Literacy And Development in Haiti

Chauncy Jacques

Chauncy Jacques, a human rights lawyer who became a community development organizer in adult education and in training literacy leaders, talks here about the importance of teaching literacy in the mother tongue together with consciousness raising. 

Wherever you are in the world, I greet you. Thanks to The Steve Sinnott Foundation for connecting us through my brief article written in Haitian Kreyòl about creating literacy in Haiti.


I should introduce myself and explain my part in this project. I am from the community of Limonade in Northern Haiti, Chancy Jacques a human rights lawyer who became a community development organizer in adult education, credit groups for street vendors, and in training literacy leaders.


In any society, if the people cannot read and write and remain illiterate, that country will remain underdeveloped. This is why we need literacy programs in Haiti. (Alfabetizasyon in Kreyòl). In our context the literacy process means enabling those who have not been to school to begin reading, writing, and reflecting. When this happens, people gain a tool which enables them to develop within themselves, their families, their communities, and their country.


Some statistics have put the illiteracy rate in Haiti as high as 85%. There have been various tentative efforts to confront this situation, notably ONARAK and Misyon Alfa, but they have not been successful. Programs by The Alfa Foundation and the Catholic Church did not last. One cause of failure for these campaigns was that they were not embedded in consciousness-raising. This is why the high rate of illiteracy of our population remains at the root of Haiti’s many problems. 


Enabling literacy for all Haitians is not only the work of the state, but is the role for everyone who is able. With that in mind, St Ann Parish in Limonade, supported by friends at St. Bartholomew Parish in Indiana, launched their own ALFA program, “Literacy is the Path to Development”.

ALFA includes communities in the parishes of Limonade and Bwadlans. The program is based on three pillars: reading & writing; mathematics; consciousness-raising. 


Consciousness-raising, when done well, enables participants to discover that, of course, they already know a great deal! These are wise people, not ignorant or stupid. With the group monitor (not teacher) they begin to learn, and from them the monitor also begins to learn. They are good friends and it is by working together (tet ansanm) that the class becomes strong. Becoming more fully aware, participants discover that, universally, reading and writing is a key tool in life. They get excited about learning to read and write. They understand that they are behind in the journey, they want to hurry! They want to participate in community matters, in the church, and in national issues.


Once the work of consciousness-raising is done, and done well, reading and writing does not seem a mystery, for participants have discovered where they want to go. Then the work of the monitors becomes easier because everyone wants to come to class to learn quickly.


We use the “Goute Sel” text, a method which reinforces consciousness- raising. Each lesson has a subject for reflection and discovery. The reading and writing we share in unison so that no one is left behind.


Every Alfa participant is already calculating day to day. They always count whatever they have. In mathematics, it is only the understanding of numbers which is a problem. As they meet numbers in each lesson, the monitor helps them discover how these numbers express what they already know and practice. I believe it must be among the greatest possible experiences in life to enable a person to become literate, helping them leave hopelessness, find dignity and community. For this opportunity, Alfa monitors and I remain deeply grateful for the support of our friends in Indiana and the new partnership with the Steve Sinnott Foundation in London. 






First published in Engage 23.

By CHAUNCY JACQUES • February 24, 2022

36 Bicycles. Countless Futures in The Gambia.

By Ann Beatty • May 20, 2026
How a simple act of practical solidarity is transforming the journey to school in The Gambia’s Central River Region North Policies have been written. Schools have been built. Yet for many children in The Gambia’s Central River Region North, access to education is still measured in kilometres, not opportunity. 

Education for Hope in Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous Times

