Adult Literacy with NRC in Terekeka

The partnership is launched with the Norwegian Refugee Council and WEP to deliver and monitor 2 adult literacy classes for women in Terekeka. 

The journey was tough on very poor roads to a neglected part of South Sudan. I am celebrating in Terekeka with Ayoume Elly, the NRC local coordinator who with his team has set up our joint project. Ayoume Elly used to be head of a girls school in Yei and understands our aims well. 

Peter our director with Ayoume Elly

To visit the adult literacy project - women teaching women basic skills in speaking and writing. The rural two-class project is organised and monitored by the Norwegian Refugee Council and sponsored this year by a generous WEP donor. We were amazed at what we saw after travelling for 4 hours to a place where locals have had a troubled past. Terekeka is a forgotten area with many education and social problems especially for women. The literacy project, taught by two women teachers from the community who are being trained locally, serves 99 adults, 68 women and 31 men. 

A forgotten area

Women led the question and answer session

It was a large class taught by Veronica. The curriculum will include literacy and numeracy together with life skills ( teaching among other things, peace education, gender issues and trauma counselling ) and if the project runs for two years , those attending will make the equivalent of 4 years progress at primary school. We have funding for the first year at present.

Learning is serious business

Adult literacy is important to the life of the community

The class thanked us for not neglecting them - they said they really wanted to learn, to speak English and to be able to read and write.

Encouraging News

Encouraging report today from our colleagues in Khartoum that our women’s literacy classes are now working well after some initial problems over venues and class timings.  Now we have 19 classes working in the suburbs of Khartoum and Omdurman, for women who have been displaced, mostly from the Nuba Mountains and western Sudan (Darfur).  Our monitoring in November showed an average attendance of 22 at the classes, which are held three times a week.  The photo shows our largest class at Wad al Bashir, a suburb of Omdurman.  We hope that at the end of their course in March 2014, the women will be able to tackle the government’s basic literacy exam.

International Woman's Day

Neimat speaking at the British Embassy 

Together for Sudan was well represented at the celebration of International Women’s Day organized this month by the British Embassy in Khartoum.  Country Coordinator, Mrs Neimat Hussein, gave the first speech, focusing on the literacy teachers’ training organized by Together for Sudan and funded by the British Embassy.  She also gave an interview to a local TV station.

Fatihia, Mona, Eman, and Muahib,  literacy teachers attended he celebration

Five of the trainees also attended and briefed the participants on their experience of the training.
Please consider supporting our Women's Literacy Project, to learn more click here.

Literacy from Lambeth

In October 2011 Together for Sudan held a charitable auction event to raise funds for its work in Sudan. Through the kindness of many people around £10,000.00 was raised some of which has now been spent on our Womens Literacy Project in Khartoum.
Neimat Hussain of the Khartoum TfS project centre reports below.

"The literacy training is going on well, Saudi had accompanied the trainees to Alfateh -2 (Philip’s class) yesterday to practice what they have acquired from the training course. It was absolutely enjoyable for both the trainers and trainees, because every person was put into practice.

A TfS trainee practices her newly learned skills.

One of the course enrollees’ acquired the skills of reading and writing in just four months".

This is not unusual with the right training. The provision of literacy is a key skill that enhances and enables marginalised Sudanese women. You can help us to keep this vital training project going by making a donation either online or directly to our treasurer.

Please click here to learn more.

The opportunity to provide this training was made possible by the kindness of those donating and bidding at our Lambeth Auction event all the trustees of Together for Sudan are truly grateful for the generosity of all those that took part in that event - Thank you all.