The Prime Take

Sierra Leone Partnerships

Capacare
What constituted the partnership?
Connection made during previous fieldwork in Sierra Leone.
How did the partner help you? How did you help them?
We interviewed their doctors and we made an educational film representing them. We have streamed this video in hospitals.
They helped us put together a viewing and they generously offered their insight and expertise. They helped distribute our film by posting it to social media.
Was this a symbiotic relationship? Why or why not?
Yes, we were able to conduct interviews and information and in exchange, they received the informational video we made.
What would help strengthen this partnership and make it more equitable?
A written contract or paper of agreement, ensuring that it is communicated what Capacare wants and we we want.
NEMS
What constituted the partnership?
Connection made through Carrie Jo.
How did the partner help you? How did you help them?
Ricardo has given us information about NEMS regarding ambulances and data.
We have given them more publicity.
Was this a symbiotic relationship? Why or why not?
No, because our work with NEMS is unfinished. We are scheduled to have an interview with them soon.
What would help strengthen this partnership and make it more equitable?
Continued communication through interviews.
Makeni Midwifery School
What constituted the partnership?
Connection made during previous fieldwork in Sierra Leone.
How did the partner help you? How did you help them?
They participated in an interview with us, enabling us to obtain information about midwifery in Sierra Leone.
We made an educational video for them.
Was this a symbiotic relationship? Why or why not?
Until we have valid metrics of success from our video for them, which are the recruitment of more midwives, it will not be.
What would help strengthen this partnership and make it more equitable?
If the continued screenings of our video promote the recruitment of more midwives.
SACHO
What constituted the partnership?
Connection made during previous fieldwork in Sierra Leone.
How did the partner help you? How did you help them?
They participated in an interview with us, enabling us to obtain information about SACHO.
We made videos for them, it was shown on our social media, and it was streamed on their website and screened at hospitals.
Was this a symbiotic relationship? Why or why not?
Yes because they have used the video we made for their own benefit.
What would help strengthen this partnership and make it more equitable?
Continued communication and development of our partnership.

Mr. Yillah from SHADE
What constituted the partnership?
Mountaintop fieldwork.
How did the partner help you? How did you help them?
He provided us with background information on FGM.
We have not yet given him anything in return.
Was this a symbiotic relationship? Why or why not?
No, because he provided us with information and we did not give him anything in return.
What would help strengthen this partnership and make it more equitable?
Continued communication. Potential content for him and partnership.

America Partnerships

Boston Research Lab
What constituted the partnership?
Our faculty advisor, Fathima.
How did the partner help you? How did you help them?
They showed the U.S. initiatives to combat maternal mortality.
We have not given them anything in return yet.
Was this a symbiotic relationship? Why or why not?
No, because they provided us with information and we did not give them anything in return.
What would help strengthen this partnership and make it more equitable?
We may create promotional material for them to use and disseminate.
Doula Amy
What constituted the partnership?
Emailed her through her Doula services website.
How did the partner help you? How did you help them?
She participated in an interview with us, enabling us to obtain information.
We have not yet given her anything in return.
Was this a symbiotic relationship? Why or why not?
No, because she provided us with information and we did not give her anything in return.
What would help strengthen this partnership and make it more equitable?
We may make a promotional video for her.

Coalition:

Policy makers – social change
Sierra Leone government officials
Masanga Hospital administrators
Healthcare professionals – Engagement
Midwives
Doulas
Doctors
Pastor/religious figure/people in community with clout – stronger movement
Ministry of Health – social change
Bernadett
Sister Marama Momah
Core stakeholders: mothers – compelling story
Resource partners: Personal Health Units – stronger movement/engagement
SACHO

To reduce maternal mortality in Sierra Leone by 5%, we have been using a creative media model to exhibit the process of film impact. The coalition starts with the basis of the story and our core stakeholders: the mothers. Their thoughts, opinions, and experiences shape the way we choose to create and disseminate our films. The next organization in our coalition would be us, The Mothers of Sierra Leone. Through our filmwork and networking, we bring awareness and access to maternal resources which enable women to access healthcare resources and in turn, will help cultivate trust between women and hospitals and clinics. For engagement, we need healthcare professionals which include midwives and doctors from the Makeni Midwifery School, Capacare, and Masanga Hospital. Their engagement in the films we produce help to create transparency between healthcare professionals and women. To create a strong movement around our educational films, we need the help of people in the community with clout, such as pastors or other religious figures. Their presence in our films as well as their promotion of the films will engage the community. To finally bring about social change, we need policy makers such as Sierra Leone government officials, individuals from the ministry of health.

 

Team Name: Mothers of Sierra Leone
Goals	·      What are the personal goals (small g) of each member on this team? (Team Member #1,#2, #3, etc) Make sure they connect to the DREAM on the Individual Profile.  Team member 1: My goal is to publish articles this semester about the overarching theme of maternal mortality and to continue the dissemination of our educational videos.  Team member  2: My goal is to make a detailed concept map for our film so we can be prepared to film in Sierra Leone. I also plan to make informative videos to be distributed on our social media Team member 3: My goal is to build a network of willing subjects to feature in our film Team member 4: My goal is t manage our crowdfunding and promote the project on social media ·      What is the Project GOAL (big G) we’re all committed to achieve together? Our overarching project goal is to reduce the maternal mortality crisis in Sierra Leone through documentary storytelling. In the short term, we will accomplish this goal through educational films and in the long term, this will be accomplished in our documentary film.    ·       Is our Project Goal scaled to our resources (dreams, materials, skills, differences, etc.) and constraints (assignment, time, skills, etc.)  At the moment it is not. In order to push our venture forward to reach our goals, we need to complete our fieldwork in Sierra Leone. As a result, we are instead focusing on the video content we do have for dissemination, and improving our credibility through article publications.  ·      What are the metrics for success for what we’re producing? Increase in applications for midwifery school Increase in healthcare professionals   Positive response (survey) Increase in birth-control usage Decrease in teenage pregnancy Views/shares/reposting of films
Roles	·      Who is responsible for which deliverables? Jordyn: In charge of managing article publications. Alicia: In charge of networking, social media, advertising, etc. Megan: In charge of the concept map and making short videos for social media  Kendall: In charge of interviews and network ·      Which deliverables that require collaboration, subgroups & individual work? Who does each person depend upon to succeed? All of our deliverables require collaboration and individual work: every team member is writing an article this semester, needs to contribute to advocating for our cause, and needs to give feedback for the editing of our films.  ·      Do we need a project manager to coordinate?  We have project managers for each segment of our deliverables.  ·      What are the deliverables each person is accountable to produce? Each person is accountable for writing one, publishable article this semester.  Kendall is in charge of interviewing at least 10 subjects Alicia is in charge of regular social posts
Procedures	·      Decision Making – What process shall we use: consensus, majority rules, deference to expert, default to the loudest, or? To make decisions, we meet as team and let each person express their perspective on a given topic before reaching a group consensus.  ·      Effective Meetings – Focus on key, timely decisions together vs. status/update (offline);  We meet as a team with our advisors once a week and meet outside of these meetings to discuss individual issues.  ·      Meeting roles: scribe, facilitator, time keeper  Each meeting is primarily led by one person to discuss a specific topic. The rest of the team members give feedback and suggestions which forms active collaboration·      Communication – FTF: frequency, time, location We meet every Thursday via zoom and outside of these meetings we are flexible in terms of meeting times.
Relationships	·      Team Diversity – What is the diversity on our team?  We have a team full of diverse skills and yet we each share the same passions and values. We have team members that are skilled in advertising and networking, film, writing, public speaking, journalism, and music.  ·

