Is There a Strategy for How to Teach Adult Literacy in Developing Countries? What Is It?
Various organizations have different methods for how to teach adult literacy in developing countries. For example, GFA World uses women missionaries to teach illiterate women through patient, caring instruction. They help women learn the letters and characters of their language and understand how letters work together to form sounds. As women grow in their literacy, their confidence grows and their lives begin to change.
At 64-years-old, Kaavya finally learned how to read.1 Suffering from leprosy and the stigma that it brings, she decided to move to a leprosy colony, and it was there she found the gift of literacy. A local team of GFA Sisters of Compassion ministered to the everyday needs of people in the colony. They also taught Kaavya how to read and write.
“When I joined the literacy class, I learned lots of things,” Kaavya explains. “I learned not only reading and writing; I learned good habits, roles of women, wife and mother in the family. Now I am very happy … I will not lose heart because I can read and write.”
Kaavya is just one of the thousands of women who have received more than the ability to write letters, understand written words and comprehend written sentences through GFA’s literacy classes. She was given hope for the future, and Kaavya now can read her Bible and learn about God’s love for her. She has value and worth in His sight, even with her leprosy.
These GFA women missionaries are trained to patiently teach reading and writing skills to adults.
“To become literate is exactly what miracle cures are about. It is an intellectual healing, the acquisition of incalculable capabilities and the establishment of approval from others and from oneslf. To be able to read and write is a gift of immeasurable worth. It is, indeed, a miracle cure.”2
For tens of thousands of women across Asia, these free literacy classes have made a world of difference in their lives! Will you consider giving financially to GFA World’s literacy efforts? Help us lift individuals and families out of poverty and change communities for the better. Literacy is just one way to impact the world, and it’s an life-changing one!
Learn more about adult literacy program
1 Mains, Karen Burton. “Literacy: One of the Great Miracle Cures.” GFA World. https://www.gfa.org/special-report/literacy-miracle-cure-illiteracy. September 3, 2019.
2 Mains, Karen Burton. “Literacy: One of the Great Miracle Cures.” GFA World. https://www.gfa.org/special-report/literacy-miracle-cure-illiteracy. September 3, 2019.