Freeplay Foundation working together with Save for a Change.

The Freeplay Foundation: Transforming lives through dependable, self-sufficient and environmentally friendly technologies

The link between poverty and the lack of access to clean, modern energy is profound. Energy for lighting and communications are basic needs and out of reach for millions of people around the world.

• A farmer listens to the radio for news of the incoming cyclone, ready to spread the alarm to her neighbours.
• A child, orphaned by conflict and caretaker of his younger brothers, is soothed by voices on the radio as they fall asleep at a refugee camp.
• With safe, renewable lighting, a midwife assists a night-time birth with no fear of fumes from hazardous kerosene or firewood.
• With a bright LED light, a girl studies after sundown, when her long day of chores has finally come to an end.

For many people living in poverty, radio is their lifeline, providing information that can mean the difference between life and death. Clean, safe lighting can make study possible, extend the working day for increased income and improve the quality of health care. Until recently, radios and lights were out of reach for most people in poverty usually defined as living on less than US$1 per day. Disposable batteries are prohibitively expensive, especially for children living on their own. Kerosene, candles and firewood use more than 15% of already meagre household incomes. They cause respiratory problems and fires that destroy lives and property.

Freeplay Foundations Solution

The Freeplay Foundation wants to change all that. Wind-up and solar-powered Freeplay Lifeline radios provide sustainable access to information and education. Since 2003, more than 160,000 Lifeline radios have been distributed, conservatively reaching six million listeners. Freeplay have numerous projects to address the pressing needs of orphans and other vulnerable children, women, refugees and people who are ill.

To help meet the need and demand for portable clean energy sources, they are expanding into the renewable lighting sector. After conducting lighting needs assessments of vulnerable households in rural and peri-urban areas of South Africa, they are working with Freeplay Energy's engineers to create a range of fit-for-purpose clean energy lights called 'Lifelights'. Like the Lifeline radio, they will be powered by patented Freeplay wind-up technology or by solar power.

In addition, Freeplay have launched two pilot projects with the Weza foot-powered generator. The Weza, developed by Freeplay Energy, can power cell phones and other low energy devices. Using the Weza, they are working with communities in Rwanda and Zambia to establish self-financing small energy businesses. These entrepreneurs mainly women provide fee-based energy services, in-cluding cell phone charging and LED light charging and rental.

With access to information, education and light, people seize educational and economic opportunities to improve health, create jobs and advance quality of life. Freeplay are committed to act as stewards of the environment to make clean energy technologies available to those in need.

Freeplay Mission

Freeplay's mission is to transform lives through dependable, self-sufficient and environmentally friendly technologies. Working primarily in sub-Saharan Africa with a special focus on the needs of orphans and other vulnerable children, women, refugees and people who are ill.

Freeplay Energy

In 1998, Freeplay Energy plc (formerly Freeplay Energy Group) established the non-profit Freeplay Foundation as an extension of its social commitment. Although other companies manufactured versions of wind-up and solar-powered radios, only Freeplay had developed patented technology within its products. Freeplay is the world leader in transferring wind-up technology to the poorest of the poor, the people least able to access the information and education that could help lift them out of poverty.

Freeplay Foundation: Focus

The non-profit Freeplay Foundation works primarily in Africa. Working across many disciplines and with a focus on addressing the pressing needs of women, orphans and vulnerable children, they aim to contribute to total community well being. The Millennium Development Goals agreed to by 185 nations are incorporated throughout their work. In partnership with international and local alliances, their efforts result in grassroots ownership of initiatives in eight key areas:

Environment: Global climate change, slash-and-burn farming practices, over population, plant and animal species threatened with extinction, pollutants in our air, water and soil are all serious environmental challenges facing the world today. The main energy sources used by the poor wood, candles, kerosene and disposable batteries are all harmful to the environment.

The time spent collecting wood disproportionately affects women and children, since the task of fuel collection usually falls to them. It also creates deforestation, which in turn results in soil erosion and depletion. There is a high environmental cost to produce, use and recycle disposable batteries used in transistor radios. Billions of highly toxic disposable batteries are thrown into landfills every year, each battery requiring 50 times more energy to produce than it generated. Heavy metals, such as mercury, leach into the ground contributing to soil and water pollution, endangering fish, wildlife and humans entire ecosystems.

Freeplay wind-up and solar-powered Lifeline radios and Lifelight lanterns provide dependable human or solar energy. Lifeline radios and Lifelights use NiMH rechargeable batteries, which last at least four years and can be recycled once they go flat. They can also be easily replaced to extend the life of the product by a further four years.

Agriculture: is at the heart of African economies, with more than 70% percent of all Africans earning their living through agriculture. When crop yields are low or wiped out, farmers cannot sell their produce. Household income collapses, and farmers cannot feed their families and livestock. In times of flood, drought and conflict, millions suffer from malnutrition and face starvation.

Increasing agricultural productivity is one of the keys to reducing poverty and increasing food security. Farmers need information about new and alternative farming methods to increase crop yields and quality. They need ongoing education about modern planting techniques, safe use of pesticides and animal husbandry.

Radio information campaigns can make a huge difference to the lives of farmers. Rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa can be particularly remote: there is no electricity and batteries are expensive and difficult to come by. The self-powered Lifeline radio includes AM, FM, and short-wave bandwidths to reach farmers living in mountainous regions, or nomadic populations living in deserts.

Education: 'Everyone has the right to education', states the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Drafted in 1948 by a United Nations committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, the statement seems indisputable. Yet, according to UNICEF, more than 40 million children in Africa are denied access to education. African nations struggle to provide quality education for children. Lack of resources, classrooms, trained teachers, books and school supplies all contribute to the challenge. On a continent where only half of all adults are literate, Africa's future economic and social development relies on educating the next generation.