 

3. Potential Funding Source

Our most recent funding source is Lehigh Crowdfunding. We did Crowdfunding last semester and despite being called off earlier because of the Covid-19 pandemic we made enough money to purchase some of the filming equipment necessary. This semester we were given the opportunity to participate in Crowdfunding once again. We’re hoping to raise funds to buy the rest of our filming equipment. Additionally, any team member that needs extra funds to travel to Sierra Leone has applied to the GEHL grant. 

 

Date	Event
September 28th, 2020	Launch of Crowdfunding site
5 weeks	Promote campaign via email, social media, word of mouth, and sending thank you cards to donors
November	End of campaign

• Who are our stakeholders and what are their motivations?
  • Mothers (they live and have a more comfortable birthing experience where there autonomous and heard), midwives (increase in recruitment in Sierra Leone), doulas (successful births and awareness to hoe essential they are to birth), healthcare workers (less implicit bias in US, less stigma and more workers in sierra leone) , families (more living mothers), Lehigh University (a successful film that gets them clout), the documentary team (a completed piece that makes an impact).
• What cultural phenomena is your film taking into account in Sierra Leone?
  • FGM and TBAs play a huge role in Sierra Leone living, however we don’t feel it is our place as western filmmakers to critique the patriarchal society. We are focusing on the lives of mothers, not trying to change the way they live. 
    • Include statistics on the prevalence of FGM and TBAs.
• What impact campaigns are you basing the film off?
  • We have used the hunting ground before in terms of showcasing a larger issue by focusing on a handful of subjects and their journey to connecting colleges across the nation to Title IX resources.
• How are you preparing to go to Sierra Leone since the trip has been postponed?
  • Changing the team structure.
  • Focusing more on preliminary research and isolating topics and subjects of interest as well as geography
• Why would you put your time into writing about America for comparison?
  • Since our target audience is the western world, we want to give them something to relate it back to. Also, there are negative stigmas around Africa in the west and by showing similarities in the issues we face as well as some things Sierra Leone does better we can reshape that perception.
• What are your dissemination strategies in both countries? 
  • In Sierra Leone: We are going to promote the film through women’s networks (name the specific network) and screening at health clinics for the short term videos, as well as using radio for promoting the full length film and whatsapp.
  • In US: We are going to get a deal with a film company and stream it at festivals. We are going to put out instagram ads and release it on youtube as well (for a streaming fee). 
• What are you doing with the money you make off the film?
  • Any profit we make is going towards supporting the scholarships of midwifery schools and medical equipment in Sierra Leone, and Doula training in the US. 
• How are you going to interview the women?
  • We have been working on developing a contact network in both countries while we have been conducting qualitative interviews this semester. So, we plan on talking to people we have previously spoken to over zoom while in the country and asking if they know anyone who might be interested. This follows more of the social nature of Sierra Leone. 
• How does a documentary make an impact?
  • Each of our educational videos follows what is called the creative media impact model. Each video has a compelling story, which prompts awareness, fostering individual action and social change by connecting people with health resources and attracting more health workers. This leads to engagement in the way our audience interacts with our several marketing platforms which we can track through numbers of views. 
• How is the US crisis related to Sierra Leone? Does it take away from the Sierra Leone story?
  • Using the US crisis in our project enables us to connect the Western audience to the maternal crisis that is occurring in Sierra Leone. When Western viewers realize that many of the issues that occur there also occur here, they will be more inclined to watch our documentary and read our articles. 
• How do you hope to expand your team?
  • By recruiting students from the College of Health to help us with data collection and analysis. This will expand our partnership with the College of Health and make our team more interdisciplinary. 
• What publications are you targeting?
  • At the moment, for our article publications, we are targeting Medium and the Huffington Post. However, we are looking to publish in academic journals that target the health of women such as The Journal of Women’s Health Care. 

• How much is the total cost of production for the finished film?
  • We have a revenue model that complies the estimated amounts of money required for staffing, travel, and equipment. We will not know the total amount until we go to Sierra Leone this summer. 
• Are you incentivizing the people you are interviewing?
  • We are not providing an incentive at this time.
• What are your metrics of success for work done in Sierra Leone?
  • Increase in applications for midwifery school
  • Increase in healthcare professionals  
  • Increase in birth-control usage
  • Decrease in teenage pregnancy
  • Positive qualitative survey responses.
• How do you plan to keep in contact with your partnerships in Sierra Leone? 
  • Through our Whatsapp network. 
• What are some of the exact conditions women are dying from and are you targeting those issues specifically?
  • Women mostly die from hemorrhage, obstructed labor, unsafe abortion eclampsia, and sepsis.
  • These causes can be caught, treated, and prevented by disseminating information about medical resources through our videos.
• How do you plan on reaching people in Sierra Leone who do not have access to technology?
  • We have set aside a portion of the budget for Billboards and flyers that explain how to find our videos.  We would place the billboards around clinics, markets, and other places where women frequent.  
• What is your exact plan for showcasing the videos in Sierra Leone?
  •  When we arrive in Sierra Leone, we plan on hosting group screenings of 10-15 women and healthcare providers using a projector at some of our partners schools and clinics. We plan on investing tablets that would allow us to play our videos for women in clinic waiting rooms. 
• How will you know if the women learned anything from the videos?
  • Prior to watching our films, women will fill out a baseline survey that is qualitative,  determining what they already know about maternal health. These same women will then watch our films and report what they have learned in a follow-up survey.  

