What is Mashavu?
Mashavu enables medical professionals to e-adopt children in the developing world using modern technology and communications infrastructure. Trained operators at Mashavu stations in developing communities will collect essential medical information including images, body temperature, lung capacity, age/height/weight, basic hygiene, blood pressure and stethoscope rhythms for each child on a regular basis. Web servers aggregate this information from various Mashavu stations over a cell-phone link and provide it to medical professionals through an online portal. Medical professionals can log on to this portal to supervise the health of the kids they have "adopted" and provide medical feedback to the Mashavu station operator or caregiver. Health administrators can also use the system to monitor community health statistics for trends and possible epidemics.
An E-team comprising of Penn State students and faculty from the Colleges of Health and Human Development, Engineering, and Business, as well as Milton S. Hershey Medical center, is working with Mt. Meru Peak School and Good Hope orphanage in northern Tanzania on this project. A functional proof-of-concept prototype has been developed and improvisations based on expert feedback are in progress. Mashavu stations can also provide health information to adults for a small fee. This increases the health consciousness of the people and provides a revenue stream to make the project economically sustainable. A team of business students is working on a detailed business commercialization plan. Mashavu employs a networked health care system, which can also be extremely valuable during emergencies and disaster situations. The implementation of the pilot system is planned for Summer 2008.
Mashavu is Swahili for "chubby-cheeked".