Lakou Kajou’s innovative audio edutainment program was adapted to our platform to teach national education standards in Haiti had 90 percent learning reported, with 19,000 families reached.
The Lakou Kajou program recently won a funding award from the top-ranking Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In Haiti, only 57 percent of children are enrolled in primary school. And half of those students can’t read when they enter third grade.
Natural disasters, effects of climate change, gang violence and civil unrest contributed to school closures across Haiti. Emerging public health crises like COVID-19 further complicated school attendance.
Children’s educational programming – Blue Butterfly – uses cultural storytelling and edutainment to bring the classroom to children who aren’t able to attend school. Their project, Lakou Kajou’s Eksploratoryòm, used the Viamo Platform to launch a mobile-based edutainment program in Haiti.
The project recently won two awards from MIT Solve and partner Unilever’s LivingProof. MIT’s Solve funded tech entrepreneurs and LivingProof Inc granted funding awards to women-led teams that focus on economic prosperity, health, learning and sustainability.
Lakou Kajou’s Eksploratoryòm brings the magic of science and learning to any type of mobile phone. The pilot launched in 2021 and reached more than 19,000 children and families.
Using the Viamo Platform to reach high-risk, digitally disconnected children
With limited electricity access and the high cost of internet data, Blue Butterfly knew they had to be creative and find the right technology solution to reach children who were at the greatest risk of school drop-out or disengagement.
Most Haitian adults own a mobile phone, and the Viamo Platform works without any need for an internet connection. All of the content is recorded using Haitian voice artists and dialects, and messages use Interactive Voice Response (IVR), bypassing the low-literacy rates.
By uploading lessons on the Viamo Platform in Haiti, Eksploratoryòm became accessible to thousands of people on the country’s major telecommunications firm’s network, Digicel, Viamo’s long-standing partner.
Using localized storytelling to drive knowledge attainment
Many children in Haiti have grown up consuming media and stories that may not reflect their own reality. Eksploratoryòm has become a trusted and beloved source of information due to its Haitian roots. The characters and settings are familiar, as are the voices that narrate lessons.
By using creative storytelling, Eksploratoryòm takes students on a fun adventure. In the pilot, that looked like listening to a young girl taking care of a puppy. Through this, she learned about anatomy and different kinds of animals.
All lessons are in line with the Haiti Ministry of Education and support their goals.
”“It’s a very good program/activity, sometimes awakens the minds of children with details not provided by schools or parents.”
ParentHaiti
Mobile based learning works in low-tech contexts
When children are experiencing hardships, education can be a welcomed lifeline and provide a sense of security.
From the pilot, 92 percent of children reported wanting to receive more lessons. More than 90 percent of parents reported that their children had learned from the program. And the results of the quizzes affirm this, with learning gains across all lessons.
With a successful pilot, Eksploratoryòm is set to be scaled up across Haiti.
There are seven lessons adapted to mobile at publication time. In the next phase, there are more than 45 lessons in preparation specifically designed to work with IVR and mobile learning, following the Ministry of Education’s learning standards.
