The Misanthrope Essays - The Misanthrope, Operas,

The Misanthrope The Misanthrope was not like anything one may hope to find in a current showy creation. The exchange that was spoken between the on-screen characters was difficult to comprehend as a crowd of people part. Moliere's play is done in great refrain design, implying that the play was done totally in rhyme. An expansion snag for the entertainers was the language was not refreshed to the current method of talking. As a rule plays that are kept in the first language get grievances structure their crowds about the failure to appreciate the play in light of the fact that the vast majority of the crowd's time was spent attempting to make sense of what the entertainers were stating. Simultaneously, on-screen characters must know about exaggerating their developments and motions so they don't go down the way of feared sign. This creation of the Misanthrope was a touch of ailing in the general nature of the presentation in light of the fact that most of the entertainers were experiencing difficult y beating the language hindrance. The play opens with a discussion between Alceste, played by Geoff Wilson, and Philinte, played by Stan Q. Wash. Alceste demonstrates himself to be exceptionally pessimistic about the thought processes of individuals and Philinte demonstrates himself to be extremely true accepting that individuals ought to be caring to one another regardless of whether it implied putting on a bogus face. We become familiar with this through Alceste and Philinte's remarks on a sonnet composed by their companion Oronte, played by Blake Bowen. Alceste thinks it is appalling while Philinte thinks it is magnificent. Philinte additionally says that Alceste was excessively gruff and could have mellowed his analysis. Afterward, Alceste chooses to go see Celimene, played by Kelly Ann Ford, and discussion about their relationship. He discloses to her that she ought to dispose of the remainder of her admirers and she demands that he is her lone genuine sweetheart. The remainder of the admirers at Celimene's cond o accept equivalent to Alceste. As they're talking, Oronte enters with the marshal who enlightens Alceste to apologize to Oronte regarding the remarks he made on his sonnet. At that point Acaste, played by Brian Levin, and Clitandre, played by Jeff Radue, contend over who is the better darling for Celimene. After that circumstance, Arsinoe comes in to go up against Celimene about her character. They examine the issue heatedly and Arsinoe doesn't prevail with regards to putting down Celimene. At last after these discussions, Alceste carries a letter to the consideration of everybody. It is a letter from Celimene to Oronte. He attempts to face Celimene about it, however she denies any such letter. Alceste needs to leave every one of these issues he is having, yet Philinte persuades him to remain and thoroughly consider everything. At that point Oronte goes to Celimene to discover whom she really cherishes and afterward the entirety of the others come in not long after. While the entir ety of the characters are together Acaste peruses his letter from Celimene that unveils her inclination about everybody. When this was uncovered, Clitandre and Acaste conclude that she does not merit their time so they leave. Oronte leaves her with a couple of words and afterward Arsinoe scolds her. Alceste pardons her and still needs to be with her. She truly wouldn't like to be with him and afterward Alceste concludes that she is truly not worth his time and he truly doesn't care for her. Philinte and Eliante choose to get hitched and make it their obligation to make Alceste cheerful. Despite the fact that this creation without the language obstruction there were some all around depicted minutes in the play. The entertainer who depicted Celimene, Kelly Ann Ford, and the on-screen character who depicted Alceste, Geoff Wilson, made a superb showing in passing on their proposed message to the crowd. The character of Alceste is intended to take care of business fixated on reality, high ethics, and the quest for knowledge; in like manner his physical activities ought to exhibit this in some shape or structure. Alceste unmistakably was focused in his mind, they way he conducted himself, mirrored this, as he generally had his head marginally improved and looked downward on, truly, everybody. Celimene, then again, was plainly focused on her chest. She enjoyed all the consideration and was an incredibly pleased lady, as showed during her

Charles Chocolate case free essay sample

Traelene beals â€Å"9am Friday† First, a conventional case investigation This ought to be written in a business style position utilizing short sections and sentences, clear as crystal headings, and any figures/tables that would encourage perusing. Reports are to be no longer than 2000 words (barring reference sections Issues to be tended to †No proportions of profitability or efficiaency in the plant-no chance to get of telling if the plant was working admirably. Troublesome interest forcasting because of regularity of deals. 