B U I L D I N G T H E B R I D G E O F L I T E R A C Y

ANNUAL

R E P O RT

2002-2003

2

CODE is a Canadian charitableorganization that promotesliteracy and education in Africaand the Caribbean.

ChairRichard M. Evans President & CEO, LibertyMutual Insurance Companyof Canada Unionville, ON

Vice-ChairChristopher BredtPartner, Borden LadnerGervais, LLPToronto, ON

TreasurerCarol Vahey, CA, CFP,Consultant, Standard LifeOttawa, ON

Past-ChairRobin RichardsonSpecial EducationCoordinatorThames Valley DistrictSchool BoardLondon, ON

DirectorsNorton C. CampbellPresident, N.C. Campbell &AssociatesLondon, ON

Lynn DonaldsonPresident, Lynn Donaldson& AssociatesCalgary, AB

Gérald FallonPrincipal, Selwyn HouseMontreal, QC

Stephen HeckbertVice-President,CommunicationsEDS CanadaOttawa, ON

Stephen KinsmanMagnus ConsultantsMontreal, QC

Kingo MchombuDirector of CommunicationsUniversity of NamibiaWindhoek, Namibia

Nadim Salti PCNadim E. Salti & AssociatesWashington, DC

Executive DirectorYvonne Appiah

Honorary Life CounselColin McNairn

VisionTo support a sustainable literate environment inthe developing world.

MissionTo enable people to learn by developingpartnerships that provide resources for learning,promote awareness and understanding, andencourage self-reliance.

Board of Directors

International Book Bank2201 Eagle St, Unit DP.O. Box 4460, Baltimore, MDU.S.A. 21223(410) 362-0334

The International Book Bank is a non-profit distribution service for books andother educational materials donated byNorth American publishing companiesand the education community. IBBdistributes these materials to non-profitorganizations in developing countries,including CODE’s partners.

CODE Incorporated120-2255 St. Laurent Blvd.Ottawa, ON Canada K1G 4K3(613) 260-3457

CODE Inc., Canada’s foremost logistics andprocurement agency, specializes in acquiringand delivering the items needed for voterregistration and elections. Since 1989, thecompany has provided millions of dollarsworth of voting material to emergingdemocracies worldwide. CODE Inc.’sdividends support literacy-relateddevelopment projects undertaken by itsparent organization, CODE.

CODE Foundation321 Chapel St.Ottawa, ON Canada K1N 7Z2(613) 232-3569

The CODE Foundation, anendowment fund that managesand invests bequests and otherplanned gifts, donates theinvestment income annually toCODE.

Affiliates

Editor: Mark Foss Page Layout: Simpson Graphic Services© CODE 2003

Cover Photo: Betty Bone, GhanaPrinted with vegetable inks on partially recycled paper

PatronHer Excellency the Right HonourableAdrienne Clarkson, C.C., C.M.M., C.D., C.O.M.Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada

Yvonne Appiah, Malawi

Advisory CouncilKnowlton Nash, ChairRobert BatemanAvie BennettMarion DewarFil FraserAllan GreggPeter HerrndorfMel HurtigKaren KainFlora MacDonaldLewis PerinbamOscar PetersonCedric RitchieShirley L.ThomsonJodi White

CODE ANNUAL REPORT 2002-2003 3

Yvonne AppiahExecutive Director

According to UNESCO, some 861 millionpeople, or 20 percent of the world'sadults, cannot read or write.Two-thirds

of these people are women.The approximately113 million school-age children who are not inschool are likely to join the ranks of adults whodo not have access to literacy.

In February 2003, with support from UnitedNations Secretary-General Kofi Annan,UNESCO launched the UN Literacy Decade(2003-2012) under the theme "Literacy asFreedom" to support broader internationalwork.The Education for All (EFA) initiative,which seeks to increase literacy rates by 50percent by 2015, provides the overall target forthe Literacy Decade.

For CODE, the renewed international attentionon literacy is a welcome development.Whenpeople do not enjoy literacy, they are often iso-lated, unable to participate or to contributefully to the economic, social and political life oftheir community. In this sense, literacy goes farbeyond reading, writing and numerical skills; it'sa path to empower people, communities andcountries.

