2010–11 annu al review - worldlit.ca€“11 annu al review. 645 ... nari vikas sangh. 4 | world...

2010–11 AnnuAl Review

645million Indian citizens live in poverty.

203million women in India are illiterate.

39 million of these women live in Uttar Pradesh, where World Literacy Canada works.

AnnuAl Review 2010–2011 | 1

COnTenTS

miSSiOn World Literacy Canada (WLC) is a small, registered charitable organization that uses literacy to fight poverty and advance the cause of social justice, especially for women and children. We support and deliver a range of community-based education projects in Canada, India, and Nepal.

viSiOnWe see literacy as an essential element in the struggle against global inequality. Illiteracy perpetuates poverty, disadvantage, and exclusion; and as such we see literacy as a critical component in the struggle for equality. Literacy is crucial to achieving peace and security, encouraging respect for human rights and dignity, and for active participation in an increasingly interconnected world. As women’s rights are central to our work, WLC ensures that gender equality is integrated into all aspects of our operations.

2 Letter from the Executive Director 3 Where and Why4 Our Literacy Model5 Community Libraries6 Women’s Literacy8 Sally Swenson Scholarships10 Partnerships12 In Canada14 Educating Healthy Communities 15 Financials16 How you can help

AnnuAl Review 2010–2011 | 32 | woRld liteRAcy cAnAdA

At World Literacy Canada, we focus our programming in the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh – among the most populous and impoverished in the country. With a population of 200 million, Uttar Pradesh would rank as the world’s 5th largest country if it were independent. With our nine local partners, we work in 555 urban slums and villages of Uttar Pradesh and Nepal. Our work reaches over 250 000 people directly, and over 555 000 indirectly, mainly women and children.

Despite a dominant narrative of prosperity and upward mobility, the eight poorest states of India contain more people living in absolute poverty than in Africa’s 26 poorest countries combined. With income disparities widening and intensifying gender inequality, it is important to continue providing hope and opportunity to the 645 million citizens who have no access to India’s newfound wealth.

Letter From the Executive DirectorA beautiful thing happened to me this year. I received a call, from former World Literacy Canada (WLC) board member Sally Swenson. She wanted to pass on a ring to me that had been passed on to her from our inspi-rational founder, Dr. Welthy Fisher, back in 1980. This special ring was gifted to Welthy in the 1930s, and has a long story of its own, being in the presence of so many greats – including Welthy’s friend, Mahatma Gandhi, who encouraged her to spread literacy in India. Sally told me how proudly Welthy wore the ring for 50 years, and how much love the ring had given her in the past 30 years. Now she was ready to pass on this love to me. I wept.

Sally worked in India for 14 years alongside Welthy, fueled by their progressive and feminist ideals towards a better future for the poverty stricken women and children of Uttar Pradesh. I started my correspondence with Sally when I joined WLC in 1989; and finally, after 22 years, the ring brought us together for the first time in celebra-tion of her 80th birthday at her home in British Columbia. She was everything I had pictured her to be – generous, spirited, and hopeful for the future as ever.

Thanks to Welthy’s ring on my finger, I have been re-freshed on WLC’s rich history. I reread Sally’s book Signals of a Century, and read Welthy’s and her husband Bishop Frederick B. Fisher’s books on social justice. And I continued this trip down memory lane in India this August, where I visited WLC’s birthplace at Literacy House, in Lucknow. The year has been a social activist’s pilgrimage of sorts, and I feel truly fortunate to continue playing an active role in this movement.

India remains our priority. The statistics on poverty in India are truly staggering, as you will see on the opposite page. And so, we continue to work where

we are needed most – in an area with one of the greatest concentrations of poor in the world.

In passing the ring to me, Sally wrote, “A ring is abso-lutely a full circle… and now onward to you. This gives real meaning to the fullness of time”. And the timeless dedication of Welthy and Sally to literacy for all means the world to me. I will proudly wear the borrowed ring until, in time, it asks to be passed on once again.

