Introducing Impact Radio...

In late March, around the time that schools were closing around the globe, our team held a series of brainstorming sessions to better understand our options to continue schooling for our students. Unlike many schools, online learning and mobile learning aren’t viable options for us – the vast majority of our students lack access to an internet-enabled device, a stable network, and more importantly, power.

During that initial meeting, we thought of a number of different programs that we could implement – and I’m so proud to say that we are in the process of piloting a few of them. One of the most inspiring ways we are moving forward is through our Impact Radio initiative. In those days in late March, I met with a fellow school operator at Rising Academies and they offered to partner with us on their Rising on Air initiative – a free, distance learning solution with lesson scripts on basic literacy and numeracy across three different levels of schooling. Over the month of April, we started taking these lessons scripts, adapting them for use in Zambia, translating them into Chinyanja, and recording our own audio for radio.

In the last four weeks, I have seen our incredibly nimble management team stretch themselves in order to make Impact Radio a reality. Elida & Promise are co-leading this initiative and have done a fabulous job organizing the team, and structuring our work. Last week, we listened to over a dozen voice auditions from our team members to pick our new radio announcers! It was a delight to hear our team from 7,500 miles away and get a little taste of how well they can lead a classroom! Even from just their voice, I can sense their delight, their thirst to reach our learners, and their commitment to our communities.  To each of them, I express my deepest gratitude.  I often say that I awake each day, humbled and grateful for our team on the ground in Zambia.  That has never been more true for me than over the course of the last eight weeks.

-Reshma