Some of our programs were ready to change and the project provided an , opportunity. This was especially true when those of us involved in the project had a history of doing good work in our program or when the staff worked as a collective and could make the collective decision to change. In some programs a significant group of women were involved in the project. The changes they experienced provided some impetus for the rest of the program to change in order to accommodate them. Also, many programs became more interested in group work because they saw how strong students became when they had a good group experience.

In some cases, change happened on a group or program level because there was funding available to provide the resources that supported the change. Also, being part of a national research project, affiliated with CCLOW, gave status to the work of individuals and groups and affirmed change as it occurred.

In some cases, change happened simply because the sources of resistance exhausted themselves as we persevered. Our vision, persistence, and ability to make the most of opportunity when it arises allowed change to happen.

• Why would we suggest that others do their own woman-positive activity?

We would suggest that others undertake woman-positive activities because we would like the world to be woman-positive, and we know that this small group of twenty-something cannot do it alone!

We learned from our involvement in this project that doing, reflecting, and talking can change our understanding. The more people who undertake this kind of activity, the greater the number of people who will understand the reality of women's lives.

We also learned that literacy programs are not necessarily structured in ways that take women's needs into consideration. Being woman-positive means doing things (sometimes little things) that make it possible for women to come to the program. Some of us learned that if programs are not woman-positive, they are woman-negative. The very things that programs ignore actively prevent women from having access to basic education.

We talked about being careful about how we present this idea - "woman-positive" - to others. Some people would simply lump all the women in a program together and then say that they were being woman-positive. Putting all the women together in one place is not always appropriate and it is never enough. We would, instead, like to be able to talk to people about a process of paying attention to what women say they need.

Sometimes talking to a program about being woman-positive might mean presenting very concrete questions: Do class times force women to choose between childcare and their own education? Do men dominate discussions in mixed classes? How do you choose your curriculum?