"Social entrepreneurs believe and then they see"

My title is a great introduction to the passionate work my teammates and I will be doing this June and July in Hubli-Dharwad, in the "Sandbox Region" within the state of Karnataka, India. Moreover, it is perfectly in line with the spirit of entrepreneurship that fuels the University of Southern California's Stevens Institute for Innovation. The Stevens Institute introduced me to the field of social entrepreneurship. Since that seredipitous introduction I have independently begun to educate myself about the field, (for example, by watching videos like the one that provides my title quote), and have begun to passionately pursue actualizing my own potential as a social entrepreneur.

My personal journey to this point has been quite a wild ride; in future posts I will do my story justice. However, for now I would like to introduce the FrontlineSMS Healthcare team's project, as we are now on the eve of its realization in India. We are mere weeks away from the start of the trip that we Global Impacters have been eargerly anticipating since we applied for the program in January 2009.

In a collaboration true to USC's interdisciplinary nature, the business world and the health care world will be crossing celestial paths thanks to our unique team roster which combines equal parts business student (Dan and Jon) and science student (myself and Tapasya). I will leave my lovely teammates' inspiring stories to their posts!

Our team is introducing a mobile phone-based SMS (short message service) health care communications network to the city of Hubli-Dharwad. SMS is a widespread and inexpensive technology that is causing revolutionary changes in the developing world by connecting people though mobile phone text messages. We will create a health care communications network using cell phones in rural areas. The collaboration should include smaller clinics, larger hospitals, and community health workers (CHWs, called "link workers" in Hubli-Dharwad), to more effectively deliver healthcare services to Hubli-Dharwad. The idea is to create a triage system which better connects patients with the physicians who can treat them, allows for patient outreach, and increases the speed of providing health care. We will accomplish this by linking cell phones to FrontlineSMS, a free open source software program which allows users to connect a SIM modem to a PC to create an SMS (text message software) hub. Text messages with patient data will automatically be entered into a central computer, through Frontline SMS. Cell phone-equipped "link workers" (CHWs) will be able to engage in two-way communications with hospitals and clinics. SMS-based technology can solve problems with existing infrastructure and is easier to implement than costlier telemedicine solutions that require the internet. This innovative application of a new technology is unprecedented in the Northwestern Karnataka healthcare system.

By working closely with health care providers at various levels, and a local partner NGO in Hubli-Dharwad, we will determine which of the following potential uses will best serve the needs of people in the Sandbox (the region encompasing Hubli-Dharwad, in which our grant provider, the Deshpande Foundation, operates).
• Patient Regulation: patient tracking, patient updates, patient medication adherence
• More efficient healthcare and information delivery: requests for remote/emergency patient care, coordinating Home-Based Care visits, answer people’s questions regarding: common symptoms and problems with water filters, provide drug dosage/usage information, reduce healthcare workers’ travel costs
• Link worker coordination and response: connect health workers in far out areas and those disconnected by infrastructure from hospitals, clinics and the city’s main resources, Link worker-to-Link worker communication and group mobilization, Link worker status (solidify the link workers’ role as legitimate healthcare representatives in their villages), link worker accountability and transparency (the number of text messages sent and the price of them can be tracked using the FrontlineSMS technology, ensuring proper use of the cell phones we distribute for healthcare concerns).
• Connect patients: facilitate easier access to outreach/support groups: connect people who may be suffering from similar problems, integrating connectivity into HIV counseling

We believe a FrontlineSMS-based system will work because similar solutions have been successfully implemented in other developing countries and the technology is highly flexible and adaptable to local and infrastructure and needs. Overall, the technology will result in a net reduction in organization costs to rural clinics that heavily utilize link workers. Considering the fact that this project only requires a central computer hub/server (with a GSM modem and SIM card that provides the number to which field workers send SMS text messages) and cell phones, the project is highly mobile. The technology is simple and user friendly which makes it very easy to implement. It can be easily adapted to the Sandbox, depending on identified needs and health care infrastructure. It requires only finding local partners to help implement it and become the foundations for its sustainable continuation once the Global Impact Volunteers leave India.


Here is an article from USC's student newspaper, The Daily Trojan, which overviews the project briefly, along with the two other projects that are being spearheaded by additional Global Impact groups.

Thank you for reading.

And please, always remember:
"The moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. Whatever you can do or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now."-
Johann Wolfgang Goethe

~Lena