One Village At A Time
The Need
Illiteracy limits the confidence of an individual in society, impacts the earning ability of the individual–thus the standard of living of the family, and limits the ability of the family to educate their children. Illiteracy keeps the current and future generations in bondage.
Illiteracy not just impacts an individual and the family. An illiterate village is often left behind in development and growth. An illiterate village often lacks access to basic things like property health care, clean water, electricity, and other facilities. Illiterates struggle to find jobs, and when they do find one it is a low-paid manual laborers job. This affects not just the family but the whole village, in turn. This cycle of disempowerment and poverty often continues into the next generation.
Majhi, the chief of a village, explained,
“Being illiterate is like being blind. We have eyes but cannot see. Everything is dark. Completely dark.”
265 million adult illiterates!
35% of the global total.
“47.78% out of school children in India are girls. They will add to the illiterate in another decade, unless there is an intervention"
The Strategy
Come, Let Us Make One More Village Literate This Year!
Come, Let Us Make One More Village Literate This Year!
About 80 percent of the Indian population lives in villages. Tens of thousands of villages in South Asia do not have a single literate person. This effects not just the individual but limits the development of the whole village and the future generations.
.
What We Do
Our Opportunities
The Significance of Literacy
I Am Free!
Prithvi had never gone to school. His father was extremely poor. In addition, his family belonged to a low caste. Discrimination faced by his friends had made them drop out of school. Prithvi worked as a shepherd boy for the villagers, taking their cattle to the forest to feed and bring them back safely in the evening.
A few years ago, we sent a trained literacy teacher to the village of Prithvi. After obtaining the permission of the village elders, he started a literacy class under the shade of a Tamarind tree. Every evening, a group of 30 adults and another 10 children would come to this literacy class. Over a period of 18 months, all of them learned to read, write and comprehend things in the state language. They, also, learned to count up to three digits and do basic Math. Prithvi’s mother also attended the school. She says, “When I go to the town with my produce, I can demand a fair price. This adds to our family income and today we eat three meals a day.” There is pride in her voice and a confidence that has lifted their economic state above the poverty level.
A simple, eighteen-month intervention, has changed a village. Formerly, a completely illiterate village now has more than 15% of adults literate. They now send all their children to school, even though they have to walk to the nearby town. The adults now, in the village council, have availed many government facilities, like road & electricity. There is not even one hut that does not have a tin roof, a sign of economic lift.