But how can 40 million children receive a high quality basic education? One solution is radio. Radio is the most widespread mass media tool in the world, and radio distance learning is a proven success in educating out-of-school children. World-class educators produce formal school curricula for the radio, but often students cannot hear it because teachers and schools cannot afford radio batteries, and few rural areas are electrified. The Freeplay Foundation partners with educators, local communities and national governments to ensure school programming reaches learners through the Lifeline radio.

Emergencies: Access to information is critical during a complex emergency and in its aftermath.

The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator reported in July 2007 that 143 million people were affected by natural disasters in 2006. Further, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported an increase in the global refugee population to an estimated 9.9 million.

Whether they occur through extreme weather, famine or conflict, complex emergencies devastate the lives of survivors. Accurate information is an urgent need, along with water, food, shelter, medical attention and clothing.

Incorporating AM, FM, and two short-wave bandwidths, the wind-up and solar-powered Freeplay Lifeline radio provides access to vital information in even the most devastated areas. Families can learn how to locate missing loved ones, where to go for medical care and food, locations of shelters and how to replace important documents such as birth certificates or identity papers. The 'voice' of the radio allows those in ravaged areas to feel less isolated and to know when help will arrive. Displaced populations can use Lifeline radios while they are on the move or living in refugee camps, without worrying about replacing transistor batteries.

Enterprise: About one in two people survive on less than US$1 a day in Africa. Many of theare due to lack of choice, power or resources. Without the ability to find work or to control any family income women are often limited to household work and child bearing. Women and their children are frequently at great risk of personal harm when financial stress leads to domestic conflict.

Private enterprise has the potential to be a prime engine for development, particularly for women. Studies show that when women earn income, they are most likely to spend it on their children's education and higher protein family meals. Home-based enterprise has long lasting outcomes with multiple benefits for entire communities.

In 2007, Freeplay piloted income generation projects in Rwanda and Zambia. Leading an innovative private-public alliance that included eight international and local partners, they selected and trained Weza 'Pioneers' to establish self-financing Weza micro-enterprises. These entrepreneurs provided fee-based energy services, including phone and LED light charging and rental. Freeplay will use this successful experience as a launching platform for their lighting efforts in Africa.

Health: HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB and high rates of infant mortality are critical health issues facing sub-Saharan Africa. Debilitating diseases, many preventable, erode productivity and well being. In 2006, nearly 25 million Africans were living with HIV and AIDS. By 2010 Africa will be home to an estimated 50 million orphans more than one-third of these children will be orphaned by AIDS.

Reliable, credible information and education are paramount in reducing disease and promoting improved health and hygiene.

Millions of people still do not know how HIV/AIDS is transmitted, and how to protect themselves against the virus. In many places the illness still carries shame, stigma, repression and discrimination. Many HIV-affected people are rejected by their families and their communities.

alaria kills an African child every 30 seconds. Still, many African parents do not know that simple techniques or mosquito nets can dramatically reduce the risk of malaria.

Trachoma is the world's leading cause of preventable blindness, but many are unaware that face washing and other basic steps are successful in preventing the disease.

Radio is an effective way to disburse vital, life-saving information. By listening to the radio, adults and children can learn how to prevent and treat disease, and how to promote nutrition and well-being.

Hundreds of organisations in Africa broadcast radio programmes that contain information on disease prevention, life skills, hygiene and family health. Serialised radio dramas follow beloved fictional characters as they manage health problems such as AIDS. The challenge to the local radio community is delivering the information to people in the most remote locations. Using Freeplay Lifeline radios ensures the information is being delivered 'the last mile', where no electricity infrastructure exists.

Information: The challenges faced by the poor today are not insurmountable. In many cases, what they need most is information, information on current market prices so that they are not cheated by traders; information on health and safety so that their children have a better chance of survival; information to increase crop yield and improve their businesses. Education is also key, whether learning a new skill or just learning to read and calculate simple figures. UNESCO estimates 781 million people in the world are illiterate, 64% of whom are women.

In the developing world, radio is the primary means of communication. Where illiteracy is wide-spread, it is often the only source of reliable information and education. However, lack of access to electricity challenges even this simple medium.

Although tens of millions of dollars are spent worldwide each year to produce excellent radio programming aimed at assisting the poor, it often goes unheard. And in sub-Saharan Africa, only an estimated four percent of the population is connected to the internet.

Using the wind-up and solar-powered Lifeline radio, the Freeplay Foundation can ensure information is delivered to the most inaccessible locations. With a turn of the knob, listeners access the world. They hear news and learn about places and things and solutions never imagined. They learn what their government is doing and how it affects them, and how they can stand up for their rights. Listening to the radio, they can learn English, mathematics, and science. Anything is possible.

Peacemaking: Governance is complex, even for the most transparent and democratic societies. In many countries, citizens know little about government policies or how they affect their lives. Lack of information, or information rife with rumour, can stoke resentment and unrest.

Radio is an excellent vehicle to provide instruction on civic education. In emerging democracies, for example, people have limited knowledge of citizens' roles and responsibilities. Nationwide radio programmes can offer guidance and instruction on how each person collectively and individually can contribute to building democracy and how to safeguard their interests.

The value of information is so high in sub-Saharan Africa that Freeplay radios have even been used to encourage people to give up their weapons. In Niger, the Radios for the Consolidation of Peace initiative was a welcome success. Illicit small arms flowed into Niger during the Tuareg and Toubou rebellions in the 1990s. As part of the project, citizens turned over thousands of guns in exchange for Freeplay radios.