s face because he is able to establish that the hats the children were gifted are just as special as the other gifts Jack handed out, Saves staff face because they’re relatively uninvolved and they don’t have to deal with other kids being upset
    • Implications on relationships 
      • Short-term: Jack establishes trust with the staff members and children
      • Long-term: Jack and the staff are able to work harmoniously and maybe even become friends
    • Implications on the venture
      • Short-term: Jack’s support from staff members helps leverage the venture and collect good data.
      • Long-term: Staff members are able to trust the venture moving forward even after Jack leaves.
  • Step 5: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate – previous cases, peers, reliance on personal experience, inner reflection
    • From personal experience, I’ve come to realize that when a child feels victimized or targeted in some way, you not only have to right your wrong but go one step further to make them feel special.  Holding another ceremony wouldn’t be enough because they were already left out of the first one so having an even more unique event for them will make them feel equal to the other kids.
  • Step 6: Select the best course of action
    • 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 them feel special. This way the ungifted kids can feel better about being given the black hats and have a special memory attached to them.  The staff and other kids can also dance in the event, so no one feels left out or excluded. This saves the face of the staff and Jack from having to take the blame for not gifting the four kids and it can make the ungifted kids feel equal to the kids that were gifted.  This is the best option in comparison to other approaches because it creates more uniqueness to the hats and doesn’t cost any extra money.  It also becomes a bonding experience for not only Jack and the kids but also the staff members.  Option 3 would be the runner up in the best course of action because it doesn’t require any extra money and provides a sense of equality for the children.  This option lacks making the four children feel special to compensate for them feeling left out since the children will only receive a ceremony after they were forgotten.  Option 2 would cause too many problems between the children and staff members.  It would also cost extra money that Jack and the venture may not have the means to provide.  
  • Step 7: List the sequence of actions you will take to implement your solution.
    • Discuss the event with staff and enlist the help of the staff members to create choreography
    • Have a meeting with the four kids to discuss their special role in the performance
    • Alert the rest of the kids about the dance performance and welcome everyone to join if they want to
    • practice, practice, practice
    • Potentially: invite people in the area to come to watch
    • Hold the event

Blog Post 9/04

Lesotho Case Study:

  • Step 1: Facts
    • Lesotho is a small developing country
    • You are a group of 10 researchers
    • You have 2 weeks to conduct research
    • You are looking for pathogens in the water sources
    • Your team requires community assistance to locate water sources
    • Your goal is to produce publications
    • Chemical additives may be produced as a result of your publications
  • Ethical issue: Is your current research plan ethical?
    • It is ethical but there are solutions to make it fairer to the Lesotho communities
  • Step 2/3: Stakeholders and Motivations
    • Researchers: want the best possible outcome of their study, efficiently find participants, make study ethical, identify and study all pathogens
    • Participants in the study: offer assistance to a project that could positively impact their community, potential for safe drinking water
    • Funders: RESULTS, return on investment, maintain reputation, stay within the timeline
    • People of Lesotho:  want their water to be safe to drink, protect water as one of their main natural resources, want something out of participating in the study
    • University: Care about reputation and return on investment. Would like the study to stay within budget 
    • (Lesotho)Government: keep the people safe and benefit long and short term for the people, improvement in the society/community long and short term, protect natural resources (water)
  • Step 4 Solutions
  1. Pay the people
    1. Pros: communities will be eager to help, gives them purchasing power for items they need, your team gets the help they need, many people will be likely to volunteer
    2. Cons: unknown how much the community will want, does the community want the money or the individual people, cannot guarantee they will spend the money to help themselves, they are still susceptible to the pathogen, may cause issues within the community is some members receive monetary incentives while others are left out, increase amount needed from University/Funding Agents
  2. Don’t pay the people
    1. Pros: save money which will please the funders and university, what “most” researchers do
    2. Cons: communities may lack enthusiasm and may be uneasy about the research, some areas might not help you at all (waste of resources), no delays to publication
  3. Provide incentive other than monetary along with education
    1. Pros: almost Guarantees to help the people with the water issue specifically, maybe be cheaper than giving a large number of people cash, education may allow the researchers to bridge social/cultural differences
    2. Cons: Will cost some amount of money more than just the bare minimum, may cause the researcher to take longer thereby delaying the publication, increase the amount needed from University/Funding Agents, and increase the time needed due to added educational aspect   
  • Step 5 Additional Assistance (research)
    • The main source of water for parts of eastern South Africa 
    • Very vulnerable to political disputes in South Africa 
    • Droughts are common 
    • Water is distributed through the Lesotho Highlands Water Project 
    • Waterborne diseases are common and the infant mortality rate is high b/c of them
  • Step 6 Best Course of Action
    • Option 3: Provide non-monetary incentives as well as education
      • Incentives will encourage community members to help us locate water sources in the community for us to retrieve the knowledge we need but we are also returning that knowledge to them.  Providing education on the pathogens and water safety will ensure that the community is more aware of the potential dangers of waterborne illnesses as well as making sure they are able to protect themselves against it.
      • Non-monetary Incentives like pots to boil water or different water filtration systems will have a more long term effect on the community and can protect them from the pathogens we are studying.  Do not have to worry about paying only one person if you provide community-based incentives
      • This solution helps us retrieve the need information while making a lasting and positive impact on the community.
  • Implications
    • By providing water safety education, both in the dangers and how to prevent them, we’re making sure that these communities are aware and safe from the pathogen we are studying as well as other water safety issues.  This knowledge can be spread and help aid the country in becoming a safer and more stable region.  More time will be spent on the ground due to the educational aspect so publications may be delayed.

