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...