Lakou Kajou's Eksploratoryòm

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