Int Rev Educ (2016) 62:671–688 DOI 10.1007/s11159-016-9597-y ORIGINAL PAPER

Rethinking women’s learning and empowerment in Kenya: Maasai village women take initiative Taeko Takayanagi1

Published online: 21 October 2016 © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht and UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning 2016

Abstract This study investigates the activities of a village-based literacy centre in Kenya and explores the benefits of community development activities on women’s wellbeing in Africa. Through the analysis of the stories of two Maasai women who had experienced adult literacy learning, the author discovered that: (1) the literacy instructor had inadequate in-service teacher training support from the government; (2) these women were using a space generated by collaborative informal learning through the literacy centre to improve their families’ and community’s well-being; and (3) these women gained empowerment through community development activities organised by the literacy centre. The author concludes that grassroots literacy and informal learning have been effective in improving the quality of life for the village women, and should be encouraged and supported by external agencies. Keywords literacy and informal learning · women’s empowerment · community development · gender and development · Africa · narrative analysis Re´sume´ Repenser l’apprentissage et l’autonomisation des femmes au Kenya : des villageoises Maasaı¨ prennent l’initiative – La pre´sente e´tude examine les activite´s d’un centre d’alphabe´tisation d’un village au Kenya et explore les bienfaits des activite´s communautaires de de´veloppement sur le bien-eˆtre des femmes africaines. En analysant les parcours de deux femmes Maasaı¨ qui ont fait l’expe´rience de l’alphabe´tisation, l’auteure a fait trois constatations : (1) L’intervenant en alphabe´tisation recevait de la part du gouvernement un soutien insuffisant a` une formation des enseignants en exercice ; (2) Ces femmes ont exploite´ un potentiel tire´ de l’apprentissage coope´ratif informel au centre d’alphabe´tisation, pour ame´liorer le bien-eˆtre de leurs familles et de leur communaute´ ; (3) Ces femmes ont & Taeko Takayanagi [email protected]; [email protected] 1

Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

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gagne´ en autonomie graˆce aux activite´s communautaires de de´veloppement organise´es par le centre d’alphabe´tisation. L’auteure conclut qu’alphabe´tisation a` la base et apprentissage informel sont efficaces pour ame´liorer la qualite´ de vie des villageoises, et devraient eˆtre stimule´s et soutenus par les organismes externes.

Introduction This article reports on observations made in and around a village-based literacy centre1 in Kenya and presents two Maasai women’s opinions of their literacy/ informal learning and community development experiences. It also aims to show how women have been empowered to improve their families’ well-being through literacy/informal learning. The universal literacy of women is a common goal all over the world, and is regarded as a key component of many national and international policies in fostering development and improving citizens’ individual well-being. The expansion of women’s literacy in less developed countries has benefited their children and their families’ life situations. Numerous studies have examined the impact of literacy on social development and the implication and practice of literacy skills, not only in work-related, educational and religious institutions (Maddox 2005, 2007), but also in homes and everyday life (Barton et al. 2000; Bartlett 2008; Dyer 2008; Papen 2002; Street 2001; Maddox 2007; Robinson-Pant 2008, LeVine et al. 2012). Although women’s and girls’ access to formal/non-formal schooling has improved dramatically in some countries, females continue to be excluded from education in less developed countries (UNESCO 2015). Using evidence from research I conducted in a village in Kenya in 2011, this article explains how a village-based literacy centre is organised, and explores how women benefited from literacy and informal learning processes in the context of a male-dominated community. I begin with an overview of adult literacy education and community development in Africa, giving particular attention to how literacy/informal learning assists the empowerment of women. Next, I describe the research method, present the organisation of a village-based literacy centre and, using narrative analysis, examine two Maasai women’s experiences of literacy as well as community development activities. Through its engagement with literacy and informal learning in one community, this study also attempts to examine to what extent these female learners have been empowered through learning and community development activities. The paper concludes with a summary of the effectiveness of the activities of the villagebased literacy centre.

1

While the local people referred to it as a “literacy centre” (and this paper strives to render local voices), it was really a community learning centre, since the courses offered there went well beyond teaching people to read and write.

