Thank you for your support in 2015!

Ears to Our World extends our profound thanks, both for those we support, and for those who support us: namely, you. 

This past year––2015––will be noted as the year ETOW provided significant support for schools and communities in the wake of the Ebola virus, even as we continued our consistent support for our long-term partners throughout the world––such as Project Education South Sudan in South Sudan, Western Carolina University in Kenya, and EduCare Africa in Cameroon.

We are also grateful to our partner and supporter, Eton Corporation, for their continued donations of the self-powered radios that fuel our mission. Thanks, Eton!

And we couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you!

Now in our seventh year, ETOW remains dedicated to improving lives and building children’s futures through appropriate technologies, such as self-powered radios and super-efficient flashlights.   While we continue to work with our existing and new partners, we’re exploring the latest communications and media technologies in an effort to expand the horizons of the students and teachers we assist. We plan to test the use of an Outernet satellite receiver, as well as expand the use of the HumanaLight both through our mission abroad and here in the US.

If you’d like to make a tax-deductible gift to help us in our mission, you can make your contribution online. If you would like to learn more about the HumanaLight kit––or if you would like to purchase one––check out: humanalight.org.

We hope you've had a wonderful 2015, and continue to stay interested in and involved with Ears to Our World. We welcome your support in any form. And to those who’ve already given it, we thank you. 

May blessings abound and peace reign throughout our listening world in 2016!

In friendship,

Thomas Witherspoon
Executive Director,
Ears To Our World

a few words from ETOW’s  field partners...these words are for you

“I wish to express our sincere gratitude...We use the ETOW radio regularly to listen to news from around the world, especially stations like...the VOA, BBC, Vatican Radio and others...It is particularly helpful to us in this village environment because it doesn’t require electricity...”

“The [ETOW] radio has helped the students, teachers and the community...During free periods the teachers and students come round to get free information over the radio.  For me, the radio has also been my working partner...It serves as a torch or lamp in the absence of fuel...”

“A journalism student...receives the news over the ETOW radio and presents it every morning...to the entire student body.  The Radio has been functioning now for two years without any problem.  Thank you so much..."

“Our school is...without electricity [while] Telephone service is only sporadic, therefore the presence of such a powerful radio which receives right on campus and most parts of the village is a welcome relief to the entire community...We lack words to express our gratitude...”

“The administration of GHS Ntumbaw, the entire student body and the Ntumbaw community...wholeheartedly express their joy to you for the radio received. The fact that it generates power on its own saves us the cost of going for dry cells...giving us news of Cameroon and without. Thanks for your unreserved generosity...”

“On behalf of the students of this school, I thank you sincerely from the bottom of my heart...”

“The ETOW radio is functioning effectively and we are making maximum use of this precious gift...Thank you..."

“Immense thanks and God bless your organization..."

“We pray that God should continue to give you the means to help other people around the world as you have helped us..."

“We remain grateful to you now and forever.”

And we at ETOW add our thanks to these.  You have truly made a difference to the world––we, too, remain grateful now and always.

thank you.

Celebrate World Radio Day 2015

Ears To Our World will be celebrating World Radio Day, February 13 along with many of you. As its sponsor, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is calling on people everywhere to recognize and trumpet what we so passionately know: Without radio, people in poor and remote communities around the world have no other access to the vital news and information so important to enrich their lives.

Your generous donations to ETOW have, and will continue to bring radio to those people most in need.

World Radio Day is a time “to remember the unique power of radio to touch lives and bring people together across every corner of the globe,” UNESCO reminds us. Your support is vital. Let’s all do our part.

In 2013, ETOW Founder and Director, Thomas Witherspoon, was interviewed by UNESCO and spoke about the relevance of radio. You can listen to his interview below:

Celebrating World Radio Day 2014

Today is UNESCO World Radio Day–a day to celebrate the continued relevance of radio in the twenty-first century.

And today, you, too, can make a difference with radio.  Here’s how:

• Send a shortwave radio, care of us here at Ears To Our World. You can send one self-powered shortwave radio to a classroom or community in the third world for as little as $40.  In impoverished regions still without internet access or electric power, your tax-deductible donation of one radio can inform and empower an entire community of listeners. Click here to donate one time or, if you like, monthly.