By Laura Griffin • May 13, 2026
‘In a single hour vast tracts of shaded woodland became a jumble of torn trees and upturned soil, exposed to the glare of the summer sun. Such land-clearing events are rare, but forests exhibit remarkable resilience in the face of disaster. I’m told that the Chinese character for ‘catastrophe’ is the same as that which represents the word ‘opportunity’. And, the blowdown, while catastrophic, presented opportunities for many species.’ (Wall Kimmerer, 2003: 89). In the context of a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world (Stein, 2021) what kinds of education for hope might support children’s and young people’s critical engagement in local and global issues? In the spirit of exploring the possibilities of hope further, this short article focuses on the area of global citizenship and sustainabilityrelated education. It will briefly open by sharing commonalities across pedagogical approaches that take up the concept and act of hope more critically, and close by offering reflective questions for educators, with suggestions for further reading. Perhaps it is a kind of hope that is grounded in the present, in future reimagining(s), in ethical solidarity, and an acknowledgement of our deep entanglement with the living metabolism of planet earth 1 our singular home (UNESCO, 2021); a hope that engages with complex root causes and lived realities of multiple overlapping crises in critically reflexive and contextually relevant ways. As McCloskey notes, ‘Hope can fire our collective imagination and critical consciousness as a mainspring to activism and intervention in the world.’ (2025: 3). Commonalities across critical pedagogical approaches to hope include: Acknowledging the context of a ‘seamless single story of progress, development and human evolution’ (Andreotti, V.D.O., 2021b Relating to social and ecological justice and the wellbeing of people and planet Using participatory, action-orientated and inquiry-based learning processes Exploring diverse worldviews and perspectives Practising grounding in the present with opening up possibilities for change (relational, embodied, response-able 2 ) Experiencing ‘struggle’ in different forms (dialogical, selfreflexive, open-ended) Engaging individual and collective agency, action and activism Looking for lifelong and life-wide learning and unlearning. 1 See ‘Co-sensing with Radical Tenderness’, in Machado de Oliveira Andreotti. 2021a 2 See ‘Crossing Borders’ in 2 Depth Education “Depth Education and the Possibility of GCE Otherwise, 2021b. Source: Andreotti, V. 2021a & 2021b., Atif, A. (2025)., Bourn, D. 2021., Bryan. A. and Mochizuki,Y., 2024., Giroux, H.A. 2025., Meade, E. 2025. Whilst engaging in the concept and act of hope more critically reflect upon: What kinds of education for hope might you explore further and why? How might you provide generative spaces for engaging in diverse worldviews and perspectives? In what ways can you facilitate individual and collective agency? How might you support learners’ practice grounding in the present in order to relate differently? In what ways can you support learners in navigating complex root causes and lived realities of local and global issues? As Chief Ninawa Hini Kui affirms, ‘The future depends much less on the images we project ahead than on our capacity to repair relations and build relationships differently in the present.’ (Andreotti et al, 2023: 73. An invitation for further reading: Transformative Learning for a Sustainable Future . d’Abreu, C., Belgeonne, C., Bourn, D. and Hatley, J. (2025) ‘Transformative Learning for a Sustainable Future’. DERC Research Paper 24. London: UCL Institute of Education. Hospicing Modernity: facing humanity’s wrongs and the implications for social activism. Machado de Oliveira Andreotti, V. (2021a) ‘Hospicing Modernity: facing humanity’s wrongs and the implications for social activism’ , London: Penguin Random House. Development Education and Hope . McCloskey, S. (2025). (ed) ‘Development Education and Hope’. ‘Policy and Practice: A Development Education Review’ , Vol. 41, Autumn. Centre for Global Education, Belfast. Link to and download the full reference list here

I heard it said today by a friend that “You learn a language best when you use it to speak and write about things that are important to you. ”

By Susan Piper • May 6, 2026
This summed up to me about why I volunteer for the Hands Up Project. HUP is a charity trust which, through its network of volunteers, connects children around the world with young people in Palestine. By means of online interaction, drama and storytelling activities, it enables the use of creativity and selfexpression to promote mutual understanding, personal growth, and the development of English language skills. I joined HUP in 2020 during COVID. After going to Palestine in 2017, I wanted to get more involved in working with Palestinian children in schools. HUP gave me the opportunity to link up with schools in the West Bank and Gaza. Every week I’d tell them stories from all over the world, then we’d discuss it, play games and I’d get them to retell it. Sometimes we would work from their coursebook English for Palestine’ in mutual team teaching sessions with their teacher. The simple act of telling a story became much more than entertainment. It became connection, healing, and a bridge to the world beyond their immediate reality to help them improve their language skills, and to give them a platform to speak about their lives in a language that connects them to people everywhere. I loved it, every week, seeing their smiling faces on the screen and building long lasting friendships with their teachers. I even went to Gaza in 2023 and met some of the kids I’d only seen on Zoom. It was a beautiful experience and something I will never forget. As hostilities escalated, I lost contact with everyone. I thought about where the kids were and what had happened to them. As I watched schools being bombed, universities flattened, and people killed in their thousands, I thought about where the kids I’d met were and what was happening to them. I kept in contact with many of the teachers I knew and heard daily news of displacement, destruction, hunger and bombing. Recently, I’ve started to link up again with children in Gaza, and it feels wonderful to be back helping them learn after being denied an education for over two years. Connecting with children in Palestine is more than just words. When a child in Palestine confidently tells their story to someone on the other side of the world, bridges are built, empathy grows, and the world gains a fuller picture of childhood in contexts far from peace and privilege. My work with these children is rooted in the belief that education and voice are inseparable. Through storytelling and English language learning, I witness children not just learning new vocabulary, but reclaiming their narratives, believing in their potential, and finding human connection in a world they perceive has abandoned them. And more than anything, this work reminds us all that children — everywhere — deserve to learn, to speak, and to be heard. Links to HUP information, books and resources: The Hands Up Project BY SUSAN PIPER Susan Piper is currently an ESOL teacher in Oldham, Greater Manchester and has worked in education for over 30 years. She is also a volunteer for the Hands Up Project and is the International Solidarity Officer and President of her NEU district. She believes in quality education for all and aims to make her lessons creative and inclusive so that effective language learning can take place.