• 5 major stakeholders and their motivations

This documentary project has several key stakeholders at play throughout the duration of the project. The first major stakeholder is the university administration and faculty. As members of the Lehigh community they will be associated with this documentary whether they like it or not and, I would assume, do not want to be embarrassed or have their university tied to a project that ends up flopping. Thus, we as a team have the obligation to remember that we represent the university throughout this project and do our best to ensure things get done up to a standard anyone would be proud of. Another Stakeholder that is also tied to the university is the Creative Inquiry department and program. Just like the university in general, but albeit on a much more personal level, the department wants to see the projects they sponsor succede. It looks good for the department and the faculty who voluntarily take part if their work and drive pays off and produces incredible results at the end of each project cycle.

Now, we move into those who are directly affected by our project and the work we will be doing on the ground. Another major stakeholder is the expecting mother population in Sierra Leone, especially those we end up working directly with. This is their personal struggle after all and we are simply there as storytellers. The women who are experiencing this issue firsthand most likely want what any expecting mother wants: to be safe, secure, and not have to worry about any repercussions from assisting some random documentary workers. We have a job to do what we can to grant this to the mothers and protect their information and identities so that no one could use our work to try and hurt them. Another on the ground stakeholder is the medical workers on the ground. Whether we are talking to TBAs or conventional medical workers they have a vested interest in spreading the word about the crisis and making sure people understand exactly what is at stake and what they need to improve conditions.

Finally, the last shareholder is also the most obvious; us. We, as the team working on the project have arguably the largest direct stake in the project. We will be dedicating inordinate amounts of time toward the project and desire to create the best possible end product we can. The impact of the project rests in large part on our ability to deliver what we promise and we have a desire to make sure we do exactly that

• 3 ways we will validate our project and build credibility

With a project like ours, establishing and maintaining credibility is going to be much more of a challenge than many of the others. After all, we will not have a completed project for about three years and even then the results will not be as tangible as a muffin to fight childhood malnutrition or a greenhouse. The only tangible results we might see could be awards or mentions at film festivals. But I think that is okay. I am of the firm belief that the humanities carry their weight, and in turn merit, by the consciousness they cause and the insights they bring. I think the main thing we are hoping to achieve, and what will be the value of our project, is the fact that it will hopefully shine a light on and bring attention to an issue that has been largely ignored around the world.

Of course, I can say we will be raising this awareness and blazing a trail along a greatly unexplored avenue, but whos to say I’m right? Why should my grand ideas for the film’s impact carry any weight? Well, they shouldn’t and they don’t. The only way this vision can be realized, and how well we can sway others to coming to our side is by citing specific ways we will achieve the desired level of credibility. With this in mind the first way I believe we can validate our project is by explaining to the board and those who have a vested interest that Lehigh has an established history producing incredible documentaries that have seen immense success. Take, for instance, the Bethlehem Steel documentary from years ago. That has played on the History Channel and brought a better understanding of the region we all share. And yes, while this is on a larger scale, the sentiment is still the same and we as an institution have a proven history of delivering solid documentaries.

Additionally, I believe already having a plan as to what we are going to do with the documentary once it is completed is another way we can validate our project. The goal is currently to submit the documentary to film festivals. With this desired result in mind we have a solid framework to build off of and can chart our course going forward with the intent of reaching this end. Simply knowing what the goal is for the project is a major plus and allows us to know exactly what needs to be done to get it up to specs.

Finally, our project is focusing on a drastically underrepresented area in popular media. The fact that the average person knows next to nothing about Sierra Leone, let alone that it’s a country, is unfortunate. Yet we have been given the opportunity to help raise awareness around not just the maternal health crisis but about life in the country as a whole. If we are able to inform anyone who views our documentary about what life is like in Sierra Leone then we might be able to also raise consciousness and understanding about West Africa as a whole. The region is greatly misunderstood and there are many stigmas against the culture already in place. If we are able to do our part in bringing light to the reality while still highlighting the issues I think that is more than enough validation.