Role of Literacy In Sustainable Boreholes Provision – People Empowerment For Poverty Reduction
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Transcript of Role of Literacy In Sustainable Boreholes Provision – People Empowerment For Poverty Reduction
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7/30/2019 Role of Literacy In Sustainable Boreholes Provision People Empowerment For Poverty Reduction
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Developing Country Studies www.iiste.org
ISSN 2224-607X (Paper) ISSN 2225-0565 (Online)
Vol.3, No.4, 2013
1
Role of Literacy In Sustainable Boreholes Provision People
Empowerment For Poverty Reduction
Auckhinleck, Kwame AdowAtlantic International University, School of Social Studies, Hawaii, USA.
E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract
This study examines the role functional adult literacy played in empowering people to sustain boreholes provided
and for progressive reduction in poverty. For many governments in sub-Saharan Africa the bane of development
interventions is the lack of effective institutions and measures to ensure the sustainability of the vital and highlevel cost investments made. More so, when the critical mass of the beneficiary population are illiterate and would
need training to be able to effectively appreciate, understand, and acquire the rudimentary requisite skills to be
able to participate and implement sustainability strategies. The sample size for the study was 1,200 household
respondents drawn from 240 communities provided with boreholes selected by simple random sampling
technique. Primary data was collected from eight Districts through the use of quantitative and qualitative research
instruments. Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS software. Findings included a 98.3% success rate of
literacy project implementation; 74.6% of respondents indicated literacy project contributing to their individualwell being; 85.1% indicated literacy project facilitated the availability of trained hand pump maintenance
technicians; 87.6% indicated the literacy project facilitated ownership of boreholes by communities; 73.0%
indicated literacy project contributing to community borehole sustainability; and, 73.3% of respondents could
relate the continual sustainability of boreholes to low level poverty in their communities. Thus, basic adult literacyfor the sustainability of boreholes is considered quintessential for continual improvement in the quality of human
lives and ultimately for reduction in poverty, and should be pursued.
Key words: Boreholes; Empowerment; Illiteracy; Literacy; Sustainability.
1. IntroductionAs at year 2008, UNESCO indicated that there was in existence over 774 million illiterate adults and youth.
By implication, about one in five adults as at then did not have access to written communication through literacy
to make them effectively functional in society. The obvious situation is that adult illiteracy has become a growing
problem despite efforts to eradicate it. To affirm the important role literacy plays in the development process the
United Nations Literacy Decade 2003-2012, was launched with the focus and vision as Literacy as Freedom and
Literacy for All. Among its priority population groups were illiterate youth and adults, especially women(UNESCO, 2008).
Bohla (1990), indicated that literacy had become a human rights issue and serves as a means of liberating
a peoples mind from the burden and bondage of ignorance and dependency to producing people of capacity,
capable, self-supporting and independent. He indicated further that literacy plays a central role in development
and though not always understood, there exists an inseparable beneficial relationship between literacy provision
and development. So the lack of literacy jeopardizes development efforts especially in rural communities indeveloping countries.
The way literacy is defined has changed over several decades. For example, literacy was considered
simply as the ability to read and write messages in the 1930s to 1940s. However, recent emphasis has been on the
effective applications of reading, writing and computational skills. Thus, the concept of literacy being functional
has eventually emerged to describe the application of basic reading, writing, computational skills, and links to
occupational livelihoods skills learning.
UNESCO defines literacy as: literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create,
communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves
a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals in life, develop their knowledge and
potential and participate fully in community and wider society (UNESCO, 2005:21). The empowerment aspect of
literacy has also been recognized because it paves the way for knowledge acquisition, building self-confidence and
self-esteem, and with increased awareness created, individuals, households and communities behaviors are
influenced positively for development (UNESCO, 2008).
