Design for Maternal Health

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

Design for Maternal Health Focussing on Maternal Health, The River and Power for off the grid communities

The Service Pathway

July to November 2010

Soumitri Varadarajan

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

Focus on The Woman

The Fifth Goal focuses upon women - public health, social justice and human rights.

Maternal Health, The River, Power

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

280 Days

Often women find it difficult to to accurately pinpoint the date of conception.

During their visits to a health facility, attendants will insist on dates as crucial to their being able to assess the progress of the pregnancy. The design steps in here with an object, a recorder of key events, that women can make themselves and maintain. Such an object can be shown to the health activists and also taken along on visits to the health centre. As a device that records the journey of pregnancy and the birth of the child the object becomes significant for the telling of stories.

As a predictor of the expected date of delivery the object would go some way in instilling better birth preparedness at a local and community level.

Design: Olivia Fitch Target Agency: The Action North-East Trust (The ANT), The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)

Maternal Health

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

My First Period

The project creates a passage ritual for girls entering puberty. The day of the first menstruation is often considered the central event of female puberty, as it signals the possibility of fertility.An event such as girls camp is proposed. This would be an occasion to teach women and girls about their future as mother and to emphasize traditional knowledge from the elder, experienced women of each society. Shame about menstruation which often creates an overall sense of body shame will be openly discussed along with other topics such as contraception and even safe motherhood.

During the event the girls will make cloth menstruation pads and learn about other products available in the market. From this social event, the girls will leave with a keepsake; perhaps a cloth depicting the process, a birthing kit for future use, etc. Keeping the girls together to learn about their maternal future also strengthens the bonds between the women of the society and it is hoped that these bonds will help knowledge to flow.

Design: Kathleen Vella Target Agency: The White Ribbon Alliance, The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)

Maternal Health

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

The Baby Basket

Pre-term babies are babies born too soon. A baby that is born before the 37th week of pregnancy is considered to be pre-term. Pre-term babies may experience a variety of health problems, and have a lower survival rate. In ages past, premature birth meant almost no chance for survival. Advances in medical technology have greatly improved the situation, but the mortality rate for preterm babies is still very high. Preterm babies tend to have problems with lung development, and this is the most common problem.

Their lungs are often not developed enough to function adequately on their own. In addition, other organs, such as the brain, liver, kidneys, and intestinal organs can suffer from complications.

The Neonatal care facility offers the best chance for a preterm baby to survive. Perhaps certain functions of the neonatal care can be condensed into a portable capsule for a baby. It could be used as a tool for families that give home births to place their child in before that can get it to proper care facilities, saving lives of the children that die within the first couple of hours.

Design: Patrick Coster Target Agency: The Action North-East Trust (The ANT), The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)

Maternal Health

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

Gap Between Pregnancies

Short interval between pregnancies is linked to preterm birth, poor growth of a baby while in the womb, stillbirth and early infant death as well as increased risk of death for a mother. A small gap between pregnancies may lead to such complications because of the exhaustion of important nutrients in the woman's body during the previous pregnancy, a hormonal imbalance during the postpartum period and stress feelings related to breastfeeding.

What I am aiming to create for this topic is a kit and an education module that is targeted at men.

Design: Greta Kulpa Target Agency: The White Ribbon Alliance, UNICEF

Maternal Health

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

Sharing Stories

This project is aimed at increasing maternal awareness and highlighting healthy practices worldwide. It will be an education device that can be used the world over to teach, educate, share knowledge and incite communication about maternal health. It should contain many pictures, so there is no need for translation between languages so those who cannot read or write gain the same understanding as those who can. Distinctly, this project will highlight Melbourne, Australia, Assam and India in their stark differences in dealing with maternal health. The thought being that: if the project works within each country, it can be used anywhere. The aim is not to teach what is right and what is wrong, but to highlight difference and culture and borrow from each for the other to teach safe birth practices accordingly.

