ASU SolarSPELL Initiative

🥈 We won silver at last night's @edisonawards ! It's such an honor to be recognized for Cultural Impact and Education, alongside such a star-studded group of innovators. 💡 Inspired by the legacy of Thomas Edison, these awards honor innovations that are "redefining industries, solving complex challenges and shaping the future." Thank you so much to the Edison Awards team for recognizing the efforts of all of our staff, students, interns, volunteers and partners! The work we do would not be possible without the many passionate folks who contribute to our mission. Big thanks also go to our home at @arizonastateuniversity for all the support; we're so fortunate to be a part of the most innovative university in the country! We can't wait to channel this incredible recognition into empowering more learners around the world. .............................. @asu_globalfutures @asucollegeofglobalfutures @asu_sfis @asuengineering @polyschoolasu @asunursingandhealth #1innovation #SolarSPELL #SocialImpact

No Internet Needed to Access Digital Libraries in Lesotho 📚 . In partnership with @Solar_SPELL Initiative, Teryn and other Education Volunteers are working with schools in Lesotho to introduce solar-powered electronic devices loaded with digital literacy and numeracy tools to the classroom. 📔 . Students can access lessons and resources in Sesotho, English, and French through these devices without internet or mobile data, an important consideration for schools where reliable connection is not a given. . Learn more about the Peace Corps' partnership with SolarSPELL by clicking the link in bio.

At our first #PrincipledInnovation Build Day this spring, #ASU students helped us build and prep 87 SolarSPELL libraries while learning about ASU's newest design aspiration. 🛠 After reflecting on the values that guide them, they discussed how they would respond to a hypothetical ethical dilemma facing SolarSPELL. Fifty of the libraries they prepped arrived in Rwanda this week, ready for our upcoming trainings with @b2rfarms , @kulaproject and Sunzu Yacu Community Library! Huge thank you to all of the superstar interns who spent their Friday building with us. 🥰 @asucollegeofglobalfutures @asuengineering #1innovation

Peace Corps Volunteer Teryn is partnering with the community to create a warm and inviting place for learners and teachers at the school. Together they are serving 200 learners and 6 teachers at a rural primary school by training teachers and learners on how to set up and run a library and technology lab. Here is an update on the progress of The Mountaintop Library and Technology Lab at their school made possible by the Peace Corps Partnership Grant. Moithaopi oa Peace Corps, Teryn, o sebetsa ‘moho le sechaba ho theha sebaka se mofuthu se bileng se amohelehang sebakeng sa baithuti le matichere a sekolo sa hae. Hammoho, ba sebeletsa barutoana ba makholo a mabeli le matichere a ts’eletseng sekolong sa mathomo se mahaeng ka ho koetlisa matichere le barutoana ka mokhoa oa ho theha le ho tsamaisa setsi sa polokelo ea libuka le laboratori ea thekenoloji. Mona ke lintlafatso ka tsoelo-pele ea The Mountaintop Library and Technology Lab sekolong sa bona e entsoe ka thuso ea Peace Corps Partnership Grant #PeaceCorps #Volunteer #Lesotho #PeaceCorpsLesotho

So happy we got to participate in the @azgyc Pathways to Sustainability career exploration hub last week! Huge thank you to our interns Spencer, Bhavana and Caitlin for sharing their SolarSPELL experiences with so many awesome young changemakers! ............................... @asu_globalfutures #AZGYC #EarthMonth #SDG

Our newest library collection supports community-led development efforts in Senegal. Our partners at @tostaninc are piloting the libraries as part of their Community Empowerment Program (CEP). Trained CEP facilitators can now use SolarSPELL as a teaching tool in their host communities, and the local committees they've helped establish now have a wealth of information to help them carry out community development projects. Head to our blog to learn more about how we worked with Tostan to build new this library and to lead our most robust train-the-trainer workshop yet (link in bio). And special shoutout to the SolarSPELL and Tostan interns who helped us build this new collection faster than any we've built before! @asucollegeofglobalfutures @asu_sfis @asuengineering @asunursingandhealth #DigitalLibrary #CommunityEmpowerment

