Creating a Network

“Things will change when you get to India”. This was echoed throughout the pre-departure planning stages for our project. We had a very clear understanding of our purpose for this project: resolve the technical issues and expand the software into other NGO’s, but we went in knowing that these objectives could change dramatically.

Now having spent over a month in India, we are fortunate in that our project has not deviated greatly from the proposal we began with. The NGO’s that are working with us are extremely organized and have realistic goals and expectations that were communicated clearly and promptly from the beginning. Despite the pre-departure planning, there have been many challenges that we did not anticipate. Specifically, the length of time needed to resolve the technical issues that these NGO’s are facing, the technical knowledge needed to implement the program, and the identification of possible expansion opportunities for the software have proven to be the biggest challenges.

However, we have been able to take a step back from the urge to focus solely on fixing the technical issues and analyze the most efficient growth for the SMSFrontline software. After meeting with multiple stakeholders working with the HIV/AIDS community, we have identified a need to expand the program and create a more efficient network to connect all the stakeholders that are currently using the SMSFrontline software. A centralized database would allow the NGO’s we are working with to share their data to create a more automated and structured tracking, referral and follow up system. In order to create this database, we have enlisted the help of various sources- LEAD students from BVB College, a software engineer and, our own teammate, Kailash! We are hopeful that this database will streamline the data flow currently being implemented and improve the overall data sharing between the NGO’s. So what do we envision? We hope that a specific NGO can refer a patient to register for a support group via SMS, and the support group will receive a message regarding the referral. If the patient attends the support group, the support group can then send a SMS message back to the referring NGO to confirm the registration of the patient. All of these messages would go through the central database and a history of the patient will begin to accumulate. With such limited resources, the NGO’s can benefit greatly from this system and will allow the NGO’s to spend more time working directly with the community members.

Because our program involves numerous stakeholders, there are many people we consider “champions”. Among the top “champions” is Venkatesh, our KHPT advocate, whose passion has allowed our software to be implemented seamlessly into key NGO’s. In addition, Joshi from BCT, who has a wealth of knowledge regarding SMSFrontline software and is eager to see the software become successful, and most importantly, we have our team of technical gurus- the LEAD students and Jaya, a software engineer who have been tirelessly working on debugging many issues within the current software. We have assumed the role of the facilitator for this project, and without the dedication of these various “champions”, we definitely would not be able to complete our project.

We still have much to do, but we definitely think that we can accomplish a great deal by remaining flexible and adapting to the needs of our NGO’s.

Navigating the Monsoons

This is a short video that we compiled that documents our trip to BCT. Enjoy!

Journey to BCT

After learning about the Deshpande Foundation and its work in Hubli-Dharwad during orientation, I was even more eager to get started on our project and to begin contributing to the socially-conscious ecosystem that the Deshpande Foundation has been building in the Sandbox region. After a morning group meeting, Jyoti, Tisa, and I, along with the Mobilizing Health team (Breanna, Ken, and Rolf), set off to meet with BCT at their office in Dharwad. With only an address and no clear directions about how to get there, we jumped on a crowded public bus towards the Dharwad bus stand. The 45 minute ride was filled with the typical chaos of Indian streets: pushy riders fighting for available seats, the bus conductor yelling out each stop, and constant honking by the bus driver and every other passing vehicle.

The rain came early today and by the time we reached the bus stand, it was pouring. Jumping over muddy puddles while avoiding auto ricksaws and motorbikes, we finally made it to the city bus stand to catch our connecting bus. We were told to meet the BCT staff at MG Bank. Once we arrived at the bank, we realized it was the headquarters for the Karnataka branch of Grameen Bank!

We waited for a while to meet our host, but no one came. Eager to get to the meeting, we decided tot take the initiative and find the office ourselves. We asked around for directions and every local seemed to have contradicting directions for us. BCT told us that their office was near Ishvyar Temple, but when we found the temple, it was completely surrounded by a residential neighborhood. We flagged down a local resident and he kindly offered to drive Rolf around to find the office and then come back for the rest of us. While we waited for Rolf, Jyoti and Breanna took shelter from the rain in the temple, and Ken, Tisa, and I wandered aimlessly up and down the street.

Luckily, a BCT truck spotted us and gave us a ride to the office. Finally! Although the BCT office is only about an hour car ride from BVB, it took us 4 hours to get there. Everything in India seems to take just a bit longer that expected... Nonetheless, the meeting with BCT was extremely productive. Venkatesh, the Regional Manager from KHPT who works closely with BCT, carefully explained the current status of the FrontlineSMS program that was initiated by last summer's Global Impact team and highlighted some of the challenges. We also got to meet the Peer Educators and Outreach Workers currently using the FrontlineSMS technology. We were given such a warm welcome! Ken and Rolf were even photographed and asked for autographs like celebrities. Despite all the rain and confusion that delayed our meeting, we left BCT with big smiles.

Namaskara!

It has been about four days since I arrived in Hubli and I am very excited to begin my project! We had an amazing orientation put on by the Deshpande Sandbox fellows where we were able to visit many local NGOs in the Hubli-Dharwad region. One of my favorite NGOs that we visited was the Karnataka Health Promotion Trust (KHPT) which focuses its efforts on the HIV/AIDS communities in Karnataka. This is one of the NGOs that my group will be working with during our two month stay. The site visit was very intimate, we were able to speak with many people from the community who were affected/infected by HIV/AIDS which included sex workers, children, and foster parents. The gathering took place under a tree in one of the villages and everyone in the community was so warm and willing to speak with us. Some of the women even brought henna so they could draw designs on our hands! The women and children were truly inspiring and I can't wait to begin working with this community.