Sunday, June 1, 2025

AI-Powered Tools for Refugee Mental Health & Education [Proposal]

1. Executive Summary

  • Objective: Deploy culturally adapted, AI-driven tools to address dual crises of mental health and education among refugees in Northern Uganda, leveraging Learning through Play (LtP) methodologies.
  • Innovation: Combines trauma-informed AI design with play-based learning for scalable, low-tech solutions.
  • Target Beneficiaries: 10,000+ refugee children and caregivers in Bidibidi, Rhino Camp, and Imvepi settlements.

2. Problem Statement

  • Mental Health:
    • 67% of refugees report PTSD/depression/anxiety symptoms (UNHCR 2023)
    • 1 counselor per 10,000 refugees (WHO 2022)
  • Education:
    • 72% lack formal schooling access (Uganda Education Response Plan 2023)
    • 15+ languages spoken with limited multilingual resources

3. Project Objectives

  1. Mental Health: 40% reduction in PTSD/depression symptoms in 2 years
  2. Education: 50% literacy rate improvement for children 6-12
  3. Community Capacity: Train 200+ educators/caregivers

4. Methodology

A. AI + Learning through Play Framework

  • Trauma-Informed AI Design:
    • Voice-Based Play Therapy Chatbot: NLP-driven CBT in Acholi/Lugbara/English
    • Emotion Recognition: Vocal tone analysis for distress signals
  • Multilingual Literacy Tools:
    • AI Storytelling Companion: Personalized folktales with phonics
    • AR Sandbox: Adaptive projection-based learning

B. Implementation Science Approach

  • RE-AIM Framework:
    • Reach: RLO partnerships
    • Effectiveness: RCT pilots
    • Adoption: AI-powered training modules
    • Implementation: Low-cost tablets/solar audio
    • Maintenance: Government integration

5. AI Tools & Technologies

Tool Function Tech Stack
Tarian Chatbot Voice-based CBT + literacy games Sunbird AI NLP, Hugging Face, NVIDIA Ai*[will be locally hosted by ASAT Labs]
AR Sandbox Projection-based LtP TensorFlow Lite, Raspberry Pi 4
Emotion Analytics Vocal tone analysis OpenSMILE, PyTorch

6. Partnerships

  • Local:
    • UHURU Refugee-Led Network
    • Gulu University
  • Global:
    • UNHCR Innovation
    • AI for Good Foundation

7. Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E)

  • Metrics:
    • WHO-5 Well-Being Index
    • Ugandan curriculum assessments
  • Tools:
    • CommCare mobile tracking
    • Tableau dashboards
    • N8N Automations

8. Ethical Safeguards

  • Data Privacy:
    • GDPR-compliant anonymization
    • Local servers at ASAT Labs/ AWS
  • Bias Mitigation:
    • Quarterly participatory audits
    • Fairness algorithms for marginalized groups

9. Sustainability & Scalability

  • 50+ refugee “AI Ambassadors”
  • Uganda’s National AI Policy integration
  • AR Sandbox licensing model

10. Budget & Funding Needs [3 Years]

Component Cost (USD) Donate/ Pledge
AI Tool Development $150,000 Donate Here | Pledge Here
Caregiver Training $50,000 Donate Here | Pledge Here
M&E Systems $30,000 Donate Here | Pledge Here

11. Expected Outcomes

  • Year 1: 1,000 children pilot: 30% PTSD reduction, 25% literacy gain
  • Year 3: 10,000 beneficiaries, Ministry of Education adoption

12. Call to Action

Visit asatlabs.org/ai-refugee-resilience to:

  • Download technical proposal
  • Partner via tech support/funding
  • Explore co-design opportunities

13. Academic Endorsements

“A groundbreaking fusion of AI and play therapy that centers refugee voices.”
— Dr. Amina J. Mohammed, MIT D-Lab

“Exemplifies ethical AI for low-resource settings.”
— Prof. John Bosco Komakech, Gulu University

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