Literacy Kit

The Women's Program and the Participatory Research Group are collaborating on the production of a kit of literacy materials for women learners in Canada which will focus on issues in the lives of Third World and Canadian women.

The kit will include examples of literacy and basic education materials -- such as pamphlets, textbooks, posters, and magazines -- used in non-formal education work with women in different Third World countries. These materials will be supplemented with graphics and background information about the situation of women.

Much of the existing material on basic education on Third World countries tends to bore or frustrate women learners because it does not give information about, or raise, the issues that concern them. Texts that do sometimes deal with social issues and women's struggles are generally inaccessible to new learners.

By incorporating actual materials used by women we hope to promote better understanding of the major issues confronting women in different countries, opening up discussion and learning about the similarities and differences between women across the globe. We hope that the project will stimulate networking and exchange of materials between progressive groups working with women and non-formal education.

We are requesting that non-formal education groups send us materials designed specifically for women learners, particularly those which raise issues related to women's particular situation -- for example, as agricultural workers, as victims of domestic violence, as health-care providers and receivers. We are also asking for materials not necessarily designed for women, but which education workers have found useful in their work with women.

The project can pay the costs of materials and airmail postage, and will send a completed copy of the kit to groups which contribute material. The kit will also contain examples of education materials used by Canadian women learners which may be a useful resource for Third World groups.

If you or the group you work with has literacy or non-formal education material for women that you think might be useful for the kit, please write to the Literacy Kit Project, care of the Women's Program, as soon as possible.