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In 2016, the Finnish Bible Society" /> <meta name="generator" content="Drupal 7 (https://www.drupal.org)" /> <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.sil.org/blog/literacy-better-life" /> <link rel="shortlink" href="https://www.sil.org/node/187196" /> <meta property="og:site_name" content="SIL Global" /> <meta property="og:type" content="article" /> <meta property="og:url" content="https://www.sil.org/blog/literacy-better-life" /> <meta property="og:title" content="Literacy for a Better Life" /> <meta property="og:description" content="Literacy skills empower women in Africa to thrive. Lack of basic literacy skills imposes major disadvantages on many women across Africa. The inability to read and write makes many daily tasks needlessly difficult, shatters self-confidence and excludes them from participating in fundamental systems of business, government and education. In 2016, the Finnish Bible Society approached SIL Africa with a goal to bring together several national Bible societies in eastern and southern Africa in order to develop and implement a local-language literacy program for women." /> <meta property="og:updated_time" content="2021-12-06T09:50:11-06:00" /> <meta property="og:image" content="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/images/story/literacy-in-africa_0.png" /> <meta property="og:image:url" content="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/images/story/literacy-in-africa_0.png" /> <meta property="og:image:secure_url" content="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/images/story/literacy-in-africa_0.png" /> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" /> <meta name="twitter:creator" content="@SILintl" /> <meta name="twitter:url" content="https://www.sil.org/blog/literacy-better-life" /> <meta name="twitter:title" content="Literacy for a Better Life" /> <meta name="twitter:description" content="Literacy skills empower women in Africa to thrive. Lack of basic literacy skills imposes major disadvantages on many women across Africa. The inability to read and write makes many daily tasks" /> <meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/images/story/literacy-in-africa_0.png" /> <meta property="article:published_time" content="2021-11-04T00:00:00-05:00" /> <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2021-12-06T09:50:11-06:00" /> <title>Literacy for a Better Life | SIL Global</title> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/css/css_lQaZfjVpwP_oGNqdtWCSpJT1EMqXdMiU84ekLLxQnc4.css" media="all" /> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/css/css_EM9PzeHZt2AxxQ3R05nXINg9akBOG66G3hxOgWtlp2E.css" media="all" /> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/css/css_y-6OGvqwgwpR259lzJYNwvxpJm3Q1qOD_DWt90goRpM.css" media="all" /> <style>.panels-flexible-new .panels-flexible-region { padding: 0; } .panels-flexible-new .panels-flexible-region-inside { padding-right: 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id="page-title"> </div> <a id="main-content"></a> <div class="region region-content"> <section id="block-system-main" class="block block-system clearfix"> <article id="node-187196" class="node node-blog clearfix"> <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_1140/public/images/story/literacy-in-africa_0.png?itok=einZtVnC" width="960" height="502" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="view view-blog-post-masthead-information view-id-blog_post_masthead_information view-display-id-entity_view_1 text-center view-dom-id-9595e4b96b85a982304f3deaef80365e"> <div class="view-content"> <div class="views-row views-row-1 views-row-odd views-row-first views-row-last"> <div class="views-field views-field-title"> <h3 class="field-content">Literacy for a Better Life</h3> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-name"> <h6 class="field-content">by <span class="blog-post-author">Kelly Martin</span></h6> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-created"> <span class="field-content blog-post-post-date">4 November 2021</span> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-nothing"> <span class="field-content"><hr/></span> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p class="text-center"><span style="font-size:24pt; font-variant:normal; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-family:'Source Sans Pro',sans-serif"><span style="color:#00a7e1"><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:none">Literacy skills empower women in Africa to thrive.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p>Lack of basic literacy skills imposes major disadvantages on many women across Africa. The inability to read and write makes many daily tasks needlessly difficult, shatters self-confidence and excludes them from participating in fundamental systems of business, government and education.</p> <p>In 2016, the <a href="https://www.piplia.fi/briefly-in-english/">Finnish Bible Society</a> approached SIL Africa with a goal to bring together several national Bible societies in eastern and southern Africa in order to develop and implement a local-language literacy program for women. SIL Africa’s consultant group, Advocacy and Alliance Building, assisted on the project, and the resulting program, Literacy for Women in Africa (LWA), was born.</p> <p>Aiming to empower and equip women in these countries with functional literacy skills, this work has focused on six under-resourced languages to date. To secure a dowry for their families, girls in this context are often given in marriage at a young age, which limits their ability to learn and develop skills outside of maintaining the household. However, their newfound proficiency in literacy creates space for them to reclaim the opportunities they missed, and women participating in the LWA program have testified to now having opportunities in life they had previously been denied.<br /> </p> <div class="carousel slide" data-interval="5000" data-ride="carousel" id="carousel-7373"> <ol class="carousel-indicators"> <li class="active" data-slide-to="0" data-target="#carousel-7373"> </li> <li data-slide-to="1" data-target="#carousel-7373"> </li> <li data-slide-to="2" data-target="#carousel-7373"> </li> </ol> <div class="carousel-inner"> <div class="item active"><img alt="Slide1" src="/sites/default/files/large_120305-257zeke-car.jpg" /> <div class="carousel-caption"> <h3> </h3> <p> </p> </div> </div> <div class="item"><img alt="Slide2" src="/sites/default/files/large_120305-261zeke-car.jpg" /> <div class="carousel-caption"> <h3> </h3> </div> </div> <div class="item"><img alt="Slide3" src="/sites/default/files/large_120305-258zeke-car.jpg" /> <div class="carousel-caption"> <h3> </h3> </div> </div> </div> </div> <p class="text-center"><small><em>Photos by Zeke du Plessis </em></small></p> <p>For many women, these skills mean the ability to write their names for the very first time. This promotes a healthier sense of identity, dignity and value. Before participating in the LWA program they would have been forced to use their fingerprint in place of a written signature, which is considered a mark of shame and embarrassment. </p> <p>According to SIL consultants assisting in the project, “Women told of how they are able to keep records of their business and how they can now use the mobile phone to communicate to the wider world. Some have expressed interest in going back to school to continue formal education, and others say they are now able to vote without assistance.”</p> <p>Additionally, when women are able to read, their self esteem grows and their voice is heard. The ability to read labels and health materials provides them the information necessary to care for themselves and eat a balanced diet. Church leadership roles, where literacy skills are considered a requirement, are now open to these women as well, and many are finding fulfillment in serving deeper in their local congregations.</p> <div class="jumbotron"> <h1></h1> <div class="content"> <h1 class="text-center"><big>When women are able to read, their self esteem grows and their voice is heard.</big></h1> </div> </div> <p>The original goal to empower and equip women with skills to succeed seem well within reach, and the Bible societies partnering on the project are quite pleased with the process and program outcomes so far. Part of the expectation of both the Bible societies and SIL is that staff from the local Bible society will be trained, equipped and mentored over the years to carry on beyond SIL’s involvement. 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