• If you’ve heard my 2013 recording for UNESCO regarding the relevance of radio, you may also like to visit World Radio Day’s webpage and hear what others have to say about the relevance of shortwave radio. Share this page with your friends.

• Contact your representative(s) and remind them of the continued importance of shortwave radio in today’s world. Click on the following links to search for your government representative(s) in the USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.

• Need more ideas to celebrate World Radio Day?  Check out UNESCO’s great list.

Wishing you a wonderful World Radio Day!

Warmly,

Thomas

ETOW Founder/Director

Looking back on 2013

Dear Friends,

It’s been a bright year for Ears to Our World, and we’re profoundly grateful for all the Support we’ve received––and continue to receive.  So, thanks to our many, many friends––among them, educators, administrators, clergy, associates, guides, logistical experts, directors, and partner organizations the world over––and thanks to you.  

Following are but a few of ETOW’s 2013 highlights, that you helped make possible:

Miracle Malaki, a visually impaired student at the BCVI Summer Camp in Belize City, Belize, receives a self-powered radio from Ears to Our World. (Photo: David Korchin)

Sierra Leone: Ears To Our World donated world-band radios to a human rights program for use in a human rights monitoring project

South Sudan: For the fifth year now, ETOW worked with partner Project Education South Sudan to serve remote communities and schools helping shape South Sudan’s new democracy. And this year, in a new trial project, ETOW also provided a girls’ dormitory with a GoalZero portable solar lighting system for study and security

Cameroon: Also for the fifth year, ETOW continued work with Educare Africa, and received a wonderful report from a small remote village

Belize: ETOW continued to work with the Belize Council for the Visually Impaired; in July, ETOW advisory board member and photographer David Korchin accompanied me to inner-city Belize to document our placement of ETOW radios with a number of inspiring kids attending BCVI’s summer camp (one of his amazing photos is enclosed)

Kenya: ETOW board member/professor Nyaga Mwaniki and his group of university students distributed radios, through Kosmos Solutions, to schools and communities in rural western areas

Mongolia: ETOW and partner EduRelief undertook our most recent project in the extremely remote Tsagaanuur (White Lake) region of Mongolia, near the Russian border, distributing radios to nomadic Tsataan reindeer herder families

But among the brightest potential projects we’ve undertaken in 2013 is our new partnership with Western Carolina University’s Kimmel School of Engineering, where a group of bright students have just produced a new prototype of our HumanaLight, the remarkable little LED flashlight that shines long and bright, even when powered by the residual voltage of “dead” batteries.  

Right now, we need your help to raise the materials costs of our first production run of the HumanaLight. Please, won’t you help us reach our goal?  We only need $5000 more to make this little light shine the world over.  With our loyal supporters, we can do it...and school children in powerless areas will soon walk home, not just with their schoolbooks, but with a safe, affordable light to read them by.  

In 2014, may blessings abound and peace reign throughout our listening world. Happy holidays!

In friendship,

Thomas Witherspoon

Director, ETOW

Donation Crosses Globe as AIM Sets Sights on ETOW’s Humanitarian Mission

Ears to Our World is delighted to announce that it has accepted a generous — and wholly unexpected — gift from a non-profit educational institution…clear on the other side of the globe. It’s an ideal illustration of how access to information shrinks the world, and can make it a better place at the same time.

ETOW founder Thomas Witherspoon said the unforeseen largesse, from the Australian Institute of Music (AIM), which learned of ETOW through an Internet search, would support the organization’s continuing work in countries like Kenya, Cameroon, and South Sudan, where it has expanded its presence with a recent shipment of radios. The shortwave broadcast receivers ETOW distributes enable children and their support networks in the most remote, impoverished parts of the world to hear educational programming, local and international news, emergency and health information, as well as music and arts programming.

The ambitious, course-related endeavor that led to the donation was a fulfillment of AIM’s Events and Project Management class. Dubbed “Memories & Melodies,” it was held at the Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills, New South Wales, Australia, and focused on the theme of “Music Nostalgia” through film clips, hired props, and highlights from musical history. Entertainment included a hoopla performer, a ballet dancer, and a comedic gypsy. Guests also enjoyed a glam booth and photo booth, bingo, a dance competition, and a DJ playing hits from the 1950s through the present. Revenue would be collected from ticket sales, raffles, donations, a silent auction, and sponsorships. To donate those proceeds, the non-profit institution wanted to find a charity that aligned with its own vision.

