The World Cocoa Foundation’s rural education project, ECHOES, has been working to improve the lives of youth and young adults in Côte d’Ivoire through an integrated approach that links basic education and livelihoods. Two components of the program that embody this approach are the functional literacy classes and the agricultural livelihoods training for out-of-school youth. Thanks to the impact of the literacy program in Biéby, Mr. Charles N’Din Koba has learned to read and write. Charles registered for the program with no previous education experience. He had never been to school. To date, Charles had one of the highest scores in the literacy final exam.

According to his tutor Mr. Christien Sombo, Charles never missed a day of class. “He often comes to me after class and asks for assistance,” said his tutor. Charles borrows the manual to take home and practices in his free time. During the reading test of the final exam, I congratulated Charles for his progress and efforts, a perfect score of 50/50. With a great big smile, Charles thanked me and thanked IFESH for the opportunity and his accomplishments.

Later that evening some of the learners and tutors visited me. The manual was on a table and I noticed Charles thumbing through it. He stopped at the foreword and said, “When I first opened this book in class I made it my goal to be able to read these paragraphs and to understand what these letters I.F.E.S.H really mean, and now I can read them and I thank you and IFESH for the difference you have made in my life.” He then continued to read and asked for help when needed. This year Charles has enrolled in the ECHOES agricultural livelihoods training being implemented by Winrock International. He is attending weekly agriculture classes with Mr. Sauveur Camara, the Winrock field agent in the region. As a result of his participation in the literacy classes, Charles is now able to take notes in the agriculture classes. At the end of the nine-month agriculture training, Charles will plant a new field of cocoa, using the improved farming techniques learned in class.

ECHOES is a partnership with WCF, a group of its member companies, and the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Africa Education Initiative. ECHOES implements projects in cocoa-growing communities in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.

Charles with literacy materials