Literacy programme and alternative mobile primary education for the nomadic Afar Nation

	Duration:	ongoing project since 2005
	Number of beneficiaries:	approx. 8.000
	Local partner organization:	APDA (Afrar Pastoralist Development Association)
	Aim:	introduce literacy to over 7000 Afar (children and adults) primary education for at least 1500 children lasting several year

Due to their nomadic lifestyle, the vast majority of Afar people are illiterate. Their written language was not developed until 1971. In order to kick-start development in the region, this educational project intends not only to teach the adult and child Afar population literacy, but also to give the children a primary education lasting several years.

At the start of the project a 4-month literacy campaign was carried out among 30 Afar clans. Subsequently the most successful students were trained to be teachers. After completing their training, these teachers returned to their tribal groups and commenced primary school training.
An annual 2-month training course for the teachers will lead to a better qualification level of the overall teaching body. Currently we are in the second co-financing phase together with the Austrian Development Agency (ADA).

At present the living situation of the Afar people is aggravated by the severe drought and famine in East Africa. This also renders the implementation of the project particularly difficult at the moment.

This project is co-financed by