PGSSC (Fall 2020)

Project Background:

The Program in Global Surgery and Social Change (PGSSC) is a collaborative effort between the Harvard teaching hospitals, Harvard Medical School/ Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH) and Partners In Health (PIH). This organization emerges from work of the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery, which was led by Dr. John Meara at Harvard Medical School (Dr. Mearas is a 1986 ND graduate). PGSSC’s objective is to advocate for Universal access to safe, affordable surgical, obstetric, and anesthesia care when needed. The strategy is two-fold: 1) Global Surgical Systems Strengthening through Research, Advocacy, and Implementation Science, using the Frameworks developed as part of the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery, and 2) Developing Leaders in Global Surgical and Health Systems through Research, Advocacy, and Care Delivery. PGSSC's research focuses on surgical and health systems strengthening that is measurable, transparent, and locally-driven. Click here for the Strategic Plan that focuses on implementation science, research, advocacy, and training leaders.

Opportunity:

The Pacific Community (SPC) and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) are working with the PGSSC to support the development of National Surgical, Obstetric, and Anesthesia Plans (NSOAPs), as outlined at the 2019 Pacific Health Ministers Meeting and in alignment with the regional vision of the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO). For this past year, an i-Lab team and other colleagues have been working with PGSSC to help do baseline research on a series of Pacific Islands (Cook Islands, Fiji, Tonga, Palau, and Vanuatu) to help prepare to build out NSOAPs for each of the islands. One of the products of their work is to synthesize collected data and help produce the NSOAPs. An important part of the process is to work with and share all the information gathered with key stakeholders, through a series of stakeholder meetings, as part of the process of building out the NSOAP.

PGSSC is interested in developing a standard process and templates for developing the stakeholder meetings across the work that they have done to date in more than a dozen countries, with particular focus on the on-going work in the Pacific Islands.  This DAT may also assist the i-Lab and PGSSC teams in finishing the situational analysis in several countries (particularly in Palau) and/or specific research in preparation for the stakeholder meeting.

Definition of Success:

The development of research to support a set of the models for the most effective pathways for engaging stakeholders and carrying out the stakeholder meetings, that will lead to the development of a model template for conducting stakeholder analysis that both provides concrete structure and advice, while also allowing flexibility to adapt to different situations. 

Meet the Team:

Final Deliverables

Working Version_ Palau Poli... by DAT

Palau NSOAP Ch. 2 v3 by DAT

Palau NSOAP Chapter 3 by DAT

Question Bank - Disaster Pr... by DAT

Vía Educación (Fall 2020)

Project Background:

Vía Educación is a non-profit organization in Mexico seeking to improve people’s quality of life by promoting sustainable social development through education. The organization believes that every person is capable of improving their opportunities in life as well as those of their communities. Vía Educación implements Learning Communities, a project whose model is founded on 30+ years of research and practice by the Community of Research on Excellence for All (“CREA”) at the University of Barcelona. The model involves “implementing ‘Successful Educational Actions’ (SEAs) characterized by reorganizing the available resources in the school and the community to support all pupils’ academic achievement” (Flecha, Soler, 2013).  The model is implemented internationally through different implementing partners in countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Spain, Perú, among others. Vía Educación is the implementing partner in Mexico, working with nearly 200 public elementary and middle schools across 8 states in Mexico as of July 2019.

Opportunity:

Via is interested in expanding its work in citizenship education, and would like the team to review mechanisms for citizenship education in non-formal spaces around the world.  We are developing a collaboration with a local Mexican organization focused on civic participation in neighborhoods to broaden the reach of our community programs. It would be great to have a review of what other organizations are doing, their theory of change, a comparison among the different initiatives, innovatives and high-impact practices and implementations, and some insights on how it could be adapted to Mexico. DAT students will have support from Via not only in providing information and responding to questions, but also in connecting the team with stakeholders for interviews and surveys, etc.

Definition of Success:

Working with the Notre Dame DAT, VIA hopes to be inspired to expand its work on citizen education, identifying best practices both globally and in Mexico in citizenship education as well as presenting the ideas in ways that are engaging with and attractive to policymakers and administrators.

