Global Literacy Matters

International Literacy Day China Beijing Cultural Development Center for Rural Women Self-reliance, rural economic development, poverty elimination, and advanced agricultural technology are a few of the areas that the Beijing Cultural Development Center for Rural Women (BCDCRW) promotes in order to advance the status of rural women and help them improve their quality of life. With ProLiteracy’s support, BCDCRW implements ambitious literacy efforts to allow women in numerous counties within four provinces to gain access to basic education. This education forms the basis of projects relating to agriculture, health, and micro-enterprise. By donating to ProLiteracy right now, you will help these women and men receive the tools necessary to learn and prosper such as chalkboards, writing utensils, and literacy primers. Our goal is to raise just $220 a day as we countdown to International Literacy Day on September 8, 2009. Help us help them through strengthening the power of literacy with y

International Literacy Day Rwanda Umuhuza Family Literacy Project The Umuhuza family literacy project works in the impoverished areas of the Ngororero district. The organization’s goal is to improve childhood development and achieve parent and child literacy in the region. In partnership with SEVOTA and ProLiteracy, Umuhuza has trained education leaders in an intensive Learning Lab. The process encourages parents to first gain literacy skills so that they can then teach their children. These programs target children ages zero to three, an age where interactions between the parent and child form lifelong learning habits. Umuhuza is currently creating infant development curriculum in the local Kinyarwanda language. By donating to ProLiteracy right now, you will help these women, men, and children receive the tools necessary to learn and prosper such as literacy materials that focus on and encourage positive parent child interaction. Our goal is to raise just $220 a day as we countdown

International Literacy Day El Salvador ALFALIT ProLiteracy’s partner ALFALIT provides literacy instruction that focuses on economic self-sufficiency to residents of urban and rural villages that were devastated during El Salvador’s 12-year civil war and recent earthquakes. Through instruction, group discussions, and action projects, participants gain the reading, writing, math, and organizational skills necessary to launch and sustain enterprises such as small stores, vegetable and fruit gardens and dairy and livestock cooperatives. By donating to ProLiteracy right now, you will help these women and men receive the tools necessary to learn and prosper such as start up grants for micro-enterprise, as well as notebooks, pens and primers for literacy classes. Our goal is to raise just $220 a day as we countdown to International Literacy Day on September 8, 2009. Help us help them through strengthening the power of literacy with your gift towards our goal. Together we can do so much!

International Literacy Day Egypt The Association of Anba Mussah, Al-Assad (ANBA) ANBA works with people in the squatter slums of Old Cairo, where many Egyptians from rural areas relocate to escape poverty. Women’s literacy is a huge concern in this area, and ANBA leaders promote literacy in order to educate people on issues of “socio-health,” which include respiratory tract infections, intestinal worms, female genital cutting, and reproductive choice. Until ANBA implemented its Women Literacy Program, the number of illiterate women was increasing compared to men. By donating to ProLiteracy right now, you will help these women receive the tools necessary to learn and prosper such as literacy health primers, computers for technology classes and medical supplies. Our goal is to raise just $220 a day as we countdown to International Literacy Day on September 8, 2009. Help us help them through strengthening the power of literacy with your gift towards our goal. Together we can do so muc

International Literacy Day India Laubach Literacy Educational Trust (LLET) Literacy Educational Trust (LLET), established in 1958, can point with pride to a ground swell of evidence it has gathered as to the efficacy of adult basic literacy as a tool of solving problems and resolving social injustices. During the past 50 years, LLET has helped tens of thousands of newly literate women and their families earn more income, improve family nutrition and health, and gain greater status in the community. Following years of growth, Laubach Literacy Educational Trust now serves more than 3,600 learners each year in the vocational literacy center and 100 village schools. By donating to ProLiteracy right now, you will help these women and men receive the tools necessary to learn and prosper such as notebooks, chalkboards, pencils, eyeglasses for the clinic, soap making and coir materials for income generation and basket weaving. Our goal is to raise just $220 a day as we countdown to Internation

International Literacy Day Kenya Kenya Adult Learners’ Association (KALA) KALA is a consortium of women’s literacy and development projects in Nairobi’s slum areas and rural Kenyan villages. Formed in 1990, KALA member groups focus on education, health, and income-generation as key components of grassroots development. The association provides technical assistance, training, a newsletter (“The Voice of Learners”), and aggressive advocacy for local programs in order to involve learners in the promotion of development and adult education in Kenya. KALA projects are non-governmental, freestanding, neighborhood or village-based efforts for impoverished and disenfranchised women. By donating to ProLiteracy right now, you will help these women and men receive the tools necessary to learn and prosper such as adult education materials, health sanitation supplies, and start up stipends for income generation projects. Our goal is to raise just $220 a day as we countdown to International Literacy

