Up to 70% of Burkina Faso’s population have never had the opportunity to learn to read and write. Those most effected tend to be adults in rural areas, with the lack of these basic skills putting them at a disadvantage in many asxpcts of daily life.
Through our local partner APENF, we are running adult literacy classes to combat this problem; classes that are combined with specialist agriculture training and tailored to the needs of small scale farmers in the villages where we work.
Mariam Zibwemba (pictured), one of those benefitting from the programme, recently shared some of the practical benefits of now being able to read, write and calculate, telling us ‘we have had insights thanks to literacy, we can take 25CFA and make it become 50CFA, take 50CFA and make it become 100CFA.’ As well as improving their livelihoods, parents also tell us of the advantages for the whole family as their children go through school. Mariam continued, ‘with our children’s school, we (now) manage to follow them (and) to show them the importance of school so that they follow lessons properly’.
The three year programme has proved popular and successful, with a 100% positive annual evaluation by participants. To find out more about this work and how you can get involved, please contact us.