Over the past year, CODE and its partnerscontinued to build bridges of literacy.Together,we have developed literate environments byproviding books, training teachers and librarians,supporting local publishing, and undertakingother activities. Moreover, we remained com-mitted to improving our results by sharing ourexperiences and best practices: in November,we held "Learning through our Practice," thesixth workshop for our network of overseaspartners since 1998.

One of the workshop's rec-ommendations was in keepingwith action proposed for theLiteracy Decade: the promo-tion of greater links betweenliteracy and issues such asHIV/AIDS. In fact, many of ourpartners have already madeHIV/AIDS awareness a priorityin their programs. During thepast year, ALED in Mali, theChildren's Book Project ofTanzania and CODE-Ethiopiaall launched initiatives to inte-grate HIV/AIDS awarenessinto the learning process.

In Canada, 482 schools participated in ProjectLove, a program that enables elementaryschool students and teachers to prepare kits oflearning materials for schools in developingcountries. As you will see on page 8, ProjectLove supporters find all sorts of creative waysto raise money for literacy. CODE alsolaunched an attractive new web site for ProjectLove to enable interested schools and commu-nities to learn about the program faster andmore efficiently.

Literacy can never come fast enough for peo-ple in developing countries. As the LiteracyDecade puts more pressure on the internation-al community to live up to its commitments, wehope that more people will become aware ofwhat CODE supporters have recognized allalong: literacy is the foundation for sustainabledevelopment.

We would like to thank all of our supportersfor helping us to build bridges of literacy duringthe past year.Whether the funds come fromour affiliates, corporate and institutional donors,or individual Canadians, they all make a differ-ence. On pages 10-12, we pay special tribute toour generous donors.

On behalf of the children that have benefitedfrom your extraordinary support, we send aheartfelt thank you!

Richard M. EvansChair, Board of Directors

Sean Maddox,Tanzania

Message from the Chair and Executive Director

CODE ANNUAL REPORT 2002-20034

Partners

Ethiopia • CODE-Ethiopia

Ghana • Ghana Book Trust (GBT)

Guyana • Guyana Book Foundation (GBF)

Kenya • Kenya Book Foundation (KBF)

Mali • Association pour la lecture, l’éducation et le développement (ALED)

Malawi • National Library Service (NLS)• Paper Making Education

Trust (PAMET)

Mozambique • Associação Progresso (Progresso)

• Centro de Informática de Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (CIEUM)

Senegal • Bibliothèque-Lecture-Développement (BLD)

Tanzania • Children’s Book Project (CBP)• Tanzania Book Support

Trust (TBST)• Songea District Council

Department of Education• Mbinga District Council

Department of Education

Overview of CODE’s Programming

Overseas Program

Through its overseas program, CODEseeks to increase children’s capacity tolearn.To that end, CODE works with localpartners in nine countries in Africa and theCaribbean.These organizations help buildand maintain strong environments forliteracy, especially for children.

During the past year, CODE provided morethan 745,500 new books to 2,836 libraries,supported the in-service training of 6,252teachers and strengthened 14 literacy-based organizations in Africa and theCaribbean.

Provision of children’s learningmaterialsIn 2002-2003, CODE and its partnersprocessed more than 405,000 high-qualitybooks donated by North Americanpublishers. In addition to strengthening2,800 existing libraries, CODE helpedestablish 36 new community libraries.Highlights of local publishing included thelaunch of Pangolim, a bi-monthly magazinein Mozambique that offers a national andglobal perspective on issues such aseducation, human rights and HIV/AIDS.

Spotlight on The Guyana BookFoundationEstablished in 1990, the Guyana BookFoundation (GBF) has supported children’sliteracy in Guyana by establishingcommunity libraries, distributing educationalmaterials, supporting local publishing, and

Sean Maddox,Tanzania

CODE ANNUAL REPORT 2002-2003 5

Skills development for teachers andlibrariansLearning materials are critical, but teachersand librarians need the proper skills to usethem effectively. During the year, CODE andits partners trained 6,252 teachers, educationofficials and community members inlibrarianship and to teach reading in 324 in-service training sessions.The Kenya BookFoundation, for example, trained 162teachers, empowering them to start librariesin more than 150 schools around thecountry.

