Contributed by buildOn
Growing up in Nthunduwala, Malawi in the early 1960s, Joyce Phiri had to drop out of school in the 6th grade. The distance between her home and her school became unmanageable. Her parents––both peasant farmers––were living in poverty and could no longer afford the costs of her education. And ultimately, educating girls just wasn’t a priority in her community. Now more than 50 years later, much of the world’s views on girls’ education remains unchanged. One in five adults around the world cannot read or write, and two-thirds of these adults are women.
Fortunately for Joyce, she was given a second chance at her secondary education. Through buildOn’s Adult Literacy Program, Joyce has further developed her reading, writing, and numeracy skills. And through the program’s income-generating initiative, she’s started her own small business and is much more confident in making financial decisions.
“I have learned how to choose a business and see whether I am making a profit or loss,” Joyce shares. “I have learned new farming techniques and participated in our Village Savings and Loan group.” Through that program, Joyce received a loan––a portion of which she has invested into her growing fritters business.
Held in the evenings in the same classrooms their children and grandchildren attend by day, buildOn’s Adult Literacy Program takes an average of 1.5 years to complete and currently operates in Haiti, Malawi, Mali, Nepal, and Burkina Faso. From the start, communities take the lead in telling buildOn what they want to learn and what will best serve their needs. Then, buildOn works in solidarity with community members to inventory their resources and create a strategic action plan for success.
Joyce’s story is one example of the numerous life-changing benefits that come with literacy––from improved health to job opportunities to the ability to have a voice in society. In fact, just one additional year of schooling can increase a girl’s future income by up to 12 percent, and a child born to a mother who can read is 50 percent more likely to live past the age of 5.
buildOn is committed to giving every child a seat in the classroom––and that’s why they break ground on a new primary school every 36 hours across eight countries. And because women and girls have historically been denied an education in the countries where buildOn works, it’s required that girls and boys be enrolled in equal numbers––helping to ensure a more equitable future for all.
Since its inception, more than 27,000 adults have completed buildOn’s Adult Literacy Program, and more than 83 percent of the participants have been women. For Joyce, she says her life has already been transformed since she completed the program, and she believes quality education is the key to dismantling the cycle of illiteracy and poverty around the world.
“Failing to attain higher education made me get married earlier,” Joyce shares. “I couldn’t get a job. I couldn’t afford most basic daily needs. I couldn’t support my children with their own education.” But today, Joyce is proud and grateful that her new farming business can help support her entire family.
“I am making sure that my grandchildren are attending school by providing basic needs for their education,” she says. “I am using the proceeds from my fritters business to buy learning materials and school uniforms for them.” And by cooking with locally grown crops, she says the nutrition in their home has improved as well.
Receiving an education has shown Joyce how important it is to educate all women and girls. “There is a saying in Malawi that ‘if you educate a girl, you educate the nation,’” she shares. “If women are educated, they will also advocate for their children’s education.”
Or in Joyce’s case, her grandchildren’s––and all of the children of Nthunduwala.
For more information about buildOn’s gender equity work and how you can support their life-changing mission, visit buildon.org.