AIM fundraising team photo from "Memories and Melodies"--all dressed in the music nostalgia theme.

Ashton Smith, project manager for “Memories and Melodies” and a student of AIM, said, “We agreed to align the event with an organization which focuses on ‘access to the arts’ in some form or another.” After much “scouring of the Web,” as Smith puts it, they came across ETOW, which had a further appeal to them by also targeting communities disadvantaged by social, political, or economic circumstances. They selected ETOW as the sole recipient of their donation. “At the Australian Institute of Music, we value the importance of having access to broadcast media, and can think of no better cause to support,” he added.

“Memories & Melodies” was a resounding success, attended by 140 people and raising a total of $1,700 for ETOW.

Witherspoon says the donation perfectly reflects ETOW’s core principle that access to information is access to education, stating, “Here we have an educational institute in Australia reaching out via the Web — the ultimate access tool — to a humanitarian organization in the U.S. to help foster its efforts in schools in Africa. It’s also inspiring, and humbling, that the young people behind the event, many of whom will one day work in mass media, chose to donate the fruits of their labors to people without mass media, in small villages in another hemisphere. It doesn’t get any more global than this.” 

“As we here at AIM make music our life, it's hard to imagine a life without it,” explains Ashton Smith. “Throw in education, news and health information and you've got power through access to information. ETOW just offered the full spectrum for those who need it the most and we were proud to support them.”

ETOW Radios Bolster Sierra Leone Human Rights Effort

In its continuing effort to improve the lives of children and their support networks in the developing world, Ears To Our World recently donated thirty world band radios to a human rights program jointly run by the African Community Internship Placement Programme (ACIPP) West Africa and the Centre for Accountability and the Rule of Law-Sierra Leone (CARL-SL). The radios are part of a proposed project that will use short messaging service (SMS) to generate data for human rights monitoring in Sierra Leone.

In a donation ceremony at the National Museum in Freetown, Ibrahim Tommy, CARL’s executive director, explained that CARL and ACIPP West Africa are working together on a new technology-focused approach to human rights efforts. He said that the self-powered ETOW radios would contribute to the success of their Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), established to promote transparency and accountability in local councils, as well as to other current and future undertakings.

CARL-SL will distribute the radios in 15 communities across the country, where the organization’s locally based monitors work to promote human rights through combatting sexual and gender-based violence, and enhancing accountability and transparency in local government. The trained recipients will use the radios to tune various community radio stations and share the information learned with their communities, telling inhabitants about daily happenings in the country, and covering issues relating to human rights, domestic violence, good governance, transparency, and accountability, thereby empowering people through information dissemination.

As an added benefit, Tommy pointed out that the radios offer a reduced burden for remote communities because they do not require a battery, and also offer mobile phone charging and flashlight capability. “In a country where electricity still remains a major challenge, particularly in rural communities, it is exciting to think of the ways these radios would enhance access to information in the communities we work,” Tommy said.

Referring to the ETOW radios, ACIPP’s Executive Director Simon Tsike-Sossah added, “There is so much power in information, and I am extremely delighted for the potential beneficiaries of this donation.”

ACIPP is a Netherlands-based organization whose mission is to foster exchange and community engagement between youth worldwide in order to enhance West Africa’s building capacities and capabilities.

CARL-SL is an independent, not-for-profit organization that seeks to promote a just society for all persons in Sierra Leone through monitoring institutions of accountability, outreach, and advocacy for institutional transparency, capacity building, and empowerment of citizens, all goals that ETOW likewise supports.

Message from ETOW's Director: World Radio Day 2013

Dear Friends,

Today is UNESCO World Radio Day, which is described as "a day to celebrate radio as a medium; to improve international cooperation between broadcasters; and to encourage major networks and community radio alike to promote access to information and freedom of expression over the airwaves."

UNESCO asked me to share my thoughts regarding the relevance of radio in our mission, as they wished to share it with others on World Radio Day.  You can listen to this short piece by clicking here or listening in via the embedded player below.

Without a doubt, radio is as relevant as it has ever been, especially in the remote, rural areas where we work–those areas without reliable power, let alone the Internet. It's why radios continue to be much more useful than laptops or cell phones.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all the support you give Ears To Our World. We're enormously grateful.

