Although there is a great need for field workers in the process of social change in underdeveloped countries, there are several weaknesses in the field worker system: inadequate supply, narrow range of competence, inadequate quality control, and inflexible learning situations. In order to expand the reach and breadth of such non-formal education programs a pilot project involving unpaid, relatively untrained village volunteers equipped with audio cassette tape machines was devised. Three villages in the Quesada Valley in Guatemala were used as the study site during July 1974. Four cassette tapes were prepared, each 22-29 minutes in length and containing information, stories, and music in a magazine-type format. Evaluations were conducted among the volunteers and the general village populations. The study's results indicated that: in no case were the machines lost, stolen, or damaged; people in the villages listened to and learned from the tapes and acted upon what they had learned; the monetary cost of the system was minimal; the program worked as a latent training system for volunteers who became sought-after sources of information; and there were no logistical problems with batteries, tapes, or machines. The study concludes that the system can stretch rural manpower resources in rural development. (JR)