Footsteps 16

LITERACY

It is often assumed that literacy is a key to development. However, becoming literate does not always lead to an improvement in development. What poor people need is the opportunity to develop their potential. As people are encouraged to use their initiative and whatever resources they have, often the need for literacy will be realised. They may need to order seed or medicines, keep records or accounts, send applications for funding, find out about new ideas for craftwork etc. At this point, people will be motivated to become literate. Literacy will be of real purpose for their lives.

Please find below articles from Footsteps issue 16.

A nest of low cost beds This is a useful and practical idea for a nest of three beds. It will save space in a small room during the daytime because it only takes up the space needed for one bed. The beds are low in cost and easy to make from local materials. The measurem... More >>

Bible study Literacy and the Word of God by Ron Stanford. God has always communicated with people - not just through the spoken word and through the Prophets. He has also made sure that his communication was put in written form so that it is not forgotten or us... More >>

Cartoon Strips by Rosalyn Rappaport. When I say I have written a handbook of Crop Protection for Africa, eyes glaze over. When I add that it includes a lot of cartoon strips, my listener usually wakes up. The comic strips in my book have a particular reason for b... More >>

Chloroquine abuse Following a recent eye health tour in Uganda, a group of experts (Drs Sandford-Smith, Hall, Waddell and Mattus) have been concerned to discover the abuse of chloroquine. Most health workers keep stocks of chloroquine to treat malaria. The drug is che... More >>

Cooking without fuel Traditional cooking methods, using firewood and charcoal, prove more and more time consuming for women around the world as reserves of fuel trees are used up. Women find they either have to walk further to collect enough wood for cooking the family m... More >>

Editorial There are many definitions of literacy. However, this is a useful one... A person can be called literate...if they can read and understand anything which they could have understood if it had been spoken...and can write, so that it can be understood,... More >>

Knotty Problems A viewpoint on Christian development work The Knotty Problem in Footsteps No 14 asked for ideas which could help a Christian community development group beginning work in Namibia. Farmers in the area had lost confidence in their own traditional know... More >>

Letters Vegetable seed request Thank you for Paso a Paso (Spanish translation of Footsteps). The articles are of great interest for all of us. Issue No 9 on sanitation has been particularly useful to us because our health committee is supervising a programm... More >>

Local Action for Literacy by Clinton Robinson. Literacy is certainly not a matter of ‘just teaching someone to read’! The first essential is to have a written language. There are still many unwritten languages around the world, so if yours is one of these there is still hope... More >>

‘Pick up your water-pot ...and then someone will help you put it on your head!’ Like all the peoples of Africa, the Lyélé of Burkina Faso often use proverbs to give expression to the values and the wisdom handed down from their ancestors. To take the first step oneself, to rely on one’s own resources, is a fundamental principle ... More >>

Planning for Success in Literacy by Pam Hollman. Good preparation and planning are essential for a successful literacy programme. The planning stage may take a long time but thoroughness at this point is likely to be rewarded by a successful programme. Clinton Robinson’s advice on... More >>

Resources Cooking with Hayboxes The Aprovecho Institute has a lot of information about cooking with insulated cookers - or ‘hayboxes’, as they call them. They will send details of construction, insulation materials and recipes. Write to... Aprovecho Institu... More >>

Teaching people to read and write... Three case studies 1 The Rendille, North Kenya Bible Translation and Literacy is a group working with Bible translation, literacy and analysing languages so they can be put into written form. They work with isolated language groups who often have l... More >>

ECHO funding Feedback on tilz