This year, we've already sent radios to South Sudan and to Sierra Leone. The partnership in Sierra Leone will use radio to support women's rights over the airwaves through special radio programming. Radio, indeed, is a powerful medium for education and positive change.

Today, please take a moment to think about how radio as had an influence on our world–perhaps on your own life–and how it continues to be a lifeline for so many.

Thank you,

Thomas

Thomas Witherspoon

Executive Director, Ears To Our World

Hearing live election results via shortwave radio

Today is November 6th, 2012 and tonight, people from all over the world will be following the US presidential elections. Though ETOW's partners live in some of the most remote parts of our world, they, too, will be following via the power of shortwave radio. The Voice of America is even extending their shortwave coverage to provide this news.

Ironically, shortwave radio will be providing news from sources across the globe at the speed of light--no streaming, no buffering, no apps, no fees.

No electricity? No problem: our radios crank out their own power with the twist of handle.

ETOW Honors World Radio Day in South Sudan Schools

Monday is World Radio Day, a celebration of the importance of the medium of radio throughout our world. Ears To Our World (ETOW) is celebrating by sending more radios to the world’s newest country: South Sudan. 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.

Mission in Process: ETOW’s Radios Educate Despite Extremes

The self-powered world band radios that Ears To Our World distributes to remote, impoverished schools and communities around the world through its global partners are often subjected to extremes—not only climatic, in the form of relentlless tropical rains and scorching desert sand-storms, but also the political and economic, resulting in extremes of usage most technologies are just not built to withstand. To support ETOW's mission of providing the developing world with reliable access to information--e.g, educational programming, local and international news, emergency and health information--ETOW radios must be exceedingly rugged and maintainable in the field. Nevertheless, any technology experiencing this kind of usage must be expected to have a finite functionality: that’s the reason our commitment to ongoing partnership and follow-up support is so vital. 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 to Present at the Inaugural IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference

Great news: Ears To Our World has been invited to make a presentation about the work we do, and how it addresses humanitarian needs in the developing world, at the first-ever IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference. The IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) is the world’s largest professional association dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. 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.

Help us increase our Facebook followers!

Did you know that Ears To Our World is on Facebook?  If you're an ETOW fan, join us!  We have a goal of increasing our follower presence on Facebook to 500 people by December 2010. How can you help?  Join ETOW's Facebook 500 (if you haven't already) by following us on Facebook--and spread the word about ETOW and the power of radio education among your FB friends.

ETOW Featured in Wall Street Journal Magazine

ETOW is both honored and humbled to be featured in the May 2010 issue of the Wall Street Journal Magazine (see page 24 in the print edition). Writer David Goren's stellar article brings to life our story, underlined by our mission-driven objectives, and highlights some of our recent significant partnerships; here is an excerpt:

Last August, ETOW teamed with the American Haitian Foundation, shipping radios to the 39 teachers at St. Antoine’s School, in the town of Petite-Rivière-de- Nippes, Haiti, 68 miles from the capital. The teachers brought the radios to their homes, gathering news to pass on to their students. When the earthquake hit, the teachers cranked them up to glean what information they could. “After the earthquake, all the radio stations were off in the country,” says Emmanuel Pressoir, the school’s business manager. “The telephone did not work, even the cell phone. But with their radios, they could go on shortwave, and be informed.” A week later, when a 5.9 aftershock rocked the village and rumors of an impending tsunami stirred panic, the teachers were able to turn to their radios again..."

Please visit the WSJ Mag website to read the full article.

ETOW would especially like to thank David, as well as editor Owen Phillips, photographer Randy Harris, and indeed all the WSJ staff, who made this nonprofit's dream come true in print before thousands of readers. We would also like to thank those of our partners and supporters who provided wonderful photos and comments that enrich the piece. Last but certainly not least, ETOW wishes to thank those readers who have responded with all forms of support, in the form of encouraging words, or in donations of money, time, and/or talent.

Many, many thanks to each of you -- we are profoundly grateful.

ETOW Radios Arrive in Sudan

(Photo: Project Education Sudan)

Ears to Our World's first radios have arrived in Southern Sudan, care of our partner Project Education Sudan, a US-based charitable organization whose goal is to foster education in areas that have been ravaged by Sudan's 20 year civil war, which has destroyed its existing educational system.