 

This was in collaboration with Rebecca Gjinji, Conner Calzone, and Gabby Alves

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 the children are stunted due to poor nutrition
  • Maize and bananas are the items most commonly made into a gruel and fed to infants beginning at ~2 months of age to 24 months of age
  • Mothers believe that the gruel is good for kids, but science says it lacks some key nutrients
  • High rate of HIV in mothers create risk of child getting HIV during prolonged breastfeeding
    • WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding until an infant is 6 months of age
    • This increases the risk of the children having the HIV transmitted to them
    • They aren’t able to identify who has HIV and who doesn’t
  • We received a grant to help combat the poor nutrition of children in the area 
    • has sufficient funds for the women’s group to process and market a nutritious, shelf-stable porridge made from a large mix of locally grown produce
  • Nutritious porridge is supposed to wean children off of breast milk at 6 months of age
  • The foods used to make the porridge contain pesticides that can affect the health of infants
  • We need to figure out how to develop the cooperative
  • Women are skeptical because the porridge is something they haven’t used before (new product) 

 

• Ethical issue: We are choosing whether to potentially infect the children with HIV and/or run the risk of being nutritiously deficient with the gruel versus a better nutrition but potentially adverse health side effects from the pesticides that may be in the porridge, which is also a product that is not a cultural norm.  

 

 

Step 2 & 3: Define the Stakeholders and assess their motivations (personal and professional)

 

• Me (Grant Recipient): 
  • Professional: Wants a successful and sustainable venture to be achieved to boost credibility and improve reputation in the field (good publicity).  Want to earn money from grant
  • Personal: To improve the nutrition of children and the livelihood of households.  
• Donor : 
  • Professional: Gives the donor a good reputation of trying to do something impactful
  • Personal: The donor’s intent is to simultaneously improve the nutritional status of children and improve the livelihoods of rural households
• Women in the Cooperative: 
  • Professional: women’s group to process and market a nutritious, shelf-stable porridge made from a large mix of locally grown produce 
  • Personal: Want to improve the overall quality of life for their communities children and mothers
• Mothers: 
  • Professional: Work and revenue opportunities
  • Personal: Healthy children and to improve their livelihoods
• Infants: 
  • Professional: N.A
  • Personal: The children need to be given the proper nutrients from a young age while limiting their risk of contracting HIV.  Want to also prevent health effects from pesticides. 
• Farmers: 
  • Professional: Can make more money from selling produce to make the porridge 
  • Personal: Helping out the health and livelihood of mothers and children in the local communities

 

Step 4: Formulate (at least three) alternative solutions – based on information available, using basic ethical core values as guide Approaches 

 

1. Having the women of the cooperative take part in the porridge production, farming the crops without pesticides.
   1. Pros: 
      1. The women can make money from growing their own vegetables 
      2. The food they feed their children will be more nutritious 
      3. There won’t be any pesticides in the food or there will be significantly less depending on if the women can completely supplant the other cash crops 
      4. Reducing the children’s chances of getting HIV
      5. Less expensive to fund the production of food if the women are providing the crops
      6. The women will not need to breast-feed as much, reducing the chance of HIV being transmitted being transferred to the babies
   2. Cons: 
      1. There might be more inconsistency with crops
      2. The crops are more susceptible to infestation and can go bad
      3. There might not be enough women to farm to help grow crops 
      4. The women may not be as well trained to grow crops as the farmers
   3. Ethical Principle: The women are still feeding their children with nutritious food that will help their children reduce the chances of getting HIV and being affected by the impacts of pesticide consumption.

 

1. Use market power to pressure farmers to stop using pesticides by advertising certified pesticide free porridge
   1. Pros: 
      1. No more pesticides which are unhealthy for the infants and may cause further growth stunting
      2. This creates long term change around farm culture and pesticide use, making vegetables safer for the entire community
      3. Empowers women in our cooperative by showing the power of cooperative, making more women interested in joining
      4. The women will not need to breast-feed as much, reducing the chance of HIV being transmitted being transferred to the babies
   2. Cons:
      1. The women in the cooperative may not be able to penetrate the established crops market
      2. Farmers may lose sales due to this shift in technique
      3. Farmers might lie about pesticide usage for the sake of selling crops
      4. This is more of a long term movement, and does not satisfy immediate need for pesticide-free vegetables
   3. Ethical Principle: This is duty based thinking because it is our duty to deliver safe nutrition to the children of the mothers in our cooperative.

 

1. Create a gruel product that has additive nutrient supplements with the key nutrients the current recipe is lacking. We can create this gruel in place of the porridge, but still keep operations running.

 

1. 1. Pros:
      1. Already a loved product by the community, so there is no need to convince the community to feed it to their kids
      2. Nutritional supplements can be easily added to any food and does not have any flavor
      3. The kids will finally have the nutrients that the original gruel was lacking
      4. Mothers won’t have to buy separate ingredients for the gruel; it will be premade with the added nutrients
      5. The women will not need to breast-feed as much, reducing the chance of HIV being transmitted being transferred to the babies
   2. Cons:
      1. Similarly, the villagers may be skeptical of these premade products
      2. Mothers may want to just keep making gruel on their own instead of buying one that’s premade
      3. Depending on the grant funding, there might be an issue with buying the vitamin supplements if they are expensive (typically inexpensive, though, but since we don’t know the amount of the grant, there’s no way to know for sure)
      4. It may be hard to supplement this wide-spread
   3. Ethical Principle: Once again, we are using duty based thinking to try to provide the infants with nutritious food. In this scenario, we can use the unflavored additives to allow them to stick to their established routine while limiting HIV transmission risk and giving infants the proper nutrients.