Design: Kathleen Vella Target Agency: Foundation for Social Transformation (FST)

Maternal Health

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

Little Voice

The proposition being voiced here is rooted in the story telling nature of puppet shows with a major benefit of this approach being subsequent versatility. Puppeteering has had a long history in many cultures being a form of community entertainment, a source of income and an animated form of historical documentation passed on to the viewers and participants. The tangible nature of this form of performance allows for improvement in delivery of education both for the recipient and for the performer without relying on literacy or extensive economical outlay. This is of priority as the target audience are socially impoverished, geographically disadvantaged and economically poor. The encompassing aim will be a stylised learning environment/ experience whereby the gained knowledge on how to deal with certain maternal (Postpartum hemorrhaging, morbidity, prenatal care etc), emergency (severe injury, flood warning) and social (Women始s rights, agriculture techniques, etc) situations will be conveyed, in the hope that these teachings will filter into the communities and families for an improved quality of life.

Design: Glenn Stephenson Target Agency: North East Social Trust (NEST), Foundation for Social Transformation (FST)

Maternal Health

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

Bo Ni - The Weaving Women Project

"For the people of Assam weaving is not just a commercial venture but also a symbol of love and affection" It is a well known fact that almost every household in a Assam owns a loom, with the state home to the the highest concentration of weavers in India.

Using a tradition that is intrinsic to the region's culture and identity, the "Bo Ni" project aims to harness the remarkable skill the Assemese women already possess and use their craft as an entry point to engage and educate the community about maternal health. The overall aim of this project is to capture Assam's spirit of making and explore the potential scope for textile and maternal health innovation.

Design: Siobhan Cribbin Target Agency: The Action North-East Trust (The ANT)

Maternal Health

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

The Maternal Health Ecosystem

I made the above drawing initially as a way to clarify my thinking - then it came to represent the map of the Maternal Health Ecosystem. So I drew it onto a cloth - and began to use it as a way to discuss maternal health issues. When on a field trip to Assam I saw people easily talk to me about their issues by touching parts of the map I realised this map-on-cloth has a use.

It is my objective to redo the map - and to work out fabric treatments - so I have a cloth product that serves to clarify and educate. If it can work to inspire local action - then something would have been achieved.

Design: Soumitri Varadarajan Target Agency: The Hunger Project

Maternal Health

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

The River Market

The aim of the 'River project' is to promote use of the Brahmaputra river, as it is Assam's most valuable and extensive feature for development. I endeavor to drawing significance to the Brahmaputra River to encourage infrastructure growth and community involvement. This I believe can be achieved through a 'Water ma'rket' system located on the river itself.

Through the buying and selling of products on the river, we are able to bridge the gap between both sides of the river and provide opportunity for locals to bring their boats with products to sell to a larger consumer base.

Distinctly, this project will eliminate the shop keeper and provide a direct, multi-communal transaction system that provides individual in and diversity in product. By making the river significant it promotes the growth of infrastructure near and on the river and draws communities closer to the river.

Design: Rhiana Charlton Target Agency: Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Nidhi (RGVN)

The River

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

IdeaList

The Brahmaputra is an expansive river system stretching 2,900 km and reaching up to 10 km始s at its widest. It is my aim to capture the pertinent characteristics of the Brahmaputra river in Assam through visual representation in a hand drawn black ink medium. This will be carried out on large sheet paper (2000x1000) and include visual representations of conceptualised implementations being of direct benefit to the State of Assams riverine communities. Inclusive of The Char districts and their city neighbours, spatial relation will be created focusing on future beneficial infrastructure, education initiatives, social imperatives, technological advancement and ecological preservation - all of which will inadvertently benefit the quest for improved Maternal Health for the Rural Poor in India.

Design: Glenn Stephenson Target Agency: Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati

The River

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

The River School

This project aims at creating boat school system and a curriculum that will improve the livelihood of the girls in the riverine areas of the Brahmaputra river. Each boat will travel from village to village. But because Brahmaputra River is so huge and stretches across the whole of Assam there will have to be multiple school boats so each village gets visited regularly by a school boat. This project will be targeted at young women between the ages of 6 and 14. They will be taught on the boat that comes around to each village and they will learn basic language, biology, math, geography and health which will be based around maternal health.

Design: Greta Kulpa Target Agency: Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research (CNES)

The River

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

The Water Road Project

The North-eastern state of Assam is dominated by the graceful yet furious Brahmaputra. It is about 2,900km long and the average depth of river is 38 metres, some places it is 120 metres. Up too 21 kilometres wide, heavy rain monsoon rain falls can create incredible floods which can decimate the lands of Assam. They have the ability to wipe out lives, crops and houses.