2 new stores had alright sort deals. Best customers of Wholesale deals changed spotlight on less expensive things and furthermore own items. Deals specialists could be terminated with 90 days notice. Different pieces of US haven’t knew about us. Of the 221 discount clients buy just $1000 worth of items. Other 125 buy somewhere in the range of 1000 and 2000 every year. Deals specialists, don’t realize how to speak to the all items. Estimating future requests from discount customers to alter boxes and logos-misuse of capital. We will compose a custom exposition test on Charles Chocolate case or then again any comparative point explicitly for you Don't WasteYour Time Recruit WRITER Just 13.90/page 60% of the all out on the web/telephone orders were from existing clients. Online deals haven’t developed †orders prepared inside 3-4 days. Why transport internationaly(only 5%)â€Antartica Really Summer issue at Sandwich paradise †for what reason did staff leave? The most effective method to get new staff in this close work showcase. Promoting administration †antiquated †Undefined Target showcase? Bundling ? (sightseers publicatins, regular print media and radio spots) How to expand mindfulness without weakening the brand. Influence on strong web index raankings to advance online deals Basic site, update administration to clients great/terrible? Deals specialists dint give connects to top records. Organizations incomes had developed on account of Sandwich heaven(franchising) High unwavering quality on the travel industry. Corporate blessing showcasing †25% markdown †advertise was acceptable †Explore boston ? frozen yogurt deals Increment retail infiltration? Secure a specialty chocolate organization? Shouldn't something be said about the tradiotnal brand name? Inner limit? Migrate production line? Foundation Charles delivered top notch, hand wrapped chocolates, Portland creams. Best quality, numerous steadfast clients over the world. Gigantic factory(24000 sq foot)- possessed . Just 75 retail and 35 creation workers, 20 in the board. Working hours 7am-4pm(each day). Influence long timeframe of realistic usability Wholesale creation required early arranging and online deals required late production†¦ Production arranging was finished by information mutilations emerging from unavailable and over stock issues. †unavailable over creation †executed the evaluating †by rebate valuing. Extraordinary requests put the entire request on a stop Retail stores gave half of deals. †Wholesale had 30% of deals †Charles is simply utilized as an extra item. On the web and telephone †online 4% of all out deals. â€phone is 6% of complete sales60% of every one of these requests were from standard requests.. Avg deals $138 by telephone and $91 from website†¦High development industry†¦ Sandwich paradise †10% of deals Industry High interest for natural/dim chocolate-against oxidant properties.

Career Research Report of Different Industries †Free Sample

Question: Area 1: You are required to look into three explicit regions of work in the business in which you are keen on seeking after a vocation. Your examination ought to be embraced as for conversation ofall parts of the field including the accompanying: the nature of the work, the earth, the instruction, abilities, preparing and character qualities required to be fruitful, normal pay rates, the work showcase viewpoint, related positions and regular businesses. Sources to utilize include: books, periodicals, papers, proficient diaries, exchange diaries and sites. Segment 2: This segment of the task expects you to look into a particular manager in each field you have investigated in area 1. You are required to remember the accompanying for your report: the nature of the business including the size of the association, its history, the hierarchical structure, its way of life and additionally strategic, or auxiliaries, customers or clients, items or administrations, open doors for advancement, and so forth. Generally medium to huge size associations have this data on their site, anyway you are urged to explore data from different assets other than the association itself. Segment 3: A portrayal of the run of the mill vocation way one follows as he/she propels in this profession. What is a passage level position? What are different names of passage level positions? Is there beyond what one way one could take? What are the center to upper level positions? What capabilities are required? Area 4: Your appearance on the over three areas. For example, ponder how well you figure you would fit in with this business. Portray your fulfillment in working in the vocation field you have researched. How has this exploration affirmed or changed your arrangements and why? Are there any regions where you have to keep on creating aptitudes? Which parts of the field/position do you like/aversion and why? Which perspectives/qualities do/don't fit? Allude to the activities finished on interests, aptitudes, and qualities. Explicitly state how there is, or isn't a match among these. Intensive and mindful examination is basic to this area. Give points of interest! Answer: Presentation In this report, an examination on the three explicit territory of a situation in three distinct enterprises has been broke down. Car, Fashion and Textile has been engaged for the task. It incorporates the abilities and employment profile required for the post. Further, work regions considered in the record is charge bookkeeping, the board bookkeeping and fund bookkeeping. The report will incorporate depiction nature of work, workplace, capability required and self-reflection on each profile. Likewise, the current investigation additionally mirrors the way wherein I have changed my arrangements and qualities subsequent to finishing this examination so as to show signs of improvement opening for work in a future period. Vehicle Industry S1: Three explicit zones of work Nature of work I am keen on filling in as a money director for a corporate. Elements of account supervisor are like the situation of treasurer. Money director keeps managing in-house financing activities and productively coordinating up client need with its credit must be finished. They are required to help the supervisory group in settling on operational choices (Nasseri, Yazdifar and Askarany, 2016). For this viewpoint, they are required to design money related exercises to improve return on the earth alongside making a decrease in chance. Essential accountabilities of this profile are the administration of assets, planning and monetary examination. Condition For this activity profile, essentially an office situation will be required. Further, I will be required to visit auxiliaries so as to audit their operational exercises for arrangement of the better money related arrangement. By considering generally business exercises monetary arranging will be done to accomplish points and goals of association in a successful way. Instruction and aptitudes At first, four year certification will be required in fund or bookkeeping. Further, MBA with major in business or fund will be required. Experience and information on the business is a basic prerequisite (Parmenter, 2015). Least experience will be of 5 years of chipping away at a comparative profile on major corporate. The past investigation shows that inclination is given to individual having capability of Certified Management Accountant or Certified Public bookkeeper. Also, I should have administrative aptitudes, for example, initiative, resolve work issues, evacuate work obstructions and breaking down work exercises in a viable way. Alongside this, superb relational abilities will be required with the end goal of introduction of examination of money related viewpoint to the administrative gatherings. By thinking about the business perspectives, individual must have honorable information on vehicle exercises so as to give a cost favorable position to the business. Compensations The compensation is approx. 6000$/month. Improved relational abilities are required on the grounds that as an administrator help to another worker is additionally given. Further, motivating forces will be accomplished on yearly premise by thinking about execution. Also, evaluation of compensation will be done as per the arrangement of business. Different elements The related posts are office chief, inner inspector, budgetary investigators and cost bookkeepers and so on. S2: Description of boss Association depiction For this activity profile, the worldwide association will be chosen. It is on the grounds that for working in this industry high measure of assets are required. What's more, the organization must have a worldwide nearness (Tan, 2013). I am liking to work with Hyundai Motor Company. It was established by Chung Ju-Yung in 1967. It is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. This organization works the universes biggest coordinated assembling office. Chosen organization utilizes 75000 individuals and it gives a chance to qualified fresher. Corporate culture This organization had a severe order and 60 auxiliaries and branches. Furthermore, the organization is persistently growing their operational exercises in the worldwide market. In any case, the organization has adaptable work culture to help their staff yet it is upheld by a severe progression. As a fund chief high paced and high-pressure condition must be confronted. The point of view of consumer loyalty needs to examine with focus (McGivern, Fitzgerald and Waring, 2015). The data of different branches and auxiliaries ought to likewise be known to the supervisor for taking proper choice. Customer Product The organization principally bargains in vehicle, development, building, retail, steel, resistance and Aerospace industry. Be that as it may, I am centered around work in Hyundai Motor Company which fundamentally bargains in cars. A customer of the organization is retailers as they direct don't manage singular clients. For this organization, fundamentally budgetary arranging will be done so as to help them in executing operational exercises in a practical way. Also, future estimating will be done to limit future hazard and boost probability of potential additions. On periodical premise change examination to recognize distinction among real and guage figures. By shaping this investigation counteraction of contrasts in fluctuations will be improved methodologies. Open doors for advancement In this organization, I will get different development open doors as there is the immense extent of learning new realities and improving my aptitudes and abilities. Further, I will have the option to utilize information in a suitable way. Moreover, based on my work execution I will get advancement and get senior administrative situation with the time. S3: Career way Section level positions Section Level position is one which doesnt need understanding; its different names are Sale Associate, inside deal agent. The way is picked by elective accessible. The center upper position can be said for the situation of Sr. Advance Consultant or Senior Loan Processor. Center to upper-level situations (From top to center level position) Money director Money related examiner Record organizer Counseling Analyst Junior partner Required capabilities The primary capability for passage level situation in the information on the business and qualified instruction. What's more, the experience of working in the comparable business to the related activity is additionally basic to legitimize the designated jobs and obligations. S4: Self Reflection Current abilities Abilities Rank (1-5) Support Extent of progress Four year certification in fund 2 This capability isn't adequate for this activity profile as high qualified people are required to legitimize the profile job. I will seek after MBA in fund and get ready for rivalry tests. Relational abilities 3 At present, I am acceptable in driving individuals yet I despite