Mamta Mishra Executive Director

WLC founder Welthy Fisher (left) with Sally Swenson in 1979

wheRe And why

Uttar Pradesh

Partners in IndiaAmar Shahid Chetana Sansthan Grameen Vikas Sansthan Sri Sachchidanand Siksan Sansthan Tagore Bal Niketan Avam Balbari Kendra Champa Devi Nari Vikas Sansthan Purti Sansthan Child and Women Welfare Associates Satyagyan Foundation

Partner in NepalNari Vikas Sangh


Our Literacy Model1. invitationOur work begins when we are invited into a new community. From there, we can begin to provide resources and training to our community partners.

Our field staff conduct a door-to-door survey to understand the community’s specific needs, en-abling us to establish how best we can help achieve positive change.

3. Women’s GroUP (mahila mandal)We assist women leaders in the community in establishing a demo-cratically elected group that meets regularly to discuss issues, and acts as the decision-making body on all components of our holistic program.

2. sUrvey

We operate three types of libraries: two large community libraries, 62 gumtis (roadside stalls), and one mobile van that serves 12 remote villages.

40 000 books, both in Hindi and English, circulate in our library system.

54 000 people access our library ser-vices, which include music and computer classes, storytelling, and educational play.

Books on wheelsOur mobile library van travels to 12 remote outskirts of Varanasi, bringing books, newspapers, games and toys to people with limited mobility and no access to public services.

A love for books drove Veer Pratap to begin volunteering with the mobile library in 2008, when he was only 11. Now 14, he volunteers in distributing books as well as organizing trivia competitions.

In his free time, Veer enjoys reading everything he can get his hands on from the library. And last year, all his reading literally paid off: the seventh-grader won a `40 000 ($900) scholarship for his score on a nation-wide general knowledge test. His poem about Gandhi also appeared in his school’s annual magazine. “Without the books from the mobile library, I would not have learned everything I did,” he says.

Community Libraries

adUlt literacy classesDelivered by trained local teachers, these classes offer literacy and numeracy skills to women with no formal education. Read more on Page 6...

Pre-school and scholarshiPs Our pre-school classes introduce children to reading at the same time as their mothers, with some receiving grade-school scholarships. Read more on Page 8...

libraries and advocacy WLC opened the first public library for Varanasi’s underprivileged class, serving as a community hub for literacy and advocacy events such as International Women’s Day. Read more on opposite page...

health care and health edUcation Integrated with our ALCs and mahila mandals, women gain the tools to keep themselves and their families healthy as they learn to read. Read more on Page 14...

skills traininG and microfinance As women become literate, they gain opportunity to enroll in skills training and social enterprise projects. Read more on Page 10...


Women’s Literacy349 trained teachers run adult literacy classes, and balwadis (pre-school).

8800 women are currently en-rolled in our literacy classes and 10 500 children in our balwadis.

Over 55% of these women access another service from WLC, such as our libraries, health education, or skills training.

WLC researches and produces its own innovative teacher’s training manuals and curriculum.

Nirmala spent the first twenty-five years of her life not knowing how to read, write or count. She worked from home, cooking and cleaning, taking care of her husband and her two children: daughter Saloo and son Babu.

A trip to the local street market for rice and lentils changed all that. The shop-keeper, aware of her illiteracy, charged far more money than was required for the purchase. Nirmala had no idea that she had been overcharged until she returned home and her husband counted her change. With a week’s savings lost, it was then that she realized the importance of being literate.

Soon after the incident, Nirmala joined a WLC adult literacy class in her com-munity, and graduated this year. She has since found employment at a primary school in her community, the same school where both her children study. Their tuition was consequently waived by the school.

Besides supervising the school children at recess and lunch, Nirmala delivers attendance records to teachers, as she can now read and write in Hindi. She earns about `800 ($20) per month, significantly contributing to the wellbeing of her family.

Empowerment through education


Sally Swenson Scholarship

This year, the SSS project saw its first graduates. Our sincerest congratula-tions to Majari, Ranjana, and Pooja! Having studied with us for almost 10 years, all three young girls successfully graduated from high school, and this year gained admission to Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi. Each of them are the first in their families to attend university.

