Three Ways You Can Improve Literacy on International Literacy Day
September 8, 2010 58 Comments
UNIVERSAL LITERACY is yet to be achieved on this planet: according to UNESCO, one in five adults, or about 774 million people, lack minimum literacy skills. Two-thirds of them are women. And 72 million children are out of school.
September 8, International Literacy Day, was created in the mid-1960s to highlight this basic lack and to stress the importance of literacy worldwide.
You can make a difference today by volunteering in your community, donating books, or supporting an organization working in the field:
1. Room to Read
Room to Read works with rural communities in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Zambia to build schools and establish libraries. The Local Language Publishing program allows children to read books in their first language.
Room to Read’s programs reach more than four million children and is aiming to improve literacy for ten million children by 2015.
Learn more about how to donate or sponsor a project.
2. Li! Li! Li! (Read, Read, Read):
Li, Li, Li! Reader with children in tent camp in Tabarre, outside Port-au-Prince. © Alice Speri
Li! Li! Li! means “read, read, read” in Creole and it’s also the name of a reading-out-loud program for children in Haiti displaced by the January earthquake. This grassroots group sends local Haitian readers to visit over a dozen “tent” camps, reading storybooks and using puppets to act out stories for children.
You can help by sponsoring a reader or donating children’s books.
3. Global Literacy Project
Christina Vanech at opening of kindergarten room in Soweto.
Global Literacy Project is a New Jersey based nonprofit with programs in Africa, India, the Caribbean, and the United States. In areas with higher literacy rates, they work to help people get access to materials and media; in lower literacy rate communities, the group tailors programs to building from the ground up.
One twelve-year old boy was so inspired he organized his own project that delivered 1,000 books worth nearly half a million dollars to a school in Africa.
There are many ways you can help the Global Literacy Project: volunteer, fund a science room or library, hold a book drive or make a book donation.
Bravo to whatever increases literacy in the world! Thanks for this important post.
Hear, hear! Thanks Renee.
I have volunteered in the past to teach reading to adult illierates, it was very rewarding!
Hi Amybeth,
That’s great. I’ve done literacy volunteer work with children, and it truly is a great feeling. I’m so glad you’ve had that experience.
Thanks for reading the blog today, I appreciate the visit.
sorry, I can’t spell apparently.
Great post! I didn’t even know today was National Literacy Day. I’m going to go read to someone!
http://www.denwrites.com
That’s an awesome idea!
What a great post highlighting a really important issue, thank you!
Hi Abby,
You’re welcome! I hope the work these groups are doing inspires people to get out there and help others.
Thanks for dropping by.
Thank you for this post. I didn’t even know that this is International Literacy Day! What a fantastic cause and what wonderful resources you shared.
Hi Kate,
There’s so many worthy organizations working for literacy it was hard to highlight just three. For example I wanted to also mention Literacy Partners, http://www.literacypartners.org/, but then the list would have gotten too long!
Thanks for visiting, hope to see you here again.
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I never go anywhere without a book and I managed to run out of the house without either of the two books I’m reading right now on International Literacy Day. I can’t believe it. I do have about half a dozen books in the car, but I’ve read them all in the last couple of weeks.
I have a stack of books as well and it’s always a bummer when you’re running late and you forget your book. Sometimes I just read whatever I have, even if it means looking over someone’s shoulder at their newspaper!
Thanks for stopping by!
Happy International Literacy Day! Thanks for letting us all know about this important day! If you have a love of reading, share that love with a friend today…
It seems so basic to my life, and I assume to many others’, the ability to read. I barely ever remember a time when I couldn’t read, it would be very bizarre if I was unable to do so. I take it for granted that I was given this gift even though I have no real memory of it… I wrote something a few days ago about this: http://theignorantbystander.wordpress.com/2010/09/03/all-the-things-ill-never-see/
I would like to think that someday we could reach 100% literacy but I’m just not sure if we’ll ever catch up.
Literacy is so important. I can’t hardly image how difficult life would be if I could not read nor write.
Thanks for helping spread the word.
http://www.moneyprovidesfreedom.wordpress.com
Thanks for this post. I’m a Peace Corps volunteer in Macedonia working on a literacy project at my school. There’s not a reading culture here, and it’s good to be reminded that a lot of the things I worried about in the states, book-wise (that when people do read the books aren’t “literary” enough, or that the internet has changed our reading styles) aren’t so important compared to the basic task of even getting books to people. People here simply don’t have books in their homes or access to books, in either their native language or in English (which is going to be a necessary language here, and in many other developing countries, for development to continue). It’s tough to get book donations, and hopefully some people will look into donating to the organizations you’ve noted here.
Hi Ellen,
Thanks for sharing your story. I hope as well that people do think about donating their books, since as a culture here in the developed North we’re getting into e-reading devices and moving away from physical books. Maybe all the remaindered books that go unsold can be directed to those in need. There might be someone working on a project like that right now.
And thanks again for the work you do in the field. I’m sure it’s difficult and challenging, but in the end it must be incredibly rewarding to be helping people directly.
I sooo love to read, I can’t imagine not being able to. I am looking into volunteering, maybe I will look into reading to people. Thanks for sharing. Great Post.
evelyngarone
Thanks Evelyn. If you haven’t already done a search, this site looks like a good place to find volunteer opportunities: http://www.literacydirectory.org/?op=ld&mode=volunteers
So glad you’re inspired to go out there and help others!
http://www.i-volunteer.org is very handy too, so many options, I hope it works out for you (and more importantly the people you’re helping):)
Thanks for the link Tim!
Literacy is one of the main battles in improving our economy and our entire planet! Good post!
Important issue.
Is not it nice to stumble on people, groups, volunteers, real people, doing what they can, in their little great ways, to improve this planet Earth. Really Great.
This is a wonderful thing that people do for each other.
We should apply this also to our own community.
I volunteered to teach the elderly a few years ago, and it was an amazing experience, for both me and them, that learned how to read and write their names, and basic math, after a lifetime.
Let’s all help to change our World!
Each of us can absolutely make a difference, and learning to read and write is one of the basic freedoms. Glad you were able to connect with people in this oh-so-important way.
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Awesome post thanks for the tips.
I teach a 4′s-5′s class for an 1 hour and 1/2. About 45 minutes consist of reading.
That’s great. What kind of books and materials do you read with your students?
The books available in the classroom- Berenstein Bears, Dr. Suess, Amelia Bedelia, Junie B Jones. Do you have any suggestions?
Hearing those titles makes me feel nostalgic for grade school. My favorite childhood book of all time is Busybody Nora http://www.amazon.com/Busybody-Young-Puffin-Johanna-Hurwitz/dp/0140345922 – no matter what level of reading, it’s a great book. I actually remember the feeling of absorbing the