Global Literacy Matters

We recently asked our partners and members to share an inspirational story through words or photos about the importance of literacy and education for women. We will be posting short stories on Facebook, Twitter, and our International Programs blog as we count down to International Women’s Day on March 8th! The story below is one that our partner in Tanzania recently sent us. Najma is 13 years old and lives in the municipality of Moshi in Tanzania. She attended a short training organized by Solidarity of People living with HIV/AIDS in the Kilimanjaro Region. The course was part of capacity building program for Positive Youths – living with HIV/AIDS. Using the skills learned in the program, Najma and 10 ot hers are now educating fellow primary school students on how to combat HIV/AIDS, encouraging them to become knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS and to take protective measures to avoid contracting the disease. For those already living with HIV, Najma and her peers talk about good health pract...

Notes from the Field--Tongaat Adult Literacy Class in South Africa Alesha Anderson International Programs Coordinator Today ProLiteracy President and CEO David Harvey and I went to visit one of Operation Upgrade’s adult literacy classes in a small town about 40 minutes outside of Durban called Tongaat. The adult learners had been meeting for about a year and we re coming to the end of their studies. “We are so proud of this literacy class because all of the students have passed their final exams with a 98 percent average , including the three students that have learning disabilities. Here in South Africa we integrate students with disabilities and the instructor works with them to stay on course with the rest of the students,” says Pat Dean, Operation Upgrade’s executive director. The class meets three times per week for two to three hours. In the class we visited, participants were learning numeracy as they discussed how to write a budget. The entire lesso n was taught in Zulu, th...

Notes from the Filed--January 31, 2012 Alesha Anderson International Programs Coordinator Today was a very exciting day out in the field! ProLiteracy’s President, David Harvey and I went to visit an organization that ProLiteracy has been partnering with for more than 40 years: Operation Upgrade (OpUp). OpUp is one of the largest and oldest NGO’s in South Africa focused on adult literacy. ProLiteracy began working with OpUp in the 1960s with active leadership from our co-founder, Dr. Frank Laubach, and we continue to support their literacy programs today. We started off the day by meeting OpUp director, Pat Dean, and the many staff that help make OpUp’s work possible. As we arrived at the main office in Durban, six new literacy trainers were being trained by Beatrice, a dedicated staff member who has helped teach adult literacy with OpUp for more than 18 years. The new trainers were learning how to integrate HIV/AIDS education into basic adult literacy classes. OpUp focuses on mother ...