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LAUNCHING THE CAMPAIGN TO STEM THE TIDE OF ILLITERACY TO COMBAT HIV/AIDS IN AFRICA
771 million adults, majority of whom are women lack literacy skills. 100 million school-age children were not in school and as a result were not learning to read and write. Tragically, Nigeria's illiteracy accounts for 50 million precious souls, the highest on the African continent, while HIV/AIDS infections are most frightening. Africa's battle for survival is vastly losing ground every day for millions of women and children. 64% of all HIV/AIDS positive people worldwide and 76% of all women and mothers with the virus live in Africa. The HIV virus has countries by their throats and they are gasping for survival. In Lesotho, the Demographic Health Survey of 2005 showed a prevalence rate of 25%. Swaziland continues to have the highest prevalence rate in the world at 42.6%. In its recent antenatal survey of pregnant women between the ages of 25 and 29, the prevalence rate was 56.3%. |
WHAT IS IT?
The ability of a woman/mother to use literacy to transform her life circumstance from inequity, poverty, lack of literacy skills and poor health into economic well-being through self-sufficiency and perpetual growth.
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WHY ARE MOTHERS AFRICA’S BEST KEPT INVESTMENT SECRET?
 Historically, mothers have been at the hub of community information dissemination and are experts at it; hence, they can market any profitable idea well- Mothers are experts at taking political action with meticulous follow-up. Women were outraged at the British colonial oppressors that enacted a law for women to pay taxes. Women argued that “they were the trees that bore fruits.” This would impede their rural development agenda dating back to 1929 in Nigeria. They staged what is known to be the Aba Rebellion or the “War of Women”. Led by Igbo women in South-Eastern Nigeria who lacked literacy skills, they revolted against the British colonial powers resulting in them not paying taxes
- Mothers go to all lengths to preserve ancestral territorial integrity. They made history by going to war in Africa’s Gold Coast thereby, preventing the British from conquering the Gold Coast. "Ya Asantewa, an Ashanti queen led the resistance to British colonial rule in Ghana. Even though she succeeded in the short run, the Ashanti were heavily outgunned. "If you the men of Ashanti will not go forward, then we will. We the women will. I shall call upon you my fellow women. We will fight the white men. We will fight until the last of us falls in the battlefield.
- Women can mobilize their communities and country to swift action and maintain the peace as seen in Liberia
- Mothers make great entrepreneurs by being most resourceful and economical with meagre resources
- Mothers have the ability to demonstrate excellent leadership on the local, national and international level
- Mothers in leadership demonstrate greater accountability and far less corruption compared to their male counterparts
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WHAT IS AT STAKE IF WE DON’T TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION?
 If we don’t invest in women now by developing their literacy potentials we may loose their valuable skills to HIV/AIDS- A mother’s/woman’s death represents an irreplaceable loss of earnings directly attributed to her talents or other labour for all future years that she could have contributed to her family and community. In addition, the loss includes the loss of a valuable one-on-one trainer of viable life-functionality for any children who were hers or were in her care
- HIV/AIDS infections are on the rise and women in Africa comprise 76 % of all infections
- 80 % of Africans derive their living from agriculture. The raging HIV/AIDS pandemic causes delays in planting and weeding, declines in livestock, falling food quality and smaller farms leaving millions of families starving. HIV/AIDS has left millions of orphans behind who have become extremely vulnerable to rape, continued sexual violence and assaults, child trafficking, child soldier recruitment, child sex slavery, child prostitution and child labourers and disregard to child protection and inheritance laws
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HOW CAN WE EMPOWER MOTHERS TO ACHIEVE LITERACY COMPETENCIES THAT TRANSLATE INTO FUNCTIONAL LITERACY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT?
 By becoming a donor to fund our Ten Points of Excellence Multi-sectoral Development Program and Practicum© (TEPEMUSEDEP) that features our PEER-UP, TEAM -UP, GEAR- UP Programs, utilizing our highly acclaimed “Worldview Transformation Paradigm”© , “LINKS”© (Literacy, Ideas, Narration, Knowledge and Share), and the “CULTURE OF “EXCELLENCE”©.
PEER-UP is described as the training of mothers to teach and mentor limitedly literate mothers either on a part time or full-time basis. The emphasis is to engage mothers or young women who are students at Teacher Training Colleges and Universities. Emphasis will also be placed on attracting trained teachers and providing them with supplemental education. All must meet the required practicum.
 TEAM-UP is described as the training of young student females with diverse backgrounds from colleges and universities to role model, teach and mentor their limitedly literate peers in the community. This also includes a practicum.
GEAR-UP is described as the recruitment and cross-training of a retired core of professionals as volunteers across various sectors. These also include Chiefs and Elders who will role model, teach and mentor community members that lack various degrees of literacy competencies. This also includes a practicum. ”
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