Spotlight on ProgressoProgresso, a Mozambican NGO, has been aCODE partner since 1991. During this time,Progresso has grown into one of the mostcapable and efficient NGOs in the country.Together, CODE and Progresso support aliterate environment by improving teachers’skills and providing locally published books, aswell as developing local libraries in twoNorthern provinces: Cabo Delgado andNiassa.

In 2002-2003, Progresso continued to “trainthe trainers.” In Niassa, 28 education officersimproved their ability to train teachers toteach grades 1-2. At the same time, 19instructors at the teacher training centre inLichinga (Niassa) learned new methods forteaching grades 1-5.Teams of educationofficials who received training subsequentlyled 104 training workshops for primaryschool teachers throughout the district. Intotal, 2,997 primary teachers increased theirskills through in-service training.

In addition to working with the Ministry ofEducation to train teachers for theintroduction of local languages in primaryschools, Progresso produced teachingmanuals and textbooks in five local languages.

Promotion of literate environmentsfor childrenChildren need a supportive community toimprove their reading skills. Since reading isnot always widespread at home, CODEpartners promote a variety of activities tostimulate interest in reading among childrenand their parents and other adults in thecommunity as well.Throughout the year,partners held events such as book fairs and

training teachers, library assistants and literacyworkers. In addition to working closely withother non-governmental organizations(NGOs), community-based organizations,book publishers and book sellers, the GBFhas implemented literacy projects funded bythe European Union and the Government ofGuyana.

Over the past year, the GBF distributed nearly42,000 books to 474 nursery, primary andsecondary schools in Guyana, as well aslibraries run by the GBF and othereducational institutions. Most of these bookswere free, while in some cases the GBFcharged a small fee to recover administrativecosts.To commemorate International LiteracyDay and Education Month in September, theGBF donated more than 10,000 books to165 primary schools in the hinterland regions,distributing them by truck, ferry, speedboat,canoe, aircraft and on foot.

In addition to providing North Americanbooks, the GBF purchases English-languagetitles written by local authors and supportsindigenous publishing in both English andnational languages such as Makushi. In 2002-2003, it published the final two titles of “Lolitaand Maria,” a seven-book series that coverssuch health issues as malaria, HIV/AIDS,nutrition and diarrhea.The GBF and theNorth Rupununi District Development Boardalso published “Let’s Read and WriteMakushi,” to promote learning in locallanguages.

Yvonne Appiah, Guyana

CODE ANNUAL REPORT 2002-20036

reading contests to promote the importanceof literacy. In Senegal, BLD attracted 5,000children and 300 adults to its second annualbook festival.

Spotlight on ALED in MaliALED, a CODE partner since 1997,distributes books, trains teachers andlibrarians, and promotes reading. Moreover, itintegrates discussion of issues such as genderequity and HIV/AIDS into its regular activities.A new initiative, for example, will include ashort skit about HIV/AIDS for televisionbroadcast, as well as workshops to helplibrarians promote HIV/AIDS awarenessappropriately.

In 2002-2003, ALED organized ReadingWeeks in Ségou and Markala, which attractedthousands of people to a variety of activities.In Ségou, for example, more than 4,000primary and secondary students, along withtheir teachers, took guided tours ofexhibitions set up by three Bamakobookstores. Local radio stations alsobroadcast a lively roundtable discussiondevoted to the importance of reading. InMarkala and neighbouring communities, some9,000 students took part in games andreading contests. A conference on the stateof reading in Mali also led to concretesuggestions to encourage more people toread more frequently.

Strengthening resource and educationnetworksThe success of CODE’s programs dependson a network of partners that specialize insuch areas as library development, literacy,publishing, book distribution and ruraldevelopment.These networks, in turn, haverelationships with community-based groups,government agencies and institutes that helpthem deliver high-quality programs. CODEsupports these networks financially tostrengthen them, enabling them to moreeffectively share their knowledge and attractnew donors. During 2002-2003, CODEpartners established 19 new relationships tosupport and broaden their programs, andeight partners attracted new funding fromgovernments and international organizations.

