Literacy, Education, and Development for Ethnic Minorities
WE the people LEAD every project.
WE-LEAD works with local governments, institutions, and individuals to bring mother tongue based quality education, literacy development and community growth to minority communities across East Africa and the world.
Our work is growing!
The Lord is blessing us with His work and WE-LEAD is expanding at an incredible rate. We are urgently in need of a larger facility to host all of our operations in a single location. To this effect, we prayed and asked God for guidance and wisdom. God has answered our prayers, and a school compound, in good condition and in a central location, was offered to our ministry.
WE-LEAD stepped out in faith and made the first payment in a show of commitment. For the remaining amount, we were graciously given two more years. If you would like to join us in providing a new facility for the people and communities we serve, please click one of the buttons below.
Today, 25% of the world’s population, about 1.8 billion people, speak 92% of the world’s languages. These small language communities do not have institutions and infrastructures that would help to protect and promote them through education, literacy production and other language modernization strategies. This has led the communities and their languages to have an unguaranteed future.
Language goes beyond simple words and sentences; it is a tool we use to express our deepest and most intimate conceptions. As citizens of the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural world, we believe everyone deserves to maintain their linguistic heritage while developing and advancing their communities.
WE-LEAD has been part of numerous literacy, education, and community development projects with partner organizations. WE-LEAD is staffed with personnel who have years of experience in the literacy and education field.
Our Work
WE-LEAD adheres to the concept of ‘For the people, by the people’. This means before any project is initiated, extensive research is carried out into the general and specific needs of the community, their traditions and customs, and the different issues they face. After the primary and most urgent needs are identified, a suitable project is drafted. This is then implemented in partnership with already existing social and governmental structures in order to promote a sense of ownership by the communities.
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Literacy
WE-LEAD works on preserving mother-tongue languages of ethnic minorities by designing writing systems (orthography), teaching communities how to read and write in their mother-tongue, training teachers to teach in their mother-tongue, and generating supplementary reading materials.
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Education
WE-LEAD works on expanding education to disadvantaged areas and people by providing adult education, Back to School programs for elementary school dropouts, primary education curriculum development, local teachers capacity building programs, and generating supplementary children’s reading materials.
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Bible Translation
Language and identity are closely related. When people see that God communicates with them in their own language, they can easily relate to him. Some people even might reject Christ because the gospel was preached to them in another language which they hate.
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Development
WE-LEAD works on advancing ethnic minority communities by building schools and health centers, hosting trauma healing and conflict resolution workshops, being involved in the betterment of the local environment, facilitating awareness raising workshops, and connecting community needs to available resources.
An Alphabet for the Tsaara People
The Tsaara people, around 30,000 in number, are a minority community located in Southwest Ethiopia. Until recently, their language (Tsara) was available only in oral form; they did not have an alphabet nor any written books in their mother-tongue. This was causing the language to decline, leading to a loss of part of their heritage and identity. In 2016, WE-LEAD, along with a partner organization initiated research, and after three workshops with twelve of their speakers, a working edition of an alphabet was presented to and accepted by the regional government and the Tsaara community. Using that orthography, an alphabet booklet, as well as a ‘Primer’ book, were created as instruction materials to be used for teaching Tsaara speakers how to read and write their own language.
Get Involved
Whether by donating, volunteering, prayer, or partnering with us, there is a place for you in this journey. Learn more about the ways to get involved.