 

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

• Peers: The malnutrition team has discussed adding supplements to some of their recipes to make them more nutrient rich
• Inner reflection: the risk of HIV is in my opinion, worse than the risk of lacking some nutrients
• Engineering Code of Ethics: Our solution needs to follow the given ethical standards for an engineering/entrepreneurial venture 
  • Integrity, Objectivity, Professional Competence, Confidentiality and Professional behavior

 

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.

 

• In my opinion, alternative 3 is the best option, because it does not go against any cultural norms and delivers the proper nutrients to the children to wean off of breastfeeding.
• The mothers will already know what the product is and have it implemented in their day to day, so there is no introduction period.
• I chose alternative 3 in place of alternative 1 mainly because the women are hesitant to give their children the porridge. They would have to try something new and different to what they are currently using, which is the main reason the mothers are hesitant to switch from gruel to porridge. Also, alternative 3 does not change the taste of the current food product that is being given to the children; it simply adds to the nutritional value. 
• I chose alternative 3 in place of alternative 2 because there is no guarantee that using market power will effectively pressure the farmers to not use the pesticides. Even if it does, the lack of pesticides does not change the fact that it’s a new product that the mothers don’t want to try. Alternative 3 allows us to keep the gruel, but just fortify it. 
• One of the downsides to alternative 3 is that the mothers may be hesitant to purchase premade gruel. They may prefer to make it on their own. A possible solution to this hypothetical situation is to have the women in the cooperative all watch the making of this nutrient-fortified gruel and see for themselves that it’s extremely similar to the current gruel. Once they see it’s essentially the same, they will be inclined to use it on their own children, and tell others about it. Word of mouth is one of the most effective ways to advertise in African countries, so having the 500 women in the cooperative vouching for the premade gruel would help convince other mothers.
• If alternative 3 is not affordable by the terms of the grant, alternatives 1 or 2, whichever the women of the cooperative prefer, would be great solutions. It would require the families of the community change their nutritional substance from gruel to porridge, but if that is the best option, that change will have to be made.

 

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

 

•  Economic:
  • Money would be coming in for the cooperative due to the sales of gruel
  • The families may be able to make more money due to the extra time they will have, however, the cost of buying gruel may be higher than the raw materials and making of the gruel
• Social:
  • Less work for the mothers since the gruel is already premade
  • Children will receive the nutrients they need
  • Mothers don’t need to change what they are currently doing, so there is no expected cultural change
• Environmental:
  • The amount of pesticides used in the process can be limited and no additional pesticides will be used, unlike in the scenario where porridge was produced.

 

Part 2: Grassroots Diplomacy 

 

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

 

• The women work for about nine hours every day and earn KES 300 (about $3)

 

• They have the opportunity to sell the produce grown on their small farms to the cooperative.
• The women like this arrangement because it saves them a trip (time + money) to the village market to sell their produce. 
• When a woman brings her hard earned money home, she has no choice but to turn it over to her husband, father, or brothers.
• The men do not use this money on their family, and spend it on frivolous things such as alcohol
• Social outcomes of the venture are not being achieved (improve women’s livelihood)
• I am one of seven members on the oversight committee this year and I have 6 months left of my position
• The other six members on the committee are also women and want things to change
• Women are convinced that this is the way things are and don’t see this as an issue that their money is being taken but:
  • They are upset their hard earning money is not used to feed the children

 

Step 2 & 3: Define the problem and the stakeholders, and their personal and professional motivations – 

• Me (the entrepreneur): 
  • Personal: Want the women to be happy and for their money to spent on their children, not frivolous things
  • Professional: Want to improve the venture so the women aren’t upset
• Women in the cooperative:
  • Personal: Want their husbands to stop spending money on frivolous things, want to spend their money on their children and other necessities
  • Professional: Want to get through each day on the job, they are enjoying their current jobs and want to keep them
• Oversight committee: 
  • Personal: They also want their children to be fed nutritious food and to prevent their husbands from overspending on alcohol or their friends families from being subject to alcoholism 
  • Professional: Some may want to get reelected, some 
• Families
  • Personal: They want their families to improve their overall quality of life by reducing how much the husbands are drinking and spending on alcohol
  • Professional: The women in the families want to continue working in the cooperative

 

Step 4: Formulate an alternative solution

 

