What did you read today? The newspaper? A street sign? Your bank statement? What would your life be like if you couldn’t read?
“I took the wrong taxi because I could not read the route information.” “I couldn’t help my child with her homework or even read the reports from her teacher.” “I could not send or read letters from family and friends because I could not read or write.” These are but a few quotes from the villagers of Mulunguni, Kenya who have faced many difficulties because they did not have literacy classes available to them.
The government literacy program offered was not meeting the needs of the community due to lack of funding and lack of trained teachers. CHOICE Humanitarian was approached in 2009 by community leaders to contribute to the program by training more literacy teachers from the community. CHOICE happily accepted the offer to help and included basic arithmetic training as well. Since that time the Adult Literacy program has exploded! Mulunguni now has two classes with a total of 40 students each!
Miss. Mwanasiti is a current student who is determined to finish the course. She explained that her business is suffering due to her lack of literacy. “Being unable to do simple addition and subtraction makes it hard for me to keep an accurate book of accounts of my tailoring business,” she said. She had also desired to join in the development activities in her community but was left behind because she could not read. “Once I graduate,” she says, “I will take up more leadership roles and expand my business.”
Miss. Mwanasiti (in red) with fellow classmates.
Miss. Mwanasiti stressed that knowing how to read and write will not only benefit her as a person, but also the whole community because of the input she will have in development programs. Her views on education have changed and now she believes that everyone should have a right to basic education, regardless of status and class within the community.
This is a beautiful example of how investing in people can create a huge impact and will continue to benefit the community for generations to come. Thank you for your support of the work that is going on in Kenya. If you would like invest in this work by making a donation, please visit http://choicehumanitarian.org/donate/