Blog Post 8/27

Step 1: Identify the Facts

  • You’re a designer 
  • Hired to create a low-cost syringe for a Low/Middle Income Country
  • Auto-disable safety feature significantly adds to the cost 
  • Do you add the safety feature and make it unaffordable for your target market or do you not add the safety feature and potentially risk the spread of disease?

Step 2/3: Define Stakeholders and motivations

  • Investors→ Professional: Return on Investment
  • Company→ Professional: Maintaining operations at a low cost
  • You (the designer) → Professional: Creating what is asked at low cost
  • Hospitals/Clinics→ treat patients while maintaining low administrative costs
  • Doctors/Nurses→ Professional: help patients vs. their own Personal beliefs
  • Patients→ get treated and keep healthcare costs low

Step 4: Formulate (at least three) alternative solutions

  • Add the Safety feature→
    • pros: speeds up the design process, makes it safe/keeps it from being reused, make investors/company happy so they do not have to put more time/money into the design process
    • Cons: unaffordable for the population you are working with, more expensive to make the product/investors need to put more money into the production of the product 
  • Don’t add the safety feature/include educational aspect on why the reuse of syringes is harmful
    • pros: keeps costs for both hospitals and investors low, informs doctors and nurses about the dangers of reusing syringes 
    • cons: still could be reused in low resource settings even with training, more time into implementation in order to teach doctors/nurses, and potentially more money for training
  • Find alternative materials or cheaper safety features
    • pros: costs low for hospitals, includes the safety feature to guarantee it won’t be used again, 
    • cons: more money required from investors to start the design process again, delay in production

Step 5: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate

Doing a quick google scholar search on the use of syringes in low/middle-income countries shed light on how common the spread of blood-borne viruses is due to the reuse of syringes. It is also common for doctors and nurses to run low on support and supplies so they end up reusing syringes despite the potential health outcomes. Immediately, as the designer, this grabs my attention because it shows how important this safety feature is to the product design. I would also probably consult potential collaborators that have worked more closely with this area of design. 

Step 6: Select the best course of action

Personally, I believe the best course of action is to take a step back to redesign a syringe that is low cost and has the auto-disable safety feature. Especially in countries where resources for hospitals and clinics are scarce and have made it common practice to reuse syringes.  

Step 7: (If applicable) What are the implications of your solution on the venture.

A longer design timeline→ changes with the safety feature will cause a delay in production and increase costs for the design phase but in the long run will benefit the communities by helping reduce the resuse of syringes while making sure patients receive their necessary vaccines.

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