Spotlight on CODE-EthiopiaAfter seven years as an informal committee ofgovernment department heads in education,curriculum development and book production,CODE-Ethiopia became an NGO in 1994.Together with regional and municipal educationdepartments and other agencies, CODE-Ethiopia has created and strengthened 62reading rooms and associated schools in sixregions. It maintains strong ties with localcommunities to create an environment forliteracy to flourish.

In the past year, CODE-Ethiopia continued tostrengthen the capacity of governmenteducation officials. It provided computerequipment, accessories and supplies to threeworedas (akin to a Canadian municipality) forthe production of a children’s magazine. At afive-day workshop, 17 education personnellearned to prepare children’s learning materials— everything from writing and illustration todesign and printing. By year’s end, the initiativehelped support the production and distributionof 30 titles of local language materials totaling30,000 volumes.

Family reunion: CODE partners gatherto share experiencesBetween November 23-30, 2002, CODEpartners gathered in Bamako, Mali, for aworkshop called “Learning through ourPractice.” Fifteen organizations, representing 11countries, shared best practices for managingbasic education programs for children in areassuch as book selection, teacher training, libraryactivities and networking. Each partner alsobrought visual displays of their work, includingposters, photographs, locally-produced booksand teaching aids.

Yvonne Appiah, Kenya

Highlights of best practices identified at theworkshop included the following:

• ALED (Mali) prepares short skits fortelevision to reinforce key messagessuch as the importance of books andgirls’ education.They are performed inlocal languages by well-known Malianactors.

• The Children’s Book Project(Tanzania) uses 21 criteria to assesswhether it will buy or produce a bookfor its programs.These criteria rangefrom content (relevance, genderawareness, humour, originality) andstyle (language level, artistic level) toproduction quality (design, paperquality, binding).

• Progresso (Mozambique) hasdeveloped a teacher training programto complement its primary schoollibrary program.The training, whichsupports government programs andcurriculum, encourages teachers tomake students the centre of theirown learning.

• BLD (Senegal) uses animationactivities to help young children andolder students to become morefamiliar with books and referenceguides. In one exercise, students raceagainst each other to find words intheir dictionaries.

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Partner Exhibits, CODE Partners’Workshop, Mali

Participants explored ways to measureprogress, monitor results and adjust programsaccordingly.They also reflected on the benefitsand challenges of partnership with CODE,providing input to help develop a newPartnership Policy. Finally, they looked ahead atnew priorities such as developing materials forteachers and children on HIV/AIDS.

Betty Bone, Ghana

CODE ANNUAL REPORT 2002-2003

CODE ANNUAL REPORT 2002-20038

“I shaved my head for Project Love”This year, Maurice Cody Public School inToronto, Ontario, proved that two heads aredefinitely better than one.

In a truly harebrained scheme, gym teacherColin Strange agreed to shave his head if theschool raised $1,000 for Project Love.Then, justto make it interesting, Mary Siegner — teacher-librarian and the event’s mastermind — vowedto follow suit if the school raised $2,500.Whenthe final tally surpassed the goal, reaching$2,680, out came the shears!

To show solidarity with the teachers for the bigevent, Principal Judy Green proclaimed “WackyHair Day.”With Elvis Presley’s “HeartbreakHotel” playing in the background, studentsgathered in the auditorium to watch Mary andColin let their hair down. It took all of fourminutes to reduce Mary’s shoulder-length hairto what she called the “Sinéad O’Connor” look.

The two teachers received sweatshirts thatread “I shaved my head for Project Love” tohonour them for the hair-raising experience.Meanwhile, thanks to the funds collected fromfamily and friends in the community, the schoolprepared 1,340 school kits — the secondlargest shipment by one school in Canada!

In addition to its overseas programs, CODEworks in Canada to increase knowledge andunderstanding about education anddevelopment in other parts of the world.Through Project Love, now in its 16th year,CODE brings awareness of literacy issues indeveloping countries to Canadianelementary and secondary students andteachers. Furthermore, Project Love enablesschools and communities to help collectmuch-needed learning materials.