Like ETOW, Project Educate Sudan believes that education and the dissemination of information is fundamental. ETOW's shortwave radios have found a vital role in this area, with PES distributing and teaching community leaders how to operate them.

Carol Rinehart, executive director of PES, headed up the first distribution project, taking forty ETOW shortwave radios to five different villages in Sudan. She and her team distributed the radios to headmasters and teachers in schools which PES helps to fund, and found the response was overwhelmingly positive.

"The teachers were so excited about the radios and using them as a teaching resource that it became the central focus of the teacher In-Service [program], and more teachers than we [could supply] came from all around the area to receive one," recalled Rinehart. "After distribution of the radios, I saw the teachers around the villages using them with kids surrounding them. Our biggest challenge was the chiefs of the villages also want[ed] a radio!"

The ETOW radios that were distributed in Sudan almost instantly became the primary source for news and current events, particularly in covering the country's first democratic elections. During these elections the teachers kept their new radios in the classrooms to teach their students about the voting process, and the broadcasts provided vital information to the community about where and how to cast ballots.

Shortwave radios like those ETOW distributes take on a crucial role in countries where electricity, internet access, and other technology is limited. Radios connect those in remote areas with information that would otherwise be almost impossible to glean. "The main impact of the radios will be with the students and teachers, but the interconnectedness of the students and teachers as a vital part of their community will have a larger impact on the whole village," said Rinehart. "Their communities are so remote, in a newly-emerging country only now building an infrastructure. So literally, the radios ETOW provides keeps the students, teachers and the whole community connected to the world."

Many Thanks, Memset!

Ears to Our World has a new web host and supporter, Memset, a carbon-neutral web hosting company, which will provide us with a dedicated server for our ever-growing web community. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Memset for graciously providing us with a robust web hosting package with extremely reliable service, as well as a website that will be able to handle increased web traffic. We are delighted to find a web hosting company that shares our ethics of sustainable business practices. Memset recently announced that they expect to save their customers over 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions in 2010 through their use of cloud computing.

Nick Craig-Wood, CTO of Memset, shares our commitment to the main goals of ETOW. "As an internet hosting company, we are thrilled to be helping ETOW deliver information to the places the Internet doesn't reach yet," he said. "On a personal level, I've always had a soft spot for radio communications, and to think that a person in an impoverished country could have the use of a long distance radio makes me very happy."

We feel very fortunate to be supported by such a professional and reliable web hosting company, and look forward to growing with Memset in the future.

Thank You, Winter SWL Fest!

Once again, we would like to take a moment to thank the Winter SWL (Shortwave Listening) Fest for their generous and enthusiastic support of ETOW. ETOW founder and Executive Director, Thomas Witherspoon, attended the 23rd annual event that attracts radios enthusiasts, broadcasters, publishers and hobbyists alike, and was offered a warm reception both by festival hosts and attendees.

This year, the Festival raised more than $900 for ETOW--$700 from the popular silent auction, and over $200 in the form of individual donations. These funds will go a long way toward the support of our ongoing mission of education and international outreach through radio.

But SWL Fest support was not just monetary.  From SWL Fest co-host, Richard Cuff, we received following words of encouragement:

"We're thrilled to be able to support ETOW.

"The work that you're doing with ETOW helps us remember that radio is a tool that can make a positive difference in the world. We're grateful that individuals within the Fest community donate directly to ETOW and we're grateful to be able to support your work via the Silent Auction.

"We hope 2010 brings much success to ETOW as it continues to make a difference in areas lacking in news and information."

Thank you very much, Richard!  Thanks, too, to co-host John Figliozzi, and last but not least, to all Winter Fest friends and SWLers who support us so very enthusiastically.  Your belief in the power of radio is well-founded, and your spirited support of ETOW is truly appreciated.

Hats off to our friends of the 'Fest!

Radios to Haiti Update: ETOW Ships Over 100 Self-Powered Radios to Haiti

...And we hope to ship even more. The response from our Radios to Haiti fund drive, launched only last week, has been truly remarkable. We wish to thank all that have donated, as well as the volunteers who helped prepare and pack the radios at such short notice.

