MANDARI, DEC 11TH 1999
Mr Chairman, District Chief Executive, Bole Wura, Mandari Wura,
Chiefs and elders,
distinguished invited guests,
ladies and gentlemen,
I bring you greetings from the Director and the entire family of the Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation (GILLBT), Tamale.
There is a time for everything, says the Bible, a time to sow and a time to harvest, a time to mourn and a time to rejoice. Today we are gathered here to rejoice, to recognise and encourage our diligent committed and hard working literacy supervisors, facilitators and students, who have distinguished themselves through their unrelenting efforts to acquire, apply and promote literacy and development among the Gonja communities. This to me is like harvesting after a whole year of wander and toil to get these skills imparted to others, and as the saying goes, “those who sow in tears will reap with joy”
GILLBT is a Non Governmental Christian organisation who has been involved in intensive linguistic research, literacy and Bible Translation for the past 35 years.
Starting with a moderate number of 6 language groups in 1962, the Institute has currently expanded its activities to cover 31 languages (?) in the Upper East, Upper West, Northern, Brong Ahafo, Volta, and Western Regions.
Over the years the literacy programmes have passed out tens of thousands of graduates. Some of them have bridged into formal schools, others have acquired vocational skills and leadership roles in their churches and communities and most have become voluntary teachers and supervisors.
Today we are honouring another batch of new literates who have through hard work and determination reached this goal. They can now be counted among the literates in the Gonja community and Ghana as a whole. Learning to read and write in one’s mother tongue is not only a mere skill in communication, but a stepping stone to a greater awareness and functionality in ones life and the society.
Our focus today is on the Gonja who have missed the chance of passing through the formal education to see this programme as a short cut to education for themselves.
You are therefore invited to welcome it now that the facilities for learning are made available to you at very subsidised prices.
I take this opportunity also to congratulate all those who have contributed in diverse ways to maintain this programme.
This programme could not make progress without the great sacrifice of the staff, the literacy committees, voluntary workers, the chiefs and all the community leaders. We appreciate your good work and we encourage you to keep it up.
With the skills and awareness that you have gained, let us now project into the future. Gonja literacy project is now on the status of self-managing and should therefore mean self-financing. Raising sufficient funds to sustain the programme must be seriously considered. The Dagbani literacy programme is preparing towards self-management. GILLBT as the mother organisation will continue, where possible, to assist literacy projects that take initiatives to solicit aid from donor agencies who are interested in literacy activities.
Presently GILLBT helps in training of the voluntary teachers, writers and supervisors in local and national courses. We continue to print literature, provide some teaching aids and other logistics for the running of the programme. Recently GILLBT has been encouraged that the Gonja project has had people writing more books. Please pray with us that the funds will come and we will be able to print them in the new year.
Realising however, that help would not continue coming indefinitely, we want to encourage the chiefs and the community to start looking for other sources of funding.
Continue to press on towards self-financing. Establish your personal contacts with other NGO’s; undertake economic ventures which would help sustain the programme after outside help is no longer available.
Statistics available at the office show that your programme has an enrolment of 1700 learners, i.e. 1078 males and 622 female learners. Since the first literacy day more women have been encouraged to enroll in classes with great success.
If you agree with me that the greatest part of home management relies on the women then let’s think seriously about their education through the adult literacy programme to improve their skills and self-confidence. Let us break all the traditional barriers that stop women from developing socially and economically and continue encouraging them to go to classes.
This is my prayer and the prayer of GILLBT that all the literacy projects including you will work extra hard to achieve this goal.
Once again I congratulate you all for all your efforts in making this occasion a success. May the Almighty God richly bless you and take each and every one of you here back to his or her destination safely. We hope to see one another again at the same time next year. Good bye! Have a prosperous New Year!
THANK YOU