International Literacy And Development

ILAD PARTNERS TO DEVELOP LOCAL LANGUAGE LITERACY PROGRAMS COUPLED WITH ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

IN 2021, ILAD CONDUCTED ACTIVITIES IN 13 COUNTRIES. ILAD HAS PROGRAMS OPERATING IN LITERACY AND DEVELOPMENT IN 8 COUNTRIES. ILAD IS CONDUCTING LANGUAGE RESEARCH AND MARKET ANALYSIS IN 5 OTHER COUNTRIES; PROGRAM DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION WILL BEGIN ONCE THOROUGH RESEARCH IS COMPLETED.ILAD'S LONGEST RUNNING PROGRAMS ARE IN WEST AFRICA, WHERE ILAD STAFF ARE INVOLVED IN LITERACY, AGRICULTURAL TRAINING, SOCIAL BUSINESS, MICRO-FINANCE, AND EDUCATION. DUE TO THE ONGOING EFFECTS OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC, ACTIVITIES IN 2021 WERE SLOWED. IN SPITE OF THIS, ILAD CONDUCTED THE FOLLOWING ACTIVITIES: [CONTINUED ON SCHEDULE O][CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2, PART III]:LITERACY: IN 2021, ILAD INCREASED THE NUMBER OF MOBILE LIBRARIES FROM 12 TO 15, SERVING 750 MINORITY LANGUAGE SPEAKERS ACROSS TWO COUNTRIES. THREE SCHOOLS ALSO USE THE LITERATURE PROVIDED BY THESE LIBRARIES TO TEACH IN THE LOCAL LANGUAGE. IN ANOTHER WEST AFRICAN COUNTRY, 43 ADULT WOMEN GRADUATED FROM A LOCAL LANGUAGE LITERACY PROGRAM DESIGNED FOR THOSE WHO COULD NOT READ OR WRITE IN ANY LANGUAGE. AGRICULTURAL TRAINING: NEARLY 1,500 LOCAL FARMERS HAVE ADOPTED THE INNOVATIVE ORGANIC PINEAPPLE PRODUCTION METHODS BEING TAUGHT ON ILAD'S SELF-SUSTAINING DEMONSTRATION FARM. MULTIPLE, VILLAGE-BASED, SMALL-FARM CO-OPS ARE TRAINED AND IN OPERATION. THE AGRICULTURE PROJECT HAS EXPANDED TO INCLUDE TEACHING POND CULTURE TILAPIA RAISING, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY, AND CROP DIVERSIFICATION. IN 2021, 43 NEW CO-OPERATIVES WERE TRAINED IN ORGANIC PINEAPPLE FARMING AND 8 LOCAL FARMERS WERE TRAINED IN MULTIPLE FARMING AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY DISCIPLINES AT THE DEMONSTRATION FARM.SOCIAL BUSINESS: ILAD IS SUPPORTING THE CREATION OF LOCAL BUSINESSES TO PROVIDE FAIR MARKET PRICES FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. THESE BUSINESSES GENERATED OVER 50 FULL-TIME JOBS FOR LOCAL PEOPLE. BUSINESS EDUCATION: IN THE FALL OF 2021, EIGHT BUDDING ENTREPRENEURS WERE THE INAUGURAL CLASS OF A NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER DESIGNED TO EQUIP THEM WITH KNOWLEDGE AND TOOLS TO RUN ETHICAL, PROFITABLE, RELEVANT BUSINESSES IN THEIR COMMUNITIES THAT PROVIDE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL BENEFITS.MICROFINANCE: ILAD OFFERS FINANCIAL SERVICES SUCH AS SAVINGS AND MICRO LOANS THROUGH A RURAL AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. 672 PEOPLE ARE IN THE SAVINGS PLAN AND 74 NEW LOANS WERE GIVEN IN 2021, RESULTING IN A SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE IN INCOME FOR THE PARTICIPANTS.EDUCATION: ILAD ASSISTS STUDENTS BY PROVIDING NECESSARY SCHOOL SUPPLIES. IN 2021, APPROXIMATELY 1,093 RURAL SCHOOLCHILDREN RECEIVED SUPPLIES AND WERE ABLE TO ATTEND SCHOOL. ILAD WAS ALSO INVOLVED IN THE EXPANSION OF JR./SR. SCHOOL IN A VILLAGE THAT FORMERLY COULD NOT PROVIDE EDUCATION BEYOND GRADE SCHOOL. THE JR./SR. SCHOOL ENROLLED OVER 100 STUDENTS AND NEARLY HALF WERE GIRLS. THE PASSING RATE WAS 98%. IN A DIFFERENT WEST AFRICA LOCATION, A GRAFTED CASHEW ORCHARD IS IN DEVELOPMENT AND 3 VILLAGES WERE EDUCATED IN THE BENEFITS OF GRAFTED CASHEW TREES. ONE VILLAGE ALSO RECEIVED PERENNIAL BEAN SEEDS TO BEGIN A GARDEN INITIATIVE TO PROVIDE FOR THEIR COMMUNITY.IN THE MIDDLE EAST, ILAD STAFF IS FOCUSED ON LITERACY AND LIFE-SKILLS EDUCATION AMONG AN OVERLOOKED, UNDERSERVED MINORITY LANGUAGE GROUP. MICRO ENTERPRISE: SIX WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS WERE INVOLVED IN CREATING AND RUNNING A JEWELRY MICRO-ENTERPRISE THAT PROVIDES