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Adult women’s literacy education, empowerment and social development in the context of Africa The importance of education has been recognised by a number of international conventions, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN 1948) and the Dakar Framework for Action reaffirming Education for All (UNESCO 2000). Also, the United Nations declared the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000, which included goals for improved quality of education, gender equality, and women’s empowerment to be achieved by 2015.2 Women’s literacy is the crucial factor in empowering women’s participation in decision-making in society and improving families’ well-being. In the MDG target year of 2015, however, challenges still remained. Fifty-eight million children were out of school and there were 781 million illiterates (15 years and older) worldwide, two-thirds of them women (UNESCO 2015). Furthermore, gender inequality persists in educational attainment. Although men and women play different roles in society, the inequalities which exist between the genders are not entirely attributable to their roles. Women lack equal access to resources, information and power, giving men a higher social status. Economic, social and cultural gender inequalities negatively affect the ability of women, particularly those in developing countries, to acquire a basic education for a better quality of life. Rather, women carry out unpaid domestic work, and tend to have a long working life from childhood to older age (Tsukada and Silvia 2009). Furthermore, in some communities, women are expected to depend first on their parents, then on their husbands and, ultimately, on their sons. In response to the Education for All (EFA) goals (UNESCO 2000), the Kenyan Ministry of Education established an Adult and Continuing Education (ACE) agenda which includes three main programmes: literacy, continuing education, and community education and extension (RoK 2010, pp. 13–14). The literacy programme aims to provide the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic to illiterate adults and out-of-school youth (RoK 2010). In terms of continuing education, Kenya’s new adult education curriculum is aimed at certificate-oriented learning. In terms of community education and extension, government-owned formal literacy centres focus on preparing adult learners to sit for the Kenyan Certificate for Primary Education. Income-generating activity is located in literacy centres. ACE targets semiliterate adults and youth, aiming to integrate them into the formal education system. They study school-based subjects in a non-formal setting (RoK 2010). The adult literacy programme also aims to advance women’s empowerment through the establishment of small-scale businesses (RoK 2010; Bunyi 2006). For decades, literacy has remained a top priority on national and international development agendas. Literacy education contributes to individual prosperity and income-generation, and also has an impact on improving child nutrition and 2

In 2015, the MDGs were replaced by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the fourth of which is to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” by 2030. For more information, see http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/women-and-thesdgs/sdg-4-quality-education [accessed 8 July 2016].

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schooling (Bown 1990; LeVine et al. 2012; Rao and Robinson-Pant 2006; Street 2001). Research has shown that to be effective, the concept and application of literacy should be contextualised, interlinking with specific communities and peoples (Benavot 2015). Evidence-based literacy policies are required to encourage adults to acquire literacy skills (ibid.). In addition, the range of literacy needs and challenges in different phases of life must be taken into account; children need proficiency in language for their education and adults need literacy skills in their everyday lives and workplaces. As this research focuses on adult women’s learning processes in a village in Kenya, it seems appropriate to begin with a consideration of the specific characteristics of andragogy. According to Malcolm Knowles, andragogy, as distinct from pedagogy, is adult education in which adults approach “education with a problem-orientation to learning” (Knowles 1973, p. 43). Adults learn based on their needs, build on their existing knowledge, and apply acquired skills and knowledge in order to solve problems immediately. Sharan Merriam, Rosemary Caffarella and Lisa Baumgartner highlight the significance of learning from nonWestern perspectives, stating that since learning activities are highly related to cultural context, it is the responsibility of all community members “to teach and to learn” (Merriam et al. 2007, p. 237). Merriam et al. (ibid., p. 222) further observe that “Informal learning, which adults engage in on a daily basis, hardly counts as ‘real’ learning” in a formal school setting. In Narok North District, Kenya, where I carried out my field observations for this study, andragogy was practised by the Maasai women who identified urgent issues in their village and, applying some of the skills they had acquired in the villagebased literacy centre, organised a small women’s group to overcome them (Takayanagi 2014). It was not the instructor who commanded the group members what to do, rather they all believed in mutual co-operation and acted upon solutions together. Paulo Freire’s (1970) concept of “conscientization”, the process of becoming critical about social contradictions, is a form of andragogy. This implies that empowerment is achieved when people become conscious of their oppressed situation and work towards social transformation leading to improvements in their lives. Through the process of empowerment, people become active agents in endeavouring to improve their quality of life. Therefore, when an adult literacy project is organised, the implications of literacy skills on learners’ everyday lives and their notion of literacy need to be taken into account (Papen 2005). Furthermore, participants of literacy programmes can be more motivated to gain literacy skills if the objective of literacy is linked with livelihood, internal solidarity and cultural values (Trudell and Klaas 2010). In most societies, even those adults who are unable to read and write are still able to cope with literacy interactions, using many different strategies. As Alan Rogers states, “All adults – literate and non-literate – are engaged in literacy practices, dealing with literacy events” (Rogers 1994, p. 47). In fact, many studies have shown that multiple literacies based on different sociocultural contexts should be considered (Street 2001; Papen 2002, 2005; RobinsonPant and Evans 2009, LeVine et al. 2012). Alemayehu Hailu Gebre et al. (2009)

