Coping with Challenges for African Communities - Essay Example

? PROJECT MANAGEMENT Lecturer: Address: Executive Summary The youth are the beneficiaries to the future and it is hightime that the group takes charge of activities that would help them in securing their future. In this report, the goal is to spread knowledge on how to deal with the hunger challenge that currently faces the African communities. It encompasses charitable and humanitarian elements, which are to be instilled in the youth to ensure successful fights against such adversities. The report is a planning that is done on a pageant that is used as a tool to facilitate this message to the community. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Purpose of the Report 4 Goals and objectives 4 Scope of the Report 5 Methodology 5 Background 6 Business Case 6 Purpose of the project 6 Alternatives Selection 8 Expected Benefits 9 Costs 10 Risks and Constraints 10 Work Breakdown Structure 12 12 Marketing 12 Gantt chart 14 Conclusions 15 References 16 Stanley, A. (1989) The Crowning Touch: Preparing for Beauty Pageant Competition. 1st ed.. New York: Box of Ideas Pub. 16 Introduction The following is a report of an event planning, with the goal of raising awareness as well as amassing funds to fight against hunger in Africa done in the University of Bedfordshire. The pageant is to engage the participators in activities such as registration of participants, talks on the hunger scourge and a fundraising for the cause. Purpose of the Report Miss University of Bedfordshire Project report will present a description of the project that includes the project’s goals and objectives. The project report will describe the following: Goals and objectives The beauty pageant goals and objectives for this project will concentrate on hosting an extraordinary show that will: provide an exciting way for raising funds for charity increase awareness of existence of beauty in the University of Bedfordshire focus on talent and personality of participants as well as beauty Project goals and objectives Complete the project within its stipulated time Accomplish goals and objectives within the defined budget Provide a feasible project plan Scope of the Report The scope of the project covers the planning of the beauty pageant as well as the problem that has instigated its conduct. The beauty pageant is a platform by which issues of the community are to be addressed. In this case, the scope of the pageant covers the issue of the increasing hunger in Africa that has come about due to the immense rains that is currently afflicting the area. The pageant is charitable in nature and the aim is to gather funds that shall provide the hunger stricken individuals in Africa means by which they can feed. The pageant aims at bringing together the various groups in the community together in a common goal that is free of any rivalry of any nature towards a cause that is humanitarian in nature. The intentions of the pageant is to bring together all the people that could help the situation in Africa without having to involve any political, personal or peer influenced actions and decisions. Methodology In the case of the pageant, the first method of getting information involved is interviewing. I interviewed some of my peers to get their view on the project. By interviewing my peers, I had the opportunity to assess the societies take on the subject if charity, helping people in need as well as the preferences and the link charity has to politics. I also obtained information regarding what the society thought would be a great idea to collect information regarding conducting a charitable works. I also got a few ideas on what the society regarded was a proper and entertaining method of gathering funds for a charitable cause. I collected data regarding the possible methods and strategies through which I could amass the community towards a charitable case. In the data collection phase, I attended a few fundraisers, organized dinners and pageants. I observed the challenges that were associated in planning the events as well as the failures and success that was a result of getting involved in the processes. The third method is used was secondary data. I used a few peer-reviewed journals on how society interacted and what the take was on when it came to money. I made use of the public library and the school library to review publications on the society and its interaction when it comes to social gatherings and humanitarian activities. Background The educational facilities have always been on the forefront when it comes to dealing with issues regarding charity. The African community has been scourged by weather and climatic elements and due to the low degree of technology as well as the challenge that is brought about by the scarcity of resources as well as the challenge that is brought abut by poor governance. Numerous issues are responsible for causing the African community challenges when it comes to applying gathered knowledge in various fields where food production is involved. There is a challenge that is brought about by brain drain in the region. The huge migration overseas has caused a drain on the resources in the African region, which leaves the population in the area challenged by various elements of production. The region usually has to rely on aid from the developed world as well as the international bodies to meet the requirements of the region. Business Case Purpose of the project The purpose of the project is to raise funds that will be used to provide food to the starving Africans in region where the weather has damaged their produce. Although Africa is a developing region, several projects have been initiated to help the region get self sufficient, but due to numerous challenges in economy and the climatic conditions. Recently regions such as Kenya have been having perennial rains, which have affected some of the crop fields, and this is an indication that there is a hunger scourge that is coming soon. Thus, it is important that the charitable organizations and governments take measures to help the affected communities and that is the goal of my project. Other smaller purposes are associated with the project (Slack, Chambers and Johnston, 2009, p. 112). One of the problems that are associated with the charitable activities carried out by the government and other organizations is the fact that not all raised resources make it to the regions it was meant to do. In addition, challenges of the transport sector decrease the effectiveness of distributing the food (Stanley, 1989, p. 67). Thus as a sub goal the pageant is supposed to create awareness that regardless of the charitable funds, there needs to be an established system via which the food donated can reach the affected areas. From empirical data, some foodstuff has had to be airlifted to the affected areas t=due to the lack of roads. The pageant also has the goal of raising awareness of hunger existence and prevalence in some regions. Most people often hear of hunger’s existence over the news and through social media, but