UN Literacy Decade about to end

This December, 2012 marks the end of the UN Literacy Decade, which began in 2003. The initiative was launched to promote, defend and improve literacy in children, youth and adults worldwide. We will know how successful this action was when the final evaluation is submitted to the United Nations General Assembly in 2013.

India still lagging behind China in female literacy rate

According to a recent article by Carrie Lennard, Government Labour and Education Manager at Euromonitor International, the one-child policy in China (in place since 1979) and its preference for educating males is doing damage to the Asian giant's growth rate, so much so that its total employed female population is forecast to contract by 1.2% between 2012 and 2020.

In contrast and partly owing to increased female incomes, during that same period India saw a real growth of 64.2% in consumer expenditure on education.

This reinforces our conviction that we must promote female illiteracy because improved literacy among women translates into improved health as well as school enrollment and outcomes by enabling women who enter the workforce to invest in their children's health and education, that is, in their children's future.

Statistics and predictions tell us that literacy is the key to social and economic development and improvement at several levels. It can mark the difference between extreme poverty and a bright, hopeful future for an entire society, not just for women. What is more, in countries beset by conflict, literacy can contribute to peace.

India may still be lagging behind the other Asian giant, but it can do a lot to bridge that gap and why not, to get ahead of its rival neighbor. If rivalry means improving the social conditions, health and education of its people, then let there be rivalry.

My visit to a literacy lesson

It's been a long wait, but finally here's a short video clip of the visit I made to the WLP class in Gulabgarh, where I was able to observe at first hand how the students of the project were progressing in their efforts towards achieving literacy and numeracy skills.

I was delighted and also moved when I saw this group of women doing something for themselves for a change, even if that meant reconciling their classes with babysitting for their grandchildren. Women never seem to stop looking after their families, so often forgetting to care for themselves.

I'm enthusiastic about this project and convinced that our efforts will help the women succeed in becoming literate, thus more independent and self-confident. The changes that take place in them will not only be for their own benefit, but also for that of their family and their community.

It was a true pleasure to share that short time with them and to check their notebooks too! 

Congratulations to these ladies - the students of the Women's Literacy Project, Gulabgarh!

Mari

Kavita Parmar: the prosperity chain

We're glad to be back after a rather long recess with an interesting interview with an Indian fashion designer who fosters responsible purchasing through her collections of modern garments, wonderfully crafted by artisans from India and Spain. Click on the image below to watch the interview by RTVE.

Kavita Parmar is a fashion designer from India who currently lives and works in Madrid, Spain. She established the firm IOU which creates unique, modern garments - beautifully crafted products imbued in tradition.  IOU tries to connect the garment with the craftsman through what it calls the "prosperity chain" thereby fostering responsible purchasing.

Ms. Parmar provides work for several Indian cooperatives. "We use technology to connect the consumer to the artisans, bringing back that emotional connection between consumers and what they are buying. In this way we promote responsible purchasing because when we know how much work is involved behind the product we are buying, we value it more."

For Kavita, "India always means starting from scratch because India is like that. There everything is always possible… and then there's this enormous projection of colors, smells… it's intense… India stimulates all your senses… it's wonderful… it makes you feel again."

Exceptional women creating amazing projects that add

a human dimension and value to what they do.

"Our century's greatest injustice

Interesting talk by Sheryl WuDunn, journalist and author of "Half the Sky", which you can watch on TED (interactive transcript provided).

Ms. WuDunn does not focus her talk specifically on India or even on the problem of women's literacy, but rather on what she terms "the central moral challenge of this century: gender inequity." This major challenge is behind many of the problems that developing countries are facing today. Essentially, this broader issue is what inspired us to launch the Women's Literacy Project, Gulabgarh.

At one point Sheryl WuDunn quotes Larry Summers, chief economist at the World Bank, who once said: "It may well be that the highest return on investment in the developing world is in girls' education." Ms. WuDunn goes on to say that "...when you educate a girl, she tends to get married later on in life, she tends to have kids later on in life, she tends to have fewer kids, and those kids that she does have, she educates them in a more enlightened fashion."

The WLP is convinced that if its students understand the importance of literacy and numeracy they will then work harder and in a more informed way toward the education of their daughters.

The WLP also shares the speaker's idea that "individuals can make a difference... individuals, together... can all help create a movement. And a movement of men and women is what's needed to bring about social change…"

Finally, according to Sheryl WuDunn, "...research shows that once you have all of your material needs taken care of… there are very few things in life that can actually elevate your level of happiness. One of those things is contributing to a cause larger than yourself." I suppose this is what those of struggling for women's literacy feel: the joy that comes from knowing we are contributing to a much larger cause than ourselves.