1. Cooperative acts as an equity bank for the workers so that they can cash out directly, or through other products (family needs) and establish a general store that takes workers credit. This store is open to the public and the cooperative gets another stream of income. The store offers beer for credit but quota is 2 six packs a week. Caveat AND incentive for saving: you can only take out one third of your savings at once (unless reason for emergency)
   1. Pros:
      1. Incentivizes men to not take money because they get more if they wait
      2. Creates a long term savings plan for women’s livelihood
      3. By offering beer for credit but establishing a quota, the men are still satisfied and get their beer, but don’t overspend on it. This way, there is money left to be spent on necessities in the home
   2. Cons:  
      1. Women aren’t receiving all their money at once so it might be harder for them to trust the process of splitting their income up into thirds
      2. Limits spending to one-third of their savings, which can be good or bad.
   3. Saving face: 
      1. Me: This helps give a solution that caters towards the women on the committee while also benefiting women that are working in the cooperative
      2. Women in Cooperative: This helps the women keep some of their money without having their husbands waste it on alcohol.  It allows them to not have to hide the money from the husbands and feel like their money is being protected from not being in a bank.
      3. Oversight Committee: The oversight committee saves face as they are allowing women to access their money while still allowing them to spend within a finite range. 
      4. Families: This benefits families so that they can utilize the money being made by the women in smarter way and improve the overall quality of life for the family
   4. Relationship short-term implications: 
      1. Me:
         1. I am at first nervous to pitch this idea to the committee because I’m worried about how they may react. Once the committee approves, I will tell the other women in the cooperative about the decision – I’m assuming the women will like the idea but the men will be hesitant, so there may be a slight awkwardness in the beginning.
      2. Women in Cooperative:
         1. The women in the cooperative are happy because their money will be going towards their kids more. They are happy with me and the oversight committee for making this decision.
      3. Oversight Committee:
         1. The oversight committee also wants things to change, so my relationship with them is still great. They are excited that things are going to be different, especially because they thought they couldn’t do anything about it.
      4. Families:
         1. The families may feel some tension amongst themselves since the men won’t be able to spend their money frivolously anymore and will be upset about it.
   5. Relationship long-term implications:
      1. Me:
         1. My term on the committee ends on a good, successful note and I leave with a great reputation and long lasting relationship with the women on the cooperative. 
      2. Women in Cooperative:
         1.  They are  not to blame for the lack of spending money for alcohol and their kids are fed from their credit in the general store. They maintain a good standing within their home and the husbands do not take their aggression out on them for this new change. The women have the opportunity to save their money up and are able to plan for their future longevity. 
      3. Oversight Committee:
         1.  This decision demonstrates the committees role in the local community and if it does not go over well it could hurt the local interest in the cooperative, causing blowback on the committee. 
         2. If this decision works, the committee has proven their ability to adapt to the needs of their workers and they strengthen the relationship between them and the cooperative community. 
      4. Families:
         1. Since not all the money is immediately spent, families begin to save their money and build their fortunes up. Children are provided for and more healthy, and the mothers get to keep their earnings in the cooperatives equity bank to save for a better future for their children. At first, the men are angry about this change but they come around to it when they get used to having two six packs a week. Overall, the families begin to see the cooperative as a larger part of the community since they now shop at the general store. 
   6. Venture short-term implications:
      1. Me:
         1. The community reaction to this proposal can essentially make or break my reputation. Since it was my idea and my term is almost over, the committee might place the blame on me if this goes wrong. This venture can end my career if it fails. If it succeeds, however, my namesake will be passed on to the next committee and I will have a lasting impact on the cooperative.
      2. Women in Cooperative:
         1. In the short term, women will have access to less money as their credit goes. They will still have enough for their family to eat, but this might put stress on their household in the earlier weeks of this change. 
      3. Oversight Committee:
         1. The oversight committee is put in a tense spot. This change affects the income of their workers and the family dynamics within the community. There is a tension towards the committee in the beginning, seeing that there is uncertainty in its impact.
      4. Families:
         1. The men will have less access to alcohol, which could make them take out their anger on their families. However, since we clearly explained the saving process they might be incentivized to wait longer before pulling money out of the equity bank for their drink. This means that their might be disturbance in the beginning of the venture that should be monitored, but it should level out in the long term.
   7. Venture long-term implications:
      1. Me:
         1. When this succeeds, my career flourishes and I write a publication on this grassroots cooperative management system which is featured in conferences across the globe. Once I leave my position as a chair I have no trouble getting a job in a similar field with my past experience.
      2. Women in Cooperative:
         1.  The women have more financial savings for their families. They are able to afford better healthcare and nutrition for their children. Since their families have more money they can afford better healthcare. Some of the women even get their HIV treated. 
      3. Oversight Committee:
         1. The oversight committee remains vested in its two goals and it begins to expand the cooperative as the credit system flourishes. Since they have a new stream of income, they begin to grow more of their own ingredients without the use of pesticides. The committee begins to have a more direct relationship to the community since they included that voice in their decision making. 
      4. Families:
         1. Families are healthier and wealthier. Men don’t spend as much of their wife’s money on alcohol and begin to see the incentive for keeping the money in the bank. Since the cooperative has grown and this decision strengthened the relationship between families and the cooperative, the product is more normalized and it has widespread use among the families in the community so baby’s are getting the proper nutrition.

 

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

• Inner Reflection: If I were in their shoes, I believe that sectioning off money available to spend would be the most efficient way to get all the needs in the house without overspending
• Engineering Code of Ethics: Our solution needs to follow the given ethical standards for an engineering/entrepreneurial venture 
  • Integrity, Objectivity, Professional Competence, Confidentiality and Professional behavior

 

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

 

1. Validate the idea with the council
2. Validate the idea with 25 men and 25 women one on one or in smaller group settings with people in the cooperative
3. After the idea is validated, we will announce the new system and get general feedback at a community meeting to directly engage community voice
4. We will implement the idea by obtaining funding for opening the store and obtaining vendors to supply the store. 
5. Then, we will hire workers for the store  and finalize the credit system with the women of the cooperative and do a trial run of the solution. 
6. If everything goes smoothly, we can open it up to the public.

 

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

• Kids (3-16) live at the center
• Jack lives at the center (for 5 months)
• Staff lives at the center
• One kid without toys directly blamed Jack. Kids with toys love Jack.
• Staff members are not concerned about the children’s feelings towards materialistic objects
• The way the ceremony was staged convinced the kids that Jack gave them the toys
• Staff were convinced Jack was making a big deal out of the situation and might become a “children’s right activist” and create unnecessary problems 
• Potentially bigger underlying reason for why the staff members didn’t give gifts out to the 4 kids
• Staff felt blamed by Jack’s concern
• Jack wants to make a good impression on the kids at the center to establish good relationships
• Black hat has a negative stigma to it

 

Step 2 and 3: Define the problem and the stakeholders – those with a vested interest in the outcome and Determine and distinguish between the personal and professional motivations of the stakeholders. 

 

Dilemma: Jack wants to do the right thing without putting blame on anyone or apologizing too much. Also, this action will create expectations for future actions. Jack doesn’t want to jeopardize current relationships.

 

Stakeholders:

• Children without toys: 
  • Personal interest: 
    • want toys
    •  want the ceremony too (a matter of respect)
  • Professional: 
    • can use this in the future to take advantage of Jack
• Children with toys:
  • Personal
    • New toys! They like jack because he gave them the toys
    • Feeling special and valued
    • Might tease kids who did not get gifts
• Staff members: 
  • Professionally: 
    • They don’t want Jack to question how good they are at their job (rude)
    • Jack’s action will change the work dynamic between them and the kids
    • Cannot control how many gifts are sent 
    • Smooth operations
  • Personal: 
    • Feel defensive of Jack’s concerns (he just got here, how should he know better)
    • Didn’t want to set the precedent of gifts being a reward
• Jack:
  • Personal: 
    • Wants to be liked and welcomed, make everyone happy
    • Feels personally blamed by the kids and at the same time the kids gave him all the credit for the gifts
  • Professional:
    • Good relationship with all the kids will be better in the long run
    • Wants to have a good rep because he is living there for five months
• Donor Org (secondary): 
  • Professional: 
    • Good press, maybe a tax write off
  • Personal: 
    • Feeling of gratitude and giving back to another community