10-year-old Pragya hopes to follow in their footsteps. She is currently in sixth grade at Tulsi Vidya Niketan primary school in Varanasi, and has been en-rolled in the project since age six. Her father is a vegetable seller in the local market and her mother works as a community midwife, so they are unable to finance the education of their eight children.

“I like everything about school but my absolute favourite thing is drawing,” Pragya says, inspired by fairytale books. And when she grows up, she wants to be an artist. Either that or a social worker, she says, so that she can help children like her two brothers and five sisters.

Either way, the luxury of choice that Pragya now enjoys is sadly uncommon. Through education, our project aims to inspire children like Pragya with the power to choose, and the tools to succeed.

220 promising students from 60 communities are enrolled in the Sally Swenson Scholarship (SSS).

Two-thirds of the students are girls.

$300 covers tuition fees, textbooks, uniforms, nutrition, transportation, and after-school tutoring for a year.

Feeding young minds

At left: Majari, Ranjana and Pooja At right: Pragya


Partnerships33 communities access skills training and social enterprise projects.

1125 graduates have seen an average increase of 500% to their personal income.

3800 small loans were ac-cessed by women to start their own businesses.

28-year-old Anuradha spends three hours a day in a sewing class. She spends the rest of the day filling orders for salwar suits, sari petticoats, and intricate embroidery. Just six months ago, she had no income or training, and today is earning and feeling confident about her future.

“I wanted to learn a skill I could use to improve my livelihood,” she says about her motivation for enrolling in the program. Since losing both her parents a few years ago, she and her siblings have been supported by her uncle.

Anuradha is working on changing that. She hopes to eventually open up her own boutique, and to one day teach other women how to sew. Along with an opportunity to earn an income, learning how to sew has given Anuradha a sense of empowerment.

“I have become confident. I feel like I can go anywhere and do anything now,” she says.

Other graduates of the program feel the same way. “Since I started sewing, I am able to pay for my own expenses and help support my family,” says 20-year-old Janki. “I can make my own way and I am inspired to dream big for the future.”

Sewing up confidence


In CanadaThe Gandhi WayThe Gandhi Way project works with elementary school students and teachers to encourage global citizen-ship. Mahatma Gandhi inspired the birth of World Literacy Canada, and we use his life and message as an introduction to social justice work in poverty, racism, equity, and peace building. The Gandhi Way encourages students to be the change they want to see in the world.

Big Day OutBig Day Out is a day camp for chil-dren aged 8-13, in the Jane & Finch neighbourhood of Toronto. Run-ning for three, two-week sessions, it provides kids with daily excursions to fun and educational places, and provides opportunity for youth training and employment. The campers write journals, make scrapbooks, and pho-tograph their camp experience.

Ally StoriesIn partnership with Toronto’s Commu-nity Builders organization, Ally Stories is an annual leadership workshop for elementary students, using extra-curricular aids to encourage young role models to design and implement social justice and conflict resolution projects in their schools.

Right/Write to ReadAn annual nation-wide, bilingual writing contest in which children are asked to produce pieces of creative writing based on global issues. Promi-nent Canadian children’s authors in-spire grade 4-6 students to think and write stories, and get an early start on global citizenship.

Around the WorldAn educational program in two Toronto neighbourhoods designed to increase student’s literacy and leader-ship skills, as well as their knowledge of global affairs. The project helps communities create spaces for youth to learn about social justice, and to explore what roles they can play through volunteer opportunities, and leadership skill development workshops.

International Youth Internship ProgramA popular field placement program for leading university graduates under 30. Coming from across Canada, these young professionals learn the opera-tions of an international development agency, through work placements in our Toronto headquarters and our field office in Varanasi, India.

300 students from 15 Toronto schools wrote and illustrated “Gandhi’s Glasses”, a children’s storybook that follows a girl named Asha as she learns about compassion, responsibility, and other Gandhian values in one magical day.

