Haiti, 1986

With the end of the brutal, US supported, Duvalier regime, 3500 base communities emerged through Ti Legliz (little church). This was Haiti’s own version of the liberation theology which arose in Latin America and similarly addressed social, political and economic justice for their marginalized populations.

With Haiti’s illiteracy rate of at least 80%, Ti Legliz organized Alfabetizasyon, literacy programmes in Haitian Creole based on the work of Paolo Freire, the Brazilian educator and activist. In Haiti, Ti Legliz developed an indigenous text, Goute Sel (a taste of salt) focused on the lives of rural peasants and raising up their critical concerns. Teams of community activists led the classes and discussions.

Inevitably, the macoutes and military junta who followed the departure of the Duvaliers did not tolerate these programmes. Community leaders were assassinated or went into hiding, materials were destroyed. Following the lost chance of democracy with President Aristide, lost through ongoing US interference, government corruption, outright coups and military occupations, Haiti continues to suffer from the highest rate of poverty and illiteracy in this hemisphere.

In 2002 a local project for adult literacy was launched in Limonade, a commune in the Nord department of Haiti. Chancy Jak, a local human rights lawyer and activist, was encouraged by a Creolist from Indiana University. They began with a single class of market women. Chancy gradually built a team of community organizers to extend the programme.

An old copy of Goute Sel was rescued and continues to be the basic text for all Alfa classes. Literally translated, Goute Sel means a taste of salt. Numerous references from the Bible have been used to explain this title. However, it is better understood through the Voudou belief that a taste of salt will revive the half dead. Alfa uses the power of literacy to awaken those whose basic human rights have been denied, whose lives are deadened. Despite their unique revolutionary history, Haitians continue to suffer the ongoing effects of colonialism and neocolonialism.

Alfa now has 11 sites beyond Limonade. Classes are meeting up in the hills, along the river and out on the coast. Where they cannot borrow a classroom or a little chapel, everyone works together to build a simple shelter. Women and men who were denied any education, who had never held a pencil, are writing. They are reading, manipulating numbers, and questioning history. And they know their rights and responsibilities as citizens.

Kofi Annan said, “Literacy is a human right with immense power to transform. It is a bridge from misery to hope. On its foundation rest the cornerstones of freedom, democracy, and sustainable human development.”

Alfa has a small but committed support group based in the US Midwest. We believe that literacy lies at the root of our human identity and that for every person it can provide dignity and a means of control for how we live. We, Chancy Jak and his team, and all Alfa participants, continue to be affirmed and strengthened by our ongoing partnership with the Steve Sinnott Foundation.

Alfabetizasyon se chemen devlopman

Literacy is the path to development