Science in your pocket! Fun, engaging, distance learning for Haitian students.
Team Leader
Suzanne Cole
Science in your pocket! Fun, engaging distance learning for Haitian students.
Solution Pitch
The Problem
Haitian children entering the fifth grade in September 2022 have never had a year of school without significant disruptions due to health emergencies, civil unrest, natural disasters, and gang violence. Distance education in this area is an on-going need. Technological solutions must be creative because electricity and internet access is limited.
The Solution
Lakou Kajou’s Eksploratoryòm takes Haitian children on a journey of exploration, engaging them with interactive science lessons that can be delivered when school is unavailable, even in remote locations.
Rather than using the didactic, top-down learning approach typical in Haiti, Eksploratoryòm builds children’s understanding through captivating stories that are relatable and fun. In one lesson, a girl learns about vertebrates when she takes care of a puppy; she discovers it has a backbone and so does she! The culturally-relevant stories, games, and songs match the Haitian Ministry of Education’s national science curriculum and drive skill building in social-emotional wellbeing, health, and literacy.
Lakou Kajou’s Eksploratoryòm is partnering with Viamo, a leading provider of interactive voice response (IVR) applications, to distribute Eksploratoryòm in remote areas of Haiti. Using a regular mobile phone (Internet access isn’t required), families call a central number to hear audio lessons and students can respond to questions.
Stats
Lakou Kajou's IVR implementation is currently reaching over 9,000 families.
The overall reach of the solution is higher, at over 100,000 families. This figure is based on conservative estimates of the reach of the various distribution mechanisms:
Social media: 40,000 followers on different platforms; individual posts sometimes reach over 100,000 viewers.
Broadcast: an estimated 20,000 families within reach of the broadcasters.
Community organizations: schools, churches, and community organizations who show Lakou Kajou in group settings serve well over 20,000 children.
Market Opportunity
Lakou Kajou’s market segment is children in Haiti, ages 4-9, with an emphasis on children in remote/underserved areas. Lakou Kajou is filling a need in Haiti, where high-quality education is unavailable for many families. The solution leverages no-tech, low-tech, and high-tech distribution methods to reach the audience.
Organization Highlights
A partial list of partners:
Fondasyon MWÈM: local partner in Haiti; serves as the host of the Lakou Kajou project office.
Viamo: a leading provider of mobile applications in low-resourced communities worldwide, Viamo handles the interactive voice response distribution of Eksploratoryòm.
W.K. Kellogg Foundation: a generous funding partner. WKKF has a long-standing commitment to children in Haiti. Lakou Kajou continues to be well-supported by their strategy in the country.
MENFP: Haiti's Ministry of Education, which is a partner for the Eksploratoryòm science learning series.
Model School Network: a network of schools in Haiti's Central Plateau that use Lakou Kajou programming in their classrooms.
Digital Promise: Lakou Kajou is part of US-based Digital Promise's new Haiti Project, which will bring its digital learning model to selected Haitian classrooms.
Lakou Kajou also works with Haitian-based audio and video production companies, including Muska Group, Ayitikomik, Artlex Productions and Village Santé.
Partnership Goals
Lakou Kajou's Eksploratoryòm seeks:
Expertise on User Engagement and User Experience
Assistance for developing a strategic communications plan to build awareness of success within Haiti and share the solution’s story globally
Brainstorm with other Solvers about inexpensive methods for reaching target audience in rural Haiti
Expertise on leveraging existing assets to reach the broadest audience, given the local constraints
To learn from the Solver community's expertise in developing, markets and monetizing intellectual property
What is the name of your organization?
Blue Butterfly
What is the name of your solution?
Lakou Kajou's Eksploratoryòm
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
Science in your pocket! Fun, engaging distance learning for Haitian students.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Port-au-Prince
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
Haiti
What type of organization is your solution team?
Nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
—
What specific problem are you solving?
Haitian children entering the fifth grade in September 2022 have never had a year of school without significant disruptions due to health emergencies, civil unrest, natural disasters, and gang violence. Distance education is an on-going need. Technological solutions must be creative because electricity and internet access is limited.
What is your solution?
Lakou Kajou's Eksploratoryòm takes Haitian children on a journey of exploration, engaging them with interactive science lessons that can be delivered when school is unavailable, even in remote locations.
Rather than using the didactic, top-down learning approach typical in Haiti, Eksploratoryòm builds children's understanding through captivating stories that are relatable and fun. In one lesson, a girl learns about vertebrates when she takes care of a puppy; she discovers it has a backbone and so does she! The culturally-relevant stories, games, and songs match the Haitian Ministry of Education's national science curriculum and drive skill building in social-emotional wellbeing, health, and literacy.
Lakou Kajou's Eksploratoryòm is partnering with Viamo, a leading provider of interactive voice response (IVR) applications, to distribute Eksploratoryòm in remote areas of Haiti. Using a regular mobile phone (Internet access isn't required), families call a central number to hear audio lessons and students can respond to questions.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Eksploratoryòm is targeted to early primary learners (1st and 2nd grades) in Haiti where distance learning opportunities are especially needed due to the high frequency of school closures.
Our IVR implementation of Eksploratoryòm will reach children in the South of Haiti, which continues to be severally affected by an earthquake that hit in August 2021. The lack of gas due to gang activities limits efforts to stabilize the region. Food insecurity and child malnutrition are on the rise.
Eksploratoryòm will not only educate these underserved children, but it will also provide them with a sense of hope and security
. Eksploratoryòmâs stories meet objectives around socio-emotional learning, providing much needed support to children.
We have evidence that our strategy works. A randomized controlled trial conducted by the University of Maryland, found that viewers who watched Lakou Kajou made learning gains in all the areas of the curriculum tested.
