This paper examines the effectiveness of an NGO-sponsored literacy program in rural Mali. The study employs ethnographic techniques to examine the type of literacy instruction provided, the level of participation, the meanings of literacy to participants, and the contextual factors that influence the social and personal effects of literacy. The analyses reveal that the program has been more advantageous for men, particularly in terms of opportunities for the use of literacy skills. Oversight of the cultural context combined with programmatic challenges including failure of the NGO to meet its own critical literacy goals have limited women's ability to access and derive benefits from the literacy program.