We've just added a new resource to our blog page Women's Literacy: resources.

"Creating Authentic Materials and Activities for the Adult Literacy Classroom. A HANDBOOK FOR PRACTITIONERS" by Erik Jacobson, Sophie Degener, Victoria Purcell-Gates.

This handbook focuses on creating authentic materials that help students link classroom activities to real life situations. Students learn best when they are motivated to learn and authentic materials can be highly motivating.

In the case of the WLP students, we find that working with documents such as the ones proposed in the handbook would be especially encouraging. Some instructional objectives linked to these authentic materials could be:

Being able to read

• food labels to discover ingredients for health/religious purposes
• descriptions and even expiry date of prescribed drugs or first aid products
• narratives for their own enjoyment or stories they can share with their children
• informational texts to learn new information
• newspaper articles to learn about topics such as testing, parenting, etc.
• reports of test results to learn about child’s scores and performance
• magazine health articles to learn about good nutrition for themselves and their family..." and so many more. 

Being able to write

• a journal to record personal responses, thoughts, questions
• a note to teacher to inform of a child's absence, request help for him/her, or other items of interest... and many more.

The publication is available on the National Center for Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) website. We've shared it on our resources page.

Tibetan scarves and their meaning

Perhaps our readers have been wondering why the sponsors of our literacy project are wearing those beautiful yellow scarves in the photos. If you remember, most of our current WLP students belong to the Buddhist community of Gulabgarh and these silk scarves are an important part of their tradition. We'd like to explain why.

Bestowing a Khata or silk scarf, is an ancient Tibetan buddhist tradition that is still honored today. The Khata is offered as an auspicious symbol of good intentions during the welcoming and initiation of new relationships. In fact, they are presented as blessings to all types of new relationships and during events such as religious and political ceremonies, marriages, births, funeral ceremonies, and on any occasion that a person considers worthy of its bestowal. We chose to present our supporters with a Khata as a sign of our deepest respect and gratitude.

The offering of a Khata often marks a powerful change and transition in a person’s life. It is an honor for a person to be presented with this genuine act of blessing and good will.

Khatas are bestowed on images of Buddha, spiritual teachers and objects of devotion as a sign of respect and gratitude and so it is very common for people to hang white silk scarves over altars and around the sacred objects that are placed there. They are also considered to bring good luck. In addition, you will often see them flown and put on prayer flags. It's a wonderful feeling when you receive a Khata as you reach the top of a high mountain pass!

The traditional scarves are usually made of white or ivory colored silk with symbols or mantras either inscribed or woven into the fabric. Cotton as well as other fabrics are used to create Khatas and they are available in a variety of colors including blue, red, green and yellow or gold.

On a curious note, while President Obama was being sworn in as President of the United States, he was carrying a white silk scarf, or khata, blessed by H.H. the Dalai Lama, in his pocket.

Sources:
http://EzineArticles.com/3167725
http://www.tibetanprayerflag.com/products.php?cat=5 

World Press Freedom Day

Today, May 3rd, is World Press Freedom Day. To mark this day, the WLP would like to share the following thought with its readers: "...media freedom plays a crucial role in the transformation of society by reshaping its political, economic and social aspects."

As members of a project that strives to achieve women's literacy in a country beset by illiteracy, we cannot afford to ignore the role of media literacy.  

What, you may ask is media literacy, also referred to as information literacy? According to the source cited below, "Being media literate is being able to think critically and to evaluate and analyze news and information; it is knowing how to access media from a variety of sources; and, it is being capable of conveying information through different media. It is the foundation of communications in a media driven society." Therefore, "media awareness is just as important for the students of today as understanding history and mathematics."

 Read more at Suite101: Resources for Teaching Media Literacy: Teacher Resources for Bringing Media Awareness into the Classroom | Suite101.com http://brennacoleman.suite101.com/resources-for-teaching-media-literacy-a185068#ixzz1toW6h3GW

The women of Gulabgarh--our students--must strive towards literacy and numeracy, but this is only the first step.  Once these women are literate, they must be prepared to continue learning, to climb other equally important steps toward their own empowerment and one of them is to become media literate.

 

A new portrait, another note of thanks

Today we would like to introduce you to Isabel, another of our highly esteemed sponsors. Isabel is a hard-working woman from Galicia, Spain, who believes in helping the illiterate women of Gulabgarh--women she has never met, but whom she understands. She feels empathy for and identifies with the women of a village that is so far away from her own because she shares their personal struggle to succeed in life, to help raise a family and to participate in the responsibilities and the decisions of her household. Isabel is a woman we cherish and admire.