In some countries illiteracy is regarded as a barrier preventing the poor from improving their lives, while in
others illiteracy is regarded as one of the major causes and determinants of poverty (UNESCO, 2008). The
indication worldwide is that as a country develops, illiteracy generally declines when more children enroll in
school. However, in rural areas and among deprived population groups high illiteracy rates often persist as access
to education is limited. Many people believe outlays towards literacy provision are a waste of national resources
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and such funds should be invested in expanding and providing quality education to the current school-age
population. However if adult illiteracy is not addressed over a period of time the literate-illiterate population
disparity continue to grow and negatively affect incomes as large deprived groups persistently fall into extreme
poverty levels (World Bank, 2010a; Adow, 1993).To the United Nations, the continual existence of adults in countries constitute a major problem to
advancing development, retards development initiatives, and in many instances poses great risk to national
stability and security, fostering rebels in developing countries who do not understand and appreciate the values of
democratic governance, as well as the abuse, misuse and misguidance of the illiterate population by politicians
when campaigning for political power. Thus, by declaring 1990 as the International Literacy Year (ILY), the
United Nations General Assembly by its Resolution no.42/104 of 1987 completely and emphatically endorsed theideology and theoretical basis for promoting literacy as a development instrument and means of setting free
masses of people from mental bondage and limitations to a parochial world view due to lack of basic capacity to
read, write, calculate and acquire occupational skills. Without a country improving the literacy of its population,
there cannot be accelerated development, and if not improved, illiteracy causes reversals of gains in national
development due to lack of know-how and sustainable capacity of the mass of illiterates as compared to fewer
literates (UNESCO, 2006; Bohla, 1990).The inability to read, write, and count limits effective participation in the labor market and also seriously
limits sustainability of programs, for instance, the operation and maintenance of potable water infrastructure suchas boreholes (Fisher, 2011; Fosenka, 2008). It has also been indicated in other studies that literate adults are more
effective workers. This applies both to workers in wage jobs and to the large majority of women and men who are
employed through the informal sector (McKay & Aryeetey, 2007; Aryeetey & Kwakye, 2005).The inability of people to read, write and compute limits their capacity to engage effectively in development
activities. Providing literacy promotes enhancement of community solidarity and collective capacity to work with
development partners to improve their well being and reduce poverty (Carey, 2002). Literacy is therefore one of
the major universal issues linked with reduction in poverty, creating wealth and growth in national economies, so
the literacy competence of a population is quintessential to economic development of countries. Literacy
empowers and facilitates freedoms utilization to redress and ensure consistent emergence from poverty (UNESCO,2008; UNDP, 1997).
When poverty combines with illiteracy it deprives people of essential knowledge, capacity and
capabilities, as well as robbing them of dignity, confidence, and self-respect (World Bank, 2006; Nussbaum, 2005).
All these lead to the lack of capacity and capability to command resources to meet ones basic needs and enablethem live in dignity. Literacy provision therefore constitute a major element in the human development nexus,
especially as specifically related to ensuring the emergence of the masses from poverty and their ability to helpsustain reduction in poverty consistently. Thus, adult literacy provision should help to reduce basic deprivations in
choices and opportunities (Sachs, 2005).
In Ghana the efforts to reduce illiteracy, especially in rural areas and among the poor and socially
excluded date back to the post-colonial era. Starting in the 1950s, the independent government introduced mass
literacy campaigns but success was limited. The reasons for the poor performance were primarily due to supply
driven approaches without participant interest, poor links to occupational and civic needs, and ineffective teachingmethodologies (Aoki, 2006; Adow, 1993). Also another objective of Ghanas adult literacy program was to
develop the nations manpower base for the implementation of the post-colonial Accelerated Development Plan
(Community of Learning, 2005).
Eradicating illiteracy was declared a national priority in 1991and the Non-Formal Education Division
(NFED) was established as the institution mandated under the Ministry of Education to implement adult literacyprograms in Ghana. The goal was to eliminate illiteracy among the 5.6 million illiterates by the year 2015 (World
Bank, 2010a; Owusu-Boampong, 2007; Owusu-Mensah, 2007). Therefore peoples empowerment for self-
development through adult literacy promotion became a major pathway employed by the Government of Ghana to
reduce poverty (Aryeetey and Kwakye, 2005; World Vision Ghana, 2003).
The NFED developed the inception phase to the National Functional Literacy Program (NFLP I) with the
main objective to improve economic opportunities and quality of life for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged
Ghanaians. By the end of that phase a large adult literacy program had been developed including a nationwide
infrastructure for implementation. The Ghana National Functional Literacy Project Phase 2 (NFLP II) was
designed as a follow-up to the first phase of the project organized from 1992-97, taking into account the challenges
of the previous program and sector level constraints encountered (World Bank, 2010a). The objective of the NFLP
II was consistent with the governments Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy (2000-02) which focused on poor
peoples capacity to earn incomes to improve the quality of lives and promote reduction in poverty. In the
Government of Ghanas Poverty Reduction Strategy (2006-09) the priority of improving literacy rates remained.One of the objectives of the NFLP II was to pilot 500 English Adult Literacy Classes (World Bank, 2010a). This
was substantially achieved with a major contribution made by World Vision Ghana.
