Literacy for Life

What would your life be like today if you had never been taught to read? How would you find work? Manage your finances? Help your children with their homework?

Learning to read and write is so common in North America we often take it for granted. The people of Haiti do not. Fewer than one in four Haitians can read Although the current democratically elected government has shown some commitment to making education more widely available, years of neglect by past rulers has taken a heavy toll. Today, fewer than a quarter of school-age Haitian children complete grade school, and only 1% graduate from high school.

The lack of educational opportunities has contributed to Haiti's many social problems. Haiti has the highest infant mortality rate, the highest level of malnutrition, and the lowest life expectancy of any nation in the Western hemisphere. In spite of working tremendously hard, eight out of ten Haitians earn on average less than one dollar a day. They desperately want a better life. They know that learning to read is absolutely crucial. They simply lack the opportunity.

Beyond Borders is working to provide Haitians with this opportunity. Beyond Borders has helped dozens of communities and churches establish and run literacy centers for adults and children too old to enroll in a traditional school. Through these centers thousands of Haitians have learned to read, write and develop other skills needed to break the bonds of poverty.

An illiterate Haitian has little hope of escaping poverty. But as participants begin to read for the first time, a new world of hope and opportunity opens up before them. As Nacia Laurant, a Haitian mother of five and recent graduate of a literacy center said, "When you don't know how to read it's as if your eyes have been gouged out; but then when you learn to read you can suddenly see clearly."

For the first time newly literate farmers have access to a wealth of information on better farming techniques, allowing them to better feed their families and communities. Books on nutrition, sanitation, and preventative health practices help families conquer the host of preventable illnesses that plague Haiti. Participants can record business transactions, write letters, read contracts and forms. The shame of illiteracy vanishes. The Bible becomes an open book for participants seeking spiritual nourishment, and literacy enables them to participate more fully in the life of their church. Literacy also protects Haitians from exploitation, fortifies democracy, and strengthens the economic prospects of every citizen.

Beyond Borders supports literacy training and basic education for both unschooled youth and adults.

Adult participants have rarely had any formal schooling, but most adults can become functionally literate in one to two years. Adult classes average 15 students. Literacy centers for children offer a four year program with a fifth year of vocational training at some centers.

>> Read a supporter's account of a visit to an adult literacy center.

Classes for children average 22 students. These children are from families simply too poor to place their children in traditional schools. Nearly half the children no longer live with their families but have been given up to work as domestic laborers in the homes of other Haitian families. These children are truly the poorest of the poor.

>> Learn more about our program for children.

All centers employ local Haitian community members as teachers. Committees made up of people from the church and community recruit teachers, seek out children in need of an education and provide classroom space and furniture. In addition to supplying students with books and school materials, Beyond Borders helps these instructors develop their teaching and community organizing skills, equipping them for lifelong service to their churches and communities.

Beyond Borders relies completely on the generosity of individuals and churches to support our work. For just $25 per month over the course of two years, you can help us to provide literacy training for one adult to learn how to read, write, and perform basic math skills. And not only do they learn these skills, but also community organizing skills to make a better life for themselves and their families. We have established a Literacy Scholarship Fund for this purpose. We'd be delighted to send you more information about this initiative. Please consider contributing.

>> Learn more about the Literacy Scholarship Fund.