Mercedes Walks with Her Head Held High

Mercedes’ hands were sweaty and beads of perspiration started forming on her forehead. She was very nervous when Ignacia, the Quechua literacy teacher, called her up front to help form new words using the syllable cards which they had been learning. This was a new experience for the 48-year-old woman who had grown up in a Quechua village in Peru and had never been to school.

Week by week as classes progressed, Mercedes felt more confident; she realized that the mystery of how to decode the written Quechua was not an impossible task. Ignacia observed that Mercedes enjoyed the part of the lesson when she had to reflect on some relevant theme and what the Bible has to say about it. Along with her classmates, she was having fun learning how to read and write her language.

One day Mercedes came to class with a big smile on her face. Ignacia was thrilled when Mercedes shared her husband’s comment on some advice she had given him. He had said, “What are they teaching you at the literacy classes? You are really changing!” The other ladies in the class also saw big changes in Mercedes, her increased participation in discussions and exercises, and even helping others who were having difficulties. Mercedes no longer walks with her head down, ashamed of not being literate. She is developing her God-given skills to handle the numerous tasks in this literate world.

The Quechua literacy classes Mercedes takes part in, in addition to hundreds of others worldwide, are provided by a CFC-supported Bible translation and literacy organization that works with minority languages around the globe. When women attend literacy classes, they learn much more than how to read and write. Teachers arrange course material to show participants practical applications for their new skills. By the end of a typical program, participants are able to write notes, stories and letters; read letters and books; tell time; add, count money and read scales.

Participants are then able to interact with the world around them in a new way, gathering information through reading and expressing themselves through writing. Using their basic knowledge of mathematics, women can shop at the marketplace without fear of being cheated. Reading gives women access to information on a variety of topics like health care, nutrition, hygiene, childbirth and disease prevention. This information educates whole communities, and the lifestyle changes that result battle dangerous global diseases like malaria, hepatitis and HIV/AIDS.

The “poorest of the poor” in almost all societies are women and children. Literacy gives women the skills they need to manage rural micro-economic businesses, often called “cottage industries.” These endeavors give women their own source of income, promoting independence and equality and enabling them to improve their homes, buy food and clothing for their families and pay school fees for all their children—not just boys. As a result, literacy is seen as the foundation for all sustainable community development, because it promotes education and reduces poverty.

Literacy is essential to indigenous women for so many reasons, but the single most valuable reason is the opportunity to read the translated Word of God in her own language and begin or strengthen a relationship with her Creator and Savior.

Staff at this organization and thousands of other nonprofits are tremendously grateful for the help received through the Combined Federal Campaign. Together we can touch millions of lives!