A true fighter, Isabel has come up in the world through her own determination and desire to learn and improve. She has acquired the knowhow and wisdom that come from study and experience and used them to improve her education and her life. Because Isabel is aware of the importance of lifelong learning, she continues to harness and broaden this knowledge. Indeed, at present she is preparing state exams to compete for a job in the health services. For us she is an example of courage, fortitude and optimism.

Thank you, Isabel, for believing in the WLP and for helping us to work toward empowering the women of Gulabgarh through the Women's Literacy Project.

Empowering women: IKEA partners with the UNDP

Recently, on the WLP Facebook page, we posted some important news for the rural women of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populated and least developed state: An important partnership between IKEA and the United Nations Development Programme may bring new hope to the women of the region.

For other, more isolated rural areas of India such as Paddar, small-scale efforts like the Women's Literacy Project of Gulabgarh are also working to empower women, so that they become key proactive members of their community.

There is still so much to be done in this emerging economy to help build women's skills, confidence, self-reliance and yes, even their financial literacy, that every initiative counts. Our project has begun preparing the ground toward empowerment by teaching our students the basic skills of reading, writing and numeracy.

Below is the article we published in Technorati with more information regarding this recent development.

Article first published as Empowering Women: IKEA Joins Efforts With UNDP on Technorati.

"Empowered lives. Resilient nations." The heading on the homepage of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) website is inspiring a new effort designed to benefit the rural women of India. With a focus on empowering women, the UNDP has partnered with IKEA Foundation in a project that aims to help build the self-reliance and financial skills of over 50,000 women in 500 villages in three districts of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populated (almost 200 m) but least developed state.
The partnership programme, to which IKEA has pledged €30 million, aims to promote this target group's financial literacy, thereby "strengthening their technical, institutional, managerial and financial skills so that they are able to play a larger role in the social and economic development in the villages."
Including rural women in its undertakings is an apparent attempt to broaden IKEA Foundation’s mission, until now focused mainly on helping the children of developing countries.

Read more: http://technorati.com/business/article/empowering-women-ikea-joins-efforts-with/#ixzz1sljf5s2q

Earth Day 2012: the WLP's pledge

The WLP Gulabgarh has made a pledge for Earth Day 2012 (Sunday, 22 April).

We dedicate this day to the students of the Women's Literacy Project, who are working so hard to become literate. These women, who are also striving to become proactive members of their community, will soon be able to make their own pledges and organize their own awareness campaigns about Earth Day. So today, we're focusing on environmental literacy.

Here are some interesting facts about why Earth Day Network created WAGE® (Women and the Green Economy):
    •    Women constitute more than half of the world’s population
    •    Women make 85 percent of all consumer choices
    •    Women are rising to key positions of power
    •    Women can lead the way to a sustainable green economy

Importance of Inner Values

The Dalai Lama addresses his audience on the importance of

the inner values of love, compassion and forgiveness.

Below are some extracts of his speech that relate to the ideas that are behind the WLP's mission: concern for others and the meaning of community.

"Money, power alone cannot bring together human beings. A sense of concern of others' well-being: that mental attitude alone brings us together."

"Each individual's future entirely depends on the rest of the humanity. No matter how powerful one single person is, but their future… is entirely dependent on the community."

Ladakhi sounds like this

We thought it worthwhile to dedicate a post to Ladakhi because many of the WLP students belong to the Ladakhi nation and speak one of more varieties of the language. Of course, in the WLP school, the women are learning "only" Hindi and English script, at least for now. On the other hand, children who attend the Himalyan Buddhist School (H.C.S.) in Gulabgarh also learn Bhoti, in addition to Hindi and English. How lucky they are to know so many languages!

Festival in Leh. Photo by Raul

But what is Ladakhi and where does this language come from? To answer this question, we've decided to share the information about Ladakhi contained in the Wikipedia; we couldn't have done a better job ourselves.

"The Ladakhi language (Tibetan: ལ་དྭགས་སྐད་, Wylie: La-dwags skad), now also called Bhoti, is the predominant language in the Ladakh region of the Jammu and Kashmir state of India, and is also spoken in Baltistan. Ladakhi is closely related to Tibetan, and the Ladakhi people share cultural similarities with Tibetans, including Tibetan Buddhism. 

Ladakhi has approximately 200,000 speakers in India, and perhaps 12,000 speakers in the Tibet region of China, mostly in the Changthang region. The language has several dialects including Ladakhi proper (also called Lehskat after the capital of Ladakh, Leh, where it is spoken), Shamskat, spoken to the northwest of Leh, Stotskat, spoken to the southeast in the Indus valley and Nubra, spoken in the north. The varieties spoken in Upper Ladakh and Zangskar have many features of Ladakhi and many other features of western dialects of Central Tibetan.

