Literacy in Niger

Back in August, when I was looking for information on Niger, this place we were going to spend 6 months of our lives, I found we would be going to a place made up of superlatives.  It is one of the poorest, one of the hottest, one of the least developed countries with one of the highest birth rates, and of course, one of the lowest literacy rates in the world.  Actually in literacy, Wikipedia has Niger at only 28.7% literate ranked 180^th out of 183 countries.  Its neighbor Mali is on the bottom.  And, the literacy rate for women is at only 17%.  If you go into the villages the rate is even lower.  However, in talking to people here I am told that these numbers are somewhat suspect.  I am told that much of the data comes from village chief estimates not from individual testing.  So, who knows?

However, I did learn something interesting about literacy estimates in Niger.  The estimates, from the Wikipedia chart mentioned above, are based on the ability to read Roman or Latin Script, (that’s the script that we use (a,,b,c.)  I am told that if you base the percentage on their ability to read any script the number is closer to ~80% literate.  Interesting that our Western view of the world doesn’t count those who read in an African or Arab script.  With that in mind, I would like to tell you about my interpretation of what I took out of a class I sat in on here at the Center. 

The class lasted a week and about 20 translators attended.  The topic was Ajami, a derivation of Arabic Script used by people in West Africa.  The translators were learning the basics of writing in Ajami script because it is a script that many in this part of the world can already read.  The thinking is that this would be a new and helpful way to bring the Bible to people in West Africa.  The people who know about these things are finding that using this script is a good way to teach Nigeriens about how to prevent malaria, AIDS, dysentery, and good farming techniques.  And it can be used to teach Biblical stories.

Evidently, not too long ago, someone discovered that many people in West Africa know Ajami script but didn’t know Roman or Latin script yet all of the translation work was in the latter.  So for people to read the bible in their own language they had to learn Roman script first.

For a long time efforts to translate into Ajami were, and maybe still are, resisted by some.  After all, it is the script of Islam and Muslims and to many that means it is evil/bad.  We are encouraged to fear scripts that look like Arabic Script.  For example, 

The copy in the parenthesis links "radical terrorism" to
the Arabic script.

However, the script is only a script, just as people are only people.  The people in Niger use Ajami.  Yes they are taught to read it in the Mosque schools but that doesn’t make the script bad.  That would be like saying this the Hausa language is bad and so we are not going to use it to help you learn about good health matters and the Bible.  So the thinking now is, let’s take advantage of the fact the Mosques are teaching them Ajami literacy and just make sure the Bible and other writings that are beneficial to their health are not only in the language of their heart but in the script of their heart as well.

West Africans have a great respect for Ajami literature and for people who can write it.  For a foreigner to know it opens lots of doors.  The script is given a kind of a “holy” status and not just because it is the script of Islam.  All passages of either the Koran or the Bible are given fancy borders and covers.  Also, many governments have included Ajami in their communications.  Bible translators that don’t follow the government’s use are excluded.  Ajami is a part of life here; you see it everywhere.  You can buy an iPhone app in Ajami, it is on Corn Flakes boxes, signs are in both French and Ajami, and even McDonalds uses Roman and Ajami on their signs.  We don’t have a McDonalds in Niger but if we did…I would have a burger and fries.

As a part of the class we learned to write in Ajami.  I was told it was an easy script to learn, kind of like the French language.  For me, it is impossible.  You start out writing from right to left.  So to spell the word “bounty” you start on the right hand side of the page and spell it backwards, “ytnoub.”  There are no vowels so you don’t really worry about the o and the u yet.  

We started with “bnty” and they are all easy letters to learn, a backward L with one or two dots place on top or bottom and you’ve learned four letters.  But…that is only if the letter is the first letter in the word.  For example, if the letter “t” is not the first letter then there is a totally different symbol.  If the letter “y” is the last letter of the word it is another symbol.  So you have to learn three symbols for each consonant, the symbol when it is the first letter, the symbol when it is in the middle, and the symbol for when it is at the end.  There is not similarity between the sybols..  No that’s not right, you have to learn a fourth symbol when the letter is by itself.  Then you go back through and add the vowels above and below the consonants.  Impossible.  One other thing, I don’t write clearly in Roman script, well Ajami is more like calligraphy, which is beyond the skill level of my finger dexterity.  Just look.  This is the Hausa language in Ajami.  My hands can’t make these symbols.

It was a fun exercise and I am appreciative of the efforts of these translators to know and learn this script.  Many feel literacy is the key to healthy living here.  The underlying current here is that the Nigeriens are not very well educated and hence not very intelligent.  In their environment, and their language, and in their script they know more than we do.  Just as in our environment, our language, and our script we know more than they do.  It’s just a difference in situations not a difference in intelligence.