With an illiteracy rate of over 60% among rural women in Mozambique, literacy training is a high priority.

Women who can read and who have an education are better equipped to improve their own lives, that of their families, and the community as well. They can have a profound, positive impact on health issues and be valuable contributors to the spiritual, social and economic environment in which they live. And as an additional benefit, they can also help their own children to read.

Our women’s literacy program, Simukai (Stand Up) is reaching many illiterate women in rural areas of Mozambique’s four central provinces. The goal of the program is to develop and train church-based groups of women to help them ‘stand up’ (realize God’s love for them and as a result their self-worth and potential) through a literacy program that incorporates Bible education, parenting, and health and hygiene.

Once a week, these women gather to learn to read, to study the Bible, and to learn other skills to better equip themselves for the challenges they face in their crucial roles in their homes and beyond. Groups with access to the necessary materials also make handcrafts in order to generate the much-needed added income for their families.