Mr. Ndomi Patrick Ndi and his students from G.S.S. Mbu-Warr receiving their first ETOW self-powered, world band radio.

This year, ETOW sent EduCare a few radios to a pilot rural school in Cameroon to get teacher feedback about the potential project. EduCare is also using a radio to as a demonstration to get local support. The response has been overwhelming.

Mr. Emmanuel Sunjo, EduCare’s Project Coodinator in Cameroon, writes:

This project is unique and will create a big impact. It will be first of its kind in Cameroon. The radios are good-looking and well-designed. …[T]here is a lot that we shall achieve from this project.

We, too, believe our radios will have a major impact in Cameroon and we know that by using EduCare’s network and solid reputation, distribution will be effective. Already, our first teacher, Mr. Ndomi Patrick Ndi from G.S.S. Mbu-Warr, commented in a letter to us:

I received with great joy the radio donated to me by you. This radio is going to help me, my students, the staff and the entire community…I am very grateful…

Logistically, Cameroon, much like Kenya, is a challenging country–distances are great from village to village, school to school. Thanks to Mr. Sunjo’s dedicated efforts, EduCare’s network encompasses a large area. EduCare, however, has limited resources.

It will cost roughly $50 per radio to send 150 radios to Cameroon. If you’d like to help get them there, consider using the donation button on Ears To Our World’s website to support teachers, children, and classrooms in Cameroon!

It is with great excitement that we announce the arrival of our first radio in Kenya!  A teacher at St. Catherine School in Kibera, Kenya, is the recipient.  Serah Mucha of World Corps Kenya, who has partnered with Ears To Our World (ETOW), delivered our first radio herself.

Regarding this delivery, Ms. Mucha wrote:

The school is situated in Kibera, which is the biggest slum in Africa; it has 145 children and only 5 teachers, so this radio could be counted as the sixth. The buildings are dilapidated but what caught me was the eagerness for the children to learn and the excitement of a new method of learning in the classroom…

[I]t was so wonderful to give the radio away and see the smiles on people’s faces…

Serah Mucha of World Corps Kenya with teacher Reagan and students of St. Catherine School.

This radio, provided by Universal Radio, is just the first of many that will be sent to teachers at St. Catherine and other local schools. Teacher Reagan, the radio’s recipient, and World Corps Kenya are committed to providing ETOW with constructive feedback so that we can ensure our program is best tailored to their needs.

Thanks to Ms. Mucha and World Corps Kenya!  Thanks, too, to our wonderful sponsors Universal Radio and Etón Corporation. We wish Reagan and the other teachers and students of St. Catherine School our very best.

Etón CEO and Chairman, Mr. Esmail Amid-Hozour, has recently offered Etón’s support to Ears to Our World, and to that end, has provided us with literally hundreds of radios. This remarkably benevolent gesture will not just help propel our mission forward, but in our view, will ensure our long-term success.

We are also proud to extend Etón’s mission which, as we have previously noted, is very much aligned with our own.

Many, many thanks to Mr. Hozour and Etón!

Our choice, the Grundig FR200

If you have been following our progress in testing radios for ETOW use, you’ll know that the choice of radio for our project has not been straightforward. Over the past two months, we have considered and thoroughly tested an array of radios from various manufacturers, searching for an appropriate quality product. It was important to us that the radio we selected be particularly durable and of excellent quality in every respect, able to readily withstand constant classroom use, as it will ultimately represent ETOW where we work.

We have at last made a choice: Grundig’s FR200. The compact and sturdy FR200 has several requisite features, including:

• Shortwave coverage down to 3.2 MHz, to cover local HF stations in Africa and the tropics
• FM and AM (medium wave) coverage
• Self-powered by hand crank:  two minutes of hand operation delivers approximately 30-40 minutes of radio listening
• LED reading lamp
• Sturdy chassis and rugged black canvas carry case with adjustable shoulder strap
• Volume and sound fidelity suitable for classroom use
• Superior sensitivity and selectivity for a radio in its class

The LED Lamp on the FR200 makes night reading possible

One of the most significant deciding factors has been the FR200′s indication of longevity. We were impressed, moreover, with all of the Grundig (also known as Etón) radios which we tested in this respect. Being able to supply not only a quality but also lasting product to our classrooms and teachers is consistent with our mission, in that we will endeavor to maintain the relationships we build with our schools.

We are also encouraged by the fact that Grundig/Etón’s mission coincides with our own. Here is an excerpt from their website:

Radio is a medium that transcends borders. The airwaves know no boundaries. From the veldts of Africa to the jungles of Southeast Asia to the suburbs of America, the airwaves, and the valuable information they carry, are available to anyone with a radio. As a company with a global presence, Etón is committed to helping the world communicate across borders and without boundaries.

Congratulations, Grundig/Etón, for crafting an exceptional product!

ETOW would also like to thank Universal Radio once again for helping us narrow our search and donating all of our test radios.