The FLI Partnership 

The FLI is a partnership between WE-CARE Foundation Liberia, HIPPY International, and FOL.  WE-CARE is a Liberian-owned and operated NGO based in Monrovia that serves as the on-the-ground implementing partner. They also ensure the program is run in culturally appropriate ways and have localized the curriculum to Liberia.  HIPPY International created the early childhood curriculum, which the FLI uses. HIPPY stands for Home Instruction for Parents and Preschool Youngsters, and the curriculum is based around the parent (or caregiver) being a child’s first teacher. The HIPPY Home Visitors program follows a localized version of the HIPPY curriculum which provides parents with training, educational activity packets, and other resources to help them improve their child’s literacy and readiness for school. The training and resources are delivered through home visitors, which WE-CARE employs. 

FOL serves as the coordinating partner. We hold regular meetings with the Education Committee members, HIPPY staff, and WE-CARE. The committee also assists WE-CARE with training and expertise as needed and we have assisted with the monitoring and evaluation of the FLI pre- and post-test data, and a tracking study. FOL also assists WE-CARE find funding sources for the program through our Development Committee. 

The Adult Literacy Program (ALP) 

In 2018, FOL and WE-CARE did survey the FLI parents to identify any unmet needs they may have. The result of this survey was the ALP. The ALP is a three-level adult literacy course using a curriculum designed to supplement the HIPPY curriculum for those parents and other adults who want to improve their literacy and numeracy skills. The curriculum is designed to allow the FLI parents to be able to better help their children improve their readiness for school using the HIPPY materials. This curriculum was developed specifically for Liberia using a curriculum development professional and was localized to Liberia by WE-CARE staff. While the ALP does not restrict the student to only HIPPY parents, the majority of the ALP students have children in the HIPPY program.  

FLI Tracking Study

FOL and WE-CARE have been conducting a tracking study to better understand the strengths, weaknesses, and overall impact of the FLI program. The most recent tracking study is a 36-page report called the Family Literacy Initiative Tracking Study, dated July 2024. The subcommittee that conducted the tracking study anticipates providing more structured collaboration meetings to clarify data collection tracking goals and to identify data collection progress and challenges on a more regular basis, among other improvements. This report and a 2-page summary fact sheet regarding this report can be found in the Reports section at the end of this section. The subcommittee has also been working closely with WE-CARE staff to train them to be able to continue this study for subsequent FLI cohorts with minimal input from FOL education committee members.  

Early Childhood Development Centers 

Early on, while beginning to work in the Nyemah Town communities, WE-CARE realized that there was a lack of meeting space for both the HIPPY home visitors group meetings and adult literacy classes. WE-CARE converted unused classroom space into an Early Childhood Development Center in one community and a community building space in another. Both of those educational spaces were finished in 2023 and are operational.