“The employees of Voice for Humanity, in a fever of righteous idealism, traveled six hours on donkeys and horses through the remotest parts of the Afghanistan countryside. They were on a mission: to deliver what they thought was an invaluable literacy tool for Afghans. Pink for women, silver for men,” Fariba Nawa writes for GNN (Guerilla News Network). “They were custom digital audio players resembling the trendy iPod, made in China and filled with public service messages on topics including human rights, women’s rights, Afghanistan’s election process, and health.”
“The aid workers distributed 65,800 recorders, which cost $50 each, to remote villages and some of the most dangerous and volatile areas in the country. The staff of Voice for Humanity, a non-profit humanitarian aid agency that claims to be dedicated to developing literacy in the world, says it has trained tribal chiefs and other community leaders to listen to the recorders and then pass them on to individuals and families,” Nawa reports. “The pseudo-iPods were funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The $8.3 million contract was granted to Kentucky-based Voice for Humanity, a small group run by two Lexington businessmen, to use its audio players to ‘promote democracy’ in advance of the 2004 Afghan presidential election.”
Nawa reports, “Critics say it was those connections that resulted in millions of taxpayer dollars going to an ineffective and laughable program of throwing trendy technology at serious international issues. ‘It shows how foolhardy people can be when they’re not thinking practically,’ said Patricia Omidian, an aid worker heading the American Friends Service Committee.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Too Hot!” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Take: American public service messages on Chinese iPod knock-offs for Afghans; ah, the wonders of globalization! If literacy is an issue, meaning that printed books wouldn’t work, couldn’t the American businessmen could have used real Apple iPods (shuffles) instead of buying Chinese knock-offs for $50 per unit? What Chinese iPod knock-off is actually worth $50 per unit? That’s $3.29 million total. Surely, Apple could have done at least as well as $50 per unit on an order for 65,800 iPod shuffles?
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This is just too bizzare for this early on a Monday.
: )
“traveled six hours on donkeys and horses through the remotest parts of the Afghanistan countryside”
I have to wonder: Do they have electricity to recharge these audio players?
I know this is a small issue, but have they considered these ‘petty issues’:
A. Do the people who are getting these things actually HAVE ELECTRICITY?
B. Do they own a COMPUTER to plug these things in and therefor able to put content on them?
WTF use is an ‘ipod knockoff’ gonna be to someone living in a hovel, with no power, no computer or no internet access in the most dangerous and unstable parts of the country?
Imagine getting one of these things, as soon as you get it and people find out your house will be raided, your family beaten up and the ‘ipod knockoff’ stolen and sold on the blackmarket for money to buy food.
This is just the funniest thing I’ve read in ages. Can anyone else picture Eric Idle and Michael Palin in this sketch?
Wow. You’re actually making an Apple vs. Others play from a free-technology-to-less-developed-region story. Holy crap.
This reminds me of the training phrase Apple implemented for the Speech Recognition some years back:
“Afganistan Banana Stand”
Not relevant to this thread, but there it is.
“I have to wonder: Do they have electricity to recharge these audio players?”
Well, those aren’t just any regular donkeys…those are specially charged electrical donkeys! Its amazing what heroin will buy!
Ferguson out.
MDM … bad take … this is not about cheap knock off vs Apple iPod … it’s about a fool hearty plan that wastes tax payers dollars … I am sure the money could have been spent more wisely …
> I have to wonder: Do they have electricity to recharge these audio players?
No, they will put them in the cupboard with the cans they got and for which they have no can-openers…
My guess is some schoolbooks would have been more intelligent if they want to do something for human and womens rights.
Turd Ferguson said: “Well, those aren’t just any regular donkeys…those are specially charged electrical donkeys! Its amazing what heroin will buy!”
To get six hours of use from one charged donkey is amazing.
Yeah, you wonder what $50.00 would have bought in food.
Afghanistan Banana Stand is the phrase for triggering a post-hypnotic suggestion in an “old” (well, 1970 or thereabouts) movie which, here in the UK at least, was called The Hot Rock with Robert Redford, George Segal, Zero Mostel and the guy who went on to play Rachel’s father in Friends.
I challenge anyone to come up with a more bizarre piece of trivia for this thread…
The asses were on the donkeys.
“No, they will put them in the cupboard with the cans they got and for which they have no can-openers…”
Right next to the bag of Texas hot pork rinds.
MDN….dont think you had your coffee.
If shuffles were given out then maybe just maybe…not all the messages would have been played and the messages probably need to be played in sequence not in shuffle mode. You are not thinking.
Radio would have been the better option.
Schmutz! — There’s not a widespread hunger problem in Afghanistan (at the moment).. oppression and ignorance are the trouble.
Halix — Literacy is a problem, so textbooks without teachers aren’t the best tool just now. As TFA points out, radio receivers would be more cost-effective, but I’ll bet you dollars to doughnuts that these MDN-maligned “knock-offs” have FM receivers built in. (as the sheep bleat out: “this is a feature without a market! an FM tuner is stupid! baaahahhhh!”)
Anyone have a link to a picture of the music player in question? If it’s too close in appearance to an iPod, Apple needs to sue the US Gov’t (USAID is a federal agency, iirc) along with the Chinese manufacturer and (if they’re representing it as an iPod to the recipients) those distributing them.
I’d like to know where the other $4,875,000 (the units only cost $3,425,000) went.
Someone please tell me that administration and delivery doesn’t cost more than the product itself.
And…
The MDN take is correct but misses two points, one of which has been mentioned here already:
(1) Power to charge these? The Shuffle can go considerably longer between charges, no?
(2) Is the cheap player HDD or flash based? If the former, that’s rather stupid: Afghanistan is rather rough, arid and dusty. A Shuffle is better suited to such conditions, not to mention easier to conceal (I imagine there are “bad guys” who would view with suspicion anyone carrying Western propaganda.
“Yeah, you wonder what $50.00 would have bought in food.”
Exactly, if they can’t read and don’t have computers any many don’t have electricity. What in Allah’s name are they going to do with an MP3 player. Unless it’s a propaganda tool filled with subliminal Pro-America chanting in hopes of brainwashing and assimilating the indigenous people, and comes with a lifetime supply of batteries, I see this as a bad idea.
giofoto,
MDN have had their coffee. You are the one not thinking. Don’t write about things you don’t understand. The iPod shuffle doesn’t just shuffle. You set up the tracks in iTunes in the order you like and play them straight through, not shuffled, on the iPod shuffle.
The players have solar chargers and a hand crank. RTFA.
In the 1900’s the British sent tractors to India, where they rusted. The villagers needed shovels, as they had no gasoline./petrol.
We never learn from history!
>My guess is some schoolbooks would have been more intelligent if they want to do something for human and womens rights.>
They would need to know how to read first.
I love it when taxpayer dollars are used on such a project as this!
http://musobs.blogspot.com/