1. Alef Sunduq
A Critical Aspirational Need: Literacy
Product Conception & Usage
Context: The conflict in Syria has rendered most schools
Product Description: The Alef Sunduq is
inoperable while operational schools face infrastructural,
resource, and logistical challenges due to the conflict.
Drivers: Addressing the aspirational need for children to
attain an education.
Need: A literacy tool that is affordable, accessible, and
leapfrogs the deteriorating infrastructure needed to access
resources for children at home and children in school.
Syrian Educational
Demographics
4.8 Million children total
Children in
School-2.6
Million
Children out of
school-2.2
million
essentially a box filled with dice. Each die
will represent an Arabic letter and the
three forms of that letter will be on three
faces of the die, the other faces will be
blank or customizable. The box itself will
have tracks on the inside where the child
can arrange the dice to spell out words and
sentences.
Methodology: This product presents
information to low literate individuals in a
concrete and pictographic manner that
maximizes the effectiveness of literacy
training in a resource deprived situation.
Compatibility with
Economic Ecosystem &
Local Culture
• Employ local artisans and
vendors in Syria.
• Vendors will be empowered
to be fully responsive to
customer customization
requests (including fluid
transactions).
• Our distribution and
communications strategies
will engage the social milieu
in a decentralized manner to
leverage the strengths of
organic social networks in
place to maximize
accessibility to our product.
Credit UNICEF
Credit: Human Rights Watch
Core Solution: to provide a versatile, costeffective educational literacy tool to Syrian children
and Syrian schools.
Augmented Solution: to create an accessible
affordable educational tool that helps Syrian
children become literate while providing
employment in Syria that values the skills already
possessed by certain segments of the population.
Environmental
Sustainability
This product is durable ,
biodegradable, and easily
recyclable.