Our Programs

Literacy for Women in Africa

BSK has an adult literacy program dubbed literacy for women in Africa. This program mainly targets a group of women of child-bearing age (15 years and above) who have not had the opportunity to learn to read and write.

BSK has an adult literacy program dubbed literacy for women in Africa. This program mainly targets a group of women of child-bearing age (15 years and above) who have not had the opportunity to learn to read and write.
Other persons targeted by the programme include men, young girls, and elderly women. This could also include women who have already had the opportunity to learn to read ‘second chance.’

Turkana County has low literacy levels of 20% considering that it has a population of 926,976 speakers of the language. Non-literates account for 741,580.

The Literacy for Women in Africa programme is currently being implemented in the County with 20 active adult literacy classes spread across Loima, Turkana Central, Turkana North, and Turkana South sub-counties. The program has grown tremendously since 2018 when it began with 10 pilot classes. So far, 1920 learners have been trained with 65% of them being women.

The reason why the program majorly focuses on women is that in the marginalized communities women or girls are denied a chance to go to school, as priority is given to men. Women are seen as people who carry out house chores, bear children, go through practices e.g. female genital mutilation (FGM) and early marriages thus denying them a chance to access education or any form of schooling.

The uniqueness of this program is that it is a non-formal mother tongue-based education meant to impact adult learners with basic reading and writing skills. The main goal of the program is to enable the marginalized communities to read the Word of God in their heart language and be transformed by it.

BSK partners with the Church to implement this programme. The Churches provide venues that are used as classes, they identify passionate people who are trained as teachers, and they assist in monitoring. The Directorate of Adult and Continuing Education office has also come in handy in helping learners to transition to formal schooling to learn other subjects.

other Programs & projects

Open the Book & Programme For Pastoral Instruction PPI

Braille Bible Distribution to the VIP’s Programme

Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH)

Mwimbi Bible Translation

Young Samaritans Programme

Literacy for Women in Africa

Bibles Eagles Club

African Biblical Leadership Initiative (abli)

Marginalized Children

 

Gikuyu Study Bible Project

Banyala Bible Translation Project

Teso Bible translation project

 

Celebrating Our Languages

Written by BSK

February 21, 2025

Every year, on February 21st, we celebrate International Mother Language Day, a day dedicated to recognizing and promoting linguistic diversity and multilingualism worldwide. It’s a day to appreciate the richness and beauty of the thousands of languages that paint and unite our world.

Our mother language, the language we first learn, is more than just a means of communication. It’s deeply intertwined with our identity, heritage, and sense of belonging.

It’s the language of our childhood stories; and our family traditions and it shapes how we perceive the world. Sadly, many languages are facing the threat of extinction. This loss isn’t just about losing words; it’s about losing cultural knowledge, traditions, and unique ways of thinking.

International Mother Language Day is a crucial reminder of the importance of preserving and protecting these linguistic treasures. The Bible Society of Kenya continues to actively preserve our languages through Bible translation as well as through programmes like Literacy for Women in Africa where we equip learners in marginalized communities with literacy skills in mother tongue language.

Let’s take a moment to celebrate the languages that make our world vibrant. Let’s encourage the use and learning of mother languages, not only at home but also in schools and communities. Let’s work together to ensure that future generations can inherit the linguistic diversity that enriches us all.

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