We have partnered with Operation USA to deliver and distribute our radios to the areas of Haiti affected by the earthquake. Operation USA is a charity that specializes in logistics; their sole purpose is to deliver aid to countries in need, such as Haiti, and for this reason they can do so quickly and efficiently. ETOW is pleased to be partnering with this reputable organization; we look forward to sending more radios to Haiti in the very near future.

Radios to Haiti: Information Is Relief to Haiti's Earthquake Victims

At ETOW, we know that in times of crisis, the dissemination of basic information is of extreme importance; it can save lives. Therefore, although sending radios to Haiti following that country's recent devastating earthquake broadens the scope of our usual program, in light of the dire emergency the country now faces, ETOW has decided to extend our reach beyond schools and teachers, to distribute a substantial number of Eton Corporation-donated ETOW radios to individuals in remote and impoverished areas affected by the recent earthquake.

ETOW's wind-up radios, which also have a built-in flashlight, may provide life-saving medical and food/water supply information to families and communities.

On a side note, we are very grateful to hear reports from our partner organization, the American Haitian Foundation, that the community of Petite-Rivière-de-Nippes in Haiti has reported no loss of life, and the ETOW radios they previously received are providing a useful link with other islands.

We will provide further updates on our special Radios to Haiti program as they become available.

Giving Thanks

Dear ETOW Supporters & Friends,

Here in the United States it is Thanksgiving -- a holiday during which we reflect upon all that makes us thankful, and a particularly meaningful occasion for Ears To Our World.

ETOW would certainly not be where it is today without our partners, supporters and friends. Our "thanks" page list is very long--unfortunately, it's impossible to include everyone--but the impact of each individual upon the people we serve is extraordinary, impossible to capture on a mere web page.

We are especially grateful for the support we received very early from Universal Radio and Etón Corporation. We would not have a presence in seven countries, helping hundreds of classrooms and thousands of children without the donation of radios Etón Corporation provided us early this year -- not to mention, our initial leg-up from Universal Radio. We thank you.

I would personally like to thank our board of directors, for your guidance, your oversight, and most of all your belief in our mission--you've given generously of your time, and even from your own pockets. We thank you.

Thanks, moreover, to our teachers--who give long hours of their lives to help the students in their care, often for the most paltry pay imaginable; we'd also like to thank you, teachers, for your feedback, which makes our work more useful. You are most deserving of our sincere respect and appreciation, and we thank you.

In short, we are profoundly thankful...

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Thomas Witherspoon Founder/Director

Radios to classrooms in Romania

The scope of work we do at ETOW is not limited to any particular region of the world. As long as teachers and their students meet our requirements--primarily, that they lack stable access to utility power at home and school--we will endeavor to work with them. Hence our Eastern European connection in Romania.

Through a partnership with Pleasant Ridge Church in western North Carolina, we supplied Gypsy students and their teachers in Hirip and Satu Mare, Romania, with access to a world of news and educational programming through our manufacturer-donated Grundig self-powered radios.

ETOW would like to acknowledge and thank Dr. Jim Smith, who hand-delivered four radios on Pleasant Ridge's recent visit to Romania. In a letter to us, he writes,

I would like to personally thank you for the gift of...shortwave radios...During our trip to Hirip and Satu Mare, Romania, we gave these radios on your behalf to the following [teachers and community] leaders:

Ramona Herosovics...a teacher of English and Current events in a school working with Gypsy upper high school-aged students, as well as some of our seminary students, in Satu Mare, Romania...She will be using the radios to teach English to these students. She will be sending a second radio home with them for English projects. Since many of the students do not have power in the[ir] homes, these radios will be exceptional.

Radios 3 & 4...will be used in the classrooms of a small village school in Hirip, Romania. A teacher travels three days a week to the school to teach there. Sometimes each week [these schools have] a different teacher. The main superintendent...accepted these radios and they were used in the classroom while we were there. There is no power in this building...The teachers will use them to teach current events as well as English and the radios can be checked out after school each day for homework and brought back the next day for classroom use.

Pleasant Ridge Church has maintained a strong relationship with these schools and Gypsy communities in Romania for over 13 years. Through their long-term committment to Hirip and Satu Mare, our partnership with Pleasant Ridge will insure sustained support over the long term, and we hope to supply even more of the teachers and students in these areas with our self-powered radios.