Re-engaging Learners

Selected

Lakou Kajou's Eksploratoryòm

Science in your pocket! Fun, engaging, distance learning for Haitian students.

Team Lead

Suzanne Cole

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

Organization Type: Nonprofit

Headquarters: Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Stage: Growth

Working In: Haiti

Current Employees: 10

Solution Website: lakoukajou.ht

Solution Team:

  • Suzanne Cole Co-Executive Director, Operations, Blue Butterfly/Third Sector New England

 
 
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