Fund Jaq Buchanan to visit The HHP's mini-conference

Please visit the decision to read about this funding request and cast your vote.
I will abstain from voting as I am the one making the proposal.
Please comment below if you have questions, I am happy to discuss.

If you'd like a glimpse at our support events, check out this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DW-I-tXJ3o

If you'd like to hear more from me directly, check out this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRDAGeE715M

I am excited to meet with the Helping Hands Project. I think there are lots of design concepts and processes I can share with them. And, I could learn and share how well they do long term support with their recipients. They have been able to build a strong community among their recipients, which gives emotional and technical support in a way that is wonderful.

@theo27 I understand the argument about the funding going towards a single chapter and wanted to bring up some points for you.

The Helping Hand Project is both one group and four chapters - across four different Universities in North Carolina. So they benefit here may be more spread out than it seems.

Also, we are hoping to this is a way to help motivate the chapters to be better involved in the greater open-source realm. So it will hopefully have ripple effects that go beyond those involved in the event. It will hopefully also be of benefit to Jaq who is involved within aspects of eNABLE that go beyond our group.

For your comment about it being a US grant program - I don't know enough to speak to that. If you think there is an issue I would advise putting together some numbers and facts to support your argument as best you can. I think everyone here has good intentions and is not trying to be unfair to anyone, any area, or any group.

@danceupon understood! I'm not aware of what the total amount in the fund is, nor what examples of similar trips have occurred. We're happy to fit in similarly to other efforts. I do believe this is worth the cost, is within the mission of eNABLE, and ultimately benefits the limb-difference community.

@thierryoquidam I agree that programs that benefit single chapters are inappropriate. I don't think this is that, however for reasons Jeff is addressing. So I support this.

And I don't think this has anything to do with US vs outside US. We've supported a few non-US proposals already (the Nigeria mission comes to mind)

I would love to see similar proposals from outside the US too that tie chapters and projects together and help them compare notes. I'd support them too.

To be honest, I'm with Thierry on this. I went to represent e-NABLE at the REACH event in Bristol this year. With hotel, fuel and food it worked out about £450 which came out of my own pocket. My facebook page encourages donations and most people, when approaching me mention cost, and I tell them that we'd appreciate donations, but 1 in 5 seem to follow through with it. I understand that it's my choice and I decide to do these things, but I never even thought to ask a-NABLE for money as I expect it to go to more centralised expenditure that benefit chapters globally.

Hi Ian. Thanks for your comments. I'm glad that you're involved.

My opinion is that we should not limit approvals to those who have a global reach. I think that is too restrictive and it overlooks the impact that is made at a local level, which complements the global efforts.

Please note that it was not Jacquin who initiated this request, rather it was Jeff Powell from the HHP. Based on recent comments, it seems that some seem to believe it was Jacquin requesting this "for himself".

Again, it was HHP who started the idea.

I don't know if that makes a difference to anyone, but I just wanted to point this out.

This is correct, thank you @lelandgreen. We are putting on the event and are seeking a way to tie in more of the greater e-NABLE community, which is why we are seeking to bring in Jaq. Also my understanding is that the amount asked is only a small fraction of the total e-NABLE fund and should not interfere with other requests, but please correct me if I am wrong.

The purpose of this is not to just bring in someone who helps our chapters, but to help reinforce the idea within our multiple chapters that they should work with the larger e-NABLE community. We serve around 45 families total, through devices and support events, all on volunteer time, so it can be easy for us to put our heads down and focus on the work in front of us. Getting Jaq in person will do a lot to help keep e-NABLE on our minds, with the goal of improving the services we provide for our families as well as helping others do the same.

@sandradermisek tagging you here just to make sure you are aware.

I'm happy to discuss further if anyone would like.

Good discussion! Fair points on all sides.
I think the question in each case is whether
investment will benefit E-NABLE's mision. So the community judges, one well-considered vote at a time..

@lelandgreen, I was aware and still have the same opinion.

Perhaps this sort of thing could be funded if there are set deliverables included in the proposal- what portion of the conference will be video recorded, where will it be posted, is there a back up if video fails, etc. Then we could judge on the value to the community as a whole.

Thanks Donna. I'm going to speak with Jack and try to update the proposal.

@jenowen you said you were going to abstain, but your vote is Disagree.

@jeffpowell I generally agree with Thierry about the use of funds for conference travel. I'd like to see a clearer benefit to the wider community. In my experience, just a few people end up benefitting from video recordings. Would you commit to something with clearer impact? I listed a few ideas in my vote, such as committing to documenting the Kwawu arm (and publishing the docs) or iterating the design to solve specific problems (and publishing the design). Other examples could include making instructional videos, doing performance testing, etc. You seem like a creative and resourceful person. I'm sure you'll come up with something. My vote can change if the impact is clearer. I'm happy to discuss and will be monitoring this thread.

Thanks Shashi. Jack sent me an email and we're going to connect to discuss options for deliverables.

