International Literacy And Development

Human Language Technology Global: ILAD continued advancing the field of Human Language Technology through data collection, app development, and the creation of translation development tools, with the goal of providing access to information to low-resource language communities through machine translation. In 2024, ILAD consistently worked on a variety of projects for multiple language communities throughout the world. Examples include: Gatehouse - a simple Windows program for bulk document translation Alfalfa - a simple app for Rohingya adults learning English basics GoHighLevel - a Customer Relationship Management platform for ILAD's BDCs Aster - speech-to-text and text-to-speech systems for Rohingya Woolaroo for Rutul - a picture dictionary app for the Rutul in Central Asia Beja Project - HLT apps and services for the Beja people in North Africa Laurel - a prototype to demonstrate what an end user app could look like once the underlying technologies have been developed

Dallas, Texas, is home to a large refugee population, many of whom speak minority languages with no access to written or audio texts in their primary language. ILAD works with the Rohingya refugee community in the areas of ESL, literacy, citizenship, and health education. ILAD is also involved in preserving and promoting the Rohingya language and is currently collecting language data to be used in the production of a Rohingya dictionary and the development of apps for smartphones and computers. ESL and Citizenship: 25 Rohingya refugee families participated in ESL Classes. 10 additional Rohingya were prepared for their citizenship test and interviews. 2 Rohingya teachers taught their own community members, though one recently moved. Citizenship curriculum has been shared with the refugee community in Houston. Youth Engagement: ILAD staff conducted a youth civic engagement six week program in fall with 13 young women who learned basic Rohingya to help their parents with important documents, participated in a local event to help their parents register to vote and learn how to use voting machines, and engaged in family and cultural history learning. This program built the foundation for stability that can lead to deeper civic engagement in the future. Literacy and Education: ILAD created a YouTube channel that hosts videos covering a variety of important topics as well as English learning tools, all in the Rohingya language. There are over 5000 subscribers. Additionally, in 2023 ILAD partnered with Sesame Street Education to translate books into Rohingya and in 2024, ILAD published those books. ILAD also partnered with Books Unbound to create the first standardized Rohingya Dictionary. Business Development: The ILAD DFW Business Development Center (BDC) increases the dignity and well-being of refugees who want to start businesses through a package of capacity-building guidance services designed specifically for refugees. Participants achieve financial confidence and credit-worthiness, get funded, and launch a business which produces regular income for their household. In 2024, 90 entrepreneurial Arabic speaking refugee clients participated in business development training. 5 new businesses were launched, and new partnerships within the refugee service community were established.

ILAD's longest running programs are in West Africa, where ILAD staff are involved in literacy, agricultural training, social business, micro-finance, and education. ILAD conducted the following activities: Literacy: In 2024, ILAD operated 22 mobile libraries, serving over 2000 minority language speakers across two countries. 6 of the villages where libraries have been established have begun service clubs to help their community. There are also 12 schools with 20 teachers who serve 1228 children and adults. In another West African country, 67 women graduated from 7 different literacy classes that took place in 5 different villages. 5 new assistant teachers were trained. Agricultural training: Over 1,500 local farmers have adopted the innovative organic pineapple production methods being taught on ILAD's self-sustaining demonstration farm. Over 700 village-based, small-farm co-ops are trained and in operation. The agriculture project includes teaching pond culture tilapia raising, animal husbandry, and crop diversification. In 2024, 15 local farmers were trained in multiple farming and animal husbandry disciplines at the demonstration farm. Social business: ILAD is supporting the creation of local businesses to provide fair market prices for agricultural products. In 2024, the juice factory hired 24 new workers. In total, these businesses generated over 100 full-time jobs for local people. In 2024, a poultry and egg business began and will be expanding in 2025. The proceeds from this business will provide revenue for the educational activities. Business Education: In 2024, 37 local entrepreneurs were trained in a Business Development Center designed to equip them with knowledge and tools to run ethical, profitable, relevant businesses in their communities that provide economic and social benefits. During the phases of training, several of the local entrepreneurs were trained to be able to lead some of these classes themselves. Microfinance: ILAD offers financial services such as savings and micro loans through a rural agricultural development program. In 2024, 2 more participants were given loans to begin their own pineapple farms. These loans result in a substantial increase in income for the participants. When the program started in 2013, 5% of the farmers involved in the program were landowners and at the end of 2024, 25% of the farmers are landowners. Education: In 2024, ILAD continued to partner with a local village to provide a Jr./Sr. School where formerly there was only an elementary school. The Middle School had 108 students with a passing rate of 82% and the High school had 21 students with a passing rate of 80%.