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2. Issues Trends In Adult Literacy Delivery In Ghana
Under the World Vision Ghana Rural Water Project Phase III (1996 to 2003), the target was to drill 600 wet wells
for 300 communities in the Greater Afram Plains areas of the Eastern, Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Regions of Ghana.Training was to be organized for 570 borehole hand-pump maintenance and repair technicians to ensure
sustainability of the boreholes in beneficiary communities. To ensure continual potable water availability and
consistent boreholes patronage to eradicate waterborne/related diseases, especially guinea worm, six thousand
(6,000) illiterate members of institutions relating to the management of the boreholes at the community level, such
as, Water and Sanitation (WATSAN) Committee members, Womens groups, and Pump Maintenance Technicians
(PMTs) were to be put through literacy classes. The objective was to build their capacity to handle boreholessustainability issues in the communities after programs phase-out, with the long-term objective of empowering
them to take hold of their future to reduce poverty in the study area (World Vision Ghana GRWP, 2003).
A survey conducted in 1999 revealed a total of 5,923 non-literate members of local institutions formed in
rural communities in the eight districts where World Vision was operating. It was thus imperative that proactive
steps have to be taken to redress the situation to guarantee the sustainability of the boreholes investments made.
World Vision therefore requested the NFED to provide a functional English literacy project for beneficiaries of itsWater and Sanitation Program where the eight Districts were located so as to meet the objective of ensuring
sustainability of the borehole investments made in the Greater Afram Plains.Due to the multiplicity of ethnic groups with varied dialects in the Greater Afram Plains, World Vision
recommended a functional English Literacy Project instead of several vernacular literacy classes, which the NFED
accepted. It was also emphasized that the learners would benefit most because of English being a universallanguage. More importantly, literacy of borehole hand-pump parts must be in English because the hand-pump
parts have no names in the local dialects. By March 2003, in collaboration with the NFED, as shown in Table 1,
7,699 learners were enrolled in adult English literacy classes, facilitated by 270 trained Literacy Facilitators in 202
rural communities. The specific aim was to build the capacity of the Learners to read and write, acquire numeracy
skills, and also to enable them monitor and repair the boreholes provided in their communities to promote
sustainable boreholes for gradual reduction in poverty (World Vision Ghana, 2004).The typical characteristics of several adult literacy projects globally has been the failure to produce
outcomes expected, high drop-out rates, low patronage and low completion rates (Carey, 2002). Despite that grave
scenario, out of the number of 7,699 enrolled in the World Vision Literacy Project, 7,565 successfully completed
the classes in 24 months. Out of the number who successfully completed, 51.1% were males, and 48.9% werefemales. World Vision exceeded its target by a margin of 1,565 (26.1%) due to more teaching and learning
logistics, and project monitoring support provided by the NFED to enable more classes to be established to meetthe high demand in the communities (World Vision Ghana, 2004). This study therefore examines the role the
World Vision Literacy Project specifically played in empowering the local rural population to sustain boreholes
provided towards reduction in poverty in their households and communities.
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3. Methodology
For this study the population of interest was drawn from rural communities in eight districts where World Vision
Ghana Rural Water Project drilled 1,146 boreholes in 740 communities in eight Districts in three Regions from
1990 to 2003. The sampling frame was thus based on the database of boreholes drilled (World Vision, 2003). The
probability sampling technique was employed to obtain the sample needed for the study.This technique allowed
for each individual unit in the population universe to have a chance or probability of being included in the sample(Guiseppe, 2006; Krueger & Neuman, 2006). Specifically, the probability technique - Simple Random Sample
(SRS), was used to select the samples (communities and respondents) for this study. Two hundred and forty (240)
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communities, representing 32.0% of communities with boreholes (Program communities) were sampled for this
study. Five household respondents were selected from each program community to arrive at a respondents sample
size of 1,200.
Primary data were collected from communities sampled using a mixed approach of quantitative andqualitative data collection methods. Information were collected on the situation before and after boreholes were
provided in terms of the sources of water, the availability and access to potable water, the capacity for engaging in
livelihoods occupations, health issues, hygiene practices, and issues relating to potable water security assurance
through boreholes governance measures and practices towards sustainability, including the functional adult literacy
project implementation. Information were also accessed from secondary sources to facilitate the discussions.
Questions were structured with responses in basic Yes or No formats for the quantitative. Thequantitative data were analyzed through the use of SPSS computer-based analysis applications to generate the
results. Qualitative information gathered was analyzed by Content analysis methods to triangulate and also
complement quantitative results. The unit of analysis was households. Non-parametric data analysis methods,
especially descriptive statistics were employed to analyze the data, and EXCEL spreadsheets tools used to depict
the results graphically.
