Caritas Egypt Basic Education Program for Adults
Egypt
We are here to learn together. We respect each other
and the place where we learn.” This is the motto of the
Caritas Egypt Basic Education Program for Adults,
which offers 1,000 classes in low-income communities.
Adults come together in community centers and homes
to develop literacy that is closely connected to their
daily lives.
Caritas Egypt helps adults analyze and resolve
problems of daily life through literacy, dialogue, and
problem-solving.
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Caritas Egypt helps adults analyze and resolve
problems of daily life through literacy, dialogue, and
problem-solving.
Caritas Egypt began 30 years ago, providing health
services to rural and very poor communities in the Cairo
and Giza governorates. Gradually, practitioners realized
that most health problems were rooted in illiteracy,
lack of health awareness, and poor sanitation.
Today, environmental and personal health awareness
is systematically integrated into literacy sessions, and
literacy workers are trained in a wide range of health
topics. An active program of child nutrition is provided
to 800–1,000 children and siblings of learners. As they
develop their literacy skills, learners also increase their
use of basic health services and acquire first aid skills to
serve their communities.
"Once I was looking for a certain doctor’s clinic. I was
standing right in front of his clinic, but I didn’t know
this because I couldn’t read
the sign” said a learner
from the Caritas Basic
Education Program. “I had
to ask someone on the
street if I was in the right
place. I felt so humiliated.
This was the day I decided
to learn how to read.
Through learning, I found
myself. I now feel that I am
a human being.”
The hard work of young teachers selected from the
communities where learners live has enabled the program
to grow from 10 classes in 1972 to 1,000 in five
regions. Less than 10 percent of learners drop out of
the program, enabling the program to maintain a 90
percent success rate on the official Egyptian examination
of adult literacy competency.
Of the 20,000 participants per year, 85 percent are
women—an important achievement as literacy rates
for low-income women lag far behind those of men in
almost every developing country.
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