Dear All,

One thing that poor women have told me through out my
work in India and Pakistan (we also fund a programme
in Afghanistan), apropos literacy. They make a clear
distinction between education which they see as 
formal schooling, and literacy. To them, in their
words, literacy is a way of 'decoding the city', and
getting the better of the moneylender, and 'not
feeling invisible in a world of words'. Whenever maths
was taught through pricing, loans owed to a
moneylender, and literacy taught through health,
writing petitions, signing, that's when literacy
gained importance. If it was not linked to practical,
everyday survival, it was not interesting at all. In
one slum, I still recall, we were told that if these
'education skills' did not lead to employment or
better lives, they were no use to them. 

I found this to be true with immigrants to the US:
they wanted to learn English and sound American
because it meant a better life and employment in their
new country.

Regards,
Ujwala


--- "Deyo,Lisa" <ldeyo at msh.org> wrote:


> They are the priorities in the country & of the

> Ministry of Public Health - immunization, personal

> and environmental hygiene, safe motherhood & birth

> preparedness, TB, family planning, first aid,

> diarrhea, malaria, and an introductory unit on germs

> & infections.

> 

> 	-----Original Message----- 

> 	From: womenliteracy-bounces at dev.nifl.gov on behalf

> of Daphne Greenberg 

> 	Sent: Tue 11/22/2005 11:21 AM 

> 	To: womenliteracy at dev.nifl.gov 

> 	Cc: 

> 	Subject: RE: [WomenLiteracy] More on literacy

> programs in Afghanistan

> 	

> 	

> 

> 	Thanks for sharing this! What types of health

> issues do you discuss in your program?

> 	

> 	>>> ldeyo at msh.org 11/22/2005 9:11 AM >>>

> 	Dear Daphne,

> 	

> 	

> 	

> 	I have been working on an integrated health and

> literacy program for women in Afghanistan the past 1

> ½ years.  In the vast majority of cases, not only do

> the facilitators need to be the same gender as the

> participants but the trainers and anyone else who

> might visit the class need to be female as well.   

> 	

> 	

> 	

> 	We need to tread very softly here, given the

> history of literacy education and the reactions

> towards education of females in the country.  We

> were advised not to introduce the courses as simply

> literacy education or women's education.  Instead,

> we introduced the courses as health education and

> literacy classes to help gain greater acceptance in

> the community.   

> 	

> 	

> 	

> 	Lisa

> 	

> 	        -----Original Message-----

> 	        From: womenliteracy-bounces at dev.nifl.gov on

> behalf of Daphne Greenberg

> 	        Sent: Tue 11/22/2005 8:15 AM

> 	        To: womenliteracy at dev.nifl.gov

> 	        Cc:

> 	        Subject: RE: [WomenLiteracy] More on

> literacy programs in Afghanistan

> 	       

> 	       

> 	

> 	        You mention that the classes are segregated

> by gender. Are the teachers also of the same gender

> as the students in each class?

> 	       

> 	        >>> BBell at edc.org 11/22/2005 6:49 AM >>>

> 	        Daphne and all --

> 	       

> 	        In general, there are more women than men

> in literacy programs here in Afghanistan.  In the

> government-run programs, figures for last year show

> about 45,000 more women than men enrolled, out of a

> total enrollment of about 385,500.  This is not

> surprising, given that women were denied access to

> education under the Taliban government and are so

> eager to learn.  But men are eager, too, having

> lived for so many years in the midst of fighting

> with limited educational opportunities.

> 	       

> 	        Classes for women and men are held

> separately.  There may be some places in Kabul where

> literacy classes are held for women and men

> together, but I'm not aware of them.