350 children from 210 families living in Toronto’s Jane & Finch neighbourhood attended our ‘Big Day Out’ summer camp; and 35 youth received training, mentor-ing, and summer employment as camp counselors.

Our Mandate in CanadaOur work in Canada focuses on fostering a culture of global citizenship. We encourage Canadians to think of themselves as citizens of the world, with the ability and responsibility to address poverty at home and around the world.


FinancialsREVENUE 2010-2011 2009-2010 March 31, 2011 March 31, 2010

Donations 296,623 286,310 Foundations 50,600 53,386 Grants 456,121 376,384 Partnerships 103,091 15,000 Special Events 64,687 87,669 Interest and Other Revenue 38 3,370

Total Revenue 971,160 822,118

EXPENSE

International Programs 445,652 581,303 Canadian Programs 87,750 118,041 Partnership Programs 103,091 15,000 Global Citizenship Programs 93,328 22,877 Program Support 133,393 109,717

Total Expense 863,214 846,938

NET INCOME 107,946 (24,820)

Net Assets, beginning of year 248,547 273,367 Net Assets, end of year 356,493 248,547

Over 37 000 women and girls attended community health workshops, on malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, pregnancy, breast-feeding, and preventable diseases.

12 000 mahila mandal (women’s group) members, participated in, and promoted our health campaigns in their communities.

2200 men and women were tested and prescribed eyeglasses.

260 successful cataract surgeries were performed.

The state of health care in Uttar Pradesh is dismal, to say the least. Publically funded hospitals are broke, neglected, and crumbling while expensive private institutions flourish – which are of no help to the millions living in absolute poverty throughout the state. Rates of infant and child mortality and malnutrition are as bad, if not worse, than in sub-Saharan Africa. Village clinics and other makeshift health facilities lack basic necessities, leading to deaths from preventable and treat-able ailments, like diarrhea.

Health care and education are intrinsically linked. World Literacy Canada offers consultations with doctors, treatment referrals, and distribution of nutritional supplements. As women learn to read, write, and advocate for themselves, they gain the tools to keep their families healthy.

Educating Healthy Communities


How you can help

For more ways to give, please visit us online.

www.worldlit.ca

“in a gentle way, you can shake the world”—Mahatma Gandhi

Kama Benefit Reading Series Hundreds of world-renowned authors have donated their time to read at the Kama Benefit Reading Series. Treat yourself to five nights of read-ings, cocktails, hors d’oevres, Q&A with the authors, and book signings in Toronto.

$275 /$140 (youth)

Community Library A gumti (road-side stall) library is the only source of literature for many living in slums and villages. Your donation will purchase and stock a library, and train volunteers to develop it into a community hub. Read more on page 5

$1000

Educate a Child Your sponsorship will cover a child’s tuition, uniform, books, transportation, nutrition, and after-school tutoring for a year. Read more on page 8-9

$300

Supply a Classroom Provide chalkboards, notebooks, pencils, art supplies, and teaching aids for an adult literacy or pre-school class of up to 25 women and children. Read more on page 6-7

$50

Help a Woman Start a Business Your gift will provide a loan so a newly literate, trained woman can launch a small business. Read more on page 10-11

$100

Volunteer Help us deliver the best literary programs and events, set up a campus club in your school or university, and find out how you can help spread the message of global citizenship

time

Canada OfficeWorld Literacy Canada 401 Richmond Street West, Studio 236 Toronto, Ontario M5V 3A8 Canada 416.977.0008 [email protected]

India OfficeWorld Literacy Canada Ganga Mahal Kothi B-2/1 Bhadaini, Varanasi 221001 Uttar Pradesh, India + 91 542 231 [email protected]

World Literacy Canada gratefully acknowledges the support of all our generous donors, volunteers, students, teachers, authors, publishers, corporate sponsors and government partners.

www.worldlit.ca

Printing supported by TrueCopy

World Literacy Canada

Charitable Registration Number : 11930 4640 RR0001

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2010–11 annu al review - worldlit.ca€“11 annu al review. 645 ... nari vikas sangh. 4 | world...

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