After an analysis of 1990 Philippines National Statistics Office data showed a high incidence of illiteracy among women in the fishing villages, a project, Community Learning Approach (CLA), was developed to raise the literacy level. It was designed as an alternative delivery system of educating women in 24 villages for functional literacy and organizing themselves for empowerment to undertake livelihood projects to augment their income. Components were the following: assessment of the clientele on their socioeconomic status; development and translation of literacy instructional materials; recruitment and training of functional literacy facilitators; organization and conduct of functional literacy classes; livelihood skills training; organization for community development; and monitoring and evaluation. Assessment of clientele showed that more than one-half were housekeepers and fish vendors living in extreme poverty. Advocacy and social mobilization were done with active involvement and assistance of local government and other agencies. Content of literacy classes included health and sanitation, family life, child care, nutrition and food preparation, and food production. Community learning centers where classes were conducted were set up. Almost one-half of project graduates had their own livelihood projects, such as dressmaking, bag making, snack preparation, and buying and selling. (Seven data tables are appended.) (YLB)