Ladakhi is usually written using Tibetan script with the pronunciation of Ladakhi being much closer to written Tibetan than most other Tibetan dialects."

In case you'd like to know what Ladakhi sounds like—at least a few consonant sounds from the language—we've included the short Keynote presentation below.

For Engracia

Women we admire. Women like Engracia López, one of the WLP’s most respected benefactors. Her story is the story of so many women from around the globe: widowed young, she raised her family through her own effort.

This determined, hardworking woman knows what it takes to survive very hard times. That is why she understands the women of Gulabgarh, their eagerness to become literate and in the process, to prosper and progress, to feel respected and appreciated, to achieve dignity.

Engracia is a wonderful woman who relishes the different roles she has fulfilled throughout her life: mother, worker, friend, neighbor. At the age of 82, she continues to learn and to be an active participant in society.

All of us can learn from women like Engracia. That is why the WLP wishes to share her story with a group of women who are just now beginning to understand the importance of their own education, personal growth and pro-active participation in society.

Thank you, Engracia, for all your help and for trusting in the Women’s Literacy Project of Gulabgarh.

Every woman has a story to tell, each and every one of them has wisdom to share.

A personal note of thanks

We recently met with Fernando Ojea, one of our sponsors in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, to honor him with the traditional khata or hada (silk scarf) in thanks for his generous contribution to our project. We also took the opportunity to keep him up to date on the progress of the WLP Gulabgarh.

Being able to count on people like Fernando shows that the WLP is not only raising awareness of its mission among the population of Gulabgarh, Paddar, but also generating involvement among citizens from outside the community and even the country.

Our supporters understand just how important it is that we pull together to help resolve this global issue which so greatly affects India, one of the world's biggest and most important emerging economies. There can be no development without literacy, no growth without the participation of a country's citizens regardless of their gender, no hope without women's personal development.

For the WLP, our benefactors are not anonymous. It is true that our project is growing and our sponsors are still relatively few, which perhaps makes it easier for us to keep track of those who have contributed to our success stories as well as to fostering the project's continuity. However, even as the number of WLP supporters increases, we aim to acknowledge the effort of each individual in furthering this education initiative, whether that means holding a personal meeting or reaching out to them through our blog and Facebook page.

Thank you Fernando, for your commitment, for believing in the Women's Literacy Project of Gulabgarh and for trusting in our effort.

Making growth inclusive in an emerging economy

Here's a very interesting and inspiring interview with Chanda Kochhar, managing director and CEO of ICICI, India's largest private bank.

According to Ms. Kochhar, there is a greater consciousness towards gender neutrality in the emerging economies such as India, where increased growth opportunities mean new growth opportunities for the women of these countries.

It is also interesting to learn how certain aspects of traditional culture,  such as the joint family system, can coexist with development and even contribute to helping men and women work together and build understanding between them.

Imagine how much more can be achieved in a 100% literate country!

Our new page on the IWD website

The WLP has created it's own page on the website dedicated to the International Women's Day 2012. This news story may have taken a bit too long to appear on our blog, but as the WLP's struggle for women's literacy is not limited to March 8th, we thought today was as good a day as any to share it with you. You can visit our page here:  http://www.internationalwomensday.com/womensliteracy

And we're sure you'll enjoy viewing the slideshow created by Thomson Reuters to mark the occasion of the 2012 IWD. It's packed with images of extraordinary, ordinary women from across the globe.

WLP bylaws

The project members are now working--and just about finished--on the WLP bylaws. As part of its mission, the organization aims to develop activities and design special actions to uplift, encourage and motivate the illiterate women of the most remote and underdeveloped areas of Paddar.

In order to achieve its goals, the WLP will focus on shifting the attitude of the community of Paddar from a heightened awareness of the crucial issue of women’s literacy, towards a commitment to help eradicate female illiteracy and finally towards assuming a more pro-active role in this effort. 

Encouraging lifelong learning among the illiterate female population of Paddar is another key issue that the WLP will address.

In the future, the project will further strive to empower the women of this rural area and reduce gender inequality through digital literacy. The WLP firmly believes that by equipping these women with the skills needed to become digitally literate, the society aspires to help bridge the great digital divide that exists between rural and urban India.

UN spotlights the empowering effect of boosting women's literacy

The video is from 2010. Unfortunately, women's literacy continues to be a crucial, unsolved issue in 2012.