This paper describes a system of built-in, or internal, evaluation used within the Botswana National Literacy Program (NLP). Launched in 1981 and targeted toward illiterate adults and youth aged 10 years and older, the program aims at eradicating illiteracy in Botswana by 1986. The built-in evaluation was implemented in 1983, using program officials trained in a series of workshops as "barefoot evaluators." The practical realities of a Third World country with minimal infrastructure and scarcity of skilled manpower made classical methodological control impossible. The evaluation was therefore conceptualized as an experience creating a new culture of action within the NLP rather than as a technical experiment. Instruments served as frames for meanings rather than as yardsticks for measurement. Evaluation results have been gratifying: NLP program participation increased by 60 percent. Most collected data were usable and provided a coherent and credible program picture. Results could be utilized before formal report release. The experience of constructing this built-in evaluation system reinforces the view that such humanized methods are much more useful in Third World countries than external evaluations in the sophisticated research mode. (Author/BS)