| Two years ago, a girlfriend of mine asked me if I would like to give literacy classes to women in a rural area of Morocco, approximately 60 kilometers outside the town of Settat. I was previously a dressmaker, and I noticed with my female customers how much illiteracy could be an obstacle in their lives. The association my friend heads was using a groundbreaking program: the ALEF “Bridge” approach. It teaches adult women basic reading and writing using the Arabic alphabet, but starts with words taken from the local Moroccan dialect. At the same time, the program leads these women to discuss concepts from the new Family Code*, which directly affects their everyday lives. We taught 100 women how to read and write in 2005–06. After this first rewarding experience, the association gave me responsibility for training 100 more women. Thanks to the training, the women have become more autonomous and more responsible in managing their personal and family lives. Some are proud of saying that they can finally monitor and help with their children’s homework. Several are now convinced of the benefit of the literacy classes and are actively carrying out their own mobilization and public awareness campaigns for literacy in their villages. As a trainer, I benefited from an extremely rich experience in very little time. The discovery of the job of literacy trainer helped me to forge a professional project for my life, which I had trouble defining before. I feel now that I have found my place. Of course, I do not say that traveling 60 kilometers, including 10 kilometers of rocky tracks on a cart drawn by a donkey, to go deliver a class is always a pleasure, but it is worth it when I see the enormous satisfaction that these women feel, and which they return to me amply. * Among other provisions, the Family Code raises the age at which girls can legally marry from 15 to 18 years old and gives wives “joint responsibility” with their husbands in family matters. | 