3.1 Conceptual /Theoretical Framework
The functional adult English literacy project for promoting sustainable boreholes provision aims at theempowerment of community people. One significant purpose that should be achieved was building local capacity
of the local population in a community to be able to sustain all investments made in the boreholes provided to be
able to sustain gains made in health and time availability and its use to reduce poverty.The conceptual model is as captured in Figure 1, shows the inter-relationships between adult literacy
implementation after boreholes provision for people empowerment for poverty reduction which involves: (1)
Boreholes provided in rural communities to meet basic potable water needs. (2) WATSAN Committee (borehole
oversight institution) formed and trained. (3)WATSAN Committees empowered to select local people to be trained
as borehole hand-pump maintenance technicians (PMTs) for their communities. (4) Illiterate members of
WATSAN Committees, illiterate PMTs and members of Womens groups enrolled in Literacy classes learn moreabout borehole hand-pump maintenance and repairs to sustain quality of life through consistent boreholes
patronage. (5) WATSAN Committee members and PMTs enrolled in Literacy classes are able to identify hand-
pump parts by name and able to purchase the right hand-pump parts for borehole repairs. (6) Potable water
security assurance with beneficial outcomes as: United Nations and World Health Organizations waterrequirement of 20 litres per person a day met; guarantees eradication of water borne/related diseases; promotes
personal hygiene and health; promotes environmental hygiene; saves community folks time from water hunting;time savings from water hunting used for economic activities to create wealth; prevents relapse by community
members to patronize surface water sources infested with waterborne/related diseases, especially guinea worm.
The theoretical framework as presented in Figure 2 shows the theory of change depicting the role adult
literacy plays in the sustainable boreholes provision to empower people towards gradual reduction in poverty. In
Figure 2 the INPUTS show as: boreholes provision in rural communities; boreholes sustainability institutions and
practices established for assurance of potable water availability all year round in the form of technical, social,financial, institutional, and environmental sustainability.
The PROCESS employed is the establishment of 270 functional adult English literacy classes in 202 rural
communities. The OUTPUTS were: community ownership of boreholes leading to effective boreholes operation,
maintenance and repairs supervised by WATSAN Committees; pool of people literate about boreholes created and
can be tapped for training as hand-pump technicians; community populations experience very good health andtime gains utilization due to continual potable water availability. The OUTCOMES were: water security assurance
which has resulted in all year round availability of potable water as indicated by the ability to engage in
occupational livelihoods consistently without being side tracked by trekking in search of water; improved and high
labor productivity from time gains applications on occupational livelihoods activities; high returns from
occupational livelihoods engagements; economic empowerment investments in livelihood occupations generating
incomes and progressive wealth creation in households; human dignity regained and valued as a result of continual
improvements in individual and household well being. The IMPACTS were: very strong economic capacity
established leading to progressive wealth creation; improved quality of life; emergence from poverty; progressive
reduction in poverty; decent living and restoration of human dignity; human capability improvements; and,
financial capacity to contribute towards borehole sustainability and also to meet basic household needs.
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Figure 1: Conceptual framework - Inter-relationships between Adult Literacy implementation after
boreholes provision for people empowerment for poverty reduction
Source: Authors Construct
3. WATSAN Committeeempowered to select
borehole hand-pump
maintenance technicians
(PMTs) to be trained for
theircommunities.
- Training of WATSAN
Committee members and
PMTs in boreholesmanagement principles
and practices.
6. Potable water security
assurance, with following
benefits:
- Meets UN water
requirement of 20 litres
per person a day.
- Guarantees eradication of
water borne/related
diseases.
- Promotes personal
hygiene and health.
- Promotes environmental
hygiene
- Saves community folks
time from water hunting
- Time savings from water
hunting used for economic
activities to create wealth.
- Prevents relapse by
community members to
4. Illiterate members of
WATSAN Committee and
illiterate PMTs and
members of Womens
groups enrolled in Literacy
Classes learn more about
borehole hand-pump
maintenance and repairs to
improve and sustain quality
of life.
1.Boreholes provided
in rural communities.
Borehole sustainability
through patronage of
adult literacyclasses.
2. WATSAN Committee (borehole oversight
institutions) formed and
trained.
5. WATSAN Committee
members and PMTs
enrolled in Literacy Classes
are now able to identify
hand-pump parts by name
and able to purchase the
right hand-pump parts for
borehole repairs.
-Regular borehole
maintenance and repairs.
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4. Results
As depicted in Figure 3, 56.5% of respondents in this study indicated they have ever attended school, while 43.5%
indicated they have not. The literacy in the study area has serious implications for borehole sustainability towards
potable water availability and cultivating the culture of borehole ownership, maintenance and repairs.
Figure 3: Ever attended school
Source: Field work 2006
The literacy status of respondents as depicted in Figure 4 shows 52.5% indication that they could neither read norwrite. 41.2% of respondents could read and write, while 3.8% could only read and 2.5% could only write. This
reveals that even despite the literacy project a high number of people in the study area are still illiterate and much
effort has to be made to get them literate by the NFED organizing more literacy classes on a continual basis. This
will help people appreciate better the need to sustain the boreholes provided.
