Invisible Children’s Livelihoods programs work directly with war-affected community members, many of whom never had the chance to receive a real education. Because of this, we create a curriculum to be shared with members of our Village Savings and Loans Associations in order to help them gain basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics.

Heard of it?

Our Functional Adult Literacy (FAL) classes have a proven success rate among the program’s thousands of beneficiaries, providing them with tangible skills that can help when they save money, run businesses and care for their families.

Functional Adult Literacy instructors during a recent training

Just as members of VSLA groups received training in best savings practices, the FAL teachers came together for a three day workshop to troubleshoot challenges they face in teaching and recap the lessons they learned at the start of the course.

Meet Jennifer and Moses, two of our FAL facilitators with their own personal preference of which lessons to teach.

Jennifer, who has been a facilitator with Invisible Children for almost a year and a half, said that she really enjoys teaching time telling.

“I like it because time is just there for everyone. It doesn’t discriminate,” she said.

She also feels that time telling is a very practical lesson for the community members that she instructs in FAL.

“People were telling me how they used to tell time traditionally. In the morning when your shadow is very long, you know it is morning hours. When your shadow is very short, you know that it is noon and when your shadow comes long to the east that is when it is evening time,” she said.

This, she said, isn’t the most practical way of telling time, so knowing how to use a clock is of utmost importance.

Moses, who started as a VSLA and FAL facilitator in 2010, said that he favorite lesson is a section called “My Name.”

“It’s the most foundational part. It trains them in writing their names, the names of their family members, the names of the children and those who live nearby,” he said.

Writing their names gives group members confidence and ownership over things like business contracts, kickstarting their success in both savings and literacy.

HELP EMPOWER PEOPLE IN RURAL COMMUNITIES IN NORTHERN UGANDA BECOMING A MEMBER OF THE FOURTH ESTATE.