International Literacy Day Dominican Republic FUNDASEP FUNDASEP’s efforts are based in three extremely poor provinces in the southwestern part of the Dominican Republic. The organization promotes the link between healthy people and healthy environment. New learners are introduced to FUNDASEP's primers on vida (life), agua (water), and salud (health). They learn the importance of sanitation and how to prepare safe and nutritious family meals. Fundasep's action projects include stocking medicine chests, constructing cisterns and laying pipes, and building latrines. By donating to ProLiteracy right now, you will help these women and men receive the tools necessary to learn and prosper such as health primers, sanitation and nutritional information, and materials to start environmentally sustainable projects in their communities. Our goal is to raise just $220 a day as we countdown to International Literacy Day on September 8, 2009. Help us help them through strengthening the p

International Literacy Day Philippines MAKAMASA Tondo Women’s Organization MAKAMASA organizes impoverished women to come together to learn and develop solutions to the problems they face in their homes and neighborhoods. Together they focus their energies on literacy learning, income generation projects, raising awareness of women’s issues, and family and community health improvement. To combat the realities of child prostitution, MAKAMASA introduced an education program aimed at girls from 7 to 14 years old. In a region plagued with poverty, crime and prostitution, MAKAMASA has become an educational beacon. By donating to ProLiteracy right now, you will help these women and children receive the tools necessary to learn and prosper such as women’s rights materials to incorporate into literacy classes, small stipends to start an income generating project, and first aid supplies. Our goal is to raise just $220 a day as we countdown to International Literacy Day on September 8, 2009. He

International Literacy Day Haiti AyitiKonseVet (AKV) AKV is a training program for rural Haitian farmers in the north and northwest regions of Haiti. The project includes literacy classes for rural farmers and their families with a focus on environmental sustainability through better farming techniques. The project has recently initiated a micro-credit activity that will provide farmers with a reliable and sustainable income. By donating to ProLiteracy right now, you will help these women and men receive the tools necessary to learn and prosper such as farming materials, seed money for gardens, and small grants to start micro enterprise projects focused on improving the quality of life for the people of Haiti. Our goal is to raise just $220 a day as we countdown to International Literacy Day on September 8, 2009. Help us help them through strengthening the power of literacy with you

International Literacy Day Albania “Youth Intellectuals, Hope” (IRSH) ProLiteracy partners with "Youth, Intellectuals, Hope" (IRSH) in Albania. IRSH is an active NGO that has been a strong presence in Albania since 1994. IRSH is involved with a variety of community-based youth and education projects. IRSH addresses the needs of orphans and other populations while dealing with gender, corruption, human rights and conflict resolution issues including the serious problem of “blood feuding” that is prevalent in Albania. IRSH is using ProLiteracy’s Literacy for Social Change to address many of these issues to help build peace in the Balkans. By donating to ProLiteracy right now, you will help these women and children receive the tools necessary to learn and prosper such as educational materials and supplies that are focused on conflict resolution and peace building. Our goal is to raise just $220 a day as we countdown to International Literacy Day on September 8, 2009. Help us h

International Literacy Day Mali Ouelessebougou Alliance Ouelessebougou Alliance supports local women’s education membership organizations. In addition to learning to read and write, women learn about health, nutrition, hygiene, AIDS, and farming techniques. They develop cooperatives, produce and sell goods, and discuss issues such as female circumcision and domestic abuse. Participants launched an experimental effort to establish schools for children. Literacy is giving these women the confidence to take steps to ensure education for their own children and future generations. By donating to ProLiteracy right now, you will help women receive the tools necessary to learn and prosper such as note books and pencils, health supplies (vaccinations, and mosquito nets), and plant seedlings. A donation will also help these women pass on education to their children, keeping the goal of an educated Mali paramount for generations to come. Our goal is to raise just $220 a day as we countdown to

International Literacy Day Cambodia Cambodia World Family (CWF) CWF’s mission is to provide the rural poor of Cambodia with the intellectual and economic tools they need to attain self-sufficiency. Their mission is built on two beliefs: knowledge is freedom, and the greatest impact that can be made upon a society is through its women. CWF’s initiatives include, adult Khmer literacy, an oral hygiene campaign targeting orphans, English classes, a sewing micro-enterprise initiative and workshops focusing on efficient farming techniques. By donating to ProLiteracy right now, you will help these women and children receive the tools necessary to learn and prosper such as notebooks, chalkboards, and writing utensils, access to dental care, and sewing machines. Our goal is to raise just $220 a day as we countdown to International Literacy Day on September 8, 2009. Help us help them through strengthening the power of literacy with your gift towards our goal. Together we can do so much!

