Literacy Programme - South Africa

A needs assessment exercise run by a HelpAge International member organisation called MUSA communicated with elderly people & identified their feelings of inadequacy around their inablility to read & write.

Ageing, Population, Education, Rights

The elderly members of Durban expressed their frustration with being taken advantage of due to their inability to read & write. "One person had signed an eviction order without knowing what it was" & others found themselves on the wrong bus or unable to use the telephone correctly. Illiteracy is a roadblock for many daily functions which the literate take for granted. Alongside the ability to read & write, Durban's elder persons expressed the need to learn techniques enabling them to perform everyday tasks. This request resulted in a 2 part programme. In addition, the elderly students requested that their tutors be older people, like themselves. The programme was successfully put into place and was "very popular & well attended, particularly by women". Programmes such as this cultivate the skills necessary to prevent the feeling of disempowerment noted by ageing & illiterate individuals.