Every single Liberian could become functionally literate in five years, but this definitely achievable goal can only be reached if all the stakeholders join in a concerted and sustained effort to make it happen.

This challenge was recently cast by Kenneth Y. Best, Daily Observer publisher, when he addressed a promotion program organized by ALFALIT, the adult literacy organization. During the program, held at Victory Temple at Paynesville Red Light, several hundred market women and others received certificates of promotion from Book One to Book Two.

“And who are the stakeholders?” Best asked. “They are the Liberian government, in particular the Ministry of Education; the schools, colleges and universities throughout the country; the churches and mosques; civic and social organizations; and bodies which are specifically established to promote universal education in Liberia.

Best named as another stakeholder, a former Cuttington classmate, Rose Mends-Cole Sherman, who has started the Literate Liberia Movement (LLM). The theme of LLM is “Each One Teach One.”

The guest speaker then mentioned ALFALIT, which was established in Florida, United States of America several years ago by a man named Joseph Milton. Mr. Milton, a Cuban-born American, made money from real estate and decided to give back to society by helping people learn to read and write. His first target was his native Latin America, where he started the program in several countries of that region. The overwhelming success of the program there convinced him that there was need to spread out.

Meanwhile, United Methodist Bishop of Liberia, Rt. Rev. John Innis, while attending a church meeting in the USA few years ago, heard the ALFALIT president, the Rev. Roberto Perez, speak about ALFALIT.

Bishop Innis asked Rev. Roberto whether he could bring the program to Liberia, and the answer was affirmative. To head the program, Bishop Innis found a highly effective executive director in the Rev.

Emmanuel Giddings, a Methodist pastor who ran a church in Detroit, Michigan. Rev. Giddings was on vacation in Liberia; but he seized the opportunity to stay home and start the program. He decided he had far more urgent work to do in Liberia than in Michigan, so he stayed.
This was 2006. Today, the program is in 10 counties, including the southeast, and spreading.
Mr. Best expressed appreciation to Joe Milton for his great philanthropic efforts in reaching out to people he did not know, especially the unlettered folk in Liberia. Best also commended ALFALIT president, Rev. Roberto Perez, who along with Mr. Milton and others have made several visits to Liberia and met with stakeholders, including Education Minister Joseph Korto.
Mr. Best called on Dr. Korto to revamp the Adult Literacy Program in the Education Ministry and urged all schools, colleges and universities, churches and mosques to open their doors at night to people in communities throughout the country for adult literacy training.
The newspaper publisher said he was convinced that with all stakeholders putting their hands to the plough, Liberia could in a short while reap a bounteous harvest of a functionally literate populace. This, he insisted, would propel Liberia further on the road to development.

“The market women and men would use their ability to read and write to improve and expand their businesses through better planning, better accounting, record keeping and greater profits. It would serve a big boost to reducing poverty in our country.

A functionally literate populace, said the guest speaker, could become “one of the great pillars in the nation’s Poverty Reduction Strategy.”

He urged the market women and others who had been promoted to continue forging ahead until they completed sixth grade, on to high school and even to university. He ended his speech with two words, which the students enthusiastically recited several times: “Don’t stop!”

Best thanked the coordinators, teachers and co-workers for their hard work and urged them to continue.

In remarks, Giddings, the ALFALIT executive director, congratulated the students on their promotions, urged them to heed Best’s “Don’t stop” admonition and to continue their education.
Rev. Giddings shared with them his vision of one day bringing a mass crowd of ALFALIT students to the S.K.D. Sports Stadium so as to demonstrate to national leaders the importance of adult literacy in Liberia.

To the delight of the audience, Rev. Giddings read a letter he had received from one the ALFALIT students requesting the use of his pickup to haul concrete blocks to her site where she was building a house. He immediately sent her the pickup, he said, because he was impressed that this lady was now able to write him a letter expressing her need.

Giddings challenged all the students to start writing letters expressing themselves. He announced that an ALFALIT letter writing competition would be organized. Each student should write a letter to someone. The theme should be: “What ALFALIT Has Done for Me.”

Best pledged that at the end of the competition, the best two letters would be published in theDaily Observer, along with the photos of the authors.

Giddings spoke of the tremendous progress the ALFALIT program had achieved within a few years. The program was now in 10 of Liberia’s 15 counties, including the southeast, and spreading. The extension in the southeast has been made possible through a grant from the McCall MacBain Foundation, he noted.

“We shall not rest,” he shouted, “until the program is running in all the counties, and until all our people can achieve functional literacy.”

Several students came to the blackboard to demonstrate their writing and math skills.
A group of students performed a thrilling drama demonstrating the importance of education.

The lead character was Garmei, whose husband had deserted her because she was illiterate. [Garmei, a Kpelle female name meaning “my senior,” was the popular star in the highly rated ELBC-TV drama “Ballawala Ballawala” of the 1980s and 1990s in Liberia].

In the ALFALIT drama, Garmei’s husband had found another lady, a university graduate, whom he secretly decided to take to the United States. Whenever Garmei came across a letter the new lady had written the husband, the Garmei would dutifully take the letter to him, not having a clue as to who had sent it or its contents, because she could not read or write. Whenever her friends would inform her about the other woman, Garmei would plead with them, “Please don’t try to break up my home.”

Then one sad day she received the news that her husband had left for the USA with the other woman.

Garmei fainted.

That same day she decided to begin attending the ALFALIT classes. After completing the sixth grade, Garmei went on to junior high and high school and did not stop until she completed university.
Meanwhile, times became hard for Garmei’s ex-husband in the USA, because he failed to find a “suitable” job. His new wife became the breadwinner and that terribly disturbed him.

Discouraged and dejected, he returned home and sought employment. The wife he had left behind was now an NGO executive director and her ex-husband came to her office one day looking for a job.

When he recognized that his boss-to-be was his former wife Garmei, the woman he had left behind, he could not look directly into her face because he was ashamed. But she told him not to worry, but to return the following day and he would be employed. He dutifully returned and was told he now had a job: to clean the yard and the toilets. He thanked her and promised to return the following day to start work.

Ashamed of himself and totally embarrassed, however, he never returned.

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