Each year, around Valentine’s Day, Canadianstudents across the country assemble kits ofschool materials such as notebooks, rulersand pencils for students and teachersoverseas. In 2002-2003, 482 schools andcommunity groups took part in ProjectLove, including two schools in the UnitedStates. In total, more than 75,000 students,teachers, parents and community membersparticipated. In August 2002, CODE shipped45,000 kits to Ghana and more than 10,575kits to Senegal. CODE’s local partnersdelivered these kits to schools andcommunity libraries.

For the second year, CODE partnered withthe Elementary Teachers’ Federation ofOntario (ETFO) for its World Teachers’ Day(October 5) activities. In 2002, teachers from177 schools — or 85 percent of ETFOlocals — filled shoeboxes with schoolsupplies for teachers overseas.These boxeswere to be shipped to Ghana and Senegal inAugust 2003, along with Project Love kits.

Canadian Program

CODE PhotoMollie MacCormac, Ottawa

CODE ANNUAL REPORT 2002-2003 9

Financial Statements

2003 2002REVENUE

CANADIAN SOURCESAgreements

NGO Division $1,721,974 $1,617,298 Bilateral Division 752,631 654,393

Wild Rose Foundation 25,000 25,000IDRC – 3,345Donations 1,039,186 965,772Miscellaneous 31,131 30,404

FOREIGN SOURCESGuyana Educational Development Fund 2,053 –In-kind value of donated educational materials 6,971,498 6,724,924

TOTAL REVENUE 10,543,473 10,021,136

EXPENSES

Contribution Agreement CIDA-NGO Division 2,243,327 2,101,921In-kind value of donated educational materials 6,971,498 6,724,924Contribution Agreement CIDA-Bilateral Division 752,760 654,620Guyana Educational Development Fund 2,053 –Revenue Generation 438,250 344,663General Administration 115,799 99,644Amortization 17,234 20,163IBB Activities – 72,786

TOTAL EXPENSES 10,540,921 10,018,721

EXCESS OF REVENUE OVER EXPENSES $2,552 $2,415

Complete audited financial statements are available upon request.

SUMMARY STATEMENT OFREVENUE AND EXPENSES

FISCAL YEAR ENDING MARCH 31, 2003Heloisa Modesto, Mozambique

CODE ANNUAL REPORT 2002-2003

Report on Revenue Generation

Making it countIt all adds up — from the $2 gift that aCanadian school child sends to the variety ofgift levels we receive from individual donors. Infact, when all the donations were tallied thisyear, individuals, schools, groups, foundationsand businesses across Canada had increasedtheir support. For this we are truly grateful!Broad public support means that CODEcontinues to qualify for significant funding fromboth provincial and federal governments.

CODE’s affiliates — CODE Inc., theInternational Book Bank (IBB) and the CODEFoundation — all contribute to the CODEsuccess story.

Exceptional friendsOur corporate and foundation friends whoprovide us with funds for overseas programsdeserve special mention. For manycorporations and foundations, financial supportto international development is outside theirmandates.We are doubly grateful for thosecorporate and foundation donors who can seethe value of assisting those in need in ourglobal community.

CODE welcomes all new donors to our familyof dedicated supporters.

You provide the gift of literacy Look at what your dollars are doing for literacy!

Thanks to you, children in eight countries inAfrica and Guyana in the Caribbean are holdingbooks in their hands and spelling words in theirnotebooks. Literacy empowers.When childrenlearn to read and write, they learn how tomake good choices — like how to avoidgetting sick with HIV/AIDS.

Thanks to you, more than 6,252 teachers andlibrarians received training, which supportedchildren’s literacy in their communities.

Together we build the bridge of literacyWith every year, we reach more and morechildren. However, our task is still enormous.More than 861 million people in the world donot know how to read and write.Approximately 113 million school age childrenare not in school.With your help we continuein the struggle to erase illiteracy.

Every year, we also spread more awarenessabout international development andCODE’s international literacy work throughProject Love. CODE thanks the manyCanadian teachers, students, youth groupsand community groups who participated inProject Love during the past year.

1 0

Thank You!

Yvonne Appiah, Kenya

CODE ANNUAL REPORT 2002-2003 1 1

CODE recognizes the contributions ofindividuals who made significant donations in2002-2003. Please note that this is a partiallisting.We also extend our warm thanks to themany individuals who wished to remainanonymous.

