Our partner in that war-torn region, Project Education Sudan (PES), is a non-profit that builds primary and secondary schools and trains teachers in rural villages in South Sudan; ETOW’s radios, we’re pleased to state, taking a starring role in this teacher training program. There are currently four PES schools in an area of Southern Sudan so remote that resources often have to be flown in on chartered planes. ETOW radios are in all four, helping teachers bring both education and hope to a devastated population. There is currently no public telecommunications infrastructure in South Sudan, yet ETOW radios make diverse programming available to these teachers, via shortwave and FM broadcasts. In classrooms that lack not only electricity, but often paper and pencils, these rugged, self-powered worldband receivers offer a tremendous wealth of free teaching material.

Our shipment of forty five additional radios is heading there. Daniel Majok Gai, a member of the board of directors of PES as well as its South Sudan program director, tells us that the teachers in the new schools are using ETOW radios to listen to FM 95.5 news from 6–10 a.m. and from 3–10 p.m. and to South Sudan Mirriaya news on a daily basis.

Gai says that “the teachers use the radios to collect good stories and share them with the students.” From his observations, Gai adds, “These radios have created a wider benefit between teachers at PES school and those teaching from the government schools…living within the same community.” He believes the teachers working in the PES-supported schools have an enviable advantage over those in the government institutions.

Our goal this year is to offer greater benefit to more children and their communities by sending additional radios to South Sudan, and even more countries where radio–whether local or international–is a lifeline of information in the community.

Ears To Our World firmly believes that access to information is access to education and both are essential human rights.

When we place radios in schools and communities through our global partners, we do so as a collaborative effort among equals: to make a lasting impact in our served areas, our in-country NGO affiliates distribute the radios where they can do the greatest good. Additionally, our partner teachers and community leaders entrusted with ETOW’s radios take responsibility for their care, monitoring each unit’s function as a result of daily usage. ETOW maintains contact with these partners and provides assistance as needed and feasible.

Fortunately, the Etón Grundig self-powered, hand-crank worldband radios with which ETOW works have been functioning superbly in the field, in places as diverse as Belize, Chile, Romania, Mongolia, South Sudan, and Cameroon. Thus far, these units have proven more than equal to the challenge: with care, these radios can last up to up to three years in the field, exceeding our expectations for the product. In areas where conditions are extreme, the radios do wear more rapidly, but we have learned that only tens in hundreds break within the first year of use, a remarkable finding and a testament to the committed care of the units by our partner-users.

Even a more significant finding, however, is the validation of our organizational model. ETOW recently had the opportunity to examine the sole radio returned to us from a remote area of Cameroon where our partner, NGO EduCare-Africa, had assigned it for use as a teaching tool in a local school. While the radio still received signals after three years of use, it no longer charged by hand crank; ETOW requested its return for analysis. Pavla Zakova-Laney, Founder, President, Executive Director, and full-time volunteer of EduCare, promptly responded with the radio’s return. In the meantime, as per our agreement, she offered the teacher partner a replacement radio. So, although the original radio experienced an internal component failure, it was apparently otherwise well-cared for, as the teacher partner had agreed upon placement; our NGO partner was informed of the problem, and served as on-site intermediary; and ETOW was able to address the problem by replacing the unit. Clearly, ETOW’s model of collaboration and follow-through works.

“We recognize that success in humanitarian aid requires providing consistent and reliable support over time,” explains Thomas Witherspoon, ETOW’s founder and director, “so we commit to our teachers and partners that we will do our best to replace or repair radios when they eventually reach the end of their useful life.”

ETOW’s experience in Cameroon is, in our view, a clear success story. According to Zakova-Laney, there are currently seven ETOW radios serving communities in Cameroon, being used in secondary/high schools. And although they are located in remote areas, EduCare estimates that nearly 2,700 students and teachers have directly benefitted from these seven devices. That number increases dramatically as news and other information is disseminated to students’ families at home and to communities at large.

