If we have learned anything during these difficult months of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been that radio is an ally in ensuring educational access. In Kikwit they know this very well: long before the arrival of COVID-19, Fe y Alegría R. D. Congo was already using the radio to teach classes and fight illiteracy through the airwaves.

Now, Entreculturas, Alboan and Radio ECCA (an educational radio institution located in the Canary Islands) have joined forces with Fe y Alegría to start the literacy project 'Kielo ya mazaya' ('Door to knowledge'), which aims to offer the opportunity to learn to write, read and calculate in French (the language of the administrative environment in the country) to illiterate people of the population of Kikwit. In the field, we also had the collaboration of the community radio station Radio Tomisa, committed to education and human rights and with coverage throughout the region.

The project included the visit of two teachers from Fe y Alegría R. D. Congo to the Canary Islands to familiarize themselves with the ECCA System, a method of literacy that the Canary Islands radio station has already successfully implemented in countries such as Mauritania and Morocco and which is based on synchronizing the teaching material, the audio class and the tutorial action. And, as a second phase of the project, Jesús Jiménez (expatriate technician of Radio ECCA) has recently traveled to Kikwit to accompany the start of the literacy course. The reception to this initiative has been very successful and 400 people from 8 communities have already enrolled, some of them very remote and with difficult access, so they usually lack training opportunities.

The classes are broadcast every Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday according to the ECCA teaching system. At the beginning of each class, a musical spot plays to alert the students that the class will begin shortly. Arlette, one of the students, can't help but start dancing every day to celebrate that class is about to begin. "The course is going very well," she explains. "During the mornings I work as a cleaner in a house near mine. Every afternoon, between Sundays and Wednesdays, I follow the course on the radio."

Each group of students has a tutorial on Thursday or Friday, as appropriate, where the week's contents are reviewed, activities are carried out and the team of animators proposes a discussion to the group. The course is scheduled to end in December, for a total of 28 weeks of training.

Rose tells us that the course helps her to "empower herself, take ownership of reading and learn to write". Marie stresses that "this course can help you to write and read to defend yourself in front of other people speaking French".

It's a great opportunity to experience how important education is at Kikwit," explains Jesús Jiménez. "Seeing the students - mostly women - ready with their notebooks every afternoon waiting for class to start, going over the previous day's homework or catching up on what's going on in the community is a luxury. Following the radio becomes a moment of pause from everyday life to focus on their personal development and it shows in how grateful they are to learn, for example, a new vowel every day."

Through this project, we contribute to reducing the illiteracy rate among the country's adult population by promoting educational and job training for vulnerable Congolese people. The project is also supported by a local team of 11 people in charge of enrolling the students, promoting the activities and accompanying them throughout the process before, during and after the course.

Source: ALBOAN