STEADY INCOME FOR THEIR FAMILIES.LITERACY: IN 2021, TWENTY-TWO (10 WOMEN AND 12 MEN) WERE INVOLVED IN CREATING THE FIRST ALPHABET FOR AN UNWRITTEN LANGUAGE. THESE MEN AND WOMEN WERE ALSO TAUGHT TO READ IN THEIR OWN LANGUAGE FOR THE FIRST TIME.SOCIAL: FIVE MEN PARTICIPATED IN A SEMINAR TO LEARN HOW TO STRENGTHEN THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEIR WIVES AND CHILDREN.DALLAS, TEXAS, IS HOME TO A LARGE REFUGEE POPULATION, MANY OF WHOM SPEAK MINORITY LANGUAGES WITH NO ACCESS TO WRITTEN OR AUDIO TEXTS IN THEIR PRIMARY LANGUAGE. ILAD WORKS WITH THE ROHINGYA REFUGEE COMMUNITY IN THE AREAS OF ESL, LITERACY, CITIZENSHIP, AND HEALTH EDUCATION. ILAD IS ALSO INVOLVED IN PRESERVING AND PROMOTING THE ROHINGYA LANGUAGE AND IS CURRENTLY COLLECTING LANGUAGE DATA TO BE USED IN THE PRODUCTION OF A ROHINGYA DICTIONARY AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF APPS FOR SMARTPHONES AND COMPUTERS. ESL AND CITIZENSHIP: 30 ROHINGYA REFUGEE FAMILIES PARTICIPATED IN ESL AND CITIZENSHIP CLASSES. NINE OF THOSE PARTICIPANTS WERE ELIGIBLE FOR AND PASSED THE US CITIZENSHIP EXAM. LITERACY AND EDUCATION: ILAD CREATED A YOUTUBE CHANNEL THAT HOSTS VIDEOS COVERING A VARIETY OF IMPORTANT TOPICS AS WELL AS ENGLISH LEARNING TOOLS ALL IN THE ROHINGYA LANGUAGE. THERE ARE OVER 175 SUBSCRIBERS.HEALTH: IN 2021, THE NEED FOR HEALTH EDUCATION BECAME APPARENT. ILAD BEGAN DEVELOPING CURRICULUM TO ADDRESS PREVALENT HEALTH CONCERNS IN THE ROHINGYA COMMUNITY. A COMMUNITY WIDE SEMINAR WAS CONDUCTED REGARDING WOMEN'S HEALTH AND REPRODUCTION AND A VIDEO ADDRESSING DIABETES WAS PUBLISHED ON THE ROHINGYA YOUTUBE CHANNEL. IN ADDITION, ILAD WAS ABLE TO SUPPORT OTHER NGO'S AIDING AFGHAN REFUGEES BY PROVIDING 100 PICTURE DICTIONARIES AND COLORING BOOKS FOR CHILDREN UPON THEIR ARRIVAL IN DALLAS, TX.FINALLY, WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH OTHER AGENCIES, ILAD CONTRIBUTED TO THE PRODUCTION OF A ROHINGYA DICTIONARY AND COLLECTED LANGUAGE DATA TO BE USED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSLATION APPS IN 2022. CENTRAL ASIA: IN 2021 ILAD CONTINUED CONDUCTING CLASSES FOR STUDENTS WISHING TO IMPROVE THEIR BUSINESS ENGLISH. THE CORONAVIRUS RESTRICTIONS LIMITED THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS SERVED BY THE SCHOOL, BUT ILAD WAS ABLE TO SERVE 27 STUDENTS DURING 2021.EDUCATION: LOCAL LANGUAGE HEALTH EDUCATION VIDEOS WERE CREATED FOR NON-LITERATE, UNDER-RESOURCED LANGUAGE COMMUNITIES THAT STRUGGLE WITH COMMUNICABLE DISEASES AND HYGIENE PRACTICES.COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: SIX YOUNG WOMEN FROM AN ETHNIC MINORITY THAT IS PERSECUTED IN THE AREA WERE TAUGHT SEWING SKILLS SO THAT THEY COULD FIND DECENT WORK.RELIEF: TWELVE VULNERABLE CHILDREN RECEIVED FOOD AND MEDICAL AID DURING COVID LOCKDOWNS.HUMAN LANGUAGE TECHNOLOGY: ILAD CONTINUED ADVANCING THE FIELD OF HUMAN LANGUAGE TECHNOLOGY THROUGH DATA COLLECTION, APP DEVELOPMENT, AND THE CREATION OF TRANSLATION DEVELOPMENT TOOLS, WITH THE GOAL OF PROVIDING ACCESS TO INFORMATION TO THESE LANGUAGE COMMUNITIES THROUGH MACHINE TRANSLATION. SOUTHEAST ASIA: IN 2021, ILAD LAUNCHED A LANGUAGE TECHNOLOGY CENTER CREATED TO EMPOWER UNDER-RESOURCED LANGUAGE COMMUNITIES TO PARTICIPATE IN THE GLOBAL EXCHANGE OF IDEAS AND INFORMATION. ONE DICTIONARY APP HAS BEEN DEVELOPED, AND LANGUAGE DATA IS BEING COLLECTED TO FACILITATE MACHINE TRANSLATION FROM A MINORITY LANGUAGE INTO A MAJORITY LANGUAGE.IN ASIA, NORTH AFRICA, SOUTHEAST ASIA AND THE ARABIAN PENINSULA ILAD STAFF ARE IN VARIOUS STAGES OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE RESEARCH, MARKET ANALYSIS, AND PROJECT DEVELOPMENT.CORONAVIRUS HAS IMPACTED THE TIMELINE OF IMPLEMENTATION FOR SOME PROJECTS IN THESE REGIONS, BUT RESEARCH, PROJECT DESIGN, AND EDUCATION CONTINUED THROUGH 2021.