NaTakallam–Connecting refugees & language learners worldwide

NaTakallam pairs Syrian refugees with Arabic learners for online language practice. NaTakallam provides valuable income to young adult refugees robbed of their education, careers, and livelihoods. Through our platform, refugees worldwide could gain professional skills, master new technologies, and have the financial support to reinvest in their education and themselves.

The Syrian conflict has triggered the worst refugee crisis since World War II. Many Syrians find refuge in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Turkey. However, refugee communities face linguistic, cultural or legal barriers to joining the labor force; the resulting lack of employment opportunities for displaced people presents a clear obstacle to economic participation, inclusion, and independence. Globally, refugees are unable to reinvest in their education and learn the skills necessary to participate meaningfully in the local economy – a tremendous waste of human capital. In particular, youth in refugee communities risk falling into a cycle of poverty and desperation.

There is an increasing push in the aid sector (notably UNHCR studies) to provide beneficiaries with cash, which is efficient and gives agency. Some refugees earn up to $1500/month through NaTakallam– more than twice the minimum wages in Lebanon, Turkey, etc. To date, 60 refugees (2/3 of whom are women) and 1,300+ individuals in 60+ countries have engaged in over 13,000 hours of NaTakallam sessions. Refugees have self-generated over $135,000. They reinvest this money in the local economy and themselves; 30% of them use it to pursue higher education, while even more pursue apprenticeships or hard-skills training, like coding classes.

NaTakallam prepares and supports young refugees, regardless of their location and local labor restrictions, in returning to the workforce. Refugees earn an income and marketable skills to use in later years of integration. While providing aid is critical, giving individuals a sense of purpose and employment is sustainable and profound; refugees go from being passive recipients to aid with few opportunities to engaged, motivated individuals. 

By December 2017, we aim to have 100 refugees based in the Middle East, earning minimum $300/month. We hope to reach refugee communities globally, with a focus on women and youth.

Regular surveys, follow-ups, and individual interviews. - More than 50% of NaTakallam's refugee conversation partners are supported in pursuing educational/professional opportunities.

Track payments through secured accounting system and updated timesheets. Track number of hours sold, retention rate of students, number of University partners, number of institutional clients. - NaTakallam attracts more users to generate a consistent monthly income of $300 for conversation partners.

The location and gender of each hired Conversation Partner is recorded and tracked by the Recruitment team. - NaTakallam hires more Conversation Partners in the Middle East, and ensures that 2/3 are women.

NaTakallam's innovation is an online platform which leverages the digital gig economy to legally employ refugees as conversation partners, thus providing a dignifying source of income, livelihood, and marketable skills. 

The technology-based solution to the problem of workforce exclusion for refugees is to provide online work opportunities. This allows NaTakallam to circumvent restrictive local labor policies. Once hired, refugees communicate with users and NaTakallam staff via email, Skype and/or WhatsApp to connect and hold conversation sessions. The innovation is unique as it uses online employment to generate income for refugees, who can ensure the sustainability of their own professional development.

Our web developer, himself a Syrian refugee, is building an integrated system that will accelerate our personalized pairing process. For example, if a user signs up and specifies an interest in medical aid, NaTakallam will match them with a refugee with a background in nursing or medicine, that is available during the user’s specified time slots. We collect and integrate feedback directly from the refugees themselves. Moreover, we provide extensive training before onboarding refugees, so they can become familiar with the technology we use (Excel, Calendly, etc) and have access to digital material that would be helpful during their sessions.

Unlike previous refugee crises, the Syrian crisis has given rise to “the connected refugee.” Almost all Syrian refugees have smartphones and remain digitally connected through Internet connections in urban establishments or through makeshift connections in refugee camps. Thus, by making use of popular mass communication applications like Skype and Whatsapp, NaTakallam’s technology is accessible and completely free for refugees. 

NaTakallam has been deployed for just under two years. We are in discussions with Samsung and other potential partners to guarantee that our Conversation Partners will always have access to the technology they need to be hired.

Since launching, we received grants, prizes, and formal investments. Our revenue streams are commission-based, coming from sales and subscription fees for individual and corporate packages, university partnerships, and translations.

Market research indicates that over 7 million people fit the profile of our typical user. Arabic is an increasingly critical language, based on the high corporate and nonprofit demand for translation and Arabic-speaking employees.

NaTakallam’s scalability focuses on two aspects: partnerships and diversification. First, academic arrangements open prospects for international growth. Institutions offering NaTakallam as complementary to Arabic courses ensure sustainable revenue, and a consistent source of potential customers. Secondly, NaTakallam is diversifying services offered. We offer translation, interpretation, and social media moderation services. Additionally, NaTakallam is working on adding languages like Farsi, Urdu, and more, thus engaging more refugees. The technology we use is widespread, allowing NaTakallam the potential to scale up indefinitely.

NaTakallam faces unanswered questions with regards to sustained growth and scaling up – not so much that scaling is not possible, but we are looking for support in ensuring that we are utilizing all the opportunities available to work and support displaced persons at the intersection of education, employment, and livelihood.

We are constantly searching for new, creative sources of funding and partnerships, and could use mentorship and guidance in navigating this process.

https://www.facebook.com/natakallam2015/

https://twitter.com/natakallam

https://www.fastcompany.com/40419618/you-can-learn-arabic-and-empathy-by-connecting-with-refugees-on-skype

For now, we have spent less time seeking investment and more time focused on refugees/user satisfaction. NaTakallam is in need of support/advice on raising money and scaling beyond our current status. Solvers benefit from access to a network of like-minded, passionate world changers, and one-on-one support from experts and mentors to develop methods of impact measurement and help expand the solution. While NaTakallam was founded on a passion and expertise on refugees and the Middle East region, impact measurement and strategy are areas we are still learning about, and relevant guidance will be key to scaling up. 

University partnerships include Swarthmore, Duke, Tufts, Boston College, Northeastern, and more. Our NGO partners are The Aspen Institute, the International Rescue Committee, the British Council, the American Councils for International Education, Jusoor, Arc-en-Ciel, and Re:Coded. Supporting partners include Al Fanar, the Thomson Reuters Foundation, Hewlett-Packard, SINGA, and Columbia’s Startup Lab.

Chatterbox, Italki, Duolingo, Verbaling, Wyzant