Literacy

Wycliffe field personnel work with local community members, teaching people to read and write, and endeavoring to establish literacy as a community value. In many language programs, literacy work goes on side-by-side with Bible translation.

Literacy changes the way people think about themselves. It gives new value to their language and culture, and by implication, to their own person as well. Literacy also opens the door for education and growth. Readers can learn how to improve their family’s health, run a business, defend themselves from fraud, seek justice and, above all, grow closer to God by reading the Scriptures.

Literacy is a key to fulfilling the Great Commission. Jesus instructed His disciples to “go and make disciples of all the nations…teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you” (Matthew 28:19–20, NLT). When people can read, or know someone who can read to them, the written Word of God becomes invaluable to their spiritual growth as individuals and churches.

Two women working on literacy When the Manjak literacy program in Senegal started in 2005, local educational authorities in Sédhiou, the regional capital, were skeptical. There had never been a literacy program in the Manjak language before, and they didn’t think this marginalized group would be able to organize and run such a program. They were just waiting for them to fail! But the literacy program has made believers of the educational authorities—in just two years, 380 Manjak people have learned to read in their own language!

Interested in working in literacy?

Search for open literacy positions.
You can also serve as a literacy assistant for a year or two through ServeInPNG.

God used an undelivered letter to illustrate clearly the importance of mother-tongue literacy for all people. George Cowan tells the story in his own words: The Undelivered Letter.

The literacy statistics collected by UNESCO in 2001 provided some sense of the challenge ahead as well as the extraordinary benefit of literacy.

SIL reports on the importance of Mother Tongue Literacy Programs on their website.

FROM THE MOUTHS OF LITERACY WORKERS:

In Their Words

What follows is a collection of writings gathered from many sources: journals and magazines, books and stories about literacy, and personal letters of literacy workers worldwide. At times countries are not identified, for purposes of discretion.

Literacy Traveler

Those who become literacy workers, join a troop of travelers. My own experience is an example. During my last three years on the field I traveled among 25 different villages, seldom staying in one place more than 2-3 weeks at a time. During my first year as the International Literacy Coordinator, I lived in four different locations and made four international and three national trips. Yes ...well on my way to becoming a weary gypsy traveler.

...Mobility has its moments. One young couple assigned to SIL fieldwork used to carry a very small, lightweight throw rug. They put it down to help their young 2 1/2 year old daughter 'feel at home' wherever they were as they traveled to villages, the center, the city and all places in between. Could it have been as much for them as it was for her?
—Pat Kelley: Literati 2.1

Limits

So high
in their leafy silence
over Kells, over Durrow,
as the Vikings
raged south
--the old monks
made the alphabet
wild:
they dipped iron
into azure and indigo:
they gave strange
wings to their o's
and e's: their vowels
clung on with
talons and the thin ribbed wolves
that had gone north
left their frozen winters
and were lured back
to their consonants.
—Eavan Boland: Atlantic Monthly, Sep 2001

Culturally-Appropriate Literacy

"We live and work in the villages and learn the local language and culture so we can introduce literacy in a culturally appropriate manner. In cooperation with the local people, we produce literature in the mother tongue and teach people how to read and write. We train local teachers who supervise literacy classes and train others to teach."
—Melinda Awid: Translators Association of the Philippines

Losame

It was 8 September 1995, International Literacy Day. We were in Goroka, the capital city of Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea. A group of us from all around Papua New Guinea were concluding a one-week NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) Networking Workshop. The lady—we will call her Losame—standing before us was a Papua New Guinean, about 45 years old. She read, in English, a one-page story she had written.

The amazing and heart-touching part was how she came to this place, for she had no formal education. But she wanted to learn to read and write. She joined a women's literacy class run by YWCA (Young Womens' Christian Association) and over the next several months learned to read and write in Tok Pisin, one of PNG's two trade languages. But she wasn't satisfied. She wanted to read and write in English, the official language of PNG and the language of formal education. Today she was demonstrating that she had achieved that goal. I knew from living among the people in the Goroka area for several years that many women like Losame saw themselves as "Mi meri nating tasol." ("I'm just a woman; I'm not important or significant.")

But today Losame did not see herself as a "meri nating." Now she had "save"; she had understanding. Now she could read and write in English, just like important people. As I looked around the group I could see tears glistening in eyes and on cheeks as people saw the transformation in Losame--because now she could read and write, even in English, just like important people and she was no longer a "meri nating".
—Tiny Ray

Taku

In one village there was a man named Taku who was 42 years old. He had never been to any sort of school. No one in the village liked him, because he often got drunk and would then pick a quarrel with anyone he saw. His wife and children were often very frightened. Often the local chief sent people to beat him but he would run away for awhile in the bush. He certainly never went to church.

One day one of the government officials decided to get rid of him. This official called for him and gave him a letter. He said, "I'm making you a messenger. You should take this to the authorities in the next town. It tells them the news of our village." So Taku set off with the note, but when he got there, the authorities read the note and threw him into prison! While Taku sat in prison, he thought about his bad situation, and decided that he should learn to read so people could not trick him like that.

So when they let Taku out, he went to the church and asked to enter literacy class one. They were very surprised to see him, but agreed he should join the class. Fortunately, Taku was able to learn quickly, and after six months he was in class two and able to read Bible stories. God changed his heart through these. He became a real Christian, and he broke his drinking habit and started to look after his family. Now Taku is in class five and has been made a local government official, because he shows so much wisdom at catching wrong doers!
—JeDene Reeder