everything face different issues in overseeing individuals in a legitimate way. I will go to the workshop and partake in school exercises in a job of pioneer. Industry experience 1 Right now, I dont have industry data. I will work in student program in a notable vehicle organization. Occupation fulfillment level Taking a shot at this profile isn't profoundly agreeable in light of the fact that the individual needs to confront high weight as one mix-up can prompt misfortunes of millions $. Also, work is repetitive and requesting because of which representative fulfillment level is diminished and they feel over-troubled. In any case, there is the immense extent of development and improvement however the chance of achievement of this position is exceptionally low. Territories for additional improvement For filling in as a money related director in the vehicle business, I am having qualified training and fitting experience yet with the abovementioned

The Influence of Teaching Experience on Student Dropout

Presentation Schooling foundations are viewed as the essential grounds to ensure and engage human turn of events (Kohn, 2011). The educators have the duty of affirming, mingling instructing and enabling the students (Lovitt, 1991).Advertising We will compose a custom theory test on The Influence of Teaching Experience on Student Dropout explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, the instructor can possibly document these commitments if s/he is upheld by production of a decent learning condition. Moreover, the educator is a key factor in supporting the training framework. In this way, the job of guaranteeing that instruction framework conveys full heated alumni doesn't fall completely on the teacher’s capabilities however the general tutoring condition (Meece Eccles, 2010). Government schools are overwhelmingly involved by individuals from the lower economic wellbeing throughout everyday life. Also, these schools are described by lacking funding’s th at prompts poor educating and subsequently higher dropout rates (Lovitt, 1991). Techniques that are sure in deciding potential school drop outs have not been built up. Besides, there is absence of hazard factors that has an immediate connection to the pace of drops. This implies drop out is brought about by a mix of components over various space (Lamb, 2011). There is a higher possibility that an understudy will drop out because of various circumstances intensifying on one another (Milliken, 2007). To comprehend this wonder further, the examination will survey the three types of drop out. Status dropout rate alludes to level of people who are between the ages of 16 to 24 yet don't have any formal education.Advertising Looking for proposition on instruction? How about we check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More They could be individuals who have not been taken a crack at the conventional instruction framework at secondary school level, without se condary school accreditation declaration, without a recognition or an affirmation that can be compared to general training improvement confirmation (Randall, 1999). Status dropout is estimated utilizing two strategies to be specific American people group review and current populace study. Information that identifies with these sorts of populace have been gathered more than scarcely any decades. This information is being applied in breaking down the better subtleties of this instructive setback particularly in non military personnel populace (Randall, 1999). This type of drop out gives no consideration to the time. This implies it pays no respects to when an individual was tutoring. What's more, this technique isolates settlers from different populaces. This is on the grounds that workers are considered to have little involvement with United States instruction framework when contrasted with their partner residents of the United States (Ehlers, 2010). By and large, those person who ar e brought into the world outside the United States have higher dropout status than the individuals who are brought up in the United States. Accomplice dropout rate identifies with assurance of dropout rates with a gathering being the base (Kohn, 2011). This implies companion by definition implies a gathering of understudy who gets the ninth grade together with the expectation and desire for graduating following a four-year educational plan. Understudies who move from one establishment to the next are remembered for the estimation since the number is deducted from the underlying school and added to class they are joining (Lovitt, 1991).Advertising We will compose a custom proposition test on The Influence of Teaching Experience on Student Dropout explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More The associate dropout rate is determined by registering the quantity of understudies in a gathering that dropped tutoring with various comparative accomplices joining the school in a par ticulate period. The inverse is known as associate graduation rate (Milliken, 2007). Occasion dropout rate This alludes to the pace of understudy dropout in a school every year without finishing their twelfth grade training (Schargel Smink, 2001). This measure yields a little rate since it is figured on a yearly premise instead of the other two strategies which are aggregate in nature. Occasion drop out has been utilized in deciding the legitimate age where adolescents can drop out of school (Gordon, 2005). This is on the grounds that the investigation can without much of a stretch figure out where lion's share of the adolescents drop out of school. What's more, the occasion dropout has been utilized to concentrate secondary school