International Literacy Day Colombia Corporación Educativa CLEBA Amidst the violence and social problems in Colombia, CLEBA is empowering adults, specifically those displaced by conflict. Its program has two main components, educating literacy instructors, and providing literacy instruction to illiterate adults. Educators are instructed on how to better connect literacy with the daily needs of the learners. Participants also learn small business skills and financial education so that they can learn support their families. By donating to ProLiteracy right now, you will help these women and men receive the tools necessary for their education such as notebooks, chalkboards, and writing utensils. Your donation will also contribute to income generating cooperatives, such as soymilk production, making and selling tamales, sewing projects to make school uniforms, bakeries, and various agricultural and home garden projects. Our goal is to raise just $220 a day as we countdown to International L

International Literacy Day Ghana PACE Ghana PACE Ghana is a community based library project initiated by a Ghanaian immigrant to the United States. Since its establishment, The Okyeame Dankwa Memorial Community Library Why Ghana? Though Ghanaian citizens enjoy peace and prosperity relative to other West African countries, their incomes are still among the lowest in the world. Because many of the people are very poor, only 60% of the children are able to attend primary school and only 30% move on to Secondary School. In Ghana, roughly 37 percent of male citizens cannot read or write, and significantly more women, 54 percent, also lack basic literacy skills. As indicated by George Benneh, Chairman of the National Council for Tertiary Education in Ghana, “Education is essential if Ghana and other African countries are ever to solve their problems of food security, health, good governance and other developmental priorities.” Pace has been providing essential educational tools: books, c

International Literacy Day Pakistan Aasthan Latif Welfare Society Aasthan Latif Welfare Society is dedicated to promoting girls’ education and spearheading education and literacy among rural females. In just a few years, Aasthan has setup over 500 community girls’ primary schools in rural villages of Sindh, Pakistan, where thousands of girls have benefited. Much of the literacy instruction addresses domestic abuse issues and psychological effects of violence, while emphasizing human rights and peace. By donating to ProLiteracy right now, you will help these girls and women receive tools necessary to improve and empower their lives such as notebooks and chalkboards for their literacy classes and seed money for growing fruits and vegetables. Our goal is to raise just $220 a day as we countdown to International Literacy Day on September 8, 2009. Help us help them through strengthening the power of literacy with your gift towards our goal. Together we can do so much!

International Literacy Day Bolivia Soroptimist International of Cochabamba Soroptimist of Cochabamba helps Quechua women living in destitute barrios join “mothers’ clubs” to advance the welfare of their families and communities. With literacy education as the cornerstone of their programs, mother’s club members are managing successful businesses, instituting revolving loan funds, and establishing centers where members can learn life skills and organize social reform efforts. By donating to ProLiteracy right now, you will help these mothers receive the tools necessary to learn and prosper through adult education initiatives such as literacy classes, health and human rights instruction, and life skills and income generating projects such as artisan crafts, bread making, and computer classes. Our goal is to raise just $220 a day as we countdown to International Literacy Day on September 8, 2009. Help us help them through strengthening the power of literacy with your gift towards our goal

Nepal Tulasi Meher UNESCO Club (TMUC) In both rural and urban areas, TMUC is committed to high standards of literacy—applying reading and writing with real-life learning in areas such as health, savings, and income-generation. Networked with other grassroots programs, TMUC has helped curb the effects of poverty in the region by empowering women and their families. TMUC provides spinning wheels for income generating projects, facilitates small business training seminars, and provides adult education classes. TMUC ‘s newest project focuses on increasing technology access through such measures as solar electricity, cell phones, refurbished computers, and on-line or flash drive courses. By donating to ProLiteracy right now, you will help these women receive the tools necessary to learn and prosper such as broadband internet service, spinning wheels, and cellular phone access. Our goal is to raise just $220 a day as we countdown to International Literacy Day on September 8, 2009. Help us h

International Literacy Day August 10, 2009 In an effort to bring awareness to not only International Literacy Day but also to the wonderful work of ProLiteracy’s global partners, we are launching the International Literacy Day Countdown, “Giving Hope for Global Literacy.” Starting August 10 through September 8, 2009. ProLiteracy will highlight our Women in Literacy initiative by featuring 29 ProLiteracy partner programs in 29 countries. Our goal is to raise $220 per day for a total of $6,380 by the end of the countdown — International Literacy Day!