{"id":3332,"date":"2014-05-28T17:15:44","date_gmt":"2014-05-28T23:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/?p=3332"},"modified":"2015-10-05T17:18:25","modified_gmt":"2015-10-05T23:18:25","slug":"womens-literacy-in-liberia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/womens-literacy-in-liberia\/","title":{"rendered":"Women’s Literacy in Liberia"},"content":{"rendered":"
Ryan P. Cumming<\/div>\n
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It’s a sad fact of history that women’s bodies become “battlefields”<\/a> in situations of armed conflict.\u00a0 Rape, trafficking, maiming and death are among the immediate threats women face when war breaks out.\u00a0 But the long-term effects of conflict<\/a> can be severe, too, especially when women face sexual violence during war.\u00a0 This is true of the women of Bong and Lofa Counties in Liberia, many of whom were victims of rape during the civil war in their country.\u00a0 The obstacles they face providing for themselves and their children are serious, especially when coupled with the insufficient education they can access in Liberia.<\/p>\n

Recently, the Liberian government has tried to make strides in improving the quality of and access to education, especially for women and girls.\u00a0 Still, though, less than half of the adult population is literate.\u00a0 Recognizing the importance of literacy, the Lutheran Church in Liberia (LCL) in 2014 has started the “Young and Adult Women Basic Bilingual Literacy Project,” intended to help vulnerable women gain the skills they need to feed themselves and their children.<\/p>\n

Remember the old saying, “Knowledge is power”?\u00a0 That is certainly true of the women associated with this project, some of whom “were born either before or during the heat of our civil war [and] most of whom are single mothers and solely depend on selling petite market [items]\u00a0to support their children.”\u00a0 Despite their experiences during the long conflict \u2013 many of their children were born as a result of rape, according to the LCL \u2013 the women are “breadwinners” and vital members of their communities.\u00a0 Yet, their inability to read, write and count large numbers means that they are often on “the losing end” of transactions in the marketplace.\u00a0 Literacy means not only the ability to read and write \u2013 it can mean the difference between sustainable and unsustainable livelihood for themselves and their communities.<\/p>\n

To support them in their efforts, the LCL will work with rural women in Liberia to teach them basic math and reading, skills that the LCL believes will not only benefit the women themselves but “have great potential to lift their communities from neglect.”\u00a0 Because of the skills, creativity and industry of women in these communities, the support offered by LCL’s program will have wide-reaching effects.<\/p>\n

In addition to teaching nearly 300 women to read and write, the project will also create hundreds of educational resources, train teachers, and establish learning centers in the community.\u00a0 Moreover, the LCL will also teach women and girls basic skills in English, increasing their ability to participate in the marketplace and seek further education.<\/p>\n

By listening to the needs \u2013 illiteracy, poverty, trauma \u2013 and the assets \u2013 strong women leaders, industriousness, support for education \u2013 in the communities in Liberia, the LCL will implement a program with great potential.\u00a0 As companions of the LCL, the ELCA has been invited to be part of this great work through the support of a grant from ELCA World Hunger.\u00a0 This year, Liberian women will be supported in their work by your gifts to ELCA World Hunger.\u00a0 Together, our communities can move from vulnerability to possibility and from possibility to sustainability.\u00a0 Thank you!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ryan P. Cumming is the Program Director of Hunger Education for ELCA World Hunger.\u00a0 You can reach him at\u00a0<\/em>Ryan.Cumming@ELCA.org<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ryan P. Cumming It’s a sad fact of history that women’s bodies become “battlefields” in situations of armed conflict.\u00a0 Rape, trafficking, maiming and death are among the immediate threats women face when war breaks out.\u00a0 But the long-term effects of conflict can be severe, too, especially when women face sexual violence during war.\u00a0 This is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":211,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWomen's Literacy in Liberia - ELCA World Hunger<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/womens-literacy-in-liberia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Women's Literacy in Liberia - ELCA World Hunger\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ryan P. Cumming It’s a sad fact of history that women’s bodies become “battlefields” in situations of armed conflict.\u00a0 Rape, trafficking, maiming and death are among the immediate threats women face when war breaks out.\u00a0 But the long-term effects of conflict can be severe, too, especially when women face sexual violence during war.\u00a0 This is […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/womens-literacy-in-liberia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ELCA World Hunger\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-05-28T23:15:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-10-05T23:18:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ryan P. Cumming\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ryan P. 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