understanding during a given period in time (Wentzel, Wigfield, 2009). Moreover, this technique has been utilized to assess the instructive arrangements that exist among the different states since the occasion dropout rate is distinctive in each state. Th e teacher’s impression of the dropout rate Teachers concur that the grown-up understudy relationship is essential in getting to and downplaying versatility (Gilman, Huebner Furlong, 2009). An understudy is well on the way to prevail with regards to picking up and continuing versatility thinking about the difficult condition if there is a grown-up who takes an individual and devoted activity to offer direction, acknowledgment and backing to such an understudy (Seligman et al, 1995). The nearness of in any event one concerned individual can have a lifetime effect on the advancement of a kid. The job of a school comes in this circumstance since the school is a spot for steady condition (Christenson Reschly, 2010).Advertising Searching for theory on instruction? How about we check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Find out More This happens in light of the fact that the instructor understudy relationship is strong in nature. The educator assumes the job of a concerned grown-up who perceives and underpins the endeavors of understudies who are learning (Shaul, 2004). Understudies have a task to carry out in limiting the dropout rate (Provenzo McCloskey, 1996). The key to progress is the capacity to characterize objectives and set an instrument that will enable the student to chronicle the set objective. The instructors should assume their expert job of managing the understudies through the details of life and the training framework. Be that as it may, understudy must stay focused on the way of progress through difficult work and self-restraint (Porter, 2008). Guardians, additionally, have tasks to carry out. They should supplement the instructor job in imparting virtual and ethics in the understudy. The instruction procedure is a triangle that includes the parent, understudy and the educator. Issues There are different reasons that are related with drop out cases. 35% of understudies feel that flopping in school will make them drop out, 43% will drop out of school on the off chance that they missed an excessive number of classes, 45% feel they were not set up for secondary school instruction and 32% will drop out of school in the event that they are constrained to rehash an evaluation (Franklin, Harris Meares, 2008). These are the main issues that are related with school dropout. Counteraction in rustic school area Teachers, understudy and approach creators should frame some portion of the framework that is fit for building student’s certainty through arrangement of accomplishment openings, sympathizing need of instruction corresponding to the future, creating student’s interior inspiration, sustaining student’s critical thinking aptitudes, recognizing and reacting to understudy individual and family issues, and setting up a protected, strong and thinking about the adolescent (Porter, 2008). The framework is intended to excuse the student’s thinking limit which will empower him/her to settle on better choices particularly in high school and early adulthood years (Smink Schargel, 2004). This will encourage their capacities to see data and condensation it towards their own advantages References Christenson, S., Reschly, A. L. (2010). Handbook of school-family associations. New York: Routledge. Ehlers, C. S. (20082010). Reference book of multifaceted school brain research. New York: Springer. Franklin, C., Harris, M. B., Meares, P. (2008). The school practitioner’s compact ally to forestalling dropout and participation issues. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Gilman, R., Huebner, E. S., Furlong, M. J. (2009). Handbook of positive brain research in schools. New York: Routledge. Gordon, E. E. (2005). The 2010 emergency: comprehending the looming occupations emergency. Westport, Conn.: Praeger. Kohn, A. (2011). Feel-terrible training: and other contrarian expositions on youngsters and tutoring. Boston: Beacon Press. Sheep, S. (2011). School dropout and culmination worldwide similar investigations in principle and arrangement. Dordrecht: Springer. Lovitt, T. C. (1991). Forestalling school dropouts: strategies for in danger, medicinal, and somewhat crippled young people. Austin, Tex.: PRO-ED. Meece, J. L., Eccles, J. S. (2010). Handbook of research on schools, tutoring, and human turn of events. New York: Routledge. Michael, D. B. (2005). Promising practices for family inclusion in tutoring over the mainlands. Greenwich, Conn.: Information Age Pub.. Milliken, B. (2007). The last dropout: stop the pestilence!. Carlsbad, Calif.: Hay House. Watchman, L. (2008). Instructor parent cooperation: youth to immaturity. Camberwell, Vic.: ACER Press. Provenzo, E. F., McCloskey, G. N. (1996). Teachers and tutoring: ethoses in struggle. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Pub.. Randall, L. (1999). Tutoring for progress: forestalling redundancy a nd dropout in Latin American elementary schools. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe. Schargel, F. P., Smink, J. (2001). Techniques to help take care of our school dropout issue. Larchmont, N.Y.: Eye On Education. Seligman, M. E., Reivich, K., Jaycox, L., Gillham, J. (1995). The hopeful kid. Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin. Shaul, M. S. (2004). School dropouts: training could assume a more grounded job in distinguishing and dispersing promising†¦. S.l.: Diane Pub Co. Smink, J., Schargel, F. P. (2004). Helping understudies graduate: a key way to deal with dropout anticipation. Larchmont, N.Y.: Eye On Education. Wentzel, K. R., Wigfield, A. (2009). Handbook of inspiration at school. New York: Routledg

