Using the Audiopedia approach we are able to provide health education even to remote and marginalized populations.

Take for example the Aka. They are a nomadic Mbenga pygmy people living as hunter-gatherers in the dense rainforests of the Western Congo Basin in Central Africa. The Aka people are vulnerable individually and as a community. They are geographically isolated, illiterate, have no written language and no access to social services. So how can we make sure that they can acquire vital health knowledge?

The answer is: with songs and our solar-powered Audiopedia player. Music is a key element of the social and spiritual life of the community. It forms an integral part of Aka rituals including ceremonies related to the inauguration of new encampments, hunting and funerals. That's why French anthropologist Romain Duda came up with the idea of inspiring songs that could be used for health sensitization.

One good example of his approach is "Musele - The Diarrhea Song". The song starts with the following line: "We are Bambenzele (Aka) from Minganga and Komo. My name is Lokombe Michel and now we're going to play our music to talk about diarrheal disease problems, because it's something that you need to avoid at all costs." It goes on with advice on how to prevent diarrhea ("You have to wash your hands. Drink clean, clear water.") and recommends local medicinal plants like stool wood (alstonia congensis) for treatment. The songs are performed and recorded in the field and later distributed together with additional information on our solar-powered Audiopedia players.

The "Radio Aka" project is lead by the Order of Malta France. The goal is not only to provide health education, but also to make the Aka aware of their indigenous rights. In order to inspire other organization to follow this idea, we have shared the complete contents of this project in our Audiopedia Cloud. We recommend to read through the project report first in order to get a better idea if the contents. You can access the project report directly by clicking here. 

The Aka have lost hundreds of their children every year due to diarrhea. For the first time ever we are able to change that. With the power of music and simple, yet innovative technology. 

How can you efficiently provide vital information to rural areas that have no electricity but a high rate of illiteracy? Our answer is: with a rugged, solar powered audio-player. This is why we developed the Audiopedia Player.

The Audiopedia Player contains more than 400 relevant questions and answers about health, nutrition, family planning, child care, work and more. The texts are recorded by a native speaker in the mother tongue of the women addressed. The Audiopedia Player was conceived for small group listening - it therefore fosters discussion, exchange and (self-help) group building. It's a tool for change.

We provide the Audiopedia Player free of charge to rural women with the help of local non-government organizations (NGOs), cooperatives and other agencies.

Since 2016 The Audiopedia Player has been used in several pilot projects in East and Central Africa.  It started with a pilot in Tanzania, involving the Tanzanian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. But the device was also used to provide accessible health information to the nomadic Aka hunter-gatherers in the rain forests of Central Africa. Currently the player is being used to support rural mental health self-help groups as part of a long-term project in Rwanda, funded by the German government.

Audiopedia is a free resource of localized expert audio contents about health, nutrition, child care, family planning, agriculture and much more.

For the first time ever we are able to provide vital information to literally every rural woman in the world. No matter where she lives, what language she speaks or whether she can read or not - we can help her and her family to live a healthier and happier life. But we need your help to make this happen!

We are proud to count with the support of more than 11.000 volunteers who are translating our contents into more than 100 languages in a huge collaborative effort. Please join us in our effort to make vital knowledge accessible to every woman, everywhere.

You will receive a Certificate of Appreciation for your efforts. 

Need to play back our contents to a larger audience, like in a classroom? No problem! Simply plug our solar-powered Audiopedia player to an external loudspeaker, just as our colleague Kora did. 162 students in Bugomola, Uganda are now able to listen to vital knowledge about health, nutrition, family planning and more in their local language Luganda.

By joining us you’re joining a global community of benevolent people that are supporting the smart way to help the poor. We need your help to spread the word about how easy it is to provide illiterate rural women with accessible health education and life skills using free, solar-powered MP3 Players.

Just sign up and we will tell you how to get started. It's 100% free!

Together we can make a difference!

Every 6 seconds a child under five dies. Most of these deaths are entirely preventable. We could save millions of lives by providing illiterate mothers in developing countries with accessible health education.

Audiopedia is a free resource of localized expert audio contents about health, nutrition, child care, family planning, agriculture and much more. Simple and cost-efficient technologies like solar-powered audio players allow the distribution of those vital contents even to remote areas without access to electricity.

Providing adequate health education to every woman is technologically feasible and economically viable. It's time to make it happen.