Global Literacy Matters

One of ProLiteracy's projects has been turned into a video ! Called the Oxcart Project, the project is as simple as it sounds. Through donations of about $280 U.S., the project, located in Niger, loans village women an ox and a cart, which the women then rent to villagers who are in need of transportation for everything from emergency care to market shopping. "With the rental revenues, the women eventually pay back the loan and own the oxcart," explains Hauoa Diatta, founder and president of Micro-Credit in Africa (MICA), which manages the project. "The oxcart project allows women to gain economic empowerment, and that in turn empowers the entire village." The Oxcart Project provides Nigerien women opportunities to engage in commercial ventures through women's literacy and micro enterprise programs as well as leadership workshops, AIDS education, job skill training, first aid training, and computer training. ProLiteracy, the world's largest nonprofit org

The worldwide HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to expand. According to UNAIDS , 33.3 million people live with HIV, including 2.5 million children. In 2009, some 2.6 million people became newly infected with the virus and an estimated 1.8 million people died from complications from AIDS. The great tragedy of this disease, which has already taken more lives than all casualties from World War II, is that it is largely preventable; furthermore many treatment alternatives can be employed but are not. In those places where there is not a base of shared community knowledge and attitude regarding the realities of HIV/AIDS transmission, prevention, and treatment, the disease will continue to spread at a growing rate. At left, KALA holds a health literacy discussion group with local women in the community Efforts to disseminate medicine and information can make a life-saving difference for millions. Unfortunately, these efforts have limited impact if not accompanied by an effective educational compo

ProLiteracy has joined forces with several other international organizations offering training in literacy instruction and business coaching to help small businesses in Ecuador improve their operations. ProLiteracy, the world's largest organization of adult literacy and education programs, and Interweave Solutions, offering business training in developing countries, recently trained 22 people on literacy instruction, business practices, and community development. The trainees are loan officers and trainers from FINCA , a microfinance bank that provides small business loans to low-income people. The trainees will use what they've learned in their work with residents in 30 communities throughout Ecuador, giving residents the literacy and business skills they need to start and maintain businesses that will help them support their families and make improvements in their communities. The pilot project is sponsored by Citi Foundation. "This exciting project is ba

Close to a billion people suffer from hunger every day. The World Food Program (WFP) is grappling with how to address the increasing needs of starving populations. October 16, 2010 - World Food Day - has been marked as a day to remember that global hunger is still a life threatening crisis in close to 22 countries . Many countries are facing dramatic food shortages, and relief agencies are overwhelmed in places like Pakistan as they try to meet the demand. While we reflect on the challenges the world is facing with food, ProLiterac y would like to highlight a program we support in Haiti that, despite the shortage of resources, is making a significant difference in the lives of rural Haitian farmers and their families. AyitKonseVet (AKV) is a training program that works with 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 techniqu

“When mothers and daughters have access to opportunity, that’s when economies grow, that’s when governance improves.” – President Barack Obama, Remarks by the President at the Millennium Development Goals Summit. President Obama’s recent speech on the Millennium Development Goals reinforces the importance of the work ProLiteracy has been doing around the world for decades. The MDG’s are a range of eight international development goals established by world leaders at the UN on September 2000 to significantly reduce extreme poverty by 2015. ProLiteracy is working in 50 countries around Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East to bring literacy and education to adults at the local level. In conjunction with the Millennium Development Goals Summit, we laud President Obama’s dedication toward reshaping how the United States approaches international development and his commitment to investing in the health, education, and rights of women to empower the next generation of female en

ProLiteracy is proud to announce that our partner, Operation Upgrade will be hosting the South African Adult Literacy Information Exchange in Durban, South Africa on September 7-8 2010. This exciting conference takes place on International Literacy Day and is designed to bring together those responsible for adult literacy from all over Southern Africa. Delegates from Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Bostwana, Swaziland, Lesotho, South Africa, and the United States will be represented at the conference. Participants will have opportunities to share information and to collaborate on practices and challenges to implementing successful adult literacy programs. Our Vice President of International Programs, Lynn Curtis will be the keynote speaker, and will also be teaching a workshop after the conference for representatives of social organizations who are interested in learning about ProLiteracy’s model, Literacy for Social Change. The anticipated outcome is that groups will then be mobi

ProLiteracy in El Salvador, June 2010 Dean Curtis, Founder of Interweave Solutions, did an in-depth training that he calls the 6Ps of Business (Plan, Product, Process, Promotion, Price, and Paperwork). The information targets ways participants canimprove their businesses, and they dove right into creating growth plans for their businesses, home life/family, and community. Most had run their own businesses, but they didn't exactly know where they stood with capital or how they would apply their FINCA loan to actually grow the business. Now they know! Our visits to village banks gave us the chance to meet women who face poverty, gang violence, and lack of education every day. They shared their goals and what they want to learn together (sewing and baking cakes) and started making plans on how they could open a learning center for the community. Another community, Distrito de Italia, faces similar problems with gang violence. Many people in the community live in fear. Crime in El Salv