Africans@MIT Blockchain and the Niger Delta

Africans@MIT Blockchain and the Niger Delta Hassan, Sela, and the Niger Delta Hassan K. ‘17 is my friend and former classmate. He graduated last year (as the ‘17 suggests). When at MIT, Hassan (who is from the Ivory Coast) was always highly active in the Muslim and African communities on campus, and would also be a big part of student entrepreneurship clubs and organizations. In addition to taking on roles to revamp the African Students’ Association, he was one of the first students to participate in MIT’s Sandbox initiative. Working with Sandbox staff, Hassan founded a “Hacker House” in San Francisco during the summer of 2016, where he and other MIT students worked on interesting startup ideas and research. Hassan embodies the spirit of risk-taking and acting on bold ideas that I find MIT instills in students so well. His Hacker House ideas didn’t pan out, but Hassan’s sophomore summer, he interned at Facebook. Unlike many college studentswhich might take their intern savings to simply use for their next year at college or spend on themselvesHassan took his paychecks and worked with his high school friends and family members to start a chicken farm in his home country, the Ivory Coast. This farm has now grown into an agriculture technology startup involved in poultry farming, agricultural consulting, and even streamlining drone access to farmers. I asked Hassan for pictures of the chicken farm and hE SEnT ME THIS (!!!!!) too cute. I had heard from the rest of the African community that Hassan got involved in some really interesting work after graduating (aside from the chicken farm!) and reached out to him for this series. We spoke over a video call, from Boston to Lagos. “I just wanted you to see how strong the connection is in Nigeria!” he told me, and laughed. The last I had heard from him, Hassan had been in New York, so I asked him why, exactly, he was now in Lagos. After graduating, Hassan had interned for a summer at Uber ATG (Advanced Technologies Group) which is primarily Uber’s driverless car initiative. He was supposed to go to the African Leadership University for a program in the fall and then return to MIT for an MEng in Course 6 (EECS), but one day met Chi Nnadi, the founder and CEO of Sela. Sela is a technology company born out of Chi Nnadi’s experience performing a project focused on cleaning up the Niger Delta, which many associate with its long history of oil spills and environmental damage inflicted by Shell and other oil corporations. The spill scandals were widely reported on years ago, but associated effects are still very present, and affect the lives of people in the area today. Hassan (right) and Stanley Opara, Director of Partnerships, at a Blockchain conference When Chi went to perform an oil cleanup project in a relatively remote area, the difficulties of hiring others to perform tasks became apparent. The difficulties he encountered on the ground often involved opaque funding management. There was very little visibility into when exactly funds were transferred to contractors, or when contractors were supposed to start projects. As a result, whenever there was no progress, it was unclear which party was at fault. Did the federal agencies who received the funds not transfer them to the contractors? Did the contractors who received the funds pocket them? When were projects to start? All this information remained siloed within organizations, creating a lack of accountability. After encountering this accountability problem, Chi was inspired to try building a method to ensure the safety of his own projects, one that could be useful for many other projects, too. Sela was born, and aims to take advantage of a key development: the now widespread penetration of mobile technology and connectivity in rural regions. Hassan became excited about Sela’s mission after speaking with Chi, and decided to join Sela in the fall as CTO. That was how he got to New York, where Sela is headquartered, and worked on using cutting-edge technology to build accountability infrastructure. Accountability Infrastructure “The thesis of our project is that corruption is about the system,” Hassan tells me. When Hassan says that the “thesis” is to target “the system”, what that means is that corruption is not tied to individuals, or politicians, or particular agencies. It’s really tied to a lack of infrastructurea bit different from roads or water pipelines, but infrastructure all the same. Where there is not a good infrastructure for accountability, corruption arisespeople will absent-mindedly pocket funds meant for a project (such as cleaning up the Niger Delta), or claim that materials were “more expensive” than expected and make budgeting difficult. One example of now wide-spread mobile phone use.   An important element of an accountability infrastructure involves clear, transparent documentation of the actions that need to be taken, the people responsible for these actions, and the real-time status of an ongoing project. Up until very recently, having a real-time pulse of the projects on the ground was difficult. 