Project RISHI @ UCLA
How We Work
Project RISHI at UCLA utilizes a five-step methodology in order to characterize and address community priorities. Guided by community needs, our methodology ensures action and accountability every step of the way.
Step 2: Research
We then explore the issue, investigate existing efforts, and work with NGOs and experts to gather further insight. We specifically engage with local organizations, experts, officials, and global health literature to gain insight and test whether our approaches are realistic and culturally appropriate.
Step 4: Implement
Once the plan is shaped, the team shares it with supporters and partners. With guidance from local collaborators, they roll out the project and adapt as needed to ensure it creates lasting benefits. We often work alongside community members to reinforce sustainability and local ownership.
Step 1: Understand
We connect with stakeholders in our partner villages through communications from our India Affairs team or during India Trip to understand their experiences and needs. Our members collaborate in small, multidisciplinary committees to identify a cause or goal, often derived from our needs assessments.
Step 3: Finance
We fund our work primarily through crowdfunding and grants, prioritizing sustainability and working to ensure that our initiatives remain viable in the long run. Resources are allocated transparently across initiatives.
Step 5: Evaluate
We continuously evaluate our initiatives by analyzing collected data, incorporating community feedback, and reflecting on implementation challenges, allowing us to pivot and adapt our approach to best meet evolving community needs. We also document our process throughout to guide future work.
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At the heart of our work are four core values that drive our decisions and actions.
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Build collaborative relationships with the community to equitably implement initiatives— solve with, not for.
Recognize, respect, and center cultural contexts.
Promote long-term, community-driven solutions that reduce reliance on external support, while balancing short-term relief.
Combining educational programs, community organizing, and advocacy (software) with resources and infrastructure (hardware) to achieve multidimensional impact.
Drawing on the Social-Ecological Model, a key public health framework, we aim to design initiatives that consider every level of influence, developing programs that engage individuals, relationships, communities, and policies to create meaningful impact.
McLeroy KR, Bibeau D, Steckler A, Glanz K. An Ecological Perspective on Health Promotion Programs. Health Education Quarterly. 1988;15(4):351-377. doi:10.1177/109019818801500401
RISHI members have the opportunity to participate in our annual one-to-two-week-long India Trip, where we implement, oversee, and evaluate our ongoing initiatives while identifying any new areas of priority for future impact. During each trip, we aim to strengthen relationships with community partners, supplement our year-round initiatives with on-grounds work, and provide members exposure to invaluable global health field work experience.
In the past, our initiatives have included annual medical and eye camps to screen patients and distribute resources such as eyeglasses, a student-led Photovoice storytelling workshop, water quality testing, secondary school educational interventions, community mural painting, and needs assessments.