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describe how people in Africa practise various kinds of literacy and numeracy skills in markets, houses, small-scale businesses and farming, thus applying what is called “everyday literacies”. Although people may be deemed “illiterate” in a formal school setting, they are in fact knowledgeable, and capable of dealing with literacyand numeracy-demanding situations using their own strategies (Robinson-Pant 2005). These strategies include using signs, symbols and pictures to record events or convey messages (Gebre et al. 2009). When appropriate educational activities are organised with women, there are positive effects leading to social, economic and personal change (Bown 1990; LeVine et al. 1991; Rao and Robinson-Pant 2006). Given that there is a strong linkage between women’s health and literacy, Robert LeVine et al. (2012) report that literacy also enhances comprehension ability in situations other than reading, for example when illiterate mothers listen to health messages on the radio. LeVine et al. (ibid.) observed that women’s literacy skills play an important part in reducing risks to their children’s health and improving children’s development. Frances Vavrus supports the view of wider literacy benefits for women and suggests that the educated woman “takes an active role in controlling her fertility, practicing safe sex and protecting the environment” (Vavrus 2003, p. 41). She notes, however, that women’s choices about childbearing, reproductive health and environmental conservation are shaped by socio-cultural and economic circumstances (ibid.). This re-emphasises the need for development and literacy programmes to include strategies for women’s emancipation. Benedicta Egbo (2000) reported that educated women in Nigeria had greater participation in the meetings of family and community than uneducated women and raised their voices in the decision-making process. Women participating in an adult education programme tend to become empowered by enhancing their self-esteem and self-confidence. Empowerment is indispensable to women’s development processes, which are also highlighted in the narratives of village women in this study. Ruth Alsop and Nina Heinsohn (2005) further assert that empowerment is the capacity to make effective decisions and to convert them into desired outcomes. The link between literacy and community development is explicitly made in Freire’s approach. Freire (1973) also sees literacy as a way to change a community with collective action, rather than its leading to individual achievement. He also suggests that adult learners acquire the social skills or knowledge to bring about positive changes to reduce poverty through a process of critical awareness-raising, in other words, “conscientization” (ibid.). Moreover, an integrated literacy programme based on the needs of a community helps equip adult learners with practical life skills such as HIV prevention, improved hygiene, improved child development and income generation (Rao and Robinson-Pant 2006; LeVine et al. 2012). In the context of Africa, people value the well-being of their families and communities before individual benefits, and communality and solidarity are significant aspects in their lives. People try to find activities and strategies by themselves to develop a co-operative way of improving their community (Pradervand 1989). The pluralist spirit of communalism is different from individualistic thinking in the West. People attempt to make decisions which

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benefit “communities rather than individuals” (Lugones 2010, p. 754). Mutual help is a widespread aspect of social life, where relationships between people are defined by mutual recognition and respect. Henry Hemming (2011, p. 280) states that “remarkable things can happen when we come together in small groups”. Through informal learning, people try to work for the well-being of their colleagues and lead change to affect people’s lives (Jeffs and Smith 2005, pp. 95–6). Adults learn through involvement in community development, and they also learn for local community development (Fragoso et al. 2011). Therefore, effective development programmes implemented in Africa require the integration of traditional knowledge and community-based management systems. In the case of Kenya, Wangari Maathai (2008) asserts that uneducated people also have the knowledge and capacity to improve their lives. Furthermore, in her view, useful aspects of culture should be the basis for the planning and implementation of development programmes in Africa. Women activists challenge gender inequality by demanding equality in the family and in society, and exercise togetherness and sisterhood to achieve women’s socio-economic and political empowerment. As Gita Sen and Caren Grown clearly state, “recognition not just of poor women’s work but of its centrality to such development processes is essential” (Sen and Grown 1987, p. 83). In many communities, women are still seen more as ¨ stlin 2011). Instead, they should be recognised as objects than as subjects (Sen and O having a capacity to plan, implement and evaluate, with control over the whole development process. If their voices are reflected in development programmes, local women could take ownership of the management of the programmes with their indigenous knowledge. Listening to the voices of silenced women in developing countries is vital for the purpose of social development (Ashcroft et al. 2000; Said 1989; Connell 2007).