But upon further examination, EduCare’s feedback is not all that surprising. In the areas ETOW serves, even one radio can produce a remarkably broad positive impact. “Every school [that received a radio] greatly appreciated it, and promised it would be used well and handled with care,” explained Zakova-Laney. In developing areas, each radio is an invaluable resource because it can affect so many lives. Even the single returned FR200 with the broken crank, in otherwise good condition despite extensive use, reinforces what we’ve believed from the beginning: radio is the best method to reach the greatest number of people where the need is greatest in the developing world. It is economical, uncomplicated, broadcasts are unhindered by boundaries and politics–and, as we’ve seen, as tough as it needs to be.

We’re proud of the continuing role we play in support of invaluable programs like EduCare-Africa’s, helping our partners achieve their goals of expanding opportunities and improving lives through education. So, exactly how important is our role? Zakova-Laney: “I believe that as long as there will be remote places without electricity and…a means of communication, these radios will be very helpful, bringing news, useful information and educational programs—and [they will be] appreciated tremendously.”

ETOW extends our appreciation to our generous supporters who enable us to do what we do. Thank you all.

ETOW founder, Thomas Witherspoon, and board member Ed Harris recently answered a “Call for Papers” from the organizers of this prestigious forum, coauthoring and submitting a paper entitled “Avoiding the 30-Pound Paperweight: Success Via Contextually Appropriate Technologies.” We’re delighted to announce that the paper–which details how to successfully incorporate into humanitarian efforts the “human vector” (the real-world needs and input of the people served) with the “technological vector” (the tools currently available)–was accepted.  Thomas will present the paper, and explain how ETOW exemplifies this approach, to conference attendees, including technologists, representatives from NGOs, governments, academe, funders, and industry.

This is a tremendous opportunity to promote our work to an influential audience, and an incredible honor for ETOW, but it’s more: it’s also an affirmation by this internationally respected body that our mission and our methods converge in a realistic way that can make a real difference in the lives of those we serve.

The inaugural Global Humanitarian Technology Conference will be held from October 31 to November 1, 2011, at the Renaissance Hotel in Seattle, Washington. For more information, visit www.ieeeghtc.org.

Post-earthquake, ETOW radios continue to be a vital link for those in need in Haiti. Here, Erlande, who suffered a stroke in her early 30s and can barely walk, listens to one of our self-powered Etón radios, given to her by the Haitian Health Foundation.

Over one year after an unimaginable catastrophe, worldband radios rushed into a disaster zone continue to improve the lives of people in need in Haiti.

When the 7.0 earthquake struck on the morning of January 12, 2010, it devastated the capital of Port Au Prince and the surrounding area, claiming the lives of more than 230,000 and shattering those of millions more. The impoverished country’s already inadequate infrastructure was largely destroyed, with one crucial exception: radio communications.

While most Haitian media were knocked off the air, radio station Signal FM was able continue broadcasting to an audience of nearly three million throughout the crisis. It helped victims reconnect with loved ones, identify aid and supply locations, and calm a terrified population. With re-establishing broadcasting capability a top priority, other radio outlets quickly joined Signal FM in its efforts.

In response to the tremendous humanitarian need, Ears To Our World expanded its mission of providing self-powered world band radios to schools and communities in the developing world to include sending radios for disaster relief. In the immediate aftermath, ETOW, working with its manufacturing and logistics partners, Etón Corporation and Operation USA, shipped 400 of these receivers to Haiti.

The importance of radio access in disaster situations cannot be overstated, and the results getting receivers into the hands of those in need are both immediate and enduring. According to the Knight Foundation, a non-profit organization that advances journalism in the digital age, radio was “the undisputed lifeline for the Haitian public after the earthquake.” In a recently released report, “Media, Information System and Communities: Lessons from HAITI,” the Foundation asserted, “Of all the available humanitarian information tools, radio was the most effective means to share information with the community and to distribute information to affected populations.”

“Radio is Haiti’s dominant medium,” the report stated, “Access to radio can be shared easily and relatively cheaply among many people, and serves both literate and illiterate populations. According to the CIA World Factbook, Haiti has over 250 commercial and community radio stations; a 2009 Voice of America survey describes radio receiver ownership as virtually universal.” Aware of radio’s vital role, the aid community embarked upon the mass distribution of receivers to affected populations to guarantee access to information.

