USAID Timor-Leste - Programs - Highlight: Economic Growth

Highlight Photo

The FHA literacy team uses colorful posters and flashcards to teach women
to read.

Photo by Nick Hobgood, USAID-ET Small Grants Program

Literacy Program Targets Rural Women
(September 4, 2003)

A women's literacy program in the Timor-Leste enclave of Oecusse has helped more than 200 students learn to read over the past two years. Run by Feto Hasoru Analfabeto (FHA), a local NGO, the program reaches women in almost all of Oecusse's subdistricts.

Though part of Timor-Leste, Oecusse district is separated from the rest of the country and lies within the Indonesian province of West Timor. It has the lowest literacy rate in Timor-Leste--only about 30% of its 48,000 residents can read, according to some civic organizations. The literacy rate among women is lower than men, and even now girls make up only 42% of the district's high school students. FHA targets housewives and poor women in rural areas for its classes. The five FHA trainers travel to villages around Oecusse to teach women to speak, read, and write Tetum, one of the most widely spoken of Timor-Leste's languages. Familiarity with Tetum enables the women to communicate better in the marketplace and with buyers coming from Dili.

FHA's trainers also help the women get to grips with US currency. Timorese had used the Indonesian rupiah for 24 years during the Indonesian occupation, but US money was adopted as the official currency of Timor-Leste in 2000. In Oecusse and other areas close to the Indonesian border, the transition from the rupiah has been slow. Many residents found the US currency confusing after using the rupiah for so long. "We now know how to use the dollar," explained one student after her FHA course.

USAID-ET supports FHA's activities with a $14,846 grant that provides many basic materials for the students, including notebook and pens. The literacy work of FHA helps improve the skills of many rural women, encourages their participation in civic activities, and enhances their ability to take part in the formal economy.

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