Haiti: More Than Words

“I don’t want to draw a cross or put my thumbprint on papers,” the gray-haired, weathered man told me, “I want to learn to sign my name. That’s why I’m here.”

Education in Haiti exists mostly in theory instead of practice. Under Haitian law, education is free and compulsory for children between the ages of six and thirteen. In reality, factors such as location of schools, the cost of school supplies and uniforms, and the availability of teachers can severely limit access to education. In many cases, particularly in the countryside, families cannot afford to lose the work a child can contribute to support the family. These barriers mean that only 40 to 50% of school aged children actually attends school, which leads to adult literacy levels of only 48% for men and 42% for women, the lowest in the Western Hemisphere.

With the gap left by formal education in Haiti, other means of teaching must necessarily step in.

FONKOZE (Fondasyon Kole Zepol, “Foundation for the People”) is a national alternative Haitian bank whose main clientele are the economically poor members of Haitian society. Among it’s banking services, offered at branches in at least 15 communities in Haiti, is a literacy program. Pierre Malvoisin, the director of FONKOZE’s literacy program, tells me, “In the beginning (of FONKOZE), there wasn’t a literacy service. We worked with people who, for the most part, could neither read nor write. They are what we call in Haiti timarchands (street vendors)”. Through FONKOZE’s micro credit program, the bank discovered that “they (the timarchands) had difficulties filling out the forms … they couldn’t sign anything – they were obliged to put a cross or to put their thumbprint to sign their name”, Malvoisin explains. “We said we had to create a (literacy) program as an accompaniment (to the credit program) to help them. That’s how the idea of the literacy service started.”

The literacy training itself is based on two sessions – Alpha de Bas (basic
literacy) and Post Alpha (post-literacy). Instead of textbooks, the literacy materials are creative – the activities are based on games like dominoes, monopoly and card games. The program, designed by general coordinator and founding member of FONKOZE Father Joseph Philippe, must see results quickly. Malvoisin explains, “he (Father Joseph) chose the games for their creativity. We work with a lot of older people who may think it isn’t worth the time and effort to learn to read and write. Or, because of their age, it takes too much time”. By teaching basic literacy skills quickly, FONKOZE is able to convince more people to attend their literacy sessions.

During the second session, for those who completed the first, FONKOZE adds a guide to business management and an exercise book for home study to the basic material. In addition to the printed support material, Malvoisin says, “we work with the people in the micro-credit program to help them better manage their economic activities – things like elevage (animal husbandry), commerce, etc… We give them credit, but we also give them training in the business management”.

Because of the success of their program, and in an effort to expand its scope, FONKOZE contracts out its literacy services to other institutions. “As soon as they heard that it works”, Malvoisin explains, “they began knocking on our door”.

It’s easy to get excited at the prospect of such a successful program. At the end of the training sessions, though, I have to ask, “Now what?” If the participants have managed to survive without reading or writing so far, how is signing their name going to change anything? Malvoisin tells me, “this doesn’t mean that after the Post Alpha program they’re intellectuals…. (After this program) you have someone who is able to not only write their name and do an inventory, you have someone who has the capacity to reflect not only on their business activities but also on their environment”. Even after the first session, Malvoisin says, “if people apply themselves and meet our demands, they are able to write their name… we (also) help them to break down and record their thoughts. And, while people are already very strong in calculations, we teach them how to do it on paper.”

The underlying methodology and working material of the program, while practical, supports a strong theoretical base. Malvoisin explains, “what we take as theoretical basis is essentially what Paulo Friere calls Conscientizing Literacy. However, it’s also functional…. We try to use a theoretical basis that’s a balance between the two (Conscientizing Literacy and Functional Literacy)”. The program, says Malvoisin, is “essentially conscientizing because we try to teach the person how to better organize their thoughts, their work, etc. At the same time, it’s based, in the majority of cases, on activities like commerce or elevage – every day activities”.

This element of conscientization, or critical awareness, is an important distinguishing trait between simply writing your name and understanding your environment. Malvoisin explains, “for example, if we take a term like deforestation”. Through debates, “we discuss what deforestation means. It’s a participatory method. Each participant gives their opinion and (…) we try to end up with some kind of lesson or investigation – this is how the problem is posed, this is how we analyze it, this is how we find some way to combat the problem”. Through this discussion, this participatory method, they are able to empower greater understanding.

Sitting in my living room at the end of the interview, Malvoisin says, “there are some things that are made up of more than just words.”