Ten non-obvious assumptions about our target customers (or organizations) that we need to validate:

1. Families are consuming too much rice because they cannot afford other types of food.
2. Mothers and children have not had success with or access to other micronutrient treatments, which is why the children are still malnourished.
3. Mothers feed children under 1 year old 3 times per day and feed a 1-2 year old 4 times per day, so our food product will have ¼ – ⅓ of the required daily nutrients.
4. Mothers are willing to spend 10-15 cents (around 1,000 Leones) on food for their children under 2 years old.
5. Mothers are largely influenced by other mothers and women in the household and are less influenced by men/husbands.
6. They value the opinion of other women in the family and usually go to mother support groups for advice. This could impact the marketing of our product. Would they listen to other mothers over a community health worker?
7. This is a product mothers would purchase in a market setting for their children.
8. Mothers would be willing to listen to the value of our product and could be convinced to try it.
9. The food would require packaging and descriptions that are easy for the customer to follow.
10. Mothers would be willing to report to CHWs or people at World Hope about the behavior and health of their child after trying/ continuing to eat our foods.

Ten hypotheses about our project that we need to test during fieldwork:

1. First, young children would be willing to eat our pudding and bouillon product based on its taste and texture.
2. Our product will be able to improve the health of the child. This is not something we will be able to really examine during fieldwork, but it is something we will have to consider
3. The child will not have any adverse reactions to our vitamins.
   1. When people consume over the recommended daily amounts of vitamin intake, there are some potential side effects. One worry is that malnourished children that suddenly have access to many different micronutrients will experience these side effects even at low levels, but statistically, this should not be an issue.
4. Similar to the first list, we hope mothers will be willing to report information about our product’s effect on their children’s health and behavior.
5. We will be able to find our ingredients at low enough costs and in large enough quantities to manufacture enough of our product at our price point. (This is information we have discussed with employees at World Hope International, but we will need to confirm it on the ground.)
6. Either employees or CHWs would be willing to help mothers and children use and learn the benefits of our product.
7. Women will be willing and able to manufacture and sell our product in the marketplace.
8. Children are not getting other micronutrients throughout the day. We are assuming children don’t get nutrients from any of the other foods they are eating, so our nutrient content will be optimized so it can be fed to children at each meal.
9. Women will require adequate training in order to make and sell our product.
10. Any ingredients that cannot be found in markets, like supplements, could be imported and used in our manufacturing process.
11. Families would be willing to try a new bouillon cube in place of Maggi cubes.

What I bring to the team and how my own strengths and weaknesses have changed over the course of the class:

I think I help to bring an open mindedness to our team. I may think my ideas are great and practical, but so could everyone else, and I’m well aware of that. With that being said, I’m not afraid to stand up for the ideas I have or the direction I think we should go. I have been exposed to different leadership roles throughout high school and college that have prepared me for the organization and work of this course. This semester, I’ve been lucky to have learned what it’s like to work on a real, functioning team of members that pull their own weight. I’ve always been someone who is kind of loud and takes charge, and in the past, I’ve had to pull a lot of weight when others slacked. This semester has been great because every team member is responsible and proactive about research and design concepts, which has helped me become a better listener in a group setting. I think I still have room to grow as a team member, but I really like our group’s dynamic.