"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.