About Us

For nearly three decades, CATA has been dedicated to advancing literacy among the Anyi people of Côte d’Ivoire. What began as a small effort has grown into a remarkable movement. Today, an estimated 10,000 Anyi speakers can pick up the Anyi New Testament and read it. While some are still developing their skills, many now read with full fluency, as naturally as one might read in English.

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This year marks an exciting new chapter focused on teaching Anyi readers not only to read but also to write in their own language. Literacy has two sides: learning to read and learning to write.

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In July, at our campus in Côte d’Ivoire, Professor Ettien led a two-week Writers’ Workshop for sixty graduates of the Level Four Anyi literacy program. The training focused on the foundations of writing in Anyi, including vowels and consonants, tones, verb conjugation, parts of speech, and sentence structure. Using syllable, word, and sentence diagrams, participants learned how to bring their language to life on the page.

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Each student wrote ten original Anyi proverbs, an exercise chosen because proverbs hold deep cultural meaning. For the Anyi, proverbs are woven into daily conversation and express generations of wisdom. The collection of proverbs from this workshop will be edited and published as the first book of proverbs in Anyi or in any language of Côte d’Ivoire, containing around four hundred entries.

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This workshop is the beginning of a three-year writing curriculum. As graduates continue, they will begin producing new literature in Anyi, from personal faith stories to written sermons. Our hope is that literacy will continue to open doors for the Anyi people, allowing them to preserve their heritage, share their faith, and see God’s kingdom grow through the power of the written word.