Methodology The situation of Maasai women in Kenya It is generally accepted that many women are not able to contribute fully and productively to community development because of cultural and social barriers to their participation in decision-making processes. This is especially the case in the Narok North District of Rift Valley Province, Kenya, where Maasai traditions and cultural practices are well preserved and practised. Women are kept busy with housework all day long and have little time for learning or for acquiring literacy and numeracy skills. For example, as I have observed elsewhere (Takayanagi 2008), most Maasai women manage all the housework by themselves, including: preparation of meals, milking, fetching water and firewood, washing clothes, taking care of children. On top of the housework, Maasai women cultivate vegetables with their husbands, and some also take care of cattle, goats and sheep. In addition, due to the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) and early marriage in the community, girls’ participation in education has been affected and restricted (Chege and Sifuna 2006; Takayanagi 2014). Moreover, many girls are

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brought up to be subservient to men and are regarded as a gift from a father to a future husband (Chege and Sifuna 2006). However, as this study demonstrates, there is capacity within a small community for women to develop their sense of agency and to contribute to development from within. Some village women fully participate in small development programmes. Research methodology The study adopted an ethnographic design, combining semi-structured interviews, informal conversations and observation. I selected Narok North District of Rift Valley Province in Kenya, where the Maasai are dominant, since I had already established a rapport with people in this village during a previous research project conducted by a Japanese university from 2007 to 2009 (Takayanagi 2008, 2011). The Maasai are semi-nomadic people and the centrality of cattle in Maasai life is highlighted by the women’s responsibilities at the research site (Saitoti and Beckwith 1980). As the primary goal of ethnography is to comprehend the sociocultural contexts of a particular society (Atkinson et al. 2001), the ethnographic approach was appropriate for my study. Anna Robinson-Pant (2008) supports the idea of ethnographic research in education, stating that the results can help external aid workers and development evaluators elicit the needs and viewpoints of people in a specific community. By participating in some of the activities of the village-based literacy centre, observing and interviewing local people, I attempted to understand the real-life situations of local people in this Maasai village in Kenya. Fieldwork for this study was organised between April and September 2011. I selected one village-based literacy centre to find out about its organisation and management. I visited the centre nine times, observing classes and interviewing the male instructor as well as 16 female participants from this settled Maasai community. I then selected the two most remarkable cases to explore the nuances of their lives and educational experiences. This study aimed to understand the nature of Maasai women’s life and educational experiences through interviews (Spivak 1985, Mohanty 2003, Narayan and Harding 1998). The narrative approach applied here enables the participants’ voices to be heard. Catherine Riessman states that in social sciences, “narrative analysis refers to a family of approaches to diverse kinds of texts, which have in common a storied form” (Riessman 2005, p. 1). Narrative analysis also examines the story which people use to understand their lives and the world around them (Bryman 2004). The Maasai speak Maa (the Maasai language), and many are also able to communicate in Swahili and/or English. Therefore, the interviews were carried out with the help of an interpreter who could speak English, Swahili and Maa. This local interpreter enabled me to ascribe meanings to the women’s voices and also to learn about local habits and culture (Temple and Edwards 2002). A language is not just a tool for translating messages, but carries particular socio-cultural meanings (Bassnet 1994). During the interviews, the women were asked about their experiences in educational and community development activities, and how they applied them to

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improve their families’ and community’s well-being. Their views on an ideal community were also explored. In the next section, I present my research findings, starting with an introduction of the village-based literacy centre and an examination of its organisation. I also consider a self-help group organised by some of the female participants of the literacy class. Next, to fully represent the two women’s stories, I provide some biographical background for each of them, and explore their literacy learning and community development experiences. I then analyse the impact of literacy on the individual’s well-being and discuss the actions taken by the women to challenge gender issues.

