How Cellphones Can Keep People Learning Around The World

"Standing in front of a small tropical tree, a man in flip-flops, trousers and a polo shirt bends over what he calls, in a video made for NPR, a 'handwashing facility'".

"It's a plastic jug, hanging from what looks like a knee-high swing set made of sticks. There's another stick tied to the handle of the jug; you can step on that stick, spill water out of the jug, and wash your hands without ever touching the jug. A bar of soap hangs from the swingset by a string."

'After getting some soap, you rub the hands well to identify the areas where germs can be," says the man in the video: Agaba Emmanuel. He's a community educator in Uganda with a program called Soma Soma. Next, Mukandayisenga Chantal, a small boy in a blue T-shirt, gives it a try, making circles with his fingernails on his palms."

"Emmanuel lives and works in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in southwestern Uganda. The settlement hosts more than 100,000 people from several different African countries, like Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo. It's a group of rural villages, and there are no identified cases of coronavirus yet."

"But the schools are still shut, along with other restrictions on commerce and transportation across Uganda to protect against the pandemic. People need basic information about social distancing and other protections. Emmanuel got the information he needed to educate his community over WhatsApp, using a platform designed by an American company that's also starting to be used with students in the United States."