Amplio (formerly Literacy Bridge) is a social enterprise that aims to share empowering knowledge with vulnerable communities through portable audio devices called Talking Books. The Talking Books provide locally relevant information on health and agriculture topics in interactive ways like songs and stories that are accessible to illiterate audiences. Founded by Cliff Schmidt, Amplio has reached nearly 500,000 people since 2008 and aims to impact 1 billion people by 2030 by addressing information poverty in places like Ghana, Kenya, and Rwanda.
2. INTRODUCTION TO AMPLIO (LITERACY
BRIDGE)
MISSION:
- Share empowering knowledge with the world’s most vulnerable
communities
- Build a world where the knowledge required to end poverty and improve
health reaches those in need.
- Shared important information regarding topics like:
- Agriculture (how to improve yields)
- Disease (how not to contract various illnesses)
- “I realized that what Literacy Bridge needs to offer is not a product, but a full
solution,” explained Schmidt, the founder of Amplio. “If you really want to
affect change, you can’t just depend on technology.”
- When the devices are introduced in a new community, Literacy Bridge staff
spend time to ensure villagers understand how to use them
- Return every few weeks to monitor
3. INTRODUCTION TO AMPLIO
WHAT THEY DO:
- The Talking Book
- Audio device designed to help development organizations, governments,
and businesses share knowledge on-demand with people who are cut off
from traditional sources of information
- The Talking Book is a portable low-cost talking computer that provides
simple, locally relevant information on health and agriculture in a way that
suits its target audience (the illiterate population).
- E.G in interactive and relatable ways, such as songs, stories, dramas,
games and quizzes.
- It was also designed to withstand harsh environments in which some of
the villages were subject to.
4. HISTORY
- Founded by Cliff Schmidt:
- Previously worked at Microsoft
- Served in the Navy as a nuclear engineer
- Experienced a calling: ‘You should be doing something more with your life.’
when walking past Martin Luther King Jr’s grave
- Recognised the need for low-cost, low-tech devices to spread knowledge
in poor areas of the world
- As of 2006, the cheapest devices sold for education were old rugged
laptops which still proved to be expensive and thus unattainable to
few
5. IMPACT
“This program [developed in The Talking Book,] where people are able to learn about
things in their own time, in their own language, with their own means of
communication that they’re used to… allows other interventions to be much more
powerful,” ~Literacy Bridge Executive Director Cliff Schmidt
Since 2008, Amplio (formerly Literacy Bridge) has:
- Reached nearly 500000 people in the world’s hardest-to-reach communities
- Projected to reach 1 billion people by 2030
As of 2017, Amplio has impacted:
- 340,000 in Ghana
- 100,000 in Kenya
- 50,000 in Rwanda
6. Sources
C. (2015, January 19). Profiles - Cliff Schmidt of Literacy Bridge • kimpluscraig.com. Retrieved from
https://kimpluscraig.com/2012/05/17/profiles-cliff-schmidt-of-literacy-bridge/
Nikolau, L. (2016, April 18). Literacy Bridge: How one organization is adapting technology to help world's
poorest. Retrieved from http://www.humanosphere.org/social-business/2016/04/literacy-bridge-how-one-
organization-is-adapting-technology-to-help-worlds-poorest/
Wise, C. (2013, July 23). Literacy Bridge Uses Talking Books to Spread the Word in Ghana. Retrieved from
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/literacy-bridge