> 	       

> 	        As for literacy goals -- I can speak most

> directly from my own experience with learners in the

> Literacy and Community Empowerment Program -- both

> female and male.  During the recent internal

> evaluation field visits to 16 villages in three

> provinces, we talked with 409 females and 365 males,

> in 32 classes.  Their ages ranged from 10 to over

> 40, with the majority in the 13-18 range.   (This

> program is primarily for youth and young adults,

> though open to learners over the age of 10, with no

> upper age limit).  In the structured discussions

> held with each group, we asked questions such as: 

> why are you participating in this learning center?

> what do you hope to do with the skills you are

> learning?

> 	       

> 	        The common response to the first question

> (why are you in this class?), from both male and

> female classes, was -- to learn reading, writing and

> math!  Of course.  But with further probing, the

> young men said things like - to be able to read

> letters from relatives in Iran; to read shop signs;

> to get skills to help my family; to have a better

> future; to help our country develop; to become

> doctors, engineers, entrepreneurs, carpenters, metal

> workers.  Young women said  -- to read and write

> letters to relatives; to become teachers (most);

> doctors, engineers, shop keepers (some); to do

> business in the bazaar; to learn everything we can;

> to help our families and our community.  (O course,

> there were many other comments -- these were the

> most common.)

> 	       

> 	        What do you think about these responses? 

> similar to what you would have expected?

> 	       

> 	        Brenda

> 	       

> 	        ________________________________

> 	       

> 	        From: womenliteracy-bounces at dev.nifl.gov on

> behalf of Daphne Greenberg

> 	        Sent: Tue 11/22/2005 2:34 AM

> 	        To: womenliteracy at dev.nifl.gov

> 	        Subject: Re: [WomenLiteracy] More on

> literacy programs in Afghanistan

> 	       

> 	       

> 	       

> 	        Brenda,

> 	        I am wondering whether you see an equal

> amount (more or less) of women and men in the

> literacy programs. Are the classes co-ed? Do the men

> and women express similar literacy goals?

> 	        Daphne

> 	       

> 	        >>> BBell at edc.org 11/21/2005 4:57:25 AM >>>

> 	       

> 	       

> 	        Hello all -

> 	       

> 	       

> 	       

> 	        I'm in the midst of an interesting

> discussion with some of the lead trainers for the

> Literacy and Community Empowerment Program.  I posed

> some of David's questions about the history of

> literacy in Afghanistan - starting a discussion that

> has sent several women off to get more exact

> information, which they should have by tomorrow.

> 	       

> 	       

> 	       

> 	        Meanwhile, in the interest of keeping a

> discussion going with you on this list, here is a

> summary of what a group of older Afghan women and

> one younger man had to say:

> 	       

> 	       

> 	       

> 	        "The early literacy courses for adults were

> called 'elder literacy.'  The courses lasted for 3

> months and the methods used were memorization and

> drill.  While the classes were mostly for men, there

> were courses for women in basic literacy and some

> that were related to vocational skills.

> 	       

> 	       

> 	       

> 	        "During the Soviet occupation of

> Afghanistan, the number of literacy courses

> increased, but according to the discussion, the

> level of learning dropped.  "Really they were using

> literacy for political objectives.  Literacy groups

> were formed but not much learning took place.  They

> were used to implement the objectives of the

> government.  Not many people became literate."

> 	       

> 	       

> 	       

> 	        They also said that during the 'mujahadeen

> time' when the U.S. backed the mujahadeen fight

> against the Russians, literacy texts were also

> politicized. They cited the now-famous (in some

> circles) example of numeracy activities in which the

> items to be counted were guns.

> 	       

> 	       

> 	       

> 	        "Now when we go into villages with our

> literacy program, some people are very suspicious. 

> They want to make sure that our program is not going

> to be like other literacy programs that 'misled' the

> people. We tell them no, it is not the same.  You

> can look at our teaching materials and at our lesson

> guides and see that this is a program that will help

> villagers get the skills they need to develop their

> communities. We are promoting peace and empowerment.

> And we include quotations from the Qu'ran in our

> materials. 

=== message truncated ===> 

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