Literacy primers

The adult literacy rate of Chad is abysmally low, only 25.7%, the third lowest of 177 countries reported on by the United Nations Development Programme. For Chadian women, the situation is even more dire. Book Wish Foundation is excited to partner with CORD to improve literacy classes for 2,500 villagers — 60% of them women — in 11 villages in eastern Chad.

To support the classes, we will be supplying French and Arabic literacy primers, 100 for each language. We are currently shipping samples to Chad so the literacy teachers can determine which would be most appropriate for this specific population. Although we will not know the cost per primer until this assessment has been completed, you can still donate to show your support for literacy, and we will apply your funds for the primers.

If you have experience teaching French or Arabic literacy in similar environments, we would welcome your comments about recommended (for or against) literacy primers. The head Chadian literacy teacher, Yacoub, has fantastic teaching skills — honed over 15 years assisting his mother, also a literacy teacher, in communities in this area — but, sadly, has had very limited opportunities to work with professional literacy materials. We know that, if we provide him the right tools, he and his team can transform the students' lives.

As part of our comprehensive approach to reading relief, we are also providing the same Chadian villages with reading glasses, solar lighting, French<->Arabic dictionaries, and mini-libraries of easy reading books. By expanding and enhancing reading opportunities, this will allow us to leverage the impact of your donations.