Presentation of research findings and discussion This section presents the major findings in response to the research objectives which guided this study. I investigated the venue used for the village-based literacy centre, the teaching methodology employed, the content of the classes, the instructor’s training experience and the women’s sense of empowerment through a self-help group. Background and management of the village-based literacy centre The literacy classes Classes were held at a local church, chosen by the participants and the instructor as a suitable venue for their village-based literacy centre. They took place between 2– 3:30 and 4 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays, these times having been decided on by the participants. There were no fees for participating. The number of participants varied, due to agricultural work and community rituals. While almost all participants were women, there was one young man attending the literacy class. The participants travelled long distances to attend. At times of crop harvest or a community meeting or function, classes were cancelled, and the instructor and participants communicated by mobile phones. When classes were held during harvesting seasons or market days, absenteeism was high. The majority of the literacy class participants were aged between 25 and 50. They were farmers, motorbike-taxi drivers or small traders. One female participant attended with her baby on her back. The instructor had no lesson plan. He was not provided with the Kenyan adult education curriculum. At the time of the research, the instructor was a local 34-yearold Maasai man, who had been teaching at the literacy centre for four years. He was a farmer who had completed secondary education yet, due to financial issues, had been unable to pursue higher education. The instructor’s approach was to write down the Swahili alphabet and words on a blackboard and to explain the words to the participants. He would also elaborate on the meaning of the words in Maa, so that the participants could understand them correctly. No reading exercise was observed. While the instructor explained about

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the contents of income-generating classes, he did not hold any income-generating classes during my research visits. Group or pair work or co-operative learning methods were not used during classes. The participants brought a notebook, pencils and an eraser. The instructor had a big tin container, in which he kept stationery, attendance sheets and some textbooks distributed by the government. The instructor received a monthly allowance of 3,000 shillings (about USD33) from KALA. He continued teaching on a voluntary basis when the allowance was delayed by the organisation, as the participants belonged to his community. The instructor gave an award to hard-working learners every December to motivate them. The participants’ academic achievements were assessed on the basis of the instructor’s observation of their notating skills, on their ability to correctly copy down what was written on the blackboard in a notebook or on their ability to write their name. Participants were not given homework, and there was no library in the centre, so they lacked reading and learning materials. There were no regular tests or end-of-term exams, but the instructor stated that there was a significant impact on the women’s socio-economic situation from gaining literacy. Some women were able to write their names, or sign documents, some had established small-scale businesses by themselves. There was no refresher course or regular training provided for the instructor to upgrade to new teaching approaches or techniques. During the six-months of my fieldwork, a government officer paid a monitoring visit once to the literacy class. The instructor applied a conventional method of literacy teaching in the classes, in which words are written on a blackboard and explained, and the participants repeat and copy the words into their notebooks. While Freire (1970) and Knowles (1973) emphasise the importance of practical learning, the instructor and the participants adopted a teacher-centred approach. This is what Freire termed the “banking concept of education”, in which teachers know everything, hence they simply transfer knowledge to their students (Freire 1970). This teaching method contributed very little towards creating a forum for the class participants to initiate discussions (Spivak 1985). Therefore, they had minimal space to critically discuss community issues. Community development activities organised by the literacy class participants Besides copying words from the blackboard, the literacy class participants also organised a self-help group, with the female learners designating a chairperson, a treasurer and a secretary. The instructor, as the secretary, recorded the minutes of their debates. They discussed the establishment of a small-scale business involving farm products, and calculated the costs of seeds, the rental fees for farmland and a tractor. Another income-generating activity of the self-help group which was also organised by the participants was setting up a market stall. They would buy and sell potatoes, maize and clothes to make a profit in the local market. Once, the participants had a discussion on how to establish a small business involving a market stall, how to identify a profitable commodity and where to locate the stall. During an interview, the instructor stated:

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[literacy is] to know how to read and write, manage small businesses. Literacy means knowing what you do not know. A socio-political dialogue about social and gender inequality did not emerge during my attendance at the classes. However, the instructor emphasised the importance of income-generating activities within literacy learning. As the participants were mostly women from his community, the major positions in the self-help group were filled by females. It seems that the male instructor was supportive in facilitating the group and trying to empower the female learners. According to the instructor, by conducting an incomegenerating activity, the participants had planned and subsequently implemented a community development project. The entire process was managed and controlled by the class members. This is consistent with what Raff Carmen (1996) terms an “autonomous development” approach. Moreover, this is an example which supports Orlando Fals-Borda’s assertion that local people in developing countries have a capacity to organise and to produce knowledge based on their socio-cultural settings (Fals-Borda 1987). The Maasai literacy class participants appeared to have a high level of trust in the instructor because he respected their schedules and commitments to their families. I did not observe the income-generation class, but it is clear that the literacy centre created a space and forum for the participants to share life experiences and collaborate to run a small-scale business. Also, Kenya Adult Learning Association (KALA) provided the participants with some financial support to manage their small-scale business project. The next section describes the learning activity experiences of two females in relation to community development. Rhoda3 was one of the participants at the village-based literacy centre and Teresa was a female lay pastor studying for a certificate in pastoral ministry at a college in a town. Case one: Rhoda Rhoda never attended school. During her father’s time, no one went to school. When I met her, she had attended the village-based literacy centre for two weeks. She had seven children, and two of her daughters were married. During the interview, she was collecting beans from shelves outside while her husband and children were looking after their animals. After that activity she made oil from the cream off the top of cow’s milk by simmering it for a long time. The younger children are given a spoonful of ghee (clarified butter, also gained from cream) daily, for their health. Rhoda sold milk and worked on other farms to earn some income. She also participated in a women’s group for one year with 10 other women. They cultivated each other’s farms together in turn, visiting a different member of the group every week. After harvesting, each one contributed money on a weekly basis. Each member was supposed to bring two cups, two plates, and 220 shillings. When the member was visited 3