10-15 years ago when phones or computers weren’t as present, collecting and processing that data in real time was very difficult, and the process involved frequent in-person inspections and visits, formally collecting information in a report. While this manner of capturing this data is a good first step, it can easily lead to long delaysthe inspections must be conducted, a report created, a report sent to higher officials or managers and finally, a decision made. Inconsistencies could occur between different agency’s reports, and at each step of reporting upward, visibility into what’s actually happening on the ground decreaseshow can you make sure that the repor t reaching the prime minister hasn’t been modified on its way through various agencies? This structure can easily create disconnects and information asymmetries that foster corruption. Without a shared truth or a common base of information, fraud and lack of accountability can creep up. Connectivity leads to the flow of information, and collective communication gives rural communities a stronger voice. As Hassan puts it, that voice can be as simple as the ability to respond to questions, such as, Hey, I read that a hospital in your community has started construction. Is this true? Before the spread of mobile technology, outside organizations simply had to trust public reports on these regions, which may be less specific or informative. So how do you build an infrastructure for accountability that is not dependent on a central enforcement agency? Decentralize it. The Sela Framework Sela defines 3 primary actors in a given project. There’s the project funder, which is the provider of the source of capital, such as a nonprofit, a private person or company, the government, etc. Then, there is a contractor, the executor of the projecta person or company hired to build a well, for example. Lastly, there are community members, members of the community where a given project is implemented. Sela’s platform objectives involve creating a network between the project funder, contractor, and community members. The contractor and project funder enter a contractual agreement for how the work is to be executed, and the project funder may decide a payment release planreleasing payments only after a certain body of work has successfully been completed. To determine whether a part of the work has been completed is usually difficultespecially when project funders might be in other countries, or unable to be physically present to appraise the progress. In lieu of the project funder, trained community members act as observers. Through a system that Sela designed, a community member can send text or photo updates of the progresstaking photos of the work completed, for example, or answering project-specific questions by talking to a chatbot. Sela has even considered involving illiterate community members by using voice-first interfaces similar to when you call a bank and “Press 1 for English”, the community member could answer questions in some system of pressing 1 for “yes” or 2 for “no”. This system explicitly takes advantage of the now widespread mobile phone use in even rural regions of most African countries. The teenagers in my own family in rural Ethiopia almost all have their own cell phones, for example, and charge t hem using solar-powered batteries. Multiple community members are trained observers, none of the observers know which other community members may be observers, and no observers have any relationship with the contractor. Establishing this redundancy makes it easy to check if there are any discrepancies between the reports of different observers, and act accordingly if something looks fishy. Over time, contractors themselves could build up reputation this way (similar to lots of 5-star ratings on Amazon or Airbnb) after successfully completing multiple projects without issues. In this way, there’s no need for a central agency. It’s instead decentralizedall the different actors, rather than a central third party agency, hold each other accountable. The project funder holds the contractor accountable through the community observers. The contractor can now hold the project funder accountable, too, to the payments specified, and need not be afraid of being unpaid for work done well. And the community observers each hold each other, the project funder, and the contractor truthful, incentivized both by the fact that this project is happening within their own community, and also payment. Blockchain and Smart Contracts “So where does the blockchain come in?” I asked Hassan, because I had heard this buzzword associated with his name and company often. Hassan laughed, “I didn’t mention that until now because I wanted to explain to you what we do first. We’re in an area where the tech is overemphasized, but I wanted to emphasize the problem we solve firstnow I’ll explain the technology!” Sela plans to pay community observers a small amount for each of their observations, to incentivize observers. The observers are paid for every truthful response, even if the truth is sometimes ‘this work was not completed’. Having a payment system also allows Sela to use blockchain technology, where payments take place via virtual wallets and using virtual currency (similar to Bitcoin, which also runs on the blockchain platform). A physical station in the project region will be set up where observers can exchange virtual coins for cash, and be paid this way. The payments between the project funder and contractor will then also be handled with virtual wallets and coins, and each payment is conditional on meeting agreed milestones. Every transaction between all of these parties can be recorded on the blockchain ledger. So what is “Blockchain”? I appreciate how Hassan recognizes that this is indeed an often over-emphasized buzzword, and prefers to instead focus on the accountability problem Sela tries to solve. But for those of you that have maybe heard of this word in the news or on the internet without much exposure, here’s a brief explanation. The blockchain is not really a “thing”, as it’s more defined