As the group stood up and started singing, it was obvious that everyone knew the song. The song was a song about malaria which they had learned from our MT4 players distributed among the Samburu. They said it was one of their favorites and that everyone in the village now knows the song.
What is remarkable is that not everyone in the circle, or the village for that matter, had listened to the MT4 player. They had learned the song from others who had listened to the MT4 player. This is a phenomenon that we see happen every time we implement an orality project.
Our recently completed third-party evaluation of our project among the Samburu in Kenya pointed out that while a large percentage of those surveyed had listened to the MT4 player, 18% had not. Yet when they compared average percent increases over the baseline for changes in knowledge, attitudes and behavior, the increase for non-listeners was 39%! Our evaluator, Calvin Edwards and Company, concludes:
“This suggests that there is a very significant degree of secondary learning occurring within this oral culture—even those who don’t listen to the MT4 player are quite likely to learn as ideas are passed along orally.”
Preliminary data is in from our third party evaluation of our project in Punjab, India. It appears that we have another project that is showing dramatic shifts in knowledge, attitudes and behavior as a result of our approach to training among oral culture people.
–Regarding symptoms of various diseases, we saw shifts from 8% of people understanding certain symptoms before our training to 42% afterwards. In one case the shift was from 8% to 92%.
–Regarding treatments of various diseases, we saw shifts from 29% to 85%, 21% to 75%, and 29% to 75%.
–Before our training, no one surveyed could tell the story of Moses in Bible. Afterwards, 58% could tell the story very well. 13% could tell the story of Abraham, Isaac and Sarah beforehand; now 83% can. Only 7% could tell the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 beforehand; now 83% surveyed can tell that story very well. 75% can now tell the story of Jesus calming the big storm and 67% can tell the story of Jesus casting out the evil spirit, whereas only 20% could tell those stories before our project.
These are not just statistically significant. They are dramatic changes!
A key indicator of impact of a training project in an oral culture is whether people are retelling stories they have learned to others. If they can retell a story, they have obviously learned the material. But if they are volunteering to retell the story to others in their community, then the material has really impacted them to the point that they want to share it.
So a key finding from our evaluation is the fact that 83% of those who have listened to the MT4 player content have told one or more of the stories to others who have not listened to the MT4 player. We have started a conversation in Punjab that is reverberating around the community. It is this dialogue of telling and retelling stories and songs that leads to transformation.
Calvin Edwards and Company (Atlanta, GA) completed their evaluation of our project among the Samburu people in northwest Kenya.
Their conclusion: “The project was highly successful. Both men and women listened to the MT4 players and learned from the messages. Knowledge, attitudes, and behavior showed remarkable changes.”
Calvin Edwards and Company identified several success factors:
1. The MT4 players were distributed by pastors who viewed the project as very congruent with their ministry and thus were highly motivated.
2. The content was contextualized effectively. Credibility was established within the messages by identifying with the Samburu world-view and communicating using their language, cultural stories, idioms, proverbs, etc.
3. The programming was developed in a way that “bridged” the cultural/religious chasm.
4. The content was not “talking head” monologue; it was creatively programmed to entertain, hold the listener’s attention, and instruct.
5. The messages were designed to be interactive and encourage listener interaction, this increasing enjoyment and learning.
6. The Kenyan partners assembled a quality team of managers and distributors.
We will unpack their evaluation and findings and report more on them in later postings. A copy of the executive summary of the evaluation can be downloaded from our website.
“What did you think about the new movie last night?”
“Well, I can’t say exactly, so let me sing you a song and perform a drama to answer your question.”
That exchange probably would never happen in America (unless you are acting in the latest High School Musical movie), but it is what happened to us recently in northwest Kenya.
An evaluation team was in Kenya assessing our mobile school project among the Samburu people. We gathered a group together at a newly planted church to ask them about the project and to hear stories of impact and transformation. After a few summary comments and testimonies of impact, a group of women assembled in the front to “tell us” in their own way. They began singing one of the songs from our training content. But they added some of their own verses. And then began performing drama vignettes as part of the song. What emerged before our very eyes and ears was a drama/song that told the story of the mobile school project and its impact among the Samburu in that region. While we still needed a translator to explain the words of their song, the drama didn’t need translation: we could see with our eyes the real impact our project has had among the Samburus.
On the same grounds as the famous annual Maralal Camel Race, we had our first ever T4 Global Camel Race Smackdown. Todd Nichols (with Calvin Edwards and Co) led for most of the race. Kyle and I attempted several times to over power him, but got forced back into single file line when the trail narrowed. Tim Hughes (with Barnhart Crane), however, came out of nowhere and surged ahead of Todd down the stretch, pulling away by a camel length. Trent Walters (with Northpoint church) finished second, with Todd holding onto third. While Kyle finished in disappointing sixth place, he did say that he could have won but decided it was good form to let his guest win instead. So Kyle got the last smack in.
Meet Lomoro and Reagan with Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) in Yei, Sudan. Lomoro and Reagan will be taking the lead for EPC with our expanded project in Southern Sudan. I am currently in Yei with Bruce Lowe from Stonegate Fellowship Church (Midland, TX) and the EPC leadership planning the next phase of the MT4 project to place about 10,000 MT4 devices with three different content chips in Southern Sudan.
Recently Bishop Elias Taban was interviewed describing the incredible impact of the T4 Global project in Southern Sudan. Our pilot project placed 500 MT4 mobile schools in Central Equatorial State.
Bishop Taban calls the MT4 project “one of the most successful projects ever done in Southern Sudan.”
Bishop Taban wants MT4 devices on the ground in all 10 states in Southern Sudan. It would take about 20,000 devices to provide that kind of coverage and they would reach around 6 million Sudanese. We got our work cut out for us, but from the sound of his interview, we have a strategy that is working!
Okay, the picture is not the best. As great at the iPhone is, it doesn’t take good pictures, particular at night. While attending the Skoll World Forum in Oxford England, I was invited to eat at the Keble College dinning hall. It was the first choice for Hogwarts, but Kelbe College declined…Kings College dining hall was used instead.
The Skoll World Forum (www.skollfoundation.org) is an annual gathering of social entrepreneurs who are trying to address some of the world’s most difficult social, economic and environmental problems. While social entrepreneur is not the first thing that jumps to mind when describing T4 Global, I do find synergy here with other organizations. There are some pretty big heavy hitters here who are not afraid to go after the biggest problems in the world. Perhaps a little on the idealistic side, but I admire them for trying and not sitting on the sidelines.
A new partnership is formed! T4 Global cannot be effective in and will not work in a country without good indigenous partners. We really don’t implement “T4 Global” projects…we help our indigenous partners implement their projects to help their communities. True Neighbor Nepal (TNN) and Himalayan United Christian Fellowship Nepal (HUCFN) are two of our partners implementing training initiatives in the Himalayan mountain region in Nepal, with our assistance. We have finished the first pilot project in Nepal and had our first meeting to begin planning for a larger scale up project in 2008. This picture is in the home of Dwarika (right holding his son) in Kathmandu.
