Alfasol: Solidarity in Literacy
Brazil
Alfasol is a Brazilian civil society organization that
addresses persistent illiteracy concerns. About 40 percent
of Brazil’s 5,566 counties have already been served
by the program, and more than 5 million learners have
participated.
The program relies on education coordinators, usually
women, to negotiate with local authorities for classroom
space and other start-up issues. Educators, who
must come from the community, are chosen and
trained for one month by local institutions of higher
education. Each educator receives a monthly allowance.
Students who complete the literacy program are eligible
to enter Brazil’s Youth and Adult Education (YAE)
national program, which offers skills training for specific
employment opportunities. Many of the YAE
instructors are former Alfasol instructors, so the
prospect of career employment helps keep motivation
high among the Alfasol staff.
"I am head of the agricultural
workers association in Girau do
Ponciano. Learning how to read
has been very important in my
life.… Today, I can actively
participate in the fiscal council
of the association. There was a
time when I believed everything
they read to me. Today, I can
read for myself and make my
own decisions.”
Basílio dos Santos, farmer
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The program’s success is largely credited to its strong
mix of partnerships. Each partner group takes responsibility
for key aspects of the literary program—higher
education institutions (monitoring, evaluation, and
teacher training); local and national governments
(infrastructure support and funding); non-governmental
organizations (implementation); and private companies
(additional funding and outreach).
Created in 1997, Alfasol’s funding comes from a variety
of sources. The federal government provides about 40
percent of the program’s budget. Vale do Rio Doce, a
Brazilian multinational corporation, underwrites about
20 percent of the budget, and the balance comes from
a network of public and private partners. Demonstrable
success has fueled
funding growth,
with sources of support
increasing from
20 in the beginning
of Alfasol’s operation
to 178 by 2005.
Moving beyond
Brazil’s borders, Alfasol,
in collaboration
with the Brazilian
Cooperation Agency,
an office of the
Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, is currently
transferring its experience
to Mozambique,
Sao Tome & Principe, Cape Verde and Guatemala.
Expansion into more locations is expected soon.
Alfasol won the UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize
in 2004 as well as the Comenius Medal in 2001.
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