Figure 4: Literacy Status
Source: Field work, 2006
In this study, 80.3% of respondents indicated their main occupation as farming. Sustainable potable water
availability therefore positively impacts their time and health and by implication boreholes sustainability should bea core concern to them as farmers. Getting level headed through effective participation in the literacy project also
enabled them better know the need to collectively own and sustain their boreholes.
In Figure 5, 89.5% of respondents indicated their household members having low incomes before the provision
of boreholes in their community. This was due to the extensive trekking in search of water which deprived them
of the time to engage in income earning livelihood activities. Also many household members were incapacitated
by water borne/related diseases such as guinea worm and diarrhea and thus poor health prevented them fromengaging in activities to earn income. This condition entrenched them in opportunistic and occupational poverty.
However, through the literacy project they are better able to appreciate the essence of borehole sustainability for
continual supply of potable water for their economic empowerment and gradual emergence from poverty.
Series1, Yes, 56.5%
Series1, No, 43.5%
Series
1,
Read,
3.8%,
4%
Series1, Write,
2.5%, 2%
Series1, Both,
41.2%, 41%
Series1, Neither,52.5%, 53%
Read Write Both Neither
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Figure 5: Household members having low incomes before the provision of boreholes
Source: Fieldwork, 2006As depicted in Figure 6, 84.7% of respondents indicated awareness of direct linkage between household water
security and the ability of their households to generate income all year round. Their ability to earn income from
their occupational livelihoods facilitated emergence out of poverty in their households and reduction of poverty
progressively. It is now known that engaging in the literacy project enabled them to understand the endless
possibilities for emergence out of poverty through boreholes provision.
Figure 6: Water Security and the ability of households to generate income all year round
Source: Fieldwork, 2006As shown in Figure 7, responses from 74.6% of respondents indicated that the literacy project contributed to the
well being of their households. With the knowledge gained from the literacy classes they indicated their new role
as guardians for the effective operation and maintenance of the boreholes in their community, which saves them
much time to engage in occupations to earn income to meet their basic needs.
Figure 7: Literacy project contributing to households well being
Source: Fieldwork, 2006As depicted in Figure 8, 84.8% of respondents indicated boreholes provision being an intentional effort of
eradicating illiteracy and poverty due to the high impact implementation of the functional literacy classes. This,
they believe was to empower communities to enable them operate, maintain and repair the boreholes, and which
support people to attend to their occupational livelihoods. They indicated adult literacy also facilitates childrensschool participation, as the adults now better appreciate and value education and support their children to be
regular at school to be able to move to the tertiary levels.
Series1, Yes, 89.5%
Series1, No, 9.3%
Series1, Don't
Know, 1.2%
Series1, Yes,
84.7%, 85%
Series1, No,
6.3%, 6%
Series1, Don't
Know, 9.0%, 9%
Yes No Don't Know
Series1, Yes, 74.6%
Series1, No, 6.8%
Series1, Don't
Know, 18.6%
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The present and long-term sustainability of the boreholes depend on training and occasional re-training of the
Pump Maintenance Technicians. Generational training has been a key element in the trainings organized in
communities provided with boreholes. As shown in Figure 11, 85.1% of respondents indicated that the Literacy
project has facilitated effective community level borehole operation, and maintenance. In effect, the Literacyproject created a pool of available persons who are members of the communities borehole sustainability
institutions established and therefore trainable and available for capacity building.
Figure 11: Literacy Project facilitated effective community borehole operation and maintenance
Source: Fieldwork, 2006As shown in Figure 12, 96.5% respondents considered borehole sustainability as key to sustainable quality
livelihoods in their households. This appreciation flows from insight gained into boreholes operation and
maintenance built into the Literacy curriculum and emphasized by the literacy facilitators.
Figure 12: Seeing borehole sustainability as key to sustainable quality livelihoods of households
Source: Fieldwork, 2006
Figure 13 depicts 87.6% of respondents indicating that the Literacy Project has facilitated community ownership
of boreholes provided. This is an indicator of high level awareness and acceptance of responsibility for borehole
maintenance for long-term sustainability.
Figure 13: Literacy Project has facilitated Community Ownership of boreholes
Source: Fieldwork, 2006
Figure 14 shows a 73.0% response rate indicating that the literacy project was contributing to borehole
sustainability. As many participants in the Literacy Project made themselves available to be trained as hand pump
technicians and others also monitored the operation of the boreholes, they recognized and reported anymalfunctioning or faults they noticed to the WATSAN Committees for immediate redress.