All interviewees’ names mentioned here are pseudonyms.

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she received 20 cups, 20 plates and 2,200 shillings. Rhoda expected an improvement in the standard of education in the village through the group activities, because she was able to finance her children’s education with the 2,200 shillings she received. She used the money to purchase uniforms and other necessary items for school. The group members discussed children’s schooling, and assisted each other. She spent the income generated by the harvest on food. She had learned how to build a traditional Maasai house from her grandmother, who had told her to observe the house construction process carefully because she would need to build her own house when she married a Maasai man. Consequently, she also learned new skills and gained information from others, including the church, and educated people. Rhoda told me what she felt would be the best way to gain new knowledge and skills: Through discussion and casual conversations among the literacy centre peers, I have learned how to manage my business and how to write things down. Lastly, I asked about her view regarding the future in Narok. She replied: I expect better farming of maize and beans in future. The village women found a way of reducing their workload through co-operation, and the women’s group was formed to share the workload on farms. They were aware of the large amount of work that women were expected to manage. Hence, avoiding quarrels with their husbands, they came up with a constructive solution: they formed a group to share the workload amongst themselves. Rhoda and her fellow women seemed to accommodate men’s self-pride and try to live harmoniously (Tamale 2006). Togetherness and this communal society is a key aspect of African culture (Pradervand 1989). These village women were aware of gender disparity, including an unequal workload and men’s general expectations of women, yet they discussed a solution based on their capacity and attempted to create a better situation for women. This process reflects what Freire (1985) terms conscientisation, meaning people raise their own awareness of social issues and act to bring about a solution. The women were not ordered or persuaded by outsiders to plan and implement a development project; instead, they adopted a co-operative approach and mutual learning to change their situation. In addition, based on their everyday needs, each woman contributed a small amount of money to the group members in turn. Both Rhoda and Teresa (Case two below) indicated that they had high expectations of education and both utilised money earned to educate their children. Rhoda’s informal income-generating activity and its management is evidence of what is reported by Reyes Aterido et al. (2011), namely that women in Africa tend to rely on informal sources of money to support their families. However, the women’s expectations might be overly optimistic; Laurel Puchner (2003) emphasises that socio-economic development cannot be guaranteed by providing only an education to people. What seems to have helped Rhoda develop a capacity in administering the small project is self-directed informal learning beyond the classroom.

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Case two: Teresa At the time of my research, Teresa was a lay pastor and farmer who had never been to school. She had nine children. Her first-born had completed secondary education, and she hoped that the child would progress to higher education. Teresa had a small business, making and selling Maasai ornaments in the market. When she was young, her mother had taught her how to make the ornaments at home, which was a Maasai tradition. She also went to Nairobi to purchase animal fat, which she boiled to produce oil at home, and sold in the market. Teresa was also studying for a certificate in pastoral ministry at a college in a town. She attended lectures, which were conducted for two groups, one for those who were formally “literate” and the other for those who were formally “illiterate” and were taught in their mother tongue. Teresa said that, in her heart, she could hear, or “catch”, what was being taught, and that she intuitively understood the Bible. A teacher explained about the Bible in lectures, and participants discussed it. Teresa absorbed the contents of lectures, and memorised them. As a pastor, Teresa oversaw the behaviour of the people who attended her church, teaching the value of Christian life and of working hard at home. Teresa also taught principles of health and hygiene, advising church members to build a toilet at home. Teresa encouraged the women’s group at the church to contribute 40 shillings every Friday to assist those who were less fortunate. She was keen for people to become more active in daily work. She was also concerned about the sustainability of her church, and wished to educate church members to be able to play her role so that she could go to several other churches to supervise them. She stated that she would like God to empower women because she felt that they should be at the front line in the community, not lagging behind men. To her, who had learned to write her name after attending adult literacy classes at the village-based literacy centre, adult education was beneficial for women. However, at church, she relied on other church members to read and write. Teresa organised women’s seminars on how to improve their houses, how to approach men and husbands, and advised about women’s rights. She also co-ordinated a women’s ministry whose members had become church pastors, and encouraged them to teach other women in her community. Despite being a woman, people welcomed her to church seminars and meetings because of her status as a pastor. Teresa also taught men how to co-operate with women, and preached to men to encourage them to provide opportunities for women to manage various tasks in the community. Teresa recognised the importance of education and had attended a college to gain a certificate in pastoral ministry by memorising the contents of the study programme. For her, illiteracy was a very small disadvantage which she could overcome by listening and memorising in order to acquire new knowledge and the skills of pastorship. In societies where literacy skills are low among the majority of the population, orality (thought and verbal expression) is a common technique of teaching and learning, and the significance of orality is well recognised within

