ProLiteracy's Oxcart Project--Vote at the Ford Focus Facebook Page

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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 organization dedicated to advancing adult literacy, entered the Oxcart Project into Ford's Global Test Drive contest. The 10 videos with the most votes win $10,000-- a great investment in Nigerien women and in adult literacy everywhere. Please feel free to log into Facebook and vote for ProLiteracy's Oxcart Project!

Comments

  1. KrisSeptember 4, 2011 at 2:57 PM

    This is an amazing venture for local economic and social development.

    ReplyDelete
  2. EcuatoriGringaSeptember 6, 2011 at 2:10 PM

    @kristucker – Thank you for your comment! We at ProLiteracy feel education and literacy must be at the center of community development in order for it to be sustainable.

    Alesha Anderson, International Program Coordinator, ProLiteracy

    ReplyDelete

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