Give the gift of literacy this Christmas
This Christmas, you can help give the gift of literacy to hundreds more women through our work.
Imagine being unable to read a message from someone you love.
Unable to check the price of food at the market. Unable to write your own name.
For women like Merda in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), learning to read, write and use numbers can change her life beyond recognition. It can open the door to confidence, independence, and hope.
This Christmas, you can help give that gift to hundreds more women.
Through the faith, generosity and commitment of Mothers’ Union members and supporters, our literacy programmes are helping women strengthen their families, support their communities around the world, from Uganda to the Solomon Islands. This Christmas, we’re focusing on the Democratic Republic of Congo and how you can help build more secure futures there.
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Merda’s Story
Merda never had the opportunity to go to school.
For much of her life, she relied on farming to support her large family, including her own children and orphaned children in her care.
But without being able to read, write or use numbers, Merda faced barriers every day. At the market, she struggled to compare prices or know whether she was being offered a fair deal.
Then Merda joined her local Mothers’ Union literacy class.
For the first time in her life, she learned to read and write. She became the first learner in her group to achieve literacy and received a Bible in recognition of her achievement.
But that was only the beginning.
New skills, new possibilities
Learning numeracy meant Merda could compare prices and make more informed choices. It also helped her turn a skill she loved into a source of income.
A talented knitter and seamstress, Merda can now take accurate measurements for customers and turn these skills into an income that helps to provide for her family.
‘I can now measure people to make clothes. I didn’t go to school. And now I’m a tailor.’
Mothers’ Union groups also taught Merda and her community how to grow a wider variety of crops and why this is so important.
Today, she grows aubergines, bananas, cassava, beans and pumpkins, helping provide better nutrition for her family.
‘We’ve learned about plant leaves and how nutritious they are and how they help my children. Since I’ve learned this, my children enjoy eating more vegetables.’
For Merda, literacy has meant far more than reading words on a page.
It has meant confidence. The chance to earn an income. Better nutrition for her children. And greater freedom to make choices for herself and the people she cares for.
Putting our faith into action
At Mothers’ Union, our faith calls us to stand alongside families and communities and turn compassion into practical action.
This Christmas, your gift can help more women like Merda gain skills that will stay with them for life.
Whatever you can give, you can help another woman take her first steps towards a more secure and hopeful future.
Skills no one can take away
The lasting value of Merda’s new skills became even clearer when she was displaced by conflict in the DRC.
She had to leave her land behind. But she did not have to leave behind what she had learned.
Her literacy, numeracy, tailoring, and farming knowledge travelled with her.
In communities facing conflict, displacement, and disease, especially in the light of the recent Ebola outbreak, these skills can offer something precious: resilience, dignity, and hope.
There are many more women like Merda waiting for the same opportunity.
This Christmas, we urgently need your help to reach them.
A gift today could help another woman read her first words, understand the price she is being charged at the market, earn an income of her own or provide better food for her children.
For a woman who has never had the chance to learn, that opportunity can mean everything.
Together, through our faith and generosity, we can help more women like Merda gain skills.
Your gift today can help open the door to a safer, more secure, and more hopeful future.
Give the gift of literacy today
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Appeal Resources
Appeal resources are available to download here. Please do take a look and share them with your family, friends and church communities to help spread the word and support our work.
