Want to help refugees from Darfur and promote environmentally-friendly technology at the same time? Help us send 100 solar-powered CD players to refugee camps in Chad, to enable refugees studying English to listen to the audio component of their course.

The Book Wish Foundation is committed to supporting the aspirations of refugees to learn English, which they view as a “road to freedom.” Our on-the-ground partner CORD has told us that the English-learning program the refugees want to use is the acclaimed Headway series for students and teachers. Each level in the series comes with an audio CD, but there is currently no practical way to play the CDs in the camps. They have no electricity and batteries are too expensive (and can become commoditized). If you have ever tried to learn a language, you know how important it is to hear that language being spoken. There are very few native English speakers who can interact with the refugees, so we must find a way to play the CDs.

Chad receives about 10-11 hours of bright sunlight per day in the dry season, and 6-9 hours in the rainy season. Solar power is the solution. We need your help to identify the right solar technology.

MediaStreet has recently introduced a solar-powered personal media player, the eMotion 1GB Solar Portable Media Player & Battery Charger that, as its name implies, also can act as a charger for other devices. It has the ability to display and read aloud e-books, which could be educationally useful, but there are also unnecessary (for the refugees) bells and whistles adding to the cost (MSRP $169). If you have ever used this product or know of a discount retailer, please leave a comment.

Iowa Thin Film Technologies produced a pure CD player/radio in 2002, the Soltronix CD-1, that cost significantly less, at $120. If you know whether these Soltronix units are still available, or have any experience using them, please comment. If you bought one in 2002 and don’t use it now, please consider sending it to us as an in-kind donation.

At a much lower price, but not quite a CD player, e-light.us is selling several models of solar-powered mp3 and mp4 players as low as $20.80! The catch is that there is a minimum order of 3000, but perhaps that requirement can be waived. If you know more about these products, or have thoughts about mp3 vs. CD, please comment. Obviously, computers are not readily available in the camps, so we would have to pre-load the audio, and it would not be easy to add additional audio in the future. However, the price is so good that we must seriously investigate this option. Is this the same product being sold by Zhejiang Sorbo Electronic Co.?

MSI also makes a solar-powered MP3 player, the Mega Player 540. If you know where it can currently be purchased, or have used it, please comment.

In short, we are asking for your input to help determine what solar technology to buy. If you have other ideas, please share them (please note: integrated systems are preferable to separate chargers). When we have found the right product and secured the best price available, we will ask for financial support. If you want to show your support now, though, don’t hesitate to donate, making sure to earmark all or part of your donation for “Solar CD players.” There is urgency in obtaining and shipping the players to the camps, since the refugees currently studying at a secondary school level need to improve their English in order to have a chance of continuing their education at university.