Someone is paying serious attention to the discrepancies and incongruencies in service delivery from the top down. Angie, I may be missing something ...or just plain naive...but, what is it why this message isn't penetrating after 4 months? How many more millions of dollars have been wasted and will be wasted before someone will take action? Where is the $10 million supposed to come from if the one that holds the purse isn't seeing value in spending the money on the Malaria Control Programme? Or all we all supposed to continue flying BLIND? I spoke about the Illiteracy Spectrum, but thought this problem is at much lower levels of the service chain. Bacchus (2001, modified 2003) defines literacy becoming functional as the dynamic interplay between traditional/indigenous and secondary knowledge systems that produces cultural learning and a new knowledge system thereby creating a synergistic effect resulting in an emerging socio-cultural transformation. Bacchus (2001, modified 2003) defines functional illiteracy as a demonstrable lack of the individual’s attainment in the acquisition of the written form of one’s mother tongue and/or written and/or spoken form of the national/official (colonial) language, thereby lacking the ability to translate education into practical information that transforms his/her worldview, attitudes, behaviors, and practices. I actually don't have a definition for what you have described... and need to take this under serious study. I plead for us to be watchdogs. If we don't speak up we will all be seen as grossly negligent and plain incompetent. This is a serious risk management issue that will grossly impede TQM and inappropriate utilization of funds which in itself sends the wrong message to all stake holders. Fenna E. Bacchus http://www.fireinc.org