Holistic Literacy

Skills for the Future of Uganda

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In early 2022, we raised the funds on DonorSee to create a computer lab. One of the main drivers for this project was that the government had used the pandemic lockdowns as the impetus for moving many of its services online.

Things like National ID, medical service access, and more were no longer available in person — and thus no longer available to the large percentage of the population (about 50%) who are illiterate and the more than 70% who do not have access to computers or the internet.

So at the same time as we were creating vocational literacy through Skills for Life, and linguistic and mathematical literacy through the Literacy Program, we instituted Digital Literacy so that our girls wouldn’t be left behind.

Teachers Justin and Gloria make sure their students can type (preferably with more than two fingers!), use Word and Excel at their most basic, and navigate the internet to access services and information.

The girls use the computers when they are preparing for exams, to research designs in African braiding and fashion.

The Photography and Videography students use the computers to edit their work.

Some girls are planning to use their skills to earn money by typing forms and documents for those in the slum who can’t do it for themselves.

The computer lab is an integral part of our Holistic Literacy philosophy and it was funded 100% by YOUR donations. We can’t thank you enough!

Mwebele nyo!

Jennings

PS The computer lab was a Large project on DonorSee. We’re allowed to have one Large project (over $500) at a time on the platform — our current one is the farm, which is 85% funded. We have several Large projects ready to go once the farm is fully funded. Can you help us get there? 100% goes to the project! Just click!

FOR THE FARM!

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WHAT IS HOLISTIC LITERACY?

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Last fall I started using the term HOLISTIC LITERACY to try to describe what our Namuwongo Skills for Life program is about. It’s probably a little different for a teen girl living in the slum than it would be for someone in a developed country, so I want to explain both the what and the why.

WHAT

Many of the girls in our residential and Skills for Life programs have never been to school. Of course, that means no reading, writing, and arithmetic, but in Uganda that also means no English.

Why? English is, after all, Uganda’s official language.

But there are 60+ tribal languages spoken in Uganda. The Namuwongo slum is like every other slum — a mix of displaced and desperate people who come to Kampala to try to have a better life. People tend to spend time with those of their own tribe and language. They do not speak English.

English is learned in school. In fact, it is actually illegal for schools to teach the tribal languages. They speak, read, and write in English.

BOTTOM LINE —> No school = no English

But there’s more to literacy (for us, at least!) than the three Rs and English. We add a meaningful vocational skill so girls have a lifetime of income potential.

If needed for immediate survival, we teach a smaller skill that can start bringing in some money right away.

We conduct health and hygiene workshops so girls — and boys — can physically take care of themselves.

We are adding a computer lab in 2022 to bring digital literacy and enable routine things like national ID card updates and job applications to be done by the girls themselves.

And we will begin using Neema Development’s Entrepreneur training this spring to bring basic business literacy to the girls.

WHY

If you read through that list again, these are things that you probably already know. You may not have been taught them, per se, but you picked it up along the way. You already live in a world of holistic literacy, and you use these skills every single day.

We believe the teen girls and teen moms in our program deserve that opportunity as well. They are smart, motivated, and hard-working, and they know the alternative. They are choosing a better life and doing what’s required every day!

THANK YOU for partnering with us as well change lives AND change the culture. If you want to make a donation, click the button – 100% goes to the programs!

LET ME HELP!

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THE LITERACY PROGRAM HAS LAUNCHED!

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For two years now, LITERACY has been on our minds. I started using the phrase “holistic literacy” last year as a way to describe a literacy that encompassed the whole of life.

  • We provide several forms of literacy to our residential teen moms:
  • they learn a skill in Skills for Life
  • they learn parenting skills
  • they learn household skills like cooking and budgeting
  • they learn coping skills to recover from past trauma and deal with life in the slum

Skills for Life has been providing vocational skills – 40 girls learned a skill/trade in 2021.

But most of our girls have never been to school, or were only able to go for a couple of years. They can’t read, write, or do basic math.

Many of them don’t speak English at all, which excludes them from a lot of public life and job opportunities since it is the “1st language” of Uganda.

Girls who can read are computer illiterate because they have no access to the digital world. With more and more things going online, including government services, they are excluded, too.

That’s why we are SO excited that THIS WEEK our Basic Literacy Program has launched!

20 girls have started on a journey that will open up the world to them in ways they could never have imagined.

We are so grateful to Expat Money for raising the funds for this project and so proud and excited at what these girls will achieve.

Our computer lab project is up on DonorSee — it’s a big, ambitious project, but we believe it’s a vital part of our holistic literacy campaign. We won’t get shown to the wider DonorSee audience until we’ve reached 10% of our goal, so if you’d like to help us just click the button below.

THANK YOU for your continued support!

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BRINGING TECH TO THE SLUM

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Bringing the 21st century to the slum!

Friend, can you imagine life without a computer or the internet? Sure, a lot of us are old enough to remember way back when to the dark ages… but can we imagine going back to that time?

Uganda has used the pandemic lockdowns to drive a lot of in-person activity online: registration for national ID, school services, job applications, and even some health service information.

The problem is, most of Uganda doesn’t have

  • power
  • internet
  • computers
  • computer literacy

Our goal at Ten Eighteen’s Touch the Slum Namuwongo project is to educate the teen moms and girls in our programs so that they can create a sustainable income and improve their quality of life. We feel that becoming computer literate is a key for all the girls as they grow into self-sufficiency.

This project is now up on DonorSee! Check it out — remember, you can give “in honor of” another person, so it makes a perfect holiday gift!

DONATE TO THE COMPUTER LAB

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