Fewer than 30 per cent of women and girls in the Central African Republic can read and write. Prestance was one of the many who could not. Now, through a Tearfund project which supported around 6,000 women to learn literacy and numeracy skills, Prestance says she has been completely changed!
‘I feel more confident,’ Prestance tells us. ‘I can learn a lot of things on my own by reading books, especially the Bible. I’ve just been reading this passage in Matthew 7 from verse 1 to 5. It challenges us to not make judgments, but to see each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, and to not do what God does not love.
‘When I was learning to read, I found that being interested, persistent and consistent in reading the Bible helped me a lot. Now, my neighbours who haven’t had the opportunity to learn often come to ask me to read and interpret what they can’t read and understand for themselves.
Growing up
‘When my mother died, I was seven years old. I’d just started school. I went to live with one of my maternal uncles – he’s the one who raised me. But he didn’t have the means to send me to school as he had many responsibilities, and a girl's education was not a priority for him.
‘So, I didn’t learn how to read or write, or even count. Over time, I tried to start small businesses, but they would always fail as I couldn’t write down my expenses and profits or plan well. It was a really unpleasant situation to be in, as I felt that people didn’t respect me.
And now…
‘Today I’m a mother of five children, and what I enjoy most of all is that now I’m able to help my children to revise their homework and lessons when they come home after school!
‘Thanks to Tearfund I’ve been able to learn these skills.
‘The training took six months. It was hard going and it took me some time to learn, but I came to really like the lessons I participated in – especially the notion of calculation that I’ve now mastered well.
‘I have a small business selling faggots [meatballs made from minced off-cuts and offal with herbs], charcoal and cassava. Before, I used to really struggle to give people the correct change when they came to buy my goods, but now I’m very happy I can calculate!
‘The impact of this training has been great and can truly be seen in my daily life.
‘In the past, I didn’t know how to use my phone or send and read messages. Today, I know how to work the phone and send messages in Sango [the local language in CAR]. At home, I am very happy to teach my children the basics of maths.