Theodora Project Phase III

 As I sit here in January 2021, it is hard to remember it was just over two years ago that I set off on my first trip to Ghana with only the slightest idea of what I might do or find. Nowhere in my expectations was developing a system to get women out of sex work on my radar screen. In fact, I can honestly say that never in my life did that particular mission ever enter my mind as something I should pursue.

Yet one year later in February of 2020, we were set to launch a test of the prototype we developed. We all know 2020 did not exactly pan out the way we thought it would. Yet despite the obstacles, this project has developed far faster than I could have imagined. 

In this post, I've copied a report I gave a few weeks ago to all the significant people working on the project. It will give you an overview of where the project is as we enter 2021. Then I will do a follow-up post that is going to go into the more interesting 'big picture' aspects of this project that have me totally focused.

 Theodora Project Phase III

Welcome to 2021 and the second year of the Theodora Africa Project. Thank you again for all your efforts and support. When we launched last spring, it was a journey into the unknown. We had no idea of how much transformation our participants could achieve or if we could produce a work product acceptable in the United States. This was all complicated by the world-wide COVID-19 crisis.

In the event, we attained far more than we ever imagined back in February 2020. Last year we (imperfectly):

 

·      Demonstrated we could teach/coach/transform a group of women from our target demographic into a group of motivated workers capable of doing certain virtual personal assistant services.

 

·      Learned which specific services could be sold and delivered.

 

·      Identified who our target market is.

 

·      Provided these services to clients who have expressed their satisfaction and are continuing with us.

 

·      Developed a clear identity and a message that presents our unique value proposition (more about this is the next post)

 

·      Discovered we have massive transformational potential if we can take the next step and gain full professional capability. (More about this too next post)

 

What do we need in 2021 to achieve that full professional capability?

 

·      A proper work environment in Ghana consisting of:

 

o   An office, a place to 'go to work.'

 

o   Onsite day-to-day management to assist our participants in achieving their full potential.

 

·      Significantly improve the overall participant skill set. This means:

 

o   Substantially improved written English.

 

o   Quality control procedures for work output

 

o   Improvement in work turnaround time

 

o   Higher quality client communication practices

 

o   Improving overall IT skills

 

·      Demonstrate a viable new business development capability.

 

·      Be able to execute day-to-day business operations without my hands-on involvement.

 

·      Prove we can replicate the transformation & training results with a new group of participants.

 

·      Demonstrate we can get that second test group integrated into the work system handling U.S. client work and meshing well with the existing group of participants.

 

The above will be the focus of our work in 2021. It is our great test to determine the viability and scalability of the concept. We will be putting our initial emphasis is on getting the proper work environment and improving the overall participant skill set. Our goal is to have the work environment in place by March 2021. The improved work environment will significantly enhance our ability to get the participant skill set improved.

 

We are amid our Phase III fundraising. We have set a target of $40,000 by June of 2021. To date, we have $15,000 committed, 37% of our goal. Further, after working on 11 jobs in 2021 and maintaining 7 ongoing clients, we have set a goal of increasing the total ongoing clients to 30 by the end of 2021.

 

Most have you have or are working on parts of this great initiative. The more we learn about the overall effort to stop sex work and trafficking, the more uniquely placed we find Theodora is for resolving one of the primary root causes – the lack of economic opportunity. All your time and effort is much appreciated and is showing fruit.