Spotlight literacy: Assetou Sidibé and Sounounkou Daou from Mali tell their stories

What does it mean to learn reading and writing as an adult? What are the challenges, and how does it change your life? We posed these questions to learners from our African partner countries.

Assetou Sidibé is 28 years old and lives in Kalaban Coro Kulubleni, Mali.

Why did you want to learn to read and write?

I was a salesperson in retail. I couldn’t read or write, nor could I count very well. For example, I had a big problem counting money and giving out change. When I found out about the literacy course, I immediately took the opportunity and signed up for it.

What was the most difficult thing about learning as an adult?

I have not noticed any particular difficulties in learning as an adult. I think that the difficulties are more on the facilitators' side. They need a lot of patience and dedication to teach us adults – which isn’t so easy.

What does learning mean for you? How has your life changed?

Now I can write lots of names in my cell phone and recognise them too. And I can read many things. That is a great advantage for me, especially in my daily work. We adults especially need practical knowledge in order to make our daily life better. For example, how should a person sell their wares in the marketplace when he or she doesn’t know how to weigh 3 kilos, or how much change has to be given out? I now have a small business and I can weigh things and calculate by myself. The literacy course changed my life and was a wonderful opportunity for me. I thank God, really.

What message would you like to give to other adults who cannot read or write?

I would like to advise all the adults in our community to come and present themselves to our association, to encourage them to take part in our literacy course. I’ve already spoken with many people who are ready to join us in our next session, and I always tell them about my positive experience.

Sounounkou Daou is 40 years old and lives with her family in the community of Nossombougou in Mali.

Why did you want to learn to read and write?

I never went to school in my life. I always had to look for someone who would help me with reading and writing, especially for telephone numbers, and sometimes and sometimes there was simply no one available. That’s why I started the course.

What was the most difficult thing about learning as an adult?

The biggest hurdle is to cross the river when it’s raining, in order to get to the literacy centre, because we live a little further away from the centre. And when it’s raining really hard, we can’t take part in the course. Besides that, the distance can’t keep us away from the course because when you take learning seriously that is not a hindrance. We adults, who are learning on a voluntary basis, can’t be forced to learn, so taking part in the course has to be worthwhile. Our REFLECT literacy course[1] is based on us all reflecting on a particular problem, and its solution depends on consensus from all of us. We all take part and solve our problems together in our community.

What does learning mean for you? How has your life changed?

The first advantage is that I now recognise more names and numbers in my cell phone and can deal with communication by myself. Previously I couldn’t search for telephone numbers, now I can. I don’t have to ask anyone for help anymore. When I’m home alone, I often go through the letters we have learned. When my kids come home from school I ask them to show me their notebooks so I can check what they have done in school, and I ask them a few questions about the lessons. This is a great advantage for me because my children have more respect for me when they know that I can check what they have done. We also learned a lot of helpful things in the course about food processing, how to dry food, to conserve it and to work with it.

What message would you like to give to other adults who cannot read or write?

I always try and motivate people in my neighbourhood to take part in a REFLECT literacy course. At the moment there aren’t any places free, but everyone can go to the centre and get themselves put on the waiting list.

[1] The REFLECT method (Regenerated Freirean Literacy Through Empowering Community Techniques) is a participatory approach, in which the participants come together in a REFLECT circle in order to learn reading, writing and numeracy together, while at the same time analysing various aspects of their daily life and include them in the learning process.

 

Literacy – a global challenge

To be able to read and write is not a natural matter of course for many people. There are still at least 750 million people around the world who cannot read or write, two-thirds of them are women. Due to that, their participation in social and economic life is strongly restricted.

In Africa especially, the illiteracy rate is still high. DVV International is committed to enable access to education for as many people as possible in its African partner countries. Sustainable educational structures are essential for this to happen. DVV International carries out lobby work and advises governments, reenforces educational institutions and develops concepts for innovative educational offers for adults.

The literacy courses supported by DVV International meld reading, writing and numeracy skills with, for example, areas like health, farming, business startups or civic education. This benefits women in particular and promotes their independence and participation in community life.

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