by connections between things. It’s therefore difficult to describe (this is why I’m Course 2/Mechanical Engineering lol). Let me challenge something you might think you know well, or at least better than blockchain: what is the internet? The internet is also not a “thing”. It is a series of connections between things. Companies (like Comcast) set up literal wires, buried in the ground, connecting computers and servers to each other, and allow data to be transmitted across those wires. Sometimes there are “wireless” connections, like data transmitted via cell tower to our phones, or via satellite. It would be virtually impossible to take down the internet, because to truly take down the entire internet would mean destroying all connections to all computers and servers in the whole world. The internet also has protocols“http” is our modern-day standardthat establish how all nodes should “talk” to each other, so that information doesn’t end up being sent to the wrong place or in a jumbled format. Blockchain can also be thought of as a connection protocol, and has even been called “a new type of internet”. When all the nodes in a network follow a blockchain protocol, the effects of using it are that data can be distributed, but never destroyed. This way, any transaction that occurs has a permanent record, and there are no questions as to “what actually happened”. If all the transactions related to a particular project occurs on the blockchain, there will always be a record of what happened. A project funder and contractor initiate a smart contract, which is a feature of blockchain that can be programmed to perform simple functions, such as releasing a payment once a project milestone is marked complete by community observers and approved by the project funder. Of course, the gritty technical details are difficult to actually perform and manage, so that is why Sela is trying to create a user-friendly platform, where the actual framework of blockchain is mostly hidden from the users. The project funder, contractor, and community observers can then all operate via verification questions and written agreements, just like the normal legal contracts we have today, and the rest is handled by Sela’s framework. Hassan emphasizes that Sela is still very much an early stage initiative, and they see advantages to rolling out their framework in a gradual fashion. Rather than telling those creating and affected by projects to change almost all of their typical workflow, Hassan sees a step-by-step introduction to their technology as a more sustainable method. Our Modern Continent Sela has been given many votes of confidence as they build their platform. Hassan told me about their talks with different Nigerian federal agencies, who may be interested in adopting their work if successful. As I’m writing this post, Sela is testing their initial framework already. My conversation with Hassan reminded me a lot of, again, the recurring theme of [emailprotected], where today’s successful expatriates or diaspora feel a powerful desire to help African communities in whatever way they can. Many modern governments in African nations have only been around for ~50 years or less, and this means racing to catch up after so much disastrous interference. What I’ve been amazed at is the speed they’re all runningAfrican nations skipped the landline and went straight to cell phones, part of the reason Sela’s work is possible now. With their continued work, we might even see some of the first government-sponsored adoption of blockchain technology, and potentially, a way to “skip” the inefficiencies in many established, bureaucratic central enforcement agencies, too. Hassan feels this too, the exciting pulse of many modern African countries. “Entrepreneurship in Africa is so interesting!” Hassan told me, “it feels like the activation energy for starting projects has been lowered a lot. And the new generation is so much more connected with the adoption of social media and technology. Just sending money, even, is so much easier, better, smoother than before. I was so inspired by Chi because I saw how he was already plugged into the system, had a real career and contacts and a network. The more people we have like this, the easier it makes it for the next interested, entrepreneurial people that meet them.” Many of us, Africans at MIT, have this sense that Africans are more politically active, entrepreneurial, and innovative than ever. Barriers for intracontinental cooperation are slowly being worked ondifferent trade-block and single-passport initiatives by the African Union, for example. The problems are visible, yes, but so much is happening, for and by Africans, to try and address them. Some media outlets will always read this as driven by desperation, or China, or worse, not recognize the tremendous amount of progress altogether. But I hope this series might have given you a little more insight, to see more than a single story about our modern continent. Since this is my last post in the series, I just wanted to share a goofy photo from the African Students Associations Senior Night event. There are so many more incredible people and stories I didnt profile! P.S.in the time I took to write and post this, Hassan himself wrote a great update on Sela’s Medium blog, “Beyond Protocol”, about their progress so far! You can read it here, and to learn more about Sela, you can visit their website. P.P.S.The African Students Association is starting its own blog on Medium! Not much is up yet at the time of posting this, but you can find it here if you want more content like this. Post Tagged #African Students' Association #[emailprotected] #MIT Sandbox Initiative