Meet the Team:

Final Deliverable

Final Deliverable - VIA F2020 by DAT on Scribd

Rusalia Resource Foundation (Fall 2020)

Project Background:

The Rusalia Resource Foundation (RRF) is a new non-profit legal entity operating in Kisumu, Kenya with a parallel non-profit organization located in South Bend, Indiana.  Founded by Dr. Juliana Otieno, a Kenyan Pediatrician who was in the 2019-2020 Inspired Leadership Program at Notre Dame, RRF works to empower West Kenyan girls by providing full high school tuition scholarships and mentorship opportunities, with a special focus on life skills education. As a result of Foundation provided guidance and study, Rusalia Scholars are hoped to be “college-ready” and learn the value of education, personal strength, independence, and service to the community.

The purposes of RRF are: 1) To provide opportunity and create an enabling environment for qualified girls to become self-actualized adults by providing access to an integrated support system including education, growth opportunities, values and mentorship that would otherwise not be available due to the circumstances of their families; 2) To provide scholarships that will fund the expenses of girls that are academically eligible to attend high school and improve the transition to higher learning institutions such as community, national colleges and universities; and,  3) To enrich the academic experience of Rusalia scholars through mentoring and training from professionals and others with special expertise, such as health advocacy, particularly in preventive medicine protocols, and environmental management. The girl child in the target area in Kisumu, Kenya is at risk given the poor living conditions in most rural homes and the hostile environment. Educational opportunities are not the same for girls and boys. This comes from the cultural preference of taking boys to school as opposed to girls, with a combination of factors such as poverty, diseases, sexual and labor exploitation putting girls, particularly at risk. This has led to a high school dropout (50%) rate and teenage pregnancies. The role of mentoring of the girls is crucial.

Opportunity:

The importance of mentoring the young (or less experienced) by an older (senior), more experienced or knowledgeable person is well known and appreciated as it fosters learning, communication, and personal development opportunities. This mentoring process will enhance confidence, life skills, and build self-esteem.  The question we want this DAT to explore is how might we provide effective mentorship opportunities to high school girls in low socioeconomic areas to achieve 80% or higher high school completion rates and be the change agents for their community? Virtual and face to face mentoring may be applicable. We also want to explore the roles of peer mentoring, task-focused versus relationship-based mentoring, and short vs long term mentoring. 

Definition of Success:

We look forward to inspiring and concrete examples of the best programs globally for providing expanded mentoring and development opportunities for girls that might inform the new programs for girls that we are developing. We hope to take specific lessons from these international experiences and build them into our own programming, including for helping set expectations for both the girls and mentors.

Meet the Team:

Final Deliverable

Rusalia DAT Final Deliverable F2020 by DAT on Scribd

Yazidi Homeland (Fall 2020)

Project Background:

The genocide committed by the Islamic State has left Yazidis, a historically- persecuted ethnoreligious minority, largely displaced from their ancestral homeland in the Nineveh governorate of Iraq. Roughly 300,000 Yazidis now live in or around Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Iraqi Kurdistan. They are subject to ongoing rights abuse, exposed to floods, fires and extreme weather and live in squalid conditions: there is insufficient physical security, housing, health care and no reliable access to clean water, food, schools and jobs. Roughly 100,000 Yazidis have gained asylum in foreign countries, but the numbers receiving asylum have shrunk significantly due to populist backlash against immigrants and refugees (the United States, for example, accepted only twenty Yazidi refugees in 2019). Some Yazidis may settle permanently in Kurdistan, but the KRG has neither the will nor the means to accommodate large-scale integration of Shingali Yazidis into the housing and labor market. Many feel that the pressure to identify as “Kurds” makes Yazidis culturally invisible, perpetuating the genocide against them. Approximately 60,000 returned to Northern Shingal and Shingal City prior to June 2020, but the infrastructure is largely destroyed and many of these people are living either in tents on the mountain or in houses that do not belong to them. Nearly everyone is dependent on humanitarian aid, apart from those who are employed by international agencies, NGOs, or local security forces. The capacity for the full population to resettle in the North does not exist. Since June 2020, a growing number of Yazidis (roughly 15,000 over six weeks), have returned to Shingal, including Southern Shingal. Facilitating sustainable resettlement in the South is particularly necessary because, prior to the genocidal attacks by ISIS, Southern Shingal was home to the majority of Yazidis and during the years of ISIS occupation, it was much more seriously damaged than the North. The Federal Government from Baghdad lacks the political will and funding to enable a large-scale return (Iraq faces a budget shortfall of billions of dollars due to Covid-19). The interests and needs of Yazidis are consistently neglected due to their small population, a lack of political influence, and a history of systemic discrimination and oppression. The Iraqi government has done very little to address basic infrastructure needs, including landmine clearance, provision of electricity and water, and rebuilding of roads, hospitals, and schools. Some NGOs, particularly Nadia’s Initiative (led by Yazidi recipient of Nobel Peace Prize, Nadia Murad) have concentrated on solutions that address primarily the needs of those who were taken into captivity by ISIS and their families. Such projects include furnishing houses with appliances, giving grants to women looking to start small businesses, and equipping female-led households with basic equipment to farm small plots of land. Nadia’s Initiative has demonstrated progress by building several schools, helping to rebuild the local hospital, and demining more than a million meters of land.

Opportunity:

There is a need to accelerate and augment Nadia’s Initiative by expanding support to reach other parts of the community. We propose facilitating the return of a number of Yazidis to the South of Shingal; in particular, to ancestral villages at the base of Shingal Mountain, where they lived prior to forced removal by Saddam Hussein’s regime. We focus on Yazidis who already have rights to the land they are returning to, who, prior to 2014, were already skilled builders, farmers, and community leaders and who are willing to contribute to the rebuilding of Shingal. Providing them with the equipment and materials that allow them to resettle and rehabilitate their own land through regenerative farming practice will enable them not only to make a livelihood for themselves but to rebuild roads and basic infrastructure, address needs such as water, food and electricity shortages, rebuild shrines, and provide sustainable work opportunities with a positive impact on the broader community.

Definition of Success:

We would like students to create a list of potential partners in each area listed above, including a description of each partner, a point of first contact, and a rationale as to why these particular entities are likely to support this work. In addition, we would like students to reframe the general narrative set out in the proposal, in ways that make plain how the work we are doing aligns in a special way with the interests and objectives of these fields.

Meet the Team:

Final Deliverables

Yazidi Presentation F2020 by DAT on Scribd

Regenerate Shingal Yazidi DAT Deliverable by DAT on Scribd

Marketing & Donor Communication | Education Bridge (Fall 2020)

Project Background:

Education Bridge seeks to create flourishing South Sudanese communities through education and peacebuilding. As part of this mission, Education Bridge opened its first school, Greenbelt Academy, in Bor, South Sudan in February 2017. Led by South Sudanese Notre Dame graduate Majak Anyieth ’17, the Greenbelt Academy currently serves over 400 students in grades 9-12, and in a very short time, has become one of the strongest academic schools in South Sudan. The Greenbelt Academy seeks to provide quality secondary education as well as to develop a generation of South Sudanese who are not only well prepared academically, but who also see themselves as peacemakers and transformational leaders.

Opportunity:

Education Bridge has worked with Notre Dame DAT teams over multiple semesters on projects related to developing a peacebuilding curriculum, building enhanced opportunities for girls, and enhancing international partnerships. Education Bridge now wants to consolidate some of this work, and help map opportunities for future development, particularly in ways that raise the profile of their work internationally with key stakeholders, as well as develop a communication plan for long-term sustainability.

Definition of Success:

The development of a good system for managing regular stakeholder communication (including to the network of people who are currently committed to supporting the yearly educational costs for one South Sudanese student), with concrete suggestions on a communication strategy that helps build enduring networks and sustainable partnerships that will be relevant for Education Bridge. This could include a better plan for newsletters (possibly using mailchip), fundraising, and storytelling

Meet the Team:

Final Deliverable

Eb Comprehensive Deliverable | F2020 by DAT on Scribd