Series1, Yes, 85.1%
Series1, No, 5.9%
Series1, Don't
Know, 9.0%
Series1, Yes, 96.5%
Series1, No, 3.5%
Series2,
Community, 87.6%
Series2, World
Vision, 10.8% Series2, District
Assembly, 0.4%
Series2, Traditional
Authority, 0.9%
Series2, The
Church, 0.3%
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Figure 14: Literacy project contributing to community borehole sustainability
Source: Fieldwork, 2006As many as 73.3% of respondents were able to relate the presence of boreholes to low level poverty in their
households, as shown in Figure 15. This indicates their high level awareness of transformational change in theirlives.
Figure 15: Relating the continual availability of potable water from boreholes to low level poverty
Source: Fieldwork, 2006Figure 16 shows 90.8% of respondents indicating that their community borehole as currently working, as at the
time of the survey. This is a practical evidence of community ownership and a key sustainability indicator. Much
of this can be attributed to the effectiveness of the literacy classes in which participants indicated they participated.
Figure 16: Community borehole currently working
Source: Fieldwork, 2006
As shown in Figure 17, 89.2% of respondents indicated the availability of potable water from boreholes providedall year round in their households. This, they indicated was due to the great awareness gained from the literacy
classes and the effective work done on the boreholes by the Pump Maintenance Technicians and effectivemonitoring of boreholes performance by the WATSAN Committees to support boreholes sustainability to foster
their emergence from poverty and gradual reduction of poverty from their households.
Series1, Yes, 73.0%
Series1, No, 6.8%
Series1, Don't Know,
20.2%
Series1, Low level,
73.3%
Series1, High level,
26.7%
Series1, Yes, 90.8%
Series1, No, 9.2%
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Figure 17: Availability of potable water from borehole all year round in households
Source: Fieldwork, 2006
From the qualitative information gathered in this study, it was further revealed that the Literacy project impacted
the beneficiary communities in multiple ways. For instance, borehole hand-pump maintenance and repairtechnicians were now able to identify pump parts by name and purchase them for repair work on community
boreholes. This has promoted the availability of potable water all year round. Thus, water security was guaranteed
in all the project communities.
In terms of social impact, it has fostered social cohesion in and among communities. There is a more peaceful
environment and it is now easier to call for community meetings to plan and implement community development
interventions. Increased disposable household incomes through regained health and time savings invested inincome earning livelihoods were related as economic gains made as a result of the continuous availability of water
from the boreholes. This also enabled funds contributions to facilitate prompt repairs of boreholes in the
communities.
Beneficiaries of the Literacy project were able to help their children understand and carry out their school
home assignments. Beneficiaries also felt so much empowered and expressed much gratitude for being liberatedfrom limited life options and choices due to illiteracy. The civic and development inertia in communities prior to
boreholes provision has given way to dynamic and proactive participation in community development activities.Very high patronage of the literacy classes was recorded and the demand for the next phase was very high.
5. Discussions
Lind, in her article in the Springer, offers personal reflections on literacy programs to adults. With over thirty yearsfield experience relating to literacy provision for adults she indicated that a Literacy program should not be
considered a failure due to fifty per cent of learners drop out. Instead she considers such a Literacy program a
success if 50% of learners stayed on and acquired the necessary skills to be able to read, write and compute (Lind,
2008a). The results from this study however indicated a 98.3% success or participation rate which greatly exceeds
Linds criterion.
As to what should be the basic aim of literacy delivery there exist several schools of thought. One schoolproposes mass education to eradicate illiteracy and improve human well-being. Another proposes project-specific
solutions to empower community people for sustainability of programs implemented in those communities and
also improvement in the quality of life (Prahalad, 2010; Lind, 2008b; Adow, 1993). In Ghanas experience, themass delivery of adult literacy approach employed in the 1950s failed, but this study discovered that the Project-
specific delivery approach used by World Vision succeeded excellently.To another school of thought, financing adult literacy programs is a waste of resources and prefers such
investment be channeled into basic education delivery (Bornstein, 2007; Payne, 2007; Adow, 1993). However this
study shows that functional adult literacy can also be a catalyst to foster income earnings from occupations
through building the needed capacity to sustain boreholes
In the World Vision literacy project what kept learners in classes for most of the twenty-four months were:
personal interest; having community class mates created social cohesion which could be tapped into forcommunity mobilization for development; also the novelty and excitement about the project created community
buy-in and enthusiasm; learning English to be empowered was a critical social status for those who missed-out on
formal education; and, the literacy project served as opportunity and potential for accessing higher education. All
these were critical success factors which motivated many of the learners to participate and complete the 24 months
project duration (World Vision Ghana, 2004).The teaching and learning approach adopted in implementing the project was also a key contributory
Series1, Yes, 89.2%
Series1, No, 10.8%
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factor for its success. These included the use of context appropriate primers which allowed a learner to catch-up
even when he/she missed classes for some few days. Class registers were marked at each attendance and the
importance of continual attendance stressed. The Facilitator lived in the community and encouraged learners not to
fall behind. Training and learners logistics, incentives in the form of gifts-in-kind protective clothing for learnersand facilitators, as well as bicycles purchased for each facilitator were rare motivators provided to support the
project (World Vision Ghana, 2004).
