Radios to Support Tsunami Survivors in Indonesia
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News Release - Tom Hanks hosts eBay Charity Auction
By Michelle Riley - Director of External Affairs, January 24, 2008 02:24 PM
New York, January 21, 2008
. The Freeplay Foundation announced today that two-time Academy Award® winner Tom Hanks will participate in a charity auction hosted on eBay Giving Works Jan 22-Feb 1 to support the Freeplay Foundation.
Tom Hanks, the Freeplay Foundation’s U.S. Ambassador, will autograph 10 self-powered Freeplay Lifeline radios for the charity auction on eBay Giving Works, eBay’s dedicated program for charity listings. Each high bidder also will receive a personal letter and a signed photo from Mr. Hanks.
“The Lifeline radio can change the world one person, one house, one village at a time,” said Mr. Hanks. “The beauty of the Freeplay Foundation is the radio itself and the immediacy of its mission: to put radios in the hands of people who need them. Lifeline radios can make a positive impact from the moment they are turned on in one of the villages.”
People can go to www.ebay.com or can click on www.shopvictoriously.com to place their bids and to watch a special video from Tom Hanks.
Lifeline radios are not sold commercially; they are the first radios ever produced specifically for use in humanitarian projects. Radio is the primary means of mass communication in developing countries, but often, transistor radio batteries cost too much for people to buy on an ongoing basis and electricity is non-existent. The Freeplay Foundation provides radio access to the poorest people in the world via the wind-up and solar-powered radios, which do not require batteries or electricity.
Working mainly in Africa, the Freeplay Foundation enables hundreds of thousands of children to learn English, math, science and life skills through radio distance-learning programs. Coffee farmers learn new planting techniques using Lifeline radios, and people throughout Africa learn how to prevent HIV/AIDS while listening to their Lifelines. Nomadic tribes listen to Lifeline radios as they caravan, and orphaned children -- living completely on their own can grasp a “lifeline” to the outside world when listening.
“The first time I held a Lifeline, I felt like I was carrying all the promise of the modern world in my hand,” remembers Tom Hanks. “Music can come out of the sky without batteries being tossed into landfills. Information can be sent and received, and voices of freedom can be heard. All by winding up this little box.”
The Freeplay Foundation is a fund-seeking organization with 501 (c) (3) tax exempt status in the U.S., is a registered charity in the UK, and has Section 21 non-profit status in South Africa.
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Media contacts:
East Coast: Alexandrea Ravenelle, Global Fluency
(646) 652-5216 aravenelle@globalfluency.com
West Coast: Brielle Schaeffer, Global Fluency
(650) 433-4163 bschaeffer@globalfluency.com
For the Freeplay Foundation: Michelle Riley
(912) 898-2195 riley.freeplayfdn@gmail.com
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Freeplay Foundation selected at World Bank Development Marketplace Finalist 2006
By Freeplay Foundation - , February 22, 2006 06:28 PM
The Freeplay Foundation is delighted to announce its selection as one of 119 finalists among over 2,500 entrants in the World Bank's highly competitive Development Marketplace 2006 programe.
Freeplay's new Weza (power in Swahili) foot-powered generator is a robust, environmentally friendly and portable energy source that offers dependable power for everyday use and emergencies. Fifty mainly women 'Weza Pioneers' in Rwanda will be equipped with business start-up kits, training and low-risk financing, to establish cash based energy service micro-businesses. The project will enable us to assess the Weza's technical performance in harsh rural settings, fine-tune micro-loan mechanisms and price points and gauge the scalability and replicability of the new Freeplay Weza micro-enterprise model within and beyond Rwanda.
The Foundation's entry for a pilot project to launch Freeplay Weza based micro enterprises in Rwanda will be presented at a Development Marketplace meeting on 8-9 May in Washington, DC. Successful finalists will receive grants of up to $200,000 each. The Foundation's partners in this innovative initiative include Freeplay Energy Plc, CARE Rwanda, Cornell University's Center for Global Sustainable Enterprise and Kigali Institute of Science and Technology.
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Tsunami recovery in Indonesia: Acehnese take to the airwaves
By Relief Web - World Bank Group source, December 21, 2005 09:00 AM
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Radios to Support Tsunami Survivors in Indonesia
By Midi Berry - Senior Development Consultant, January 06, 2006 03:33 PM
Throughout 2005, the Freeplay Foundation’s radio project in Indonesia has been the focus of a remarkable international network of partners, working together in a truly global relief and development effort, to provide sustained access to radio information and communications for tsunami survivors.
Through contact with the Disaster Relief Network, established during the World Economic Forum in Davos (attended by our executive director and operations manager), Cosco became our transport partner. The company provided free shipping for Freeplay Foundation’s first consignment of 500 self-powered Lifeline radios that arrived in Medan in June.
Meanwhile, Mercy Corps, our primary distribution partner, worked hard on the ground, identifying appropriate groups and associations to become early recipients and ‘guardians’ of Freeplay Lifeline radios. VSOs and Social Revitalization staff in 27 Return Villages in Aceh Barat district and 42 in Banda Aceh/Aceh Besar selected the following target groups for initial radio distributions:
Meunasah (prayer and community centers) (64),
Relief/Recovery posts (28).