 

Step 4: Formulate (at least three) alternative solutions – based on information available, to have a win-win situation for your relationship and your venture. Approaches [1/2/3: repeat for every action] • Potential Solution • How does it solve the problem? o Pros o Cons • How does it save face of those involved? • Implications on relationships o Short-term o Long-term • Implications on the venture o Short-term o Long-term 

 

• If economically feasible, buy the children gifts and make a special occasion of it

 

1. 1. 1. How does it solve the problem?
         1. It allows the kids that were forgotten to feel included and that they are just as special as all the other kids
      2. Pros: 
         1. The children will be happy.
         2. Kids will gain a sense of inclusion and importance 
         3. All of the children will have received gifts of equal value.
      3. Cons: 
         1. The staff might not agree with the decision. This might create some division between Jack and the staff.
         2. Creates a financial burden that Jack hadn’t planned for.
         3. May create a situation where children start approaching Jack asking him to buy them other things.
      4. How does it save face of those involved?
         1. Jack: Feels less bad after a look of shame from a kid with a hat.
         2. Staff members: makes them look like they didn’t forget anyone
         3. Children without toys: it makes them not look left out and appear included versus being excluded with just a black hat
      5. Implications on relationships
         1. Short-term
            1. Makes the kids feel included and the 4 kids trust Jack again
         2. Long-term
            1. The kids might take advantage of Jack because he was nice to them and got them special gifts
            2. It might hurt his relationship with other children because they think he is favoring the 4 kids that didn’t get gifts
            3. The staff might start to dislike Jack because he could be causing more problems and going against what they said. They could blame him for any issues related to this in the future. Also, they could see it as using money to win the children over.
      6. Implications on the venture (venture is the working relationship between youth center and americans)
         1. Short-term
            1. Will improve immediate relationships with kids 
            2. sour relationship with coworkers
            3. Will fix this dilemma and keep the relationship between center and Jack (the american)
         2. Long-term
            1. Youth center members might see American workers as a charity 
            2. Might hurt other American’s opportunities to work at that center

 

• Add more value to the hats (make the hat a special role to those select children)

 

1. 1. 1. How does it solve the problem?
         1. It gives the kids a sense of importance and value, which they didn’t get with not getting as special of a gift
         2. Makes them feel more included in the group, like they’re as important as all the other kids
      2. Pros: 
         1. The kids would feel honored despite not partaking in the gift ceremony
         2. The kids would not blame Jack for being left out
         3. The workers won’t feel that Jack is upstaging their own job performance
      3. Cons: 
         1. Unsure of how this would affect the social dynamic of kids (might give them a power trip over the kids with toys)
         2. Unsure if the kids will be accepting of this “added value” and could still be upset
         3. Workers might see this as Jack interfering with the current way of things and think he is meddling too much
      4. How does it save face of those involved?
         1. Jack: It gives Jack a way to still be on good terms with the kids and without stepping on the staff members toes
         2. Staff members: It makes them look like they didn’t forget any of the kids and that they still value everyone in the center equally
         3. Kids without toys: It makes them feel special even though they didn’t get the same gifts as everyone else and can feel included with the other kids that got gits, not embarrassed
         4. Kids with toys: They might feel threatened by the new role children were given
      5. Implications on relationships
         1. Short-term
            1. Staff can trust that Jack has the best intent for the children
            2. Children might think Jack plays favorites (can create distrust with Jack)
         2. Long-term
            1. Jack and the staff would continue to be strong and stable 
            2. Jack can develop a strong relationship with all the children
      6. Implications on the venture
         1. Short-term
            1. Venture partnership will grow tighter as staff realizes the american worker is quick to improvise and satisfy the needs of the children without upstaging current workers 
         2. Long-term
            1. Venture continues stable partnership and keep open ties with American involvement at the youth center 

 

• Do nothing to ensure the relationship between Jack and the staff remains stable and healthy 

 

1. 1. How does it solve the problem?
      1. The children all got a gift technically…
      2. It allows Jack to stay on good terms with the staff members and shifts his level of importance for relationships to the staff over the kids
   2. Pros: 
      1. The relationship will continue to be strong and stable (assuming it was already stable)
      2. Children are pretty resilient and will likely bounce back from not receiving the gift. Jack should be able to build his relationship with the 4 kids back up pretty quickly.
      3. Staff members will see that Jack is respecting their advice and not a “children’s rights activist” 
   3. Cons: 
      1. Relationship between Jack and children will suffer. Kids could be mean.
      2. The kids could have an influence on the staff members and make them have a negative outlook on Jack because he can’t get along with the kids
      3. Staff members might see Jack as complaining and not an action taker
   4. How does it save face of those involved? 
      1. Staff: Don’t feel like Jack is taking over and going over their heads to fix a problem. 
      2. Jack: Absorbs the blame but preserves relationship with staff
      3. Kids with no toys: They are still bitter (hopefully resilient)
      4. Kids with toys: Might feel more important than kids with no toys

 

1. 1. Implications on relationships
      1. Short-term
         1. Children will have a tainted view on Jack 
         2. Staff will see Jack as an obedient worker 
      2. Long-term
         1. Neutrality between children will remain the same (staff or jack isn’t playing favorites)
   2. Implications on the venture
      1. Short-term
         1. Relations between children and american worker might struggle 
      2. Long-term
         1. Establish could relationships between the staff members and American workers so there will continue to be opportunities for new volunteers to come visit

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

In this case, I relied on my own personal experience with children. I have been a nanny, a camp counselor, and a tutor. I have worked with kids of all ages from all backgrounds. One thing I have learned from these experiences is kids move on really fast from upsetting situations as long as they are not deeply traumatizing situations. In the case of Jack, I think not getting toys is not the end of the world for the kids and they will quickly bounce back.

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. 