ProLiteracy in El Salvador Lynn Curtis and I recently spent 10 days in El Salvador working on a pilot project with FINCA, a micro finance bank that provides poverty solutions through small business loans. This project, sponsored by the Citi Foundation, focuses on improving small businesses through literacy lessons, business coaching, networking among village bank members, and community action. With us were Dean Curtis, Lynn's brother, who led the business training part of our visit, and John Hatch, founder of FINCA, International. Forty-six leaders took part in the business training. They were excited to learn how to lead group discussions and problem solve with other village bank members. Instead of feeling depressed about the economy and lack of jobs, people started recognizing social problems in their communities that affect their businesses and families such as crime, gang violence, garbage/pollution, poor access to the main streets, and flooding. Immediately they started plan

Day 4 Ngororero is the project site where IFLI partner Umuhuza has been working to strengthen families. We met with 15 trained practitioners to hear their successes and struggles with the project. We met with local officials to hear their impressions of the work. We visited several homes to hear from parents how the program has benefited them. Yesterday, we celebrated with 100 families who have completed the parent training sessions. Umuhuza chose to go to remote Ngororero with the IFLI early learning curriculum because the first genocidal massacres took place in this region back in the 1950s. Umuhuza is an agency focused on creating a culture of peace in Rwanda. They believe that the IFLI curriculum is a way to create peace within families that can then have a bigger effect on society. We heard many testimonies from parents, practitioners and local officials about the reduction in domestic violence.

Thursday, May 27, 2010 We left India on a high note, after meeting with the core team on Saturday to reflect on the training, review the evaluation forms and processes and to discuss issues and concerns, resources and next steps. A strong image came forward that day about the state of the Potali Project. It is like a tree whose seed has been planted and has grown into a sapling. There are many people who are watching this young plant and helping it to mature into a strong adult tree. We named this widening circle of support including 1100 participant families, 40 plus practitioners and supervisors, the core team and international team, three partner agencies, global stakeholders and many volunteers who share the value of strengthening families. We asked the question of what this tree will look like in its mature state. The branches of the vision include: 1) expanded program delivery; 2) staff development model; 3) international networking; 4) revenues from sales of Potali materi

Reflections from Tina Spencer: India We finished our first day of training with around 40 participants which include practitioners, supervisors and coordinators of the Potali project. The event began with a ritual lighting of the lamp of learning. Introductions were made by Bhimrao. Flowers were presented. The new chairman of BHT, our financial and programmatic partner, welcomed the group to their training center and encouraged us in our work with families and small children. Miriam gave the overview of the three days and then we launched into our first session focusing on the Practices that Make Us Strong. Many practitioners are using the techniques. Several parents on the site visits told us how they are using and valuing them. Today each practitioner received a set of blue activity cards describing these practices in Marathi (the local language). We learned on the site visits that parents and practitioners are hungry for more printed materials in the lo

Reflections from Maryanna Doan - India We have been in India a week now. It is a land of contrasts. Orange and purple blossoms and jagged mountain peaks, sit next to land covered with refuse. Woman here look like exotic butterflies in many colors of bright clothing walking on streets full of traffic. The sounds are a cacophony of horns honking, loud music, and construction. The air is a mix of thick smog and a heavy humidity, with perfumes and spices that are aromatic and typical of this region. The time he re has been hectic, heart-wrenching, and yet heartwarming and hope-filled. This week, in a room the size of a closet, we heard a mother tell us that she made the decision after working with IFLI practitioners for a few months and understanding the importance of early learning and spending quality time with her child that she should quit her job(the average income in this particular slum was bout 40.00 US dollars a month) and stay home to be with her child while he was young. Her hus

Day 1: The plan was for Miriam to arrive in Mumbai a day before the rest of the team so that she could help with the set-up of the team. Unfortunately, it took me over 48 hours to travel from Toronto to Mumbai due to the Volcanic activity in Iceland. Maryanna and Tina reached Mumbai before Miriam and Nasinya (Miriam's 2 year old daughter). Miriam is still waiting for her luggage to catch up with her. This has meant that we have hit the ground at a runners pace without much time to recover and definitely without our running shoes on. Nevertheless, it has been an inspiring time. Mumbai is over 40 degrees Celsius ---and because it is on the ocean, very humid. You don't have to do a thing to sweat. It is also a swirling mix of car honks, smokey diesel fumes, fishy smells, other scents that are unimaginable. From the window of a vehicle the thought of stepping out onto the streets is very daunting. I did today walk a block to get a coffee from a coffee shop and felt like I had ear