I really liked the fact that you focus on financial sustainability, this is definetely a major driver for the project. I also liked the model, it can easily be replicated, once you clearly define and communicate your methodology. Can you partner with healthcare companies for this initiative? they may be able to offer you products or even technical support in a field that they should really master.
Dear Moises,
Thank you so much for your comments! I appreciate your suggestions. We are constantly looking for ways to create sustainability. I like your suggestion of partnering with health care companies. As an organization, we have been trying to brainstorm various options for this~ whether that be through donation of formula, or even help with the development of a fortified formula that can be locally produced. We are very conscious of the need to ensure that access to formula is maintained, and our goal would be that access is not dependent upon external resources. We have struggled with how to involve health care companies (or formula production companies) in a way that supports sustainability. Your thoughts on this would be great!
I can see it is hard approaching these companies. The important issue here is creating a process that is easy to be implemented for them (no unnecessary complexities, for example). Also, by talking to them, try to understand what is really valued by them. Is it increasing product offering? Is it sharing knowledge with you? Cant they have products with your brand? this can greatly increase adoption by companies and the best way to understand this is by thoroughly talking to them.
Thank you for these ideas. Your thoughts are quite helpful for framing a discussion with the companies regarding formula. It's also true that these companies have knowledge that we may not even aware of, and it seems silly not to tap into that!
Congratulations! I like your innovative idea for addressing the nutritional support for this vulnerable population, and focusing on sustainability. Your project expands upon work that has been done by Partners in Health, by including the production of locally produced fortified sosoma. Could you include some measures of the success of this unique component of the program? For example, the ability of the proposed factory to produce an amount of fortified sosoma that is adequate to meet the needs of the target population at an affordable price.
Dear Rubina,
Thank you for your comments and feedback. We love Partners in Health's model, and they have been very generous in offering us all of their protocols related to education and implementation so that we do not have to reinvent the wheel. We are hoping to recreate the wonderful results PIH has within the means available to a typical rural district hospital and their catchment area.
As for the sosoma factory, I really appreciate your thoughts related to measurable outcomes. We have been considering outcomes from the perspective of HIV transmission and malnutrition, but not along the lines of the factory. Your example is a perfect summary of what we should be considering, and already brings up several thoughts. For example, we should be defining our target population specific to the factory. In our current project, we are focusing on families affected by HIV. This doesn't account for the vastly higher number of other families with issues of malnutrition. We should really consider this larger number when thinking about the factory.
Thank you again for your thoughts, and please offer any other feedback you may have! Wendy
This is a great initiative! We’re interested in learning more about your plans for financial sustainability. Specifically, what are the details of the income-generating activities? Also, how do you plan on providing the milk formula in a sustainable way? You’ve discussed purchasing this milk through a bulk payment, but we are unclear as to how you do this. Thanks!
Dear Naveen,
Thank you for your comments! The question of sustainability is always the question on my mind. We are confident that local sosoma production will address sosoma needs, but we continue to struggle with how to address the cost of formula. We are taking several steps to further investigate our options:
1. Micro-enterprises run either by the HIV clinic or members of the local Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) group. This could include the production and sale of health-related items such as soap, or even a business that is unrelated to healthcare. We have been consulting with Bamboosero, an enterprise that trains local people to build bicycle frames out of bamboo as one possibility. This takes further investigation to ensure that these projects will not have a negative impact on existing funding requirements. We also want to ensure that these projects fit within the larger context of the general hospital services, and will be accepted by the community at-large.
2. We will be speaking with leaders at the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise next week to pursue the concept of sustainable hospitals. We hope to obtain further insight into options for this project, as well as for the hospital in general.
3. Consider working with the formula industry to obtain donations, or even to produce formula locally. This brings up several issues that would need to be addressed. We are concerned that formula donations will not be reliable or sustainable over time. In addition, the Rwandan Ministry of Health has done an excellent job of promoting breastfeeding in the HIV-negative population. There are some concerns that formula production may give confusing messages to those families who are not risk of HIV transmission.
Any other suggestions would be wonderful! Also, thoughts or experience with micro-enterprises in the context of healthcare would be quite helpful. Thanks! Wendy
The Ihangane Project has forged a formal collaboration with Amy Lockwood of Project Healthy Children and Paul Clyde,PhD of the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at University of Michigan. Dr. Clyde will assist us with the development of a business model for our local sosoma production program. Ms. Lockwood has also agreed to assist us with recommendations from the sosoma production aspect. We are very excited about evolving team!
One of our priorities in this project is to create a program that can be financially sustainable and can support the local economy. We are continuing to build on the concept of local sosoma production. Recently, The Ihangane Project was approached for input on a reforestation project that may occur in the Ruli area. Our first thought was ....moringa! This would support reforestation, encourage local economic development and provide a locally produced nutritional supplement. We are now interested in the possibility of using moringa powder as the fortification for sosoma production. Does anyone have thoughts on this? Does anyone know if the nutritional value of this power can be easily quantified and reproduced? We would love any thoughts on this!