Thanks to the generous support of our partners and donors, ETOW was able to be a part of that effort. We’re pleased to learn that the radios we sent provided critical support not only during the initial phase of disaster relief, but also as the humanitarian crisis continued to unfold, and today still as communities struggle to recover.

As E. Marilyn Lowney, Executive Director of the Haitian Health Organization, which distributed many ETOW radios, recently told us, “When important events or emergencies occur, people gather around available radios for news. Often 15 or 20 people gather around one radio. Public health messages are usually relayed on the radio. When the scourge of cholera recently struck Haiti, health messages and instructions for prevention, proper sanitation and treatment were widely broadcast. The radio saved many lives in our area when Hurricane Tomas struck in November and when cholera threatened to devastate the population.”

“Radio is essential in Haiti,” Ms. Lowney said. “The extreme poverty in Haiti precludes access to electricity, and so many things taken for granted in the USA are unavailable in Haiti…Television and Internet are unknown in the rural villages. This makes reliance on radio, especially self powered, very important.”

“Haiti needs more radios,” Ms. Lowney continued. “Every household should have a solar or a wind-up radio.”

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Staff of the BCVI personally introduced us to a number of the visually impaired children with whom they work, as well as their families, who live in very rural areas of northern Belize as well as within densely-populated Belize City. The children were presented radios by ETOW’s director, Thomas Witherspoon, and team members of the  BCVI, for use in their homes. Many of these homes lack reliable electricity, thus our radios play an important role for continued, renewable information and education.

Radio opens a world to all of our recipients, but to those who are visually impaired, this can be even more dramatic. Unlike the internet, which requires expensive translation software, radio content is designed to be heard, rather than watched or read–for those to whom sound and touch is their means of experiencing the world, radio is truly the perfect learning medium.

These children were no exception: Witherspoon says he was impressed by their instinctive aptitude for understanding radio, considering that many had never had a radio of their own or even tuned a radio prior to our visit. Smiles brightened their faces as they touched, tuned, and heard the diverse music and voices emanating from their radios.   Said Witherspoon, “These children really responded to the radios, and I knew that it wouldn’t be long before they know the frequency bands by heart.  I felt humbled and privileged,” Witherspoon added,”to introduce the world of radio to these incredible young people.”

We would like to thank our partner, the Belize Council for the Visually Impaired, for helping us open the door to their clients. We were most impressed with the BCVI’s holistic approach to helping children through continued, routine contact with both them and their families. Their educational and medical services are a benchmark for other organizations. We look forward to our continued partnership and long-term support through the BCVI.

But ETOW recently hatched an idea to pursue the design and creation of an inexpensive kit that children could, themselves, assemble into a simple working FM radio–maybe even a green product, no less, in that the kit radio might incorporate a re-purposed plastic bottle as the radio’s housing and/or a scrap cardboard base to hold together its components.  If the radio is somehow damaged, parts could thus be easily pulled off and replaced.

The exercise of assembling such a radio could be educational on many levels, and not only would teach a child about radio from the viewpoint of a young listener, but as a young engineer and perhaps even innovator.  This kit, while it would provide the basic electronics, may require a certain amount of ingenuity from the assembler as he or she would have to connect the electronics without solder, and perhaps with the assistance of items near at hand (scrap, recyclables, natural elements) for assembly board and housing.  Meantime, we at ETOW could learn an enormous amount from these radio-kit recipients, both in terms of practical usage and potential programming concepts.

With this in mind, Thomas Witherspoon, ETOW’s founder/director, approached Make: Magazine; shortly after, we were surprised and pleased to learn that his casual inquiry has become a Maker Challenge in their online edition.  Creative hobbyists and “makers” alike instantly began to respond with ideas.

Many thanks to Make Magazine and the online editors for their support! What’s more, we thank those who have (and have yet to) respond–and look forward to the invention of a kit radio, just for kids!

