Adult literacy in rural Madagascar
With our Adult Literacy programme underway, we wanted to share more about how the project supports communities by meeting one of the country's most pressing needs. Illiteracy and financial are barriers faced my many people living in Madagascar. Over 25% of the population are illiterate. 18% of those aged 15-25years old and 58% of those over 65 years old cannot read or write.
Our approach:
Adsum endeavour to address this barrier in Madagascar through our Adult Literacy programme. In order to meet the growing demand our coordinator, Steve Lellelid selects teachers from interviews and teaching experience, training them centrally before assigning communities and supplying them with bikes for transport. Running over 6 months, the training is delivered by 331 teachers at 300 locations across the Androy region of Madagascar. By investing in adult literacy training, registered students and their families indirectly receive the educational value shared throughout the programme as students often teach members of their house or those in local communities. Teachers within the programme are supplied with materials they need including chalk, writing materials and a literacy training manual. We are always delighted to see students progress with improved ability in areas of signature writing, reading, writing skills and arithmetic.
Stories of impact:
Soamanoro and Zafemagnanatse are both trainees in the Sakaraty Sud center. They both make a living repairing bicycles.
80% of Madagascar households are involved in farming. As a result, the inability to read and write, alongside financial illiteracy, is a barrier to the advancement of the farming community, and this makes them vulnerable to exploitation.
Pelameie and Vahotovoe, sisters-in-law (pictured below) both share a a small plot of land where they harvest a range of vegetables. Both bring their produce to markets at Behabobo (4km) or Antsolo (15km) each on market day. They both attend the Literacy Programme to learn their signature and to be able to keep records of their produce and sales.
To date, the Satraha Adult Literacy Training Programme has supported over 47,400 people to acquire and life changing literacy skills. If you would like to financially support our Adult Literacy programme, please contact Gavin here