 Adult Aeta Literacy/Numeracy (3A3Rs)
  
Literacy is vital for livelihood and economic development. The Adult Aeta Literacy/Numeracy (3A3R's) program has been set up in remote villages to help raise literacy standards among adult Aetas, with the aim that livelihood opportunities will be increased as literacy rates rise, and self-respect will recover when parents can help children with their studies. The program started in June 1999 when the first Aeta graduates sponsored by the EVA Charity Foundation Aeta Scholarship Fund were awarded college degrees. Once the participants of this program graduate from college they return to their communities, where they are expected to share their new skills. They become teachers themselves for a year, on a part-time basis, and receive a monthly honorarium from EVA. They teach other Aeta adults to read, write and do math so that they too can pass on this new knowledge within their own families, thus causing a ripple effect. (Click here for a student's report)  This program involves Aetas teaching Aetas, wherever they wish to learn and in whatever language they feel is more relevant to their lives, using language books and promoting pride in their culture and art forms like dances, songs and folk stories. Here adult learners at Baquilan Resettlement Area, Botolan, Zambales are seen under the tutelage of Elizabeth Hilario. The learners are at different levels: two are practicing arithmetical procedures while one is still learning how to write her name. The ongoing 3A3Rs programs in Region III (Bataan, Pampanga, Tarlac, and Zambales) are in dire need of positive support.
 A presentation of 3000 books, funded by EVA Charity Foundation and written in the Aeta Mag-antsi language, took place on 24 October 2001 at the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples Region III offices. The books were translated by The Summer Institute of Linguistics to ensure that the "first language" component is available to speed up the literacy learning process and to ensure that the Aeta language is kept alive. Recent updates on the status of specific schools are provided in our 'News' page.
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