COVID-19 awakened the world to a reality that Haitian educators have known for years: educating children outside the classroom is difficult. The pandemic deepened a grave situation for Haitian children who had already been out of school for most of the prior school year due to civil unrest. Given Haiti’s political instability and vulnerability to natural disasters and other emergencies, distance learning is a critical, on-going need in Haiti. Lakou Kajou’s Eksploratoryòm series takes children on a journey of exploration of the world around them, engaging them with fun, interactive science audio that can be delivered to children during times when school is unavailable.
Lakou Kajou’s Eksploratoryòm is a Kreyol-language audio-based science program for Haitian learners aligned to the curriculum of Haiti’s Ministry of Education. Each grade-level series includes 40 audio lessons plus worksheets and teacher guides. The first two series of the program, for grades 1 and 2 are available for classroom settings as well as distance education for children who are out of school. Listen to a sample lesson (in Kreyòl) or view one of the accompanying worksheets.
Blue Butterfly is working with partners to pilot several delivery platforms in a variety of settings in Haiti to learn which mechanisms effectively reach children living in remote areas.
- Interactive voice response (IVR)—We will partner with Viamo, whose IVR platform allows users to hear the audio the lessons using a standard phone call.
- Responsive chat—We will implement turn.io, a “chatbot” that supplies lessons based on menu selections.
- Radio—Our partner community radio stations will deliver the Eksploratoryòm lessons in five rural communities in Haiti, reaching thousands of families.
- Battery-operated audio devices—We will distribute simple battery-operated audio players to families in a rural community. The devices will be pre-loaded with the Eksploratoryòm lessons.
Lessons from these pilots will inform similar projects in other remote regions globally.