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religious higher education. This reflects Carmen’s perspective on orality, which is that “literacy cannot fully replace the pre-existing oral order” (Carmen 1996, p. 100). Teresa also facilitated women’s co-operative learning and solidarity in establishing self-help activities. This process demonstrated that, in cases when people have an urgent need, they will take the initiative to establish co-operative activities (Carmen 1996, Pradervand 1989, Freire 1976). The process of acquiring power through informal literacy and learning was reflected within the women’s group. Even though Teresa experienced opposition from some men in the community, she avoided conflict with them. Teresa accepted men’s pride, an attitude identified by Oye`ro´nke Oyeˇwu`mı´ (2001) as contributing to the creation of ˙ a harmonious society. Teresa’s status as a pastor helped her approach village men and convey her messages to them. As a church leader, Teresa was concerned about the sustainability of her church. She expressed a desire to train other church members to take over her responsibilities within the church community. This can be understood as sustainable development where, using her opportunities as a pastor, she attempted to open up a space from which women could speak. She also discussed women’s issues or their situation with men at church and encouraged men to be more accommodating to women. She used a dialogue strategy to convey her messages to village people. Teresa was well aware of the Maasai people’s strong patriarchal system, meaning that women’s voices were often ignored by men. Hence, she approached both men and women with different communication methods and tried to engage both to bring about social change together. She applied a gender and development (GAD) approach (Moser 1993, Østergaard 1992) to church programmes in which men and women worked together in accordance with their gendered roles and responsibilities. Andrea Cornwall (2000) identified the issue of men’s problem with discourse, which shows men often fail to collaborate in the promotion of gender equality, and that there is not enough dialogue between men and women. Teresa’s point echoes Cornwall’s view and emphasises a dialogue and understanding of the different roles played by men and women within the church. In addition, Teresa applied role modelling as a method of empowering village women within the church, aiming to counter their subordinate position.

Discussion The impact of learning on one’s well-being and empowerment In the process of learning, Rhoda and Teresa raised their critical awareness of social issues and gender inequality and attempted to improve the situation through collaboration. They gained empowerment via the process of literacy acquisition and informal learning. The village-based literacy centre represents a forum for the women. They assess needs by themselves and conduct various kinds of activities to improve the well-being of not only their family but also their relatives, friends and neighbours. They believe in collective action and solidarity, and bring about a

