Hello all --
 
The project described in this position announcement is the one I work with -- so it provides a good introduction to the literacy work I'm involved with here in Afghanistan.  I've been a consultant to LCEP for the past year and on this trip, I'm here for 11 weeks.  
 
For the past several weeks I've been heading up an internal program evaluation, focusing on the three provinces where LCEP literacy activities have been in place since April.  With team members, I've visited 16 villages in Bagram district of Parwan province, north of Kabul, and Sayghan district of Bamiyan province, west of Kabul.  Others visited villages in Zindajan district of Herat province in the western part of the country. In each village, we met with the women's and men's Community Development Councils (partners in the local literacy work), observed classes, interviewed teachers, and talked with learners, members of self-help groups, and members of youth committees.  What is emerging from all of our data is a picture of the beginning stages of  literacy that supports  the development of  local community institutions -- in a country where the social fabric has been stretched thin or ripped during the decades of conflict and war. Perhaps over the coming weeks I can share with you some of the ways in which this is happening.
 
Earlier, when Daphne announced that women and literacy in Afghanistan would be an upcoming topic of discussion, Holly posted some questions and described her experience working with Afghan women newly arrived in the U.S., observing that they learned English quite fast while not being literate in Dari or Pashtu.  In the village literacy programs that I've visited here, young people and adults are highly motivated to learn to read, write (in Dari or Pashtu, the languages of instruction) and calculate, and just to learn, period.  And we see that people are learning fast. We can speculate that this is due to the strong motivation and perhaps in part to the approach and structure of the program.  Holly, perhaps you can get back into this conversation with more of your questions and observations.
 
I will try to respond promptly to messages, but please know that my internet connection (and electricity) is not always available.  I'm looking forward to discussions with you, and depending the direction our conversations take, I may ask several Afghan colleagues to join us.  Also - you should know that there are other US adult literacy colleagues here in Kabul working on other projects (law and health), and I'll be glad to pull in their perspectives as well.
 
Warm regards -
 
Brenda Bell

________________________________

From: womenliteracy-bounces at dev.nifl.gov on behalf of Daphne Greenberg
Sent: Thu 11/17/2005 3:52 AM
To: womenliteracy at dev.nifl.gov
Subject: [WomenLiteracy] Literacy opportunity in Afghanistan



As you all know, tomorrow (November 17th) we will be starting our discussion with Brenda Bell on her literacy work in Afghanistan. Coincidentally, there is a job opening to work in Afghanistan on literacy issues:

Job Description
Literacy Training Specialist
(International Technical Advisor I)

EDC seeks a seasoned training professional to work as part of our dynamic, community-focused literacy activities in Afghanistan. The Training Specialist will be responsible for providing training and support to a cadre of Afghan national and local-level literacy trainers under the Literacy and Community Empowerment Project (LCEP). LCEP is an integrated community development initiative that includes components in literacy, economic empowerment and local governance in Afghanistan. This is a non-dependent posting, based in Kabul, which is funded through July 2006.

Program Summary

In August 2004, EDC and its implementing partner, UN Habitat, launched the USAID-funded Literacy and Community Empowerment Program. The goals of this two-year program are to:

1)      Enhance the role of women and young people as change agents in society through increased literacy and skills for income-generation; and
2)      Strengthen democratically elected institutions of civil society that give a greater voice to women and young adults, and that deepen grassroots participatory governance.

Within the Literacy component of LCEP, EDC is responsible for two inter-related sub-components: the establishment and ongoing development of a Women?s Teacher Training Institute in Kabul and the implementation of the Afghan Literacy Initiative, which currently represents the field-based literacy operations of the Institute. Both Literacy sub-components are implemented in collaboration with Afghanistan?s Ministry of Education.

The Afghan Literacy Initiative targets 65% young females, and is also open to young men and older boys. It provides learners in remote areas of the country with access to functional literacy skills in the areas of governance and economic empowerment. These skills are then reinforced when learners participate in ongoing LCEP work in governance and economic empowerment within targeted communities. A critical element of the LCEP literacy approach is that both teachers and learners build their teaching and literacy skills through lessons that encourage learners to create their own materials and learning strategies, and monitor their own progress.

The literacy component is designed to complement other LCEP components focusing on local governance, savings and credit development, and micro enterprise.  Governance and economic empowerment components of LCEP are being implemented by UN Habitat.

Specific duties of the Literacy Training Specialist:

1. Develop and implement a dynamic TOT training strategy, approach and materials: Recognizing the limitations of the cascade model, the Training Specialist will work with the Literacy Team Leader and other LCEP senior staff to develop a training system that can offer maximum support and professional development for trainers while at the same time allowing for significant trainer autonomy.

2. Train and support trainers: Using a successful track record of training adult learners in a rural development context, the Training Specialist will model excellent and dynamic training techniques for all levels of the LCEP training ladder, and will spend a significant portion of his/her time in the field.

3. Provide team leadership: The Training Specialist will be responsible for managing the training aspects of our literacy work. S/he will provide day-to-day guidance and inspiration to/for Lead Trainers to assure the highest caliber of professionalism, teamwork, communication and planning.

3. Assure training excellence, cohesion and responsiveness. The Training Specialist will use her/his successful track record in training of adults to lead TOT activities that:

        recognize the potential and the current realities of LCEP trainers
        emerge from and are appropriate for daily life in rural Afghan communities;
        are learner-centered and participatory;
        use innovative teaching and learning strategies;
        build trainer and learner autonomy by encouraging self-monitoring and localized production of materials and teaching/learning strategies;
        reinforce, and are reinforced by, training practices in place in the LCEP governance and economic empowerment components.

Qualifications and Desired Skills:

        Advanced degree in a related field.
        Significant and practical technical experience rooted in state-of-the-art adult training methodologies.
        Field experience in Afghanistan or central Asia preferred.
        Excellent management, organizational, and communication skills.
        Demonstrated ability to collaborate in complex situations across cultures.
        Experience in participatory community development programs.
        Excellent writing skills
        Excellent organizational skills
        Ability to work independently and as a team member.
        Language requirements: Dari and/or Pashtu language skills highly desirable. 

Please submit a resume and cover letter to Barbara Garner (b.garner4 at verizon.net). No phone calls please. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.





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