Developing literacy programs for the developing world that draw on the oral history and folklore of the recipients' culture?

My partner and I are developing a literacy program here, and some of the resistance we've encountered is the fear that written language will destroy existing oral traditions. Ideally written language will help preserve oral histories and folklore and use them as a basis for development into an equally rich written culture, but it's a valid concern.

And you don't even have to live in the developing world. You could just visit!