According to Senge and Sachs, postulating that economic growth singularly resolves the challenges of
poverty is a basic fallacy. Should that even be the case, economic growth should be proactively induced. For
instance, intentionally empowering rural inhabitants through literacy projects to sustain boreholes to guarantee the
continual availability of potable water in rural communities for progressive reduction in poverty (Senge, 2008;Sachs, 2005).
In this study, sustainability is used to imply the continual performance or not, of a borehole over a
period of time. This further implies that for a borehole, there is continuous flow of water over its lifespan as
originally designed, in terms of quantity and quality, and indicating that during its lifespan the borehole has not
dysfunctioned to warrant complete rehabilitation (Abrams, 2011; Koestler and Koestler, 2008; Fosenka, 2008).
Studies conducted by Montgomery and others have indicated that the large percentage of non-functioningboreholes in Africa depicts the lack of adequate repairs and maintenance and the unavailability of institutions to
ensure rural communities have boreholes sustainability. As an example, eleven countries surveyed in Africa southof the Sahara revealed that 35-80% of facilities provided to serve potable water as being operative (Montgomery,
et al, 2009). However, a study in South Africa indicated seventy per cent of Eastern Cape boreholes inoperative.
Another survey of seven thousand boreholes and wells indicated about 45.0% functional in Tanzania. Meanwhileonly ten per cent of the water facilities provided twenty-five years and over were operative (World Bank, 2010b).
In this study it was noted that the philosophy undergirding boreholes provision was to get some of the illiterate
population literate through the literacy project to enable them be custodians and effective managers of the
boreholes.
As Harvey and Reed have indicated a non-functioning hand pump is a stark symbol of unfulfilled
expectations and unchanging poverty (Harvey & Reed, 2004:84). By implication, wherever boreholes arefunctioning consistently over a long haul in rural communities, there must be obvious evidence of progressive
poverty reduction. Thus, functional adult literacy is quintessential for the sustainability of potable water
infrastructure, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (World Bank, 2010b; UNESCO 2005). This study found out that
the proactive introduction of the literacy project forestalled the tragic findings as indicated by Montgomery andothers.
This study further revealed that the sustainability of boreholes was a high priority for implementing theliteracy project as indicated by 88.7% of respondents. Otherwise for lack of knowledge of the names of borehole
hand-pump parts, spare parts could not have been purchased by inhabitants of rural communities and broken down
boreholes could not have been repaired. This would have led to communities resorting to patronizing their polluted
traditional surface water sources infested with guinea worm, and which incapacitated them physically and
prevented them from engaging in productive occupational livelihoods and could draw them back into opportunistic
and occupational poverty (Mba & Kwankye, 2007; Jamison, et, al, 2006). Conversely, with support of the Literacyclasses, hand pump parts are known by name and could be easily sought for and purchased in local shops for the
repair of boreholes as indicated by 85.1% of respondents in this study.
Comparative analysis estimates indicate that as at 2006, 60.2% of hand pumps fixed on boreholes in
Nigeria were non-functioning. The main reason assigned for these hand pump failures was lack of maintenance of
the hand pumps after installation. So with continued usage, serious wear and tear occurred until they finallyceased functioning (Eduvie, 2006). In this study however, 85.1% of respondents surveyed gave indication that the
Literacy project facilitated the availability of Pump Maintenance Technicians in their communities. Therefore
boreholes were promptly repaired by the trained Pump Maintenance Technicians when they become dysfunctional.
This has helped to prevent people from reverting to old sources of surface water and resulting in sustained
reduction in poverty in the study area.
It has been noted that poverty reduction can be a reality through the implementation of functional adult
literacy projects for poor people. Such projects help learners/participants through the strengthening of their
occupational skills and the capacity to earn income and also build their capabilities (McKay & Aryeetey, 2007;
Aoki, 2006; UNESCO, 2006). As indicated in both the conceptual and theoretical framework (Figures 1&2) in this
study, it was noted that as learners acquired communication skills both orally and in writing they were better
informed about water-borne/related diseases and the associated health-related problems leading to incapacitation
and poverty as indicated also by other studies (Bartram, 2008; Pruss-Ustun, et al,2008).