These floods create huge swamp lands throughout Assam. Although their industries are strong they do not have a boat that can travel these lands and are forced to take other slow forms of transport.

Aero boats have the ability to travel through swamps very quickly. An Aero Boat could become the waterway link between many of these communities that live in these swamps. Then they would easily be able to travel the floodwaters when they inevitably come. In times of emergency they would be able to provide emergency aid to those who are stranded, and provide transport for those who require any sort of emergency aid that cannot be done on the spot, becoming the lifeline in times of emergency. This idea would be presented to places such as Gawahait university.

Design: Patrick Coster Target Agency: Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati

The River

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

Transitions

According to a CHETNA report 10-15% of pregnant women in India will develop complications during birth & need medical intervention. In order to reduce maternal mortality rates among these mothers, It is imperative that adequate access to emergency obstetric care is available for those who are most at risk. It is a cultural reality that up to 70% of women in rural India have home births. Those living in the outlying island communities on the Brahmaputra are further disadvantaged by their perceived isolation.

According to SEWA " a sound telecommunication and transport network [is vital for the timely referral of a case with complications." In Assam in particular, a realistic and location specific strategy, which is relevant to its unique waterway system is greatly needed. Thus the primary concern of this proposal is Identifying how we can make the transition between water and land not only feasible but quick, cheap and efficient.

Design: Siobhan Cribbin Target Agency: Foundation for Social Transformation (FST)

The River

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

Flood Platform

In recent times, many natural disaster victims do not receive the care and aid they require and deserve. For example, those who are enduring the recent Pakistan floods are simply not getting enough aid! This is also the case for many villages in upper Assam, where people continue to be displaced due to the heavy rain and flooding that occurred early this year.

This has brought me to the idea of developing a river platform that is flood resistant in conjunction with a relief centre for flood victims who have lost their loved ones, homes and property. To assist these victims, the platform will provide clean water, food, a temporary living space and health services.

This therefore means that the space needs to be divided into sections, which introduces the question of whether to have one large platform or several smaller platforms. Having several platforms seems more ideal, as this will ensure that during the relief effort flood victims will be looked after in a much more controlled and contained environment.

Design: Rooya Rasheed Target Agency: Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati

The River

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

Voice of the River

If the river could speak - if the river could be helped to speak, it could do many things. For one it could warn about floods.

Then there are other bits of information about the river that would be useful to know: 1. Pollution monitoring 2. Silting 3. Ecosystems 4. River life I imagine I will be designing ways to monitor the river and river ecosystems.

I would like to focus my work so that this information is both generated and useful to the poor living in the riverine areas of the Brahmaputra. What I would also hope to achieve is this information generation is a space where the locals and the institutions meet.

Design: Soumitri Varadarajan Target Agency: Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Scientific Laboratories in Assam, Government of Assam

The River

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

Power from the River

The goal of this project is to provide electricity for basic needs to a rural community in Assam at a low cost. I have chosen to work with a renewable source of electricity generation, hydro electric power, utilising the high speed flow of the river, Brahmahputra as my power source. A key difference about my design to other existing micro hydro emplacements is that this one will float on water whilst generating electricity. This way the micro hydro system can be picked up and placed in other locations where it is needed, rather than being installed and used only in one area. The turbine should be able to utilise the flow of the Brahmahputra to generate the basic electricity needed for low usage devices such as lighting and mobile phone charging.

Design: Daniel de Bono Target Agency: Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Nidhi (RGVN)

The River

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

The New Electric Company

I am designing a micro hydro system to create electricity for riverine communities in Assam. A new electric company, a social innovation enterprise, will be needed to maintain the energy generating system and also to distribute the energy. Being a peoples enterprise the service cannot rely on expensive infrastructure, poles and cables, to distribute power.

Power will therefore be either available at discrete spots for device charging or will be delivered through specific events and visits to locations.

