Lakhasly

Last month, Zahra, a 40-year-old woman stood up in front of a microphone to read a spech tha
she had written herself. Six years ago, she had to pay someone to read letters for her. The newly-literate woman began her speech: "My name is Fatima Ezahra, but people call me Zahra. I am from
a small isolated village in the mountains." Then, with a huge smile on her face and her hands wildly animating her speech, she told the audience about how literacy changed her life.
A Difficult Childhood
"My parents were po," ahra says, "and it was hard for us to go to school! But poverty wasn't
the only factor keeping Zahra and her sisters from school. Zahra was briefly enrolled in school but never learned to read or write. Two events cut her off from formal education. First, both her sisters dropped out to get mar-ried. "This angered my father," she said. "He didn't want to pay for our schooling if we were just going to get married." Then, her mother became ill, and Zahra had to care for her. "In our community, girls work as maids and boys work in the fields," she explained. "Parents just don't send their kids to school."With her few skills, Zahra had trouble finding employment and eventually left for the big city to work in a textile factory. Money was not her only problem, she also lacked confidence. "I was shy and I was ashamed," she told the audience.
Zahra's life changed when her husband encouraged her to join a literacy circle run by an organisation that works in partnership with the ministry of education. The group of 24 people learned to read together, gain livelihood skills, and learn about health and nutrition. The literacy circle works under the assumption that literacy is necessary for greater participation in economic, social and political life. Zahra credited the literacy circle with helping her gain the communication and managerial skills that enabled her to participate actively in her community. She smiles when describing one of her proudest accomplishments - a letter that her circle wrote to a health association asking for medical help for local children. As a result, 55 children who were gravely ill received medical treatment. "Before, we never had the possibility to do something like this ourselves," she added.
An Example to follow
Zahrais succes has encourged other membersof her tamily o star learing
too. Her husband is now a part of her literacy circle as are her two teenage sisters. Even her father has been convinced of the importance of learning.
And the effects carry on to the neighbourhood. She has become a symbol and an example of literacy success among organisations and ministry
officials; they usually ask her to give speeches on her experience to encourage others to learn, study and participate in community life.