I think the best option is to do nothing. Jack is new to this group and he still has a long time there – that means he can work at improving the relationship with the four kids who feel left out and he should not make any waves with the workers. It is important to prioritize Jack’s relationship with the workers since they are his peers and this working relationship will help him learn more as well as improve diplomatic relations between the org and Jack’s transfer program. In comparison – giving gifts to the left out kids can rock the boat with he workers (they look like they don’t care as much as jack) and establish expectations for how Jack should act with the kids (creating a dependent relationship). The other option of giving the hats a special meaning could not be accepted by the kids and in fact, could ripple the social fabric. In order to maintain harmony and work at building a better relationship with the kids, it is best to do nothing now and keep in mind the potential relationship with the kids. In the short term, this option respects the opinions of the workers and prioritizes that working relationship over the feelings of the four kids. In the long term, it shows that Jack listens to what is done around there and can improve the relationship between Americans and the organization.

Step 7: List the sequence of actions you will take to implement your solution. Derived from an abridged version (6-step) of the 9-Step Process from “Applied Ethics Case of the Month Club”; adapted from methodology developed by Andy Lau @ Penn State.

1. The day after, Jack will go to the workers and tell them that he agrees with what they said and will do nothing (this smoothes over the child activist thing)
2. Jack will then play with the four kids during playtime and give them more attention so they can connect
3. Jack will encourage kids to share their toys with each other
4. Jack will work as usual and follow the routine
5. Jack will talk with workers about monitoring the behavior of the kids to see if anything has changed (the toyless kids are isolating themselves or kids with toys are being bullied) and act accordingly

 

 

1: The facts

 

Researchers are going into Lesotho for two weeks (a team of 10) to research the life cycle and characteristics of a pathogen found only in this region’s water. In order to do this, they need the community’s assistance to show them water sources as well as methods of storing water. The end goal is publication, profiling of the pathogen, and development of additives to counteract the pathogen.

 

Assumption: We have IRB approval and approval from the Lesotho government for our venture.

 

2/3: The Stakeholders

1. Academic University: They want recognition for their research (promote their personal brand). They might also want to attract prospective students.
2. You (research team): To gain recognition from your field of work and a publication. Begin the development of chemical additives to make the water safe to drink. It could also be more professional because you might be bound to do the research because of the company you work with.
3. People of Lesotho: They would want to help the researchers with the expectation that the researchers would help educate them about safe drinking water. Maybe they would want to build partnerships with people from a different country/organization. However, there might be a problem with this because they might give you information to satisfy you.
4. Academic partnerships/Funders: To be apart of a publication and as a result of that gain more money which they can use to fund more projects, our findings will add to a wider body of knowledge on the pathogen and their reputation

 

4: Potential Approaches

1. Duty-Based Thinking
   1. It only seems right to compensate the participants because we are using their knowledge for research purposes 
2. Virtue Based 
   1. Because the citizens of Lesotho are being generous enough to help researchers 

 

1. Potential Solution 1: Provide sufficient financial compensation to community members who provide critical assistance and knowledge to the project 
   1. Pros
      1. Receiving financial assistance if they missed normal work to help the project 
      2. Incentive enthusiastic participation (easier to convince someone to participate)
      3. If we pay people, they are more likely to share more water sources 
   2. Cons
      1. Takes away from the funding of the project that could be used for something else 
      2. Providing too much or too little financial compensation might seem rude or undermining 
      3. May have too many volunteers which could create saturation of information 
2. Potential Solution  2: Provide educational compensation (education around the current status of their drinking water and its impact on their health, along with sharing our future findings) to community members who provide critical assistance and knowledge to the project 
   1. Pros
      1. Will help educate the community members about the safety of drinking water in their community 
      2. Those members can educate others about the safety of drinking water to spread awareness 
      3. Creates more empowerment and inclusion in the project 
   2. Cons
      1. The community may already know the water is unsafe and will feel that the researchers believe they are uneducated 
      2. Information on safe drinking water may not be perceived as correct based on cultural beliefs and level of science knowledge 
      3. May create panic as community members feel that they have no sources of safe drinking water and cause unrest.  
3. Potential Solution  3: We don’t compensate them but distribute the additive that is developed to the community 
   1. Pros
      1. There is no unfairness in financial compensation to the participants 
      2. We are still giving back to the community but not to the participants directly  
      3. Save money
   2. Cons
      1. The willing participants do not directly benefit from our use of their time or labor
      2. If we do not succeed, then there is no benefit to anybody
      3. People are unwilling to participate because they are not being compensated

Possible solutions:

1. Publishing the research results in an open-source journal 
2. Talking to the leaders of communities and establishing some sort of small incentives for the community members 
3. When selecting participants, consult regional leadership and get their recommendations.

5/6: The biggest reference I used, in this case, was the principles of The Belmont Report: beneficence, respect for persons, and justice. By putting these ethical codes into the context of the Lesotho case, I think the potential solution2 (educational compensation) would be the best approach. In the critical application of this approach, we would inform the regional leadership of the towns and tribes we work with about the conditions of the water and our intentions to learn more about the pathogen that lives within their water source. I think being open in our intentions and sharing knowledge would build trust and participants would be willing to share their knowledge with us. Furthermore, I recommend that we incorporate the third solution by sharing the findings with the community and use our work to get a grant to treat the water we sampled. I used Giardia treatment processes as a cost reference for this – which can be treated by filtration, UV light systems, reverse osmosis or ozone. Depending on the size of the source and the feasibility of the treatment (you can’t filter a whole lake) it would cost $600 for treatment. When our publications are successful, we can easily get grants to give back to the community that helped us research.

 

7: The community would be more aware of the purity of their water and what to look for (assuming they did not before). We would be able to access the water sources with the help of willing participants. We would filter some (if not all) water sources. Our successful venture would build the reputation of our research and we would be awarded grants and awards.

1: We are inventing a vaccine that has a syringe application. It would be more costly to incorporate a syringe safety feature that auto disables after a single use but it would be safer in containing the spread of infection. Our market is in a low and middle income, so the cost of the product is something we must keep in mind.

 

2 and 3:  Doctors/Nurses: They want the lowest risk for themselves and their patients.  

    Patients: They want an affordable and effective treatment.

  Government: They want to eradicate the disease because it is a public health issue.

  My company: I want to make the highest quality product at the lowest cost possible and I want to sleep at night. 

  Investors: They want the most money and success of the company.

4: So what can I do? This is a whole disease and I significant impact. I have a couple options, and each of these choices has a set of outcomes (good and bad).

