“I am ready to pass the exam I will receive today,” Pyerina Okot confidently stated.
Her classmates were gathered nearby, pens in hand, anxiously awaiting the papers that their facilitator was preparing to hand out.
Pyerina is a member of one of Invisible Children’s Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA). She is taking part in a year-long Functional Adult Literacy course (FAL) with the other members of her savings group. As the course comes to an end, the groups are now taking exams to measure their proficiency in the areas they have been studying.
Because of forced relocation in 1996 and a lack of access to education, many young adults in northern Uganda had no opportunity to complete, or even begin, their education. FAL helps to fill that gap by teaching numeracy, reading and writing in their local language, Luo.
Pyerina operates a small shop in the local market and is using what she has learned in the class to operate her business better. Ocitti William, another group member, said that the lessons are also helping his business.
“We can now do addition and subtraction,” he said of the group. “I like the topics of business management and topics such as how to see and interpret a kilogram on the weighing scale, how to read and how to write names.”
William runs a small business selling charcoal so these practical lessons are important to his success.
Beyond literacy, the course is aimed at helping the members expand their skill-sets, improve in their record keeping and understanding of saving, lending and investment.
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