Literacy and community development: a fruitful couple ... or is it marriage? Case study from Côte d'Ivoire

Availability:
Not Available Online
Date Created: 
1991-12
Conference: 
Intercultural Community Work 1992 Conference, Dallas, Texas, USA, SIL, 1992-05
Extent: 
42 pages
Abstract: 
This case study explores the development of mother tongue literacy among the Wobe' people of Cote d'Ivoire, starting with the traditional literacy approach and bringing the reader up to date on the "whole-community" development program launched in 1988. In 1976 the SIL linguistic team began literacy work by producing a primer and training several teachers in the Gudschinsky method of teaching. Since Christians are motivated to read the Bible, literacy efforts were conducted through the church. Non-Christians, who represented 90% of the total Wobe' speaking population, had practically no motivation to read. Trained teachers were encouraged to continue teaching classes in their area and to motivate those from other villages to start a class. Thus the literacy work would multiply throughout the churches, village by village. Several very devoted people were working hard toward this end. However, progress was slowed because many volunteer teachers who were trained were not motivated to teach others. Additionally, classes were quite spread out so supervision and encouragement of teachers was difficult. Sessions generally met once a week and often stopped for the harvest season and never started up again. Readers also suffered setbacks when the orthography was being nationalized and the primer had to be changed twice. Up until 1985 the majority of program expenses were paid by the SIL members, but they had finished the Bible translation and were preparing to leave the region. Some of the Wobe' who were devoted the spread of literacy formed a committee to consider how to fund future work and how to motivate people outside the church to learn to read. In 1988 the idea of "whole-community development" including literacy was born. One Wobe' village in the region was chosen to be the center for a community field project. People who were literate in Wobe' or currently enrolled in literacy class could come and work together to learn techniques for improving the yield of familiar crops. Selected individuals took agricultural correspondence courses in French in order to supply new knowledge to the community field project. The first intensive literacy classes were attended by 80 participants, 55 of whom were complete beginners. They were all eager to work in the community field and almost all of them graduated. As the project attracted more members, and more community needs were identified, the field project expanded to include a rice storehouse, a rice hulling operation, a workers' restaurant, and workers' medical services. Of the 80 working members today, about 40 are also involved in the management of different aspects of the project. The community development project grew through a series of problems, solutions, successes and setbacks which the original literacy committee could never have anticipated. It has progressed well as a result of wise decisions and rapid problem resolutions by the leaders of the Wobe' community, but there are still problems to be solved. During the eleven years prior to the introduction of the community development project about 1988, about 350 people in the entire Wobe' region learned to read. Since then 315 people, from 7 villages, have learned to read in order to join the co-op. God launched literacy through the church, but prepared the timing of key events and the placement of Christ in people such that the larger community was united with the Christians by a common goal and was thus able to observe their manner of working and living in a natural way. The churches are experiencing growth as a result of the "whole- community development" approach and the Wobe' community is learning to gain control of its economic destiny. Now the question is, "What is the future for the development project?" It has clearly born fruit, but will it continue to grow and give birth to similar community projects in other regions of the Wobe' territory?
Publication Status: 
Draft (posted 'as is' without peer review)
Country: 
Ivory Coast
Subject Languages: 
Content Language: 
Work Type: 
Nature of Work: 
Entry Number: 
55039