 

Solution 1 – I want to the most good I can while getting some direct benefit. During discussion with my breakout group, we felt that if we chose to produce the cheaper version of the vaccine and instead put our funds towards training personnel to downgrade the risk of transmission, we would be able to distribute the vaccine at a widespread level and eradicate it through the practice of herd immunity. This would be applying consequence-based ethics in the approach because we are essentially weighing the risk of spreading the disease with the impact of mass inoculation. On one hand, if we vaccinate enough people successfully it would work towards eradication, however this could risk the possibility of contraction during vaccination if the needle was previously used on an infected individual and not cleaned.

 

2 – Create a vaccine that includes safety and sell it at a higher cost. This solution would be the safest for me even though it would benefit only those who can afford it. 

 

3 – We can make a mixed batch of vaccines and sell the auto disabled ones at a higher cost. This would give the moral dilemma to the hospitals instead of us and transfer responsibility. At the same time, we would not be serving the most people, minimizing impact.

 

5: I would speak to scientists who have studied the disease, along with hospitals who are buying our product. I would also consult an epidemiologist to see if this was a worthwhile approach and meet with statisticians who can help us estimate the impact of our actions.

 

6: As an individual, I usually apply virtue-based thinking. So, for this instance, I think giving the vaccine out at the lowest possible cost might be the best idea. Through this lens of ethics, my job is to do the best I can in containing the disease. After step 5, ideally, the cost-benefit analysis would show that mass inoculation with professionals who are trained to safely vaccinate with the low-cost needles would result in mass containment of the disease. Furthermore, it would be cheaper to invent a mechanism that indicates the device has been used once so the risk is known and the doctors and patients can make a more informed decision and incentivize our clients to recycle the needles to our company so we can have a closed loop manufacturing cycle (cheaper production cost). The other decision is less beneficial to me and the other stakeholders – by paying more I am making less and the highest need is not met. This gives more opportunity and autonomy to the stakeholders. 

 

7: Cost of production would go down since we are recycling the vaccine to create new ones. People are more informed in their health decisions (they know if the vaccine was used). Our vaccines will generate less waste because we have a recycling program. Hospital stakeholders would be able to buy more en masse and patients could be treated at an affordable payer price. Herd immunity could eradicate disease.

 

Refine the detailed income statement for your venture for two years (at six month intervals) or a more appropriate time scale. Explicitly state the assumptions that underlie your financial model:

 

Our goal is to reduce the maternal mortality rate in Sierra Leone by 5%.

In the short term, we hope to accomplish this by disseminating educational videos about maternal health to health professionals, clinics, midwifery/surgical schools, NGOs, and women. As a result, we are looking for women to be more educated about what healthcare resources are available to them in clinics and use them and also to increase the yield for midwifery/surgical schools.

In the long term, we hope to accomplish this goal by creating a full-length documentary for Western audiences that depicts what steps Sierra Leone has been and is taking to reduce the maternal mortality rate. As a result, we hope to have audience members desire to take action by donating funds to clinics and midwifery/surgical schools. In addition, we hope to make a lasting impact by changing the existing mindset around what healthcare looks like in Africa to one that is accurate and positive.

 

Revenue Model //  Income Statement

 

Refine the Business Model for your venture based on your revenue model. You may use the Osterwalder BMC to refine your business model but prepare one or more visuals that explain how your venture will work and accomplish your BHAG.

 

MOSL Impact Model  //  Business-model-canvas

Revenue Model

Reach Projections Outline

 

Specific Partnerships:

1. SL Ministry of Health – Once our project has enough momentum it would be great to partner with them and do a sex education campaign. Our videos advertise what health resources are available in SL, and I think the eHealth ministry would view them as a platform to distribute education and awareness.
2. Lehigh College of HMS – This would be a great institution to partner with and do data collection research. Population health is a huge interest in the college of HMS, and I think they would help us legitimize our documentary.

The following three are subjects we have covered, but an ongoing partnership would build trust and allow us to explore the depth of the issues these organizations address. Also, the more we work with them, the more relationships we build with the individuals within them – allowing us to find a subject for the full-length doc.

1. Makeni Midwifery – We have a partnership with them already, however, I would like to expand and strengthen this connection. They do amazing work and I see a lot of different video angles within this school.
2. Cappa Care International Board – We have a partnership with them already, however, I would like to expand and strengthen this connection. They do amazing work and I see a lot of different video angles.
3.  

   National Emergency Medical Services – We have a partnership with them already, however, I would like to expand and strengthen this connection. They do amazing work and I see a lot of different video angles

    

 

Funding;

Our primary source of funding is through grants. So far we have received over $2,000 of funding this semester. We are looking for more grants to apply for this summer. In the long term, we need revenue to fund a distributor. This would come from grants also – specifically from the core doc database.

Refined Business Models:

Educational Campaign Model

MOSL Full Length Documentary Model

Ten practical lessons from the business (revenue) models of ventures we reviewed today (or others you research) as they relate to your venture.

 

1. Make your value proposition clear and concise.
2. Look to expand customer segments. For example, in the Reel campaign, they made sure their product could be used for people who did not have a yard: “There is no reason not to have a garden.” This applies to our targeted audience – we should maintain inclusivity.
3. When applicable, show a step by step process to show the effectiveness and efficiency of the product. SmartGas provides a diagram showing exactly how product and product distribution functions. We could do the same by showing a map of where our films are screened.
4. Provide customers with images/video/or another visual to show impact. We could design a visual for our website to demonstrate the geographic areas we are working in (places we have filmed). This map would grow as our project does.
5. Look to create the utmost efficiency in products. We could do this by making streaming available on multiple sites.
6. Have a mantra that matches the value proposition. For example, a mantra like “smart living” is compelling and attracts customer audiences to the product. Ours is “Saving Lives Through Story” > it invites the audience to be a prat of the greater change.
7. Provide statistics or other quantifiable graphics that show success or future success of the product.
8. Providing three, one-word achievements of the product is compelling. For example, Envirofit’s is “affordability, access, and adoption.” Reel’s is “people, planet, and profit.”
9. Provide multiple ways for partners to contribute. For example, Envirofit has investors, distributors and NGO partnerships.
10. Craft media that is specific to advertising your project the best. For example, Reel’s campaign was generated in a more “QVC” format. This worked for the project since the Strength of Reel is its simplicity.