Learners became aware of how productive they have become due to effective utilization of time gains asa result of the continual operation of the boreholes in their communities. This allowed for increased income,
improved quality of life, emergence from poverty, and progressive reduction in poverty (Blackden & Wodon, 2006;
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La Frenierre, 2009). These experiences served as motivation for community ownership of boreholes and
assumption of sustainability responsibilities on a continual basis.
6.0 ConclusionsAs explained in the conceptual theoretical frameworks, the prime objective in the World Vision Ghana Literacy
Project was to empower learners in communities for the sustainability of boreholes provided in the rural
communities so that people did not relapse to former status of poverty due to the prevalence of water borne
diseases, especially guinea worm. Secondly, for gaining of freedoms, for instance, time savings made from
trekking extensively in search of water used for participating in Literacy classes for gaining knowledge, and to
become effective and useful citizens. Thirdly, also as indicated by Mc Caffery, for mobilization, planning andimplementation of community development plans; and freedoms gained which express and manifests increase in
lifes choices and options and improved quality of life (McCaffery, 2007).
To these rural communities therefore, sustaining their boreholes is an essential factor in their daily lives.
They would go to any length (including patronage of Literacy classes) to ensure their boreholes function all year
round because they have become highly aware of the essence of water security assurance for individuals,
households and the fostering of community well-being.The objectives of an adult literacy program thus became two-edged. First, for personal development; and
second, for empowerment to facilitate emergence out of poverty and gradual reduction in poverty. The personaldevelopment objective focused more on individual development, and thus, literacy acquisition was viewed as a
skill that would eventually enable the adult to make progress in his/her life. The empowerment objective increased
communitys ability to take control of their destiny and thus positioned them to be less susceptible toenvironmental vulnerabilities entrenching them in poverty (Fisher, 2011; Ademiluyi & Odugbesan, 2008).
In terms of innovation and example of peoples empowerment and development practice, the following
results have been documented for policy formulation the World Vision Ghana Literacy Project influenced
national Adult English Literacy policy formulation and the development and use of appropriate Primers.
Community mobilization strategies were employed to mobilize learners and enrolled 7,699 Learners for the Adult
English Literacy Project, out of which a record 98.3% (7,565 learners) completed the learning cycle in 24 months.Communities receptivity to the English Adult Literacy Project was very high and exceeded expectations.
Learner/participants indicated that they have been empowered beyond their expectations. The demand for the
program is still very high. In terms of well being, 74.6% of respondents indicated the literacy project had
contributed to their individual well being; 85.1% indicated the literacy project had facilitated the availability oftrained hand pump maintenance technicians; 87.6% indicated the literacy project has facilitated ownership of
boreholes by communities; 73.0% indicated the literacy project as contributing to community boreholesustainability; and, 73.3% of respondents could relate the continual sustainability of boreholes to low level poverty
in their communities.
From the fore-going discussions the policy implications the study identified are that: functional literacy
projects that empower households in rural communities to sustain development infrastructure (such as boreholes
provided) should be a continuous post-program-support built into program design in order to ensure the
sustainability of poverty reduction programs. NFEDs capacity needs strengthening and it needs to collaboratewith other literacy providers. NFED was the main provider of adult literacy in Ghana but the community of able
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is growing. Therefore, there is the need for NFED to look out and
establish very strong partnerships with such NGOs to help deliver on its objectives to achieve effective nation-
wide coverage of adult literacy progressively.
Adult literacy promotes transformational development in human lives and it being a major humandevelopment and crucial poverty reduction factor, as much as possible, many people should be given the
opportunity in their lifetime to participate in literacy projects. Thus, the onus is on every national Government to
recognize this salient fact and plan proactively to redress the challenge of illiteracy in their countries on a
continual basis. This step will also go a long way to facilitate the attainment of the Millennium Development
Goals.
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The author, Auckhinleck Kwame Adow, was born on 1st
January 1955 at Anum, in the Eastern Region of the
Republic of Ghana. He is currently a PhD student at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology(KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana. He currently holds qualifications as follows: Master of Public Health, May 2011,
Atlantic International University, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA; M.A. Population Studies, United Nations Institute of
Population Studies (RIPS), University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana, 1993; B.A. (Hons.) Social Sciences,
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana, 1988.
His almost 30 years career experience covered 16 years in rural development and program management
with World Vision Ghana from January 1996 to February 2012; 4 years in academia as a Teaching Assistant; 7 and
half years in commercial and development banking; 2 years with the Ghana Civil Service. He currently resides in
Accra - Ghana, as a Development and Research & Evaluation Consultant. He can be reached through e-mail:
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