OpenIDEO
Cancel
OpenIDEO is an open innovation platform. Join our global community to solve big challenges for social good. Sign Up / Login or Learn more
Phase: Concepting

Tell-a-Friend!

Caldas is a close-knit community. The children know what's happening in relatives/friends/and their own household Children go to school/seminars and learn things. Let's give these children a voice, by facilitating their call to a relative/friend immediately after they learn a lesson

Photo of DeletedUser
4 3

Written by DeletedUser

Tell-a-Friend! Tell-a-Friend!

Schoolchildren can be taken to dedicated seminars where they are taught all the things they need to learn about health and asbestos. 

Each of them is given a cellphone for that day and a choice to call as many friends/relatives that they have, who they know have this problem and tell them about what they have learnt.

When a schoolkid you know and adore calls you and tells you something, you listen :)

How do you envision this idea making money?

1) Each kid is told during the presentation about a product that can help solve the health issue, like danone 2) So, it works on an advertising model 3) The cellphones are not given to the kids for keeps, they are just taken back after class, so no money lost there

How does this idea create social impact, particularly around improving health?

1) Information coming from a kid one knows is more acceptable 2) There is a certain joy in listening to a kid telling you what is right 3) The advertisement of the produc that can help has information that can go to us.

How does this idea add social value at every step of the process?

1) Information disseminated 2) People get to know things 3) Products are exposed

What are the short term steps we could take to implement this idea tomorrow?

1) Teach a seminar in schols 2) Tell kids about it 3) Give them the phones and ask them to make the call (make sure that they are asked to bring their friends numbers one day before class)

4 comments

Join the conversation:

Comment
Photo of DeletedUser

DeletedUser

Great concept Abhijit. It's pretty trascendental working kids imagination out, not just because it developes them mentally, but physically because kids are always trying to materialize their ideas.

Maybe you can expand a little more your idea, it'll be nice seeing what's the benefit beyond knowledge.

I also have a few questions:
- what if paper and not a cellphone?
- what if creating a network from around the globe with other kids (language is not a limitation now because you can translate everything with google™)?
- what if more a tablet to take pictures, edit them with bare fingers, ...?

And one final question, when the info is collected, the knowledge shared, what happens next? What's the use of kids ideas beyond 'knowing'?

Thanks!

link
Photo of DeletedUser

DeletedUser

Thanks Sergio

I initially thought of paper too actually, but then the problems I felt with paper were

1) There is no guarantee that the person who will receive the paper will read it

2) Since a lack of education and poverty go hand-in-hand, there is no guarantee that the person receiving the paper can read it either

That's why it would be best to communicate via a medium that the person receiving can understand and relate to

Since the school child belongs to the community, the person listening at the other end can

The purpose of the cellphone is to tell the people he/she knows

That's why once the kid 'knows' , he receives the cellphone and can make a call to his relatives and friends and tell them what he knows so that they too can know. And it is their knowing that is a lot lot more important

link
View all comments