How special MP3 players could give new prospects to children in Afghanistan
In Afghanistan, girls have barely any access to education. Now an association from Bremen is developing MP3 players with educational audio books for children in crisis regions. Founder Sadaf Zahedi, who secretly supplied herself with books as a child, explained to us how the devices work and the stories they tell.
I meet Sadaf and her team in a quiet courtyard in Bremen. The area is lively and trendy, full of cafés, tattoo studios, and young people with laptops perched on windowsills. In the midst of it all: a small office with a big vision. This is where the team from Bildung ohne Bücher e.V. (Education Without Books) is working on a project that aims to change lives. At its center is an MP3 player, a small device providing what many places lack: access to education. It was designed for areas where learning has become nearly impossible. Places like Afghanistan, where the situation is particularly dire, especially when it comes to education.
A generation without school
Even before the withdrawal of Western troops, the country was marked by deep instability. Humanitarian crises, decades of conflict, alleged war crimes, and systematic violence have left lasting scars. Entire generations were traumatised, both by religious extremists and Western soldiers. Since the Taliban took power in 2021, the situation has worsened significantly, especially for women and girls.
As the new school year begins in Afghanistan, almost 400,000 more girls are being deprived of their right to education. According to a March 2025 UNICEF statement, that brings the total to 2.2 million.
For most of these girls access to education is now virtually impossible. Officially, girls are only allowed to attend school up to the sixth grade and even that often remains theoretical. In rural areas, infrastructure, qualified teachers, and safe access are almost nonexistent. Many children never learn how to read or write. On top of this, teaching can be dangerous, particularly for women. Education for girls has become the exception, not the norm.
Education through audio recordings
This is where Sadaf’s project comes in, one that is closely linked to her own story. Born in Afghanistan, Sadaf fled to Germany with her family via Pakistan when she was three years old. At home, she was not allowed to educate herself as a child. Instead, she read secretly – in books she pulled out of trash bins. Today, she stands on stages across Europe as a poet and activist, using her voice to offer other children what was denied to her.
Sadaf Zahedi, founder of “Education without books”. Photo: private
But Sadaf wondered how education could reach children in the world’s poorest regions. After all, those who suffer from illiteracy but are by no means less intelligent. The key, she thought, lies in what they encounter in their daily lives. “If children are given access to knowledge early on, it can significantly change their future,” she explains.
Since 2023, Sadaf and a small team have been working on a solution that is as simple as it is effective: education through listening. They have designed a device meant to go unnoticed but with the potential to make a big impact – especially for those in rural Afghanistan, where formal education structures barely exist.
1.000 MP3 players, prepared for the most difficult conditions
Together with engineer Samuel Thomas Buschhorn, Sadaf developed an MP3 player tailored to these conditions: heat- and cold-resistant, able to be charged using a small solar panel, and easily repaired if necessary. Up to three children can charge from the same unit at the same time. A total of 1,000 players have been produced for the first rollout.
At the heart of the project are the audio stories. They teach basic knowledge – from the alphabet and numbers to fundamentals of science. All the content is designed for children, embedded in a story featuring animal characters and brought to life through diverse voices and perspectives.
The audiobooks are bilingual – including an English version – allowing children not only to gain foundational education, but also a first encounter with other languages. The content was developed in collaboration with several educational professionals.
Knowledge transfer through stories
One of them is Marie Leonie Ortgies, a primary school teacher and narrator of the English version. She explains how well children respond to auditory input, especially in early language development. “There’s a phase where children just absorb before they start speaking themselves,” she says. “Stories are perfect for that, because they convey both emotion and knowledge.”
“Children love stories. That’s why I consciously use picture books and short tales in my teaching. I place images in front of the children and let them tell me what they see. Often, no text is needed – just a picture or a heard fragment is enough. There’s so much happening in their minds – it’s fascinating.”
Sadaf didn’t just rely on the input of professionals – she also observed how children in kindergartens learn and grow. She shadowed numerous lessons to understand what truly interests children and how to translate this into stories. Along the way, she also learned a lot from her own children – about the questions they ask, what amazes them, and how they perceive the world.
Muska and Tajalla Haqiqat are responsible for the Dari and Pashto versions – two of the most widely spoken languages in Afghanistan. The twin sisters, Muska, a PhD in ethnology, and Tajalla, a lawyer specialised in international law, have just completed the final recordings for the first edition. They describe this milestone as a relief – seeing the project take shape. “The big step is yet to come”, says Muska, “bringing the project to the children. It will be exciting to see what they take away from it, what they learn.”
Education for forgotten places
In late summer, the project will enter its critical phase. Sadaf plans to travel to Afghanistan with a small team to personally deliver the first devices. In collaboration with local organizations, the MP3 players will be distributed to children – primarily in regions where few, if any, educational initiatives exist.
The distribution will be kept simple. Every child reached will receive a device,regardless of their background, gender, or family situation. To track distribution, each child will be photographed or filmed as they state their main personal details. This will create a database that can be processed later in Germany – without the need for extensive paperwork on site.
With this database, Sadaf aims to demonstrate the long-term impact of continuous exposure to education over a ten-year period – achieved solely through cognitive listening. Her team is currently developing a concept to systematically measure learning outcomes. The goal is to generate reliable data that can later serve as the basis for studies and statistical analysis.
Each device comes with a small bag for discreet transport and storage. The team will also distribute silver ions, which can be used to purify water and make it drinkable – a small but important contribution to improving living conditions on the ground.
This reflects the holistic approach Sadaf is pursuing: it’s not just about making the technology robust, but also about ensuring the physical prerequisites for learning. Because education doesn’t just require working devices – the “organic devices” need to be functioning too. Above all, the brain needs to be healthy and receptive. Clean water is one of the most essential foundations for that.
With her project, Sadaf deliberately goes where others are often absent: to the countryside. In remote Afghan villages, everything is lacking – infrastructure, teachers, perspectives. Many aid projects focus on cities, but there, she says, they usually only reach an already privileged minority. “It doesn’t help to educate a small elite while the majority remain excluded.”
You can’t build schools everywhere – there’s simply not enough time, money, or political stability, she says. But an MP3 player can be used even in the toughest conditions. It makes education mobile.
Next goals: Indonesia, Cameroon, Syria
The initiative in Afghanistan is only the beginning. A comprehensive ten-year concept is in place: Supporting children in the long-term, not only for short-term impact but for structural change. Sadaf is in contact with universities – a dedicated academic program to accompany the project children is in the planning stages.
“I don’t want to create new architects or engineers. I want to give people back the ability to make decisions about their own future. And help them rebuild their own country.” Change, she says, takes time. Perhaps she won’t see the full effects of her project until she’s 90, but it’s worth starting. “Real change only begins when I start breaking through existing structures.”, Sadaf says.
The project is also set to expand geographically. Further deployments are planned in Indonesia, Cameroon, and Sudan. A project in Germany is also in preparation: It’s aimed at helping children who seek protection adapt to their new reality – with audiobooks and MP3 players.
Sonja Issel is a volunteer contributor at Squirrel News. After finishing her work on this story, she has decided to support the project “Education without books” on a voluntary basis in the future, too.
Photo: WikiImages / Pixabay (CC0)
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