@shashi thanks for your input.
In terms of "benefit to the wider community" I can agree with approvals requiring some breadth. I would argue that this proposal has enough. Our group is essentially an entire state, this helps to better connect us with the larger enable community, and provides a dedicated enabler with some benefit. All of these can have ripple effects beyond who is directly involved. Most importantly, the approx 45 kids and families we serve.
I think it would be too limited to require that approvals have to have international breadth or potential for "the entire community" because there are few projects that have the opportunity to do so. Also, I strongly believe that those with a focus online groups and those with a local focus are both necessary components to eNable.

The kwawu arm and kwawu 2.0 are online and open-source. Jack does a great job of updating. We would be happy to work with Jack to produce a further update from our meeting. We have had some struggles with the Kwawu arm and already plan to go over these in person with Jack for mutually beneficial conversation.

Thanks for the ideas!

My students, my district and I got involved in e-NABLE via watching YouTube videos about what e-NABLE does. I would not underestimate the impact of recording and publishing this event. I teach technology in the New York City Department of Education. To date, I have reached out to educators and students throughout the city sharing our message and getting people involved. You definitely have my vote!

Hey Patrick. So in short (as I understand it!) eNable is a large ecosystem of individuals, groups, students, non-profits, and more which work together under a name but not as a technical / legal entity.

The HHP is a 501c3 non-profit and four student chapters in North Carolina. Our mission within enable is to support children with limb differences - mostly local but we've helped those who've reached out to us from as far as South Korea. The chapters all work together with complimentary roles. The non-profit leads the overall mission, provides non-students and avenue to volunteer and raises money to support the chapters missions (building devices, hosting community events like in the video I posted).

We are, in essence, local effectors of eNable in NC. I have been to enable conferences and had varying levels of activity with the online community, but I think it is an area where the group can improve. This is an effort to make the online-community a higher priority with the chapters and hopefully stimulate some collaboration with, contribution to, and education from the online-community.

I hope that's clear enough.

@jenowen thanks for your comment!

It's not reasonable to ask it of the volunteers, but I think that's not considering the big picture. We have to ask a lot of each other and there are limits to the combination of money, time and emotion people can give. Volunteers gladly give a lot (as you, of all people, know/do). The help of this grant would be appreciated.

Hi,
Sorry for being late to this intense discussion. In general, it is much easier approving a $18K gift than a $0.5K one....
I think that the community needs to come up with some guidelines per such "petty cash" funding requests so that it does not turn into a flood.
Personally, I would have felt more receptive if the benefitted chapters would have matched the contribution rather than ask for a full coverage.

Hi Yoav,

I may detect a slight amount of misunderstanding, so I come swooping in! :nerd:

In the recent proposition, "Ratify Donor-targeted support for e-NABLE Sierra Leone", they are not asking for any money from the e-NABLE fund! Rather, are asking for permission for the Cleveland Foundation to donate $18K to "Enable Sierra Leone" (and those specific projects).

(Just in case that makes a difference....)

Best regards,
Leland...
Net Superhero/Nerd

I view this proposal as an offering by the Helping Hands Project to connect with the larger E-nable movement. They are already self-funding and supporting a conference of their own chapters. I am excited to support their desire to understand what is happening in the larger e-nable group, and share what I learn from them with the larger enable community. To me that is what this movement is all about, each person, group, chapter doing their best to help one person at a time, and sharing that experience with others so they can do the same. I feel like every approved proposal has been in essence this.
Perhaps Jeff should have written the proposal as a description of the larger conference the Helping Hands project is organizing with a total cost, and presented this proposal as small portion of the funding to connect e-nable with the Helping Hands Project. I am ok with him pulling out my travel expenses to be an example of this connection with e-nable. In hindsight maybe he should have pulled out a different expense to show the support/conenction to his group by the larger e-nable movement.
It is certainly true that I will learn as much from this group as they will from me. That learning will certainly flow back into improvements in my design efforts. To better codify that idea, we can film the planned workshop to review/improve the kwawu design. The film will be a benefit to anyone else considering the kwawu design. It should help them determine if it is a good fit for their recipient and what it takes to build and assemble one along with various tips and tricks.

Thanks for the clarification @jacquinbuchanan . Assembly film would be fantastic. Would you edit/add that film to the Thingiverse entry for Kwawu to maximize exposure? I feel most video from conferences goes unviewed w/o the right placement and exposure. Another thought would be to create an assembly mat that will help others adopt the hand/arm. Example here: http://shashijain.co/e-nable-osprey-hand-assembly-mat/

Sure, I would put the video in the thinigverse post, just like the demo video there now.

@shashi I can also ask the volunteers in our group who work on the Kwawu are to write up their expereince / challenges with assembly to post online in an attempt to help other volunteers learn from their “mistakes”, for lack of a better work.

Thanks. Between your and Jaq’s specific commits to documentation I am changing my vote.