Unity Presbyterian Primary School, Belize City, Belize

Ears To Our World is working closely with our partners at Oklahoma State University and the Belize Ministry of Education, who themselves have a standing partnership in impoverished areas of Belize. OSU has created a learning lab at Unity Presbyterian Primary School, located in the heart of the most impoverished section of Belize City. The OSU learning lab supplies laptop computers and teacher training, while the Ministry of Education provides internet access, which can be difficult or expensive to obtain in Belize, within the lab setting. ETOW, meanwhile, has supplied portable self-powered radios to each teacher in the primary school; Thomas Witherspoon, ETOW’s founder and Executive Director, was on hand to provide radio programming and training to these teachers.

ETOW's Thomas Witherspoon (left) with Hon. Patrick Faber, Belize Minister of Education

Not only will Unity’s teachers be able to receive global news and information via radio, both at home and at school, but they will share this information with their students for enhanced classroom learning.

Together with Dr. Edward Harris, OSU Professor and Williams Chair of Educational Leadership, Dr. Blayne Mayfield, also of OSU, and with the encouragement of the forward-looking Ministry of Education, ETOW hopes to develop a means by which radio can be used for distance learning throughout the country, and perhaps even for computer training.

Regarding the relevance of radio in education, Dr. Edward Harris, who helped originate the OSU learning lab, writes:

I have had the opportunity to travel to some remote areas of the globe.  One common goal of almost every family I’ve met is for their children to have the best education possible. While the world has made strides in trying to bridge digital, economic, and social divides, there are still many areas of the world where children do not have equitable educational opportunities. In these areas, economic, geographic, and political conditions often make getting a good education impossible. In short, although people around the world recognize that education is necessary for personal, national, and global improvement, far too many children are not only left behind, they are left without hope.

Dr. Ed Harris and the teachers of Unity Presbyterian Primary School

One way to bridge the educational inequities that pervade global society is through audio podcasts and radio communication. Radio, especially self-powered radio, is a cost-effective and sustainable means to disseminate pertinent educational information to populations in remote corners of the globe.

While most of us in the western world are relatively adept in computer and internet technologies, many people around the world still do not have computer and internet skills. Self-powered shortwave radio has advantages over other modern communication technologies, because it’s inexpensive, user-friendly, and transcends political, geographical and economic boundaries.

ETOW looks forward to a continued and lasting partnership with OSU and the Belize Ministry of Education, and to an expansion of this laboratory program to other areas of Belize, so greatly in need of educational support.

ETOW has sent the Eton FR150 and FR160 to communities in the wake of natural disasters. These compact radios are powered by a hand-crank and/or a solar panel. They receive both AM and FM and have a bright, efficient flashlight.

What would you do if your car died on a dark road, out of sight of any building? Your mobile phone doesn’t get a signal. The car battery has died. It’s cold, dark, and perhaps even raining. You are truly “out of touch,” not sure when help is going to arrive. Would you be worried? Scared, even?

Now, put yourself in a disaster zone. Your house may be damaged or destroyed. Public utilities aren’t functioning. Power is out and mobile phones aren’t working. You are truly “out of touch.” Now, how might you feel?

The scenarios are remarkably similar in the feelings and concerns they elicit. In both cases, the lack of any communication makes the situation far worse. In both situations, if you could just turn on a radio and get news of what is going on in your area and when help might arrive, your sense of security increases as your fears diminish.

Such is the power of radio. When other communications fail, a simple radio with a crank or solar panel for power and knob to tune it offers a reassuring voice. A source of knowledge instead of just rumors. Before schools can get outside resources, or children can travel over repaired roads, radio provides a funnel of information that allows education to continue.

It’s easy (and necessary) in a disaster to think about necessities such as food, shelter, and clean water. How do people in the disaster learn where to go and how to get help with these basic needs? If you live in the industrialized world you might just assume it will show up where you are, sooner or later. As many found even in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the United States, that can be a risky assumption. What you need is information on how to help yourself, and the best way to get the information is through a radio.