Global Literacy Matters

Saakshar Bharat is “the world’s largest adult education program” and it aims to make 70 million adults literate by 2017. Only 62.8 percent of India’s population over age 15 can read and write, according to the CIA World Factbook. [1] With a total population in India of more than 1.2 billion people, that translates to more than 446 million Indians who cannot read and write, and does not factor in age-appropriate reading levels or numerical literacy. To combat this, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched Saakshar Bharat in 2009 as an initiative of the Indian Department for School Education and Literacy (DSEL). [2] Saakshar Bharat places special emphasis on female literacy in India. Anu Priya, a representative of a village from Villupram in Tamil Nadu said 2,000 villagers were being taught. They had held six exams so far. The next batch of 114 adult students was well prepared for the next exams, she said. "The people have learnt a lot of things. No...

According to UNESCO, “Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts.” Literacy is linked with socio-economic progress and is no longer only about the basic technical skills of reading and writing. Take, for example, women in the fishing village of Tanjung Benoa, Indonesia, who recently participated in financial literacy training to improve their skills as the finance manager in their families. The training included simple but crucial tips on financial literacy in an attempt to combat the economic and social challenges the residents face daily, including a lack of understanding on money management and limited access to information. Standard Chartered Bank and the Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry organized the training. The bank has conducted training programs and financial discussions for more than 500 female microentrepreneurs throughout ...

Dear Readers, 2011 has certainly been an exciting year as we worked to advance literacy both here in the United States and around the world! As we count down the days to the New Year, we would like to highlight some of our favorite stories about how literacy has empowered adult learners and their families. Please join us every day over the next 13 days as we share a new story celebrating the power of literacy in transforming lives and communities during 2011! Story # 1 This story comes from an adult learner who participated in a literacy class with our partner ALFALIT in El Savador. ProLiteracy has been working with Alfalit for more than 15 years supporting literacy programs to residents of urban and rural villages. “My name is Rosa Rosenda Ventura. I am sixty-two years old. Almost all my life, I have sold fresh fish. I had often heard that there were programs that taught people how to read and write, but I had never been invited. When hurricane Ida hit El Salvador,...

The following post was written by Dr. Lynn Curtis, Senior Advisor at ProLiteracy, as he was visiting ProLiteracy’s partner, Tú Mujer in the Dominican Republic. ProLiteracy has been partnering with Tú Mujer for more than 10 years, and supports their literacy and micro enterprise projects with funds from Citi Foundation. The workshop with Tú Mujer turned out to be a celebration! So much energy, enthusiasm, and appreciation for our literacy-based business training, and their historic connection with ProLiteracy . Tú Mujer leaders spoke repeatedly and glowingly of their 10+year association with ProLiteracy. In spite of a torrential rainstorm, we had 35 attendees attend the workshop - a mix of facilitators, participants, and group leaders - all active women from the various barrios and villages served by Tú Mujer. Their program integrates micro finance, literacy, health, and community action in a number of neighborhoods of Santo Domingo. This was the kind of focused group that a workshop...

In Ethiopia, drinking coffee is more than just a morning routine before running out the door to work. The traditional village-level “ coffee ceremony ” is an integral part of Ethiopian social and cultural life. An invitation to attend a coffee ceremony is considered a mark of friendship or respect. Performing the ceremony is usually done in the presence of a visitor, regardless of the time of day. The coffee beans are roasted and then coffee is usually served with a local snack such as peanuts, popcorn, or barley. The special ceremony is never rushed; it can sometimes take several hours. ProLiteracy partner in Ethiopia, Nurture Education and Development (NED), uses the coffee ceremony as an opportunity for education. During these education sessions, coffee is served while men and women use pictures, skits, songs, or dances to discuss sensitive issues such as individual rights, early marriage, abduction, domestic violence, and female genital mutilation. NED is an Ethiopian in-country gr...

We at ProLiteracy are excited to start 2011 by visiting partner programs in Latin America! In January 2011, Alesha Anderson, international programs coordinator, and Lynn Curtis, international services consultant, are traveling to Haiti, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Colombia, visiting literacy and micro finance projects. Here are some exciting updates on site visits to the following programs: Fonkoze Fonkoze i s the largest micro finance institution in Haiti, working with 45,000 borrowers, most of whom are women living and working in the countryside of Haiti. Currently they are working with ProLiteracy to help more than 8,000 women improve their lives by becoming literate and starting small businesses. Fonkoze has been partnering with ProLiteracy for six years. Organizaccion Organizaccion is a grass roots non-governmental organization (NGO) that works with local government councils in five provinces around Ecuador. Organizaccion provides capacity building and professional developme...

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...

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...

You would be hard pressed to find a country that has escaped the economic crisis unscathed. The economic crisis is indeed a global crisis. There are no winners. However, there are certainly losers; some, bigger losers than others. Since 2001, the gender-wage ratio has not improved. "Women are still paid only 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. The disparity is even greater for women of color: African-American women make 62 cents and Latinas make only 53 cents for every dollar of male earnings." [1] It is apparent that around the world, women have experienced the brunt of the economic crisis. " The global economic crisis is expected to plunge a further 22 million women into unemployment, which would lead to a female unemployment rate of 7.4 percent. " Further, given that women have a limited access to education, they tend to work lower paying jobs. And with a lack of education, they tend to have fewer skills and will ultimately end up out of work sooner. Unfortuna...