according to research, it is a frequent incidence. It is the obligation of fellow human beings to help those that area affected by the challenge posed by nature. By raising awareness, the global community shall recognize hunger as one of the threats facing the human race. Another purpose associated with the pageant is to mobilize the international organizations, NGOs and governments towards the eminent challenge that is to face some regions in the lack of foods. There has been a tendency of waiting to the last minute to make changes to the systems involved in setting up measures against hunger. The pageant is to mobilize the authorities involved in fighting the challenge to take steps as early as possible without having to make any drastic choices that may render the ambitions unsuccessful. Alternatives Selection Although I have selected the pageants as the tool to use to meet the goal of the project, there are other possible means by which the objective can be met. In my research, the alternatives were considered, but there were challenges and hindrances that were associated with the options that led me to choosing the pageant as the best tool to use to collect the funds to be used in aiding the regions where hunger is eminent. The first consideration that I had was the use of a fundraiser. Fundraisers are one of the frequent methods of amassing funds to use in fighting challenges such as hunger. The fundraisers are conducted via several forms such as dinners, parties and public gatherings. The fundraisers are usually conducted in social settings and usually succeed in accomplishing the objectives set. One of the difficulties that usually comes with low commitment and involvement by the community is the degree of boredom involved thus the need to revamp the planning to include elements such as dinners and parties in the fundraisers, although apart from the ideas, there is no real entertainment value. The other option that I had in mind was to make use of the social networks to convince the attendees to contribute to the cause. The social networks have been rated as the highest used mode of communication among the middle and young ages and it presents a great option for marketing and fund raising. The social networks are useful in getting the message home in personal levels (Render and Heizer, 2010, p. 87), but there are challenges that are associated with this mode of creating awareness as well. The first challenge that is associated with this form of contributions is the security that is associated with using the networks as means to exchange money. In addition to the security threats posed in exchanging funds and personal data, the social media only creates awareness but does not necessarily ensure that a continued monitoring is done on the progress of the collected funds and interest shown. Furthermore, there is an element of boredom that is associated with the option of fund raising. The third option that could have been used to collect the funds is the use of petitions. Public petitions have been used to force the arm of government to perform certain activities and in this case, with the help of my colleagues, a signed petition could be presented to the leaders and a solution or propositions to solving the [problem raised. This option is however quite explosive since it harbors some political affiliations that might result to politicizing the issue which may result to a number of disadvantages in its efficiency. Expected Benefits The benefits that are expected from conducting the exercise include funds that could be used to provide foods to the people affected by the current perennial rains in the region. The humanitarian issue that is to be addressed in the pageant is ensuring the persons in the affected areas are supplied with foodstuff that is necessary to beat the hunger scourge. Secondly, the other advantage that is associated with the pageant is the mobilization of well-wishers that will engage themselves in tackling the hunger problems that seems to occur regularly (Maylor, 2010, p. 182). The well-wishers may take action to prevent the continued occurrence of the rain-oriented hungers. In addition to the well-wishers taking steps to prevent the continued occurrence of the issue, the well wishers may compel the governments of the regions affected, as well as other governments into action regarding preventing the continued occurrence of the issue. Costs The pageant is to work on a very stringent budget of ?1200. The budget limits the extents to which the pageant is to be conducted. Since the small pageant is to be done in our university, the numbers of guests expected as well as the costs that are associated with the exercises are relatively low. The costs that are associated with the beauty pageant are listed as follows: Food ?300 Entertainment (DJ and musical system) ? 200 Judges panel and MC ?400 Advertising ?300 Net benefits The net benefits that are to be expected from the project include: Raised awareness to hunger and its occurrence Involvement by the young and the administrators in the exercise Finds that are donated by well-wishers and colleagues Setting of a social trend Risks and Constraints The project has a number of risks that are may lead to the downfall of the project. Some of the risk that is involved in the project includes: Low turnouts Inadequacy of resources Possible social misconduct Security issues Possible changes in weather The constraints to the project include: Small budget Inadequate human resources Inadequate technology A limitation of preparation and operation hours Work Breakdown Structure Marketing The marketing that shall be involved in the project are low cost approaches, due to the limitations in the budget. The chosen forms of marketing include social networking sites, the use of posters and flyers. The ?300 budget needs to be used sparingly in the advertising process to ensure that the advertising targets a huge group. Social media that is to be used include Facebook, linked, Twitter and YouTube since they are free and have a lot of youth using the sites, and that group f people consist of the majority that is to be attracted to the project. Specific guests suggested by peers are to be invited by card, and this consists another cost that is incurred in marketing. Network Diagram Critical Path Analysis Gantt chart Conclusions The general approach to the purpose is successful since the target group that was suggested for involvement is reached. The small budget that is used in hosting the event is sufficient since most of the facilities used in the project belong to the school. Both the students as well as invited guests shall be informed and educated about hunger. References Maylor, H. (2010) Project Management 4th ed. London: Prentice Hall. Slack, N., Chambers, S. and Johnston, R (2009) Operations Management. 6th ed. London: Prentice Hall, Render, B and Heizer, J (2010) Operations Management. 10th ed. London: Pearson Prentice Hall. Stanley, A. (1989) The Crowning Touch: Preparing for Beauty Pageant Competition. 1st ed.. New York: Box of Ideas Pub. Read More