Comentários
I really liked the fact that you focus on financial sustainability, this is definetely a major driver for the project. I also liked the model, it can easily be replicated, once you clearly define and communicate your methodology. Can you partner with healthcare companies for this initiative? they may be able to offer you products or even technical support in a field that they should really master.
good luck!
Dear Moises,
Thank you so much for your comments! I appreciate your suggestions. We are constantly looking for ways to create sustainability. I like your suggestion of partnering with health care companies. As an organization, we have been trying to brainstorm various options for this~ whether that be through donation of formula, or even help with the development of a fortified formula that can be locally produced. We are very conscious of the need to ensure that access to formula is maintained, and our goal would be that access is not dependent upon external resources. We have struggled with how to involve health care companies (or formula production companies) in a way that supports sustainability. Your thoughts on this would be great!
I can see it is hard approaching these companies. The important issue here is creating a process that is easy to be implemented for them (no unnecessary complexities, for example). Also, by talking to them, try to understand what is really valued by them. Is it increasing product offering? Is it sharing knowledge with you? Cant they have products with your brand? this can greatly increase adoption by companies and the best way to understand this is by thoroughly talking to them.
Thank you for these ideas. Your thoughts are quite helpful for framing a discussion with the companies regarding formula. It's also true that these companies have knowledge that we may not even aware of, and it seems silly not to tap into that!
Congratulations! I like your innovative idea for addressing the nutritional support for this vulnerable population, and focusing on sustainability. Your project expands upon work that has been done by Partners in Health, by including the production of locally produced fortified sosoma. Could you include some measures of the success of this unique component of the program? For example, the ability of the proposed factory to produce an amount of fortified sosoma that is adequate to meet the needs of the target population at an affordable price.
Dear Rubina,
Thank you for your comments and feedback. We love Partners in Health's model, and they have been very generous in offering us all of their protocols related to education and implementation so that we do not have to reinvent the wheel. We are hoping to recreate the wonderful results PIH has within the means available to a typical rural district hospital and their catchment area.
As for the sosoma factory, I really appreciate your thoughts related to measurable outcomes. We have been considering outcomes from the perspective of HIV transmission and malnutrition, but not along the lines of the factory. Your example is a perfect summary of what we should be considering, and already brings up several thoughts. For example, we should be defining our target population specific to the factory. In our current project, we are focusing on families affected by HIV. This doesn't account for the vastly higher number of other families with issues of malnutrition. We should really consider this larger number when thinking about the factory.
Thank you again for your thoughts, and please offer any other feedback you may have! Wendy
This is a great initiative! We’re interested in learning more about your plans for financial sustainability. Specifically, what are the details of the income-generating activities? Also, how do you plan on providing the milk formula in a sustainable way? You’ve discussed purchasing this milk through a bulk payment, but we are unclear as to how you do this. Thanks!
- Naveen Shakir, Ashoka’s Changemakers
Dear Naveen,
Thank you for your comments! The question of sustainability is always the question on my mind. We are confident that local sosoma production will address sosoma needs, but we continue to struggle with how to address the cost of formula. We are taking several steps to further investigate our options:
1. Micro-enterprises run either by the HIV clinic or members of the local Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) group. This could include the production and sale of health-related items such as soap, or even a business that is unrelated to healthcare. We have been consulting with Bamboosero, an enterprise that trains local people to build bicycle frames out of bamboo as one possibility. This takes further investigation to ensure that these projects will not have a negative impact on existing funding requirements. We also want to ensure that these projects fit within the larger context of the general hospital services, and will be accepted by the community at-large.
2. We will be speaking with leaders at the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise next week to pursue the concept of sustainable hospitals. We hope to obtain further insight into options for this project, as well as for the hospital in general.
3. Consider working with the formula industry to obtain donations, or even to produce formula locally. This brings up several issues that would need to be addressed. We are concerned that formula donations will not be reliable or sustainable over time. In addition, the Rwandan Ministry of Health has done an excellent job of promoting breastfeeding in the HIV-negative population. There are some concerns that formula production may give confusing messages to those families who are not risk of HIV transmission.
Any other suggestions would be wonderful! Also, thoughts or experience with micro-enterprises in the context of healthcare would be quite helpful. Thanks! Wendy
The Ihangane Project has forged a formal collaboration with Amy Lockwood of Project Healthy Children and Paul Clyde,PhD of the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at University of Michigan. Dr. Clyde will assist us with the development of a business model for our local sosoma production program. Ms. Lockwood has also agreed to assist us with recommendations from the sosoma production aspect. We are very excited about evolving team!
One of our priorities in this project is to create a program that can be financially sustainable and can support the local economy. We are continuing to build on the concept of local sosoma production. Recently, The Ihangane Project was approached for input on a reforestation project that may occur in the Ruli area. Our first thought was ....moringa! This would support reforestation, encourage local economic development and provide a locally produced nutritional supplement. We are now interested in the possibility of using moringa powder as the fortification for sosoma production. Does anyone have thoughts on this? Does anyone know if the nutritional value of this power can be easily quantified and reproduced? We would love any thoughts on this!
Postar novo comentário