This week, we’re excited to highlight @rachel.danae , who served in Benin in the Education sector from 2013–2015. When asked about one of her favorite memories, Rachel shared, "My favorite memory was watching my counterpart teacher, Narcisse, give a presentation about women's rights during a girl's summer camp. I could tell that hearing that from him was very eye-opening and empowering for them." Rachel is currently the Senior Program Manager with the ASU SolarSPELL initiative, which provides offline, solar-powered digital libraries to disconnected communities around the globe. @solar_spell partners with many Peace Corps countries and is currently active with @peacecorpsvanuatu and @peacecorps_lesotho Thank you, Rachel, for your service and for continuing to uplift communities! ✌️ 💬 RPCVs: What’s a moment from your service where you saw real impact in your community? #RPCVSpotlight #PeaceCorps #RPCV #PhoenixPeaceCorps #Benin #PeaceCorpsCommunity #EducationForAll #WomensEmpowerment #SolarSPELL #ASU #ArizonaStateUniversity #ServiceAbroad #CommunityImpact #ValleyOfTheSun #PhoenixAZ #VolunteerLife

While pursuing an MS in Global Technology & Development and International Studies at @arizonastateuniversity , Spencer Danzig has also been serving on SolarSPELL’s Qualitative Data Analysis team. Spencer has been deeply involved in transcribing, coding, and analyzing interviews, collaborating on updates to the team’s codebook and interview questions, and contributing to academic papers in development. He has also proposed and begun developing his own research paper, framing qualitative findings from SolarSPELL projects through contemporary development literature. This summer, he’ll continue this work in Rwanda, supporting ongoing initiatives while conducting research in the field. 📋 Originally from New York, Spencer is passionate about traveling, learning about new cultures, snowboarding, comedy and service. 🏂✈️ He says the best aspect of working with SolarSPELL has been “actively learning about, and being a part of, the operations of an impactful international development initiative; and collaborating with and learning from experienced and insightful practitioners to make a positive impact in the world”. Thank you, Spencer, for your thoughtful research and dedication to advancing SolarSPELL’s mission worldwide! @asu_sfis #SolarSPELL #StudentSpotlight

Huge thank you to our friend Danae at @sundevilcareers for coming to talk to our students and interns about professional branding and storytelling today! We look forward to these presentations each semester and always end up learning something new. And it's always fun getting to gather as a team! #StudentInternship #ProfessionalDevelopment

Education Volunteers work in primary schools, collaborating with community members to establish the SolarSpell online digital library in their classrooms. It’s a solar powered hotspot that doesn’t use any data and is free to access. For more information about the work Volunteers are doing in the education sector, visit the Peace Corps Lesotho website. #PeaceCorps #Volunteer #Lesotho #PeaceCorpsLesotho

Naif Lohani (@naiflohani ), a senior at @arizonastateuniversity majoring in Computer Science, is one of our talented Rust Software Developers! Naif has been working on search engine implementation, helping improve how users find and access information within SolarSPELL’s digital libraries. His technical expertise plays a key role in making educational resources more efficiently accessible for communities around the world. 💻 🌍 For Naif, home is wherever his family is, whether that’s in Saudi Arabia with his immediate family or in India with his extended family. Outside of coding, he enjoys reading, writing and playing tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) — a perfect mix of creativity and strategy that complements his love for problem-solving. Naif says that the most impactful part of working with SolarSPELL has been “getting to work on things that are not only meaningful, but also extremely interesting to me. Jacob has given me a lot of freedom to work on aspects that I am myself interested in; so getting to engage with challenges that interest me, that also contribute meaningfully to something greater than myself has been incredible!” Thank you, Naif, for using your skills to improve the technology that powers SolarSPELL's mission! ................. @asuengineering #SolarSPELL #StudentSpotlight

At our latest train-the-trainer in Senegal, some of the most popular resources on the library included animated videos created by Scientific Animations Without Borders (SAWBO). By partnering with SAWBO, we've been able to offer engaging videos covering both agriculture and health topics on SolarSPELL libraries. These resources have proved especially helpful for farmers in South Sudan and Rwanda. "SAWBO and SolarSPELL are both U.S. university initiatives, and both are committed to educating and empowering learners globally; we're a perfect fit," SAWBO Co-Founder and Co-Director, Barry Pittendrigh, shared in the organization's last newsletter. "We collaborate with topic experts to create gold standard educational videos. SolarSPELL uses state of the art technology and innovative partnerships to meet the learners where they are. We are excited to see our content deployed through their programs." @asu_globalfutures @asucollegeofglobalfutures @asuengineering @asunursingandhealth #educationalcontent #Offline #agriculture