PKK (Family Welfare Programs) (24),
Posyandu (Maternal/Child clinics) (16),
Head of Village (16),
Mosque Youth (7),
Mosque Leader /Imam (5),
Sport group (5),
Youth Organization (4),
Fisherman Association (3),
As with other Freeplay Foundation Lifeline radio projects, tsunami radio distributions are implemented in a highly structured format. Several people from each recipient group are present, with one person nominated as the formal ‘guardian. The properties and use of the radio are demonstrated: Freeplay Lifelines are powered both by detachable solar panel and wind-up crank handle, so they do not need batteries. They have other features specifically designed for humanitarian use in harsh conditions, such as a detachable aerial. Each radio has an individual serial number, which is recorded on the written agreement signed by the distributing partner and the beneficiary. Where necessary this agreement is read aloud, to ensure that all recipients understand exactly what they are signing. This rigorous implementation model has helped to ensure that Lifeline radio listening groups take best care and can make full use of their radios. It also means that remarkably few radios ever go missing or are stolen.
Laminated instruction sheets in local language are distributed and information is provided about radio station frequencies/programs with particular relevance for beneficiaries. In Indonesia, the independent radio station 68H became Freeplay Foundation’s broadcasting partner at the start of our tsunami relief efforts. We are proud to be associated with 68H: as well as creating and transmitting vital information, advice and support programs for tsunami survivors, 68H station staff and volunteers have worked tirelessly on the ground to dig wells and rebuild the transmitting stations that were damaged or destroyed by the tsunami.
Groups targeted by Mercy Corps for radio distribution by end December 2005 are: 180 Schools (including 90 state schools and Islamic boarding schools, of whom a portion will receive radios later than others because they are not yet functioning.); 106 IDP barracks (1 per barrack); 42 Village government offices.
The second phase of Freeplay Foundation’s tsunami radio project has brought new distribution partners into the network. In late October, Oxfam took delivery in Medan of a second consignment of 752 Lifeline radios. After clearing customs, Oxfam retained 400 Lifelines and passed the remaining 352 to our third distribution partner, the International Medical Corps. These two organizations will engage over coming weeks in distributing radios to their identified beneficiaries.
In the wake of the disaster, as survivors reestablish and rebuild lives, sustained access to information and advice can make a critical difference between life and death, between despair and hope. Tsunami survivors have greatly impressed the international community with their resilience and capacity to recover and restore their communities during 2005. We at Freeplay Foundation feel privileged to be able to support them.
As we approach the first anniversary of that devastating day when the world changed forever for so many, Freeplay Foundation expresses gratitude to all our partners for their different contributions to this Lifeline tsunami radio relief project in Indonesia. To none are we more grateful than to our colleagues at Global Giving and the project’s many donors. To Duran Duran and to Hewlett Packard’s Employee Giving Fund, to C. Crane Company and to all those individuals without whose generosity our work would be impossible - Thank You All!
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Kristine Pearson Wins Humanitarian Award
By Freeplay Foundation - Update, November 16, 2005 10:56 AM
The Freeplay Foundation is delighted to announce that Kristine Pearson has been honored with the 2005 James C. Morgan Global Humanitarian Award, sponsored by Applied Materials, Inc.
The 2005 James C. Morgan Global Humanitarian Award sponsored by Applied Materials, Inc. will be presented to Kristine Pearson, Executive Director of the Freeplay Foundation at the November 9th, Tech Awards Gala. The Award was inspired by Jim Morgan’s belief that technology can be a tool to unleash the potential in each of us, to turn our ideas into concrete solutions for a better, healthier, more just world. Kristine Pearson will be honoured for her humanitarian leadership, which is having a profound impact on the world.
Freeplay Foundation honored with an Aceh Award
By Freeplay Foundation - , June 15, 2005 12:00 AM
The Freeplay Foundation’s in-country partner for “Radios to Support Tsunami Survivors in Indonesia” has just been honored with an Aceh award.
The Aceh Art Council presented a Tsunami Award to 68H Radio News Agency for its contribution in radio repair efforts and news provision in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster in Aceh.
The radio news agency’s enthusiastic team of staff and volunteers has already helped rebuild five radio stations, which allows post-tsunami stories and aid/support programs to be broadcast across Aceh. The agency has also developed its own news and information program in response to the crisis. "Aceh News” is aired daily over 15 radio networks throughout the province.
The award, given out on Saturday March 26, was one of 31 awards presented by the Aceh Art Council to groups and individuals that are contributing to Aceh in the aftermath of the disaster. 68H Radio News Agency, the only independent radio broadcasting service in Indonesia, won the category for radio.
The Freeplay Foundation’s radio project is currently seeking $50,000 in funding from Global Giving donors. Donations will be used to make self-powered radios widely available to tsunami survivors. Freeplay’s robust solar-powered and wind-up technology removes the need for radio batteries and enables people living without any form of electricity in temporary housing and camps to receive sustained access to news, information and advice programs.
The project was given a great ‘kick start’ recently, after being chosen as beneficiary for Duran Duran’s celebrity-signed soccer ball auction on eBay, which raised $4,000.
Just hours after the Aceh Art Council award ceremony, the whole province was again shaken by an 8.7 off-shore earthquake and several large after-shocks. In such difficult circumstances, radio becomes a vital lifeline that can inform and advise about aid and relief sources. It helps provide a sense of security and comfort to people living in a state of constant uncertainty and anxiety.
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"Kristine Pearson Awareded World Technology Fellowship"
By Freeplay - , June 15, 2005 12:00 AM
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"The Agenda - Social Justice"
By Cheryl Dahle - Writer for Fast Company, June 15, 2005 12:00 AM
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