Design: Daniel de Bono Target Agency: Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Nidhi (RGVN)

Power

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

YoYo Power

Developing a mobile phone charger for people who do not have access to electricity is vital, especially if it will assist in emergencies to call an ambulance for mothers in labour, for example. The device operates on the principle of converting kinetic energy to a storable and useable form of electricity, for the purpose of powering/charging mobile phones. It firstly requires a human operator to physically interact with the device so as to convert human force into kinetic energy. The size of the device will determine whether it will be used in a communal or personal setting. A communal device would be much larger and involve the majority of the community to be involved in making it work. In regards to being personal, the device would be much smaller and ergonomically suited to the individual. The design will also involve closely looking at yo-yo, gym equipment, hand cranks, spinning wheels and daily activities as a potential source of inspiration for the charging mechanism.

Design: Rooya Rasheed Target Agency: Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Nidhi (RGVN)

Power

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

Door to Door Power

The need for mobile phone charging devices or services in upper Assam is not being met. The importance of having mobile contact to hospitals and emergency services is vital for the rural communities of Assam. It is believed that increased mobile use would in turn aid at critical times such as that of the birth of a child or in times of emergency.

My goal is to develop a way to bring 驶charging始 or power to the rural home via a travelling power vendor.

Design: Rhiana Charlton Target Agency: Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Nidhi (RGVN)

Power

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

The Power pack

While charging electricity for mobile phone is a very important requirement, a system needs to be designed in order to store and distribute the power within the community. Often people have to send their phone away to the city to get it charged.

My solution visualizes a battery pack that can be sent off to get charged while the mobile phone stays with the user. On its return the battery pack can be plugged to the phone to charge it.

Design: Olivia Fitch Target Agency: Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Nidhi (RGVN)

Power

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

The Exhibition-Symposium

In India there is a maternal death every eight minutes. Assam (pop 27 mil) records the highest number of deaths. The Fifth Goal (named after the Fifth Millennium Development Goal)is a project at RMIT Industrial Design developing product and service design solutions focused upon remote and rural women of Assam. Key Themes have been defined through discussions with NGOs in Assam and 20 projects that are being developed. Once completed the projects are to be shown in Assam to enable further dialogue with interested organizations in Assam. If picked up for further development and implementation the project will then become the subject of funding applications, to be developed by the team at RMIT, to agencies that will potentially fund the implementation through these NGOs in Assam.

The application seeks funding for two “exhibition-plus-symposium� events one each in Melbourne and Guwahati to bring the collaborating partner organizations together to view the projects and to discuss the implementation of the projects in Assam.

Coordinator: Soumitri Varadarajan Target Agency: The Australia India Institute

Maternal Health, The River and Power

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

The Exhibition-Symposium 2

In India there is a maternal death every eight minutes. Assam (pop 27 mil) records the highest number of deaths. The Fifth Goal (named after the Fifth Millennium Development Goal)is a project at RMIT Industrial Design developing product and service design solutions focused upon remote and rural women of Assam. Key Themes have been defined through discussions with NGOs in Assam and 20 projects that are being developed. Once completed the projects are to be shown in Assam to enable further dialogue with interested organizations in Assam. If picked up for further development and implementation the project will then become the subject of funding applications, to be developed by the team at RMIT, to agencies that will potentially fund the implementation through these NGOs in Assam.

The application seeks funding for two “exhibition-plus-symposium� events one each in Melbourne and Guwahati to bring the collaborating partner organizations together to view the projects and to discuss the implementation of the projects in Assam.

Coordinator: Soumitri Varadarajan Target Agency: The Australia India Council

Maternal Health, The River and Power

Fifth Goal An Upper Pool Design Studio, RMIT Industrial Design

Educating for (Design) Activism

The project of educating student to become Design activists is a (project) of a specific kind. Often the locale where design actions are situated may be far away in remote, rural and poor communities. The design project itself may often require the student to approach the exercise from the 'point of view' of the affected population and not the expert or the dominant classes.

Such projects are challenging to teach and from the student perspective confronting to go through and deliver a valid outcome. What is clear from the personal experience of this teacher is that these studio experiences are tremendously meaningful and redefine for the students the normal paradigm of practice which may take for granted a practice of design that is urban and focussed upon consumption. Working in projects where there is a a need, where the designer is doing work pro bono, where the outcomes of design make a differences to the lives of people (often save lives) and where the focus of the course is on social justice is a powerful and transformative influence for students and the university itself become something elevated and pure.

Coordinator: Soumitri Varadarajan Target Agency: RMIT University

Maternal Health, The River and Power