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positive change at a pace of their own choosing (Mohanty 2003). During my research, I observed how informal learning strengthened the capacity to manage to stay out of poverty. Rhoda and Teresa also got involved in village-based microfinance or small business programmes. These village women created an opportunity to increase their income by building links among women and co-operating with each other. This discussion is supported by a study by Gerard Huiskamp and Lori Hartmann-Mahmud (2007), in which social spending helps to secure gender-specific forms of insurance and maintain solidarity within society, in a manner consistent with social and religious norms concerning generosity and humanism. It could be said that women taking part in collective action have increased their control over decision-making and farm revenues, either systematically or significantly (Oxfam 2013). Naila Kabeer (1999) acknowledges the importance of access to resources, including employment, and its impact on well-being, but emphasises that the process of empowerment is completed with action. According to Kabeer (ibid.), a key aspect of women’s empowerment is whether one has the power and ability to make choices. Rhoda and Teresa appear to be empowered, as they have managed to implement a grassroots development project by themselves. Relating Kabeer’s (ibid.) point to the purpose of this study, the two women I interviewed also demonstrate that they have the ability to act within their communities as agents of change for community development. Informal education has empowered these women to raise their voices in their women’s group meetings. Both self-empowerment and poverty alleviation were highlighted in the research participants’ comments. Egbo (2000), who has looked at the personal impact of literacy on women, suggests that it results in an increase in one’s self-esteem, helping to bring about a better life. This was echoed in the instructor’s comment on the impact of literacy on individual well-being. However, Bryan Maddox (2005) reports that some marginalised women can be reluctant to demonstrate acquired literacy skills, due to culturally restricted gender roles. In my interviews, I explored the level of self-confidence developed in the process of learning from the perspective of the village women. As Knowles (1973) observed, adults learn and gain knowledge based on their needs and experiences, while children learn mostly in a classroom setting. Adult informal learning is distinct from formal learning. Knowles (ibid.) clearly showed that “andragogy” is all about self-directed and problem-based learning, bringing in life experiences. Critical reflection on learning and outcomes are key aspects of adult informal learning. While formal learning takes place at institutions based on a planned curriculum, adults learn spontaneously, which can lead to immediate solutions. This process of learning also recognises the production of knowledge. In the process of collaborative learning, subordinated women raise their voices in a created space and, by sharing each other’s issues and ways of solving them, learn and act upon solutions together. These women become part of the process of community development (Sen and ¨ stlin 2011). They own and control their small development project (Carmen 1996). O

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Women’s contribution to community development: the effect of togetherness and solidarity The women I interviewed were keen to speak about their learning experiences. In the forum created by the self-help group through learning activities, village women raised their voices and became more active, getting involved in community development projects. The women implemented a small-scale income-generating and basics of hygiene project. Participants in the process of gaining new knowledge and literacy skills built a collaborative relationship with others. Unlike Rhoda, Teresa showed that she challenged gender inequality. Teresa understands her role in their male-dominated community, yet she looks at her surroundings and analyses the issues by herself (Narayan and Harding 1998). Rhoda did not indicate any response to gender inequality. As Sylvia Tamale (2006) emphasises, activities should be linked to political structure if individuals strongly demand to have a more equitable and democratic society. While Chandra Talpade Mohanty (2003) and Donna Haraway (1991) suggest that solidarity and togetherness among subordinated women can help them bring about positive changes in society, Rhoda and Teresa rarely engaged in political initiatives to challenge gender inequality. The women found a personal way to overcome social issues. Nelly Stromquist (2002) has noted that increased levels of self-esteem, confidence and critical awareness are necessary for the development of powerful and more assertive individuals.

Conclusion The aim of this paper was to report on observations made in and around a villagebased literacy centre in Kenya and to present two Maasai women’s opinion of their literacy/learning and community development experiences. It also attempted to examine how women have gone through the process of empowerment, benefiting from collaborative learning, togetherness and post-literacy activities. The findings imply that it is beneficial to apply an ethnographic approach, to ensure that women’s voices are valued. The data I collected by observation suggest that the village-based literacy centre received limited financial and technical support from the government. This influenced the instructor’s capacity to organise and manage the literacy programme. As the instructor appeared to be motivated to teach and work in community development with his literacy class participants, it is likely that a regular training course and up-to-date teaching materials would help the instructor organise a more learner-centred and effective literacy programme at grassroots level. Convincing conclusions may not be reached by relying only these narratives because of the complexity of each individual’s learning mechanism and experience. However, this article illustrates that these women have become empowered through a micro-credit programme, controlling the collected money and making decisions on what to spend it on. My interviews of the two women about their experience of attending the literacy classes, self-learning and community development was a

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powerful tool for building my knowledge of how the Narok village women made efforts to improve their standard of living. While the development approach tends to be regarded as “rational problem solving” favouring literacy as an instrument (Robinson-Pant 2008, p. 780), this paper demonstrates that grassroots informal learning can be effective and efficient as village women learn based on their needs and take control over their selflearning, and can lead to positive social change. Further research on the actual application of literacy skills of the research participants in their everyday life would be helpful in ensuring that the advantages of literacy and informal learning to women’s empowerment are further realised in informed educational policy decisions.

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The author Taeko Takayanagi from Japan is a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney, Australia. Her major fields of research are women’s literacy and development, particularly in Kenya, and non-formal and formal education systems in developing countries.

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