Leaders in Literacy ($1,000 to $8,000)

Our Literacy Builders and Leaders in Literacy

Literacy Builders ($500 to $999)

Yvonne Appiah, Guyana

Cynthia BaxterChris BlundellChristopher Bredt & Jamie CameronJulie ChandlerJames ChandlerGwynneth EvansRichard EvansMark GallerRonald HaglerMargaret HincksPeter MacLarenSusan MacLaren

Robert MacLellanJean MarshWilfred McCutcheon, LL.D. HonPaul MooreRosalind RichardsonBarbara RitchieCedric RitchiePaul StewartWillem & Susan Van ItersonMaurice WalshThomas WarthEric Webber

Donated BooksOver the years, CODE has received and shipped millions of donated books and other educationalmaterials and equipment to schools, libraries and institutions in the developing world. Publishersadhere to donation guidelines, ensuring that our partner agencies in recipient countries select fromonly the most appropriate books. CODE would like to thank our affiliate organization,TheInternational Book Bank (IBB), which manages the program.We would also like to salute the followingpublishers for their significant book donations in 2002-2003:

Yvonne AppiahE. Louise ArnottNorma BellBronwyn BestJanet & Sterling BjorndahlE.R.G. BurgessWilliam BurtK.M. Cartwright (†’03)Patricia CochraneDawn CrabtreeChristopher CrumpAlceo De AnnaLynn DonaldsonBeverly GoodwinAngela GoyeauLucy Grossmann-HenselMark HeuleEmily HutchinsonMark HutchinsonAudrey KerrMarina KovrigMollie MacCormac

Paul MacKenzieMeiz MajdoubWilliam McLachlanEric MolsonDorothy MoseyMichael MravinecMarion PenroseRobert PiltchRobin RichardsonEverett SheehanMargaret StedmanRuth StedmanKatharine ThompsonHenry Venema & Mary Anne

SchinkelJacqueline VézinaMargaret Wade LabargeFay WoodCarol YeadonBeth Young

Alyson PublicationsBMJ BooksBookSouth Inc.Bound to Stay BoundBridge Publications Inc.Capitol BooksCook’s Book CompanyDaedalus BooksEditions du Renouveau Pédagogiques Inc.Fairmont Books Inc.Gryphonhouse Inc.Guilford Publications

Houghton Mifflin Canada Ltd.International Development Research CentreJones and Bartlett PublishersLippincott Williams & WilkinsMaple Tree PrressMcGraw-HillNational Book NetworkNelson Thomson LearningOxford University PressScholastic Inc.Stephen H. Glazer, IncSundance Publishing

The Morgan LibraryTrifolium Books Inc.Twist PhelanValet DistributingW.W. Norton & Company, IncWatermark PressWorld Book, Inc.World Vision USA

Yvonne Appiah, Ghana

$20,000-$25,000

CODE Foundation

CODE is pleased to recognize the generous

support of our major institutional donors

$85,000-$215,000

CygnusFoundation

$10,000-$19,999

$5,000-$9,999 FondationEdward Assh

FondationMarcelle etJean Coutu

ManitobaTeachers’Society

George CedricMetcalf

CharitableFoundation

Portage laPrairie

Rotary Club

We thank our other major institutional donors who wished toremain anonymous.

CODE pays special tribute to the ongoing support of all publicand private foundations, educational, religious and service groupsand to the thousands of individual donors who selflessly givefrom their hearts in support of global literacy. Owing to spacerestrictions they could not all be recognized in the publication.

A particular thank you to estates of individuals whose legacygifts of education will carry today’s provision of hope forward tothe children of the future.

All of these gifts arethe foundation uponwhich we build thebridge of literacy.

CODE 321 Chapel Street Ottawa, ON K1N 7Z2 Canada

Phone: (613) 232-3569Toll-free: 1-800-661-2633

Fax: (613) 232-7435E-mail: codehq@codecan.org

Web: www.codecan.orgRegistered charity # 11883 4878 RR0001

Ce rapport annuel est également dispnonible en français.Sean Maddox, Ethiopia