CARE Bangladesh has provided Talking Book training for over 200 community agents.
CARE Bangladesh has deployed its Talking Books and trained 200+ community volunteers to deliver messages to mothers’ groups and farmers.
In 2021, Amplio launched new partnerships with CARE in Haiti, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Bangladesh. CARE Bangladesh recently deployed Amplio Talking Books for the Joint Action for Nutrition Outcomes (JANO) project. Funded by the European Union and the Austrian Development Agency, the JANO project supports the National Plan of Action for Nutrition. Community volunteers will use Talking Books to share knowledge and healthy behaviors with community groups across Rangpur and Nilphamari districts.
The project is being implemented by CARE Bangladesh in partnership with Plan International Bangladesh and Eco-Social Development Organization (ESDO).
The JANO project's main objective is to help end malnutrition of children under five, together with addressing the nutritional needs of pregnant and lactating women and adolescent girls. But CARE's Talking Books also include messages about health, climate-smart agriculture, gender equality, women's empowerment, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). The messages are recorded in Bengali and are designed to target various audiences through songs, dramas, stories, and interviews.
Listen to the JANO project's Talking Book welcome song.
CARE Bangladesh is Amplio's first partner in Asia
"The JANO project is working closely with local government structures in an innovative and best practice approach that will set the stage for program sustainability," said Lindsay Dakan, Amplio's global partnerships program manager.
"Talking Books are in the hands of community agents, supporting mothers’ groups, adolescent girls, and other community members. This is Amplio's first Talking Book program in Asia. We're excited to partner with CARE Bangladesh and see how our technology will be received. The JANO team is inspiring."
A CARE Bangladesh staff member loads content onto Talking Books prior to deployment.
Akram Ali, ICT and Knowledge Management Consultant for CARE Bangladesh, said his team has conducted train-the-trainers for the JANO project's 12 field staff and trained more than 200 community agents.
"We have trained 202 community agents (all women) out of 208 total. Six agents missed the training, so we are providing them with one-to-one training through our field staff," he said. "The agents have started field-level orientation on Talking Books. We also procured and distributed rechargeable batteries and chargers."
For the JANO project, community agents will use Talking Books to deliver audio messages on nutrition, health, women's empowerment, WASH, and more.
The Talking Book's built-in speaker allows groups to listen and learn together.
While targeting mothers is a priority, Ali said the JANO project aims to use Talking Books to reach and share knowledge with as many people as possible.
"We want to make sure that the Talking Book intervention reaches as many project participants as possible. Hence, we are introducing the Talking Book in every gathering. For example, the JANO project is introducing climate-smart agriculture technology to the farmers in the project areas where both women and men farmers are participating," Ali explained. "So, 202 Talking Book devices are now deployed in the field. Four months from now, we will initiate the first extraction of the Talking Book data."
With Amplio's support, the CARE Bangladesh team will collect and analyze Talking Book usage data and user feedback to monitor the JANO project, identify issues and trends, and make data-informed decisions for project updates and improvements.
Amplio's partnership with CARE Bangladesh is supported by the Paul and Cathy Cotton Family and Erin and Jamie Chapple.