We began a women’s literacy and English language programme in 2015. Building on this success, in 2024, we introduced an advanced course for people who had completed the basic literacy training.
This programme empowers women through access to increased educational and employment opportunities, while improving self-confidence and greater participation in community development.
In 2021, we included business training to support women with starting their own small enterprises to help improve their livelihoods in the long term.
How it works:
- Groups: Women meet weekly in groups of 30 with one or two trained facilitators.
- Curriculum: The introduction course focuses on practical skills such as reading simple messages, writing names and identifying numbers. Advanced courses focus on reading, comprehension and composition, which can be used to help women write business plans.
- Community-based learning: Classes use local issues to make learning relevant.
Impact:
- Empowerment: Literacy skills have helped 480 women in Kashare to participate more fully in their families and communities. A further 240 women received basic literacy training in Rubindi.
- Economic opportunities: Reading and writing skills enable women to access microcredit loans and start businesses, such as vegetable trading, pancake selling, and basket weaving, and form village savings and loans associations.
- Education for children: Empowered women are more likely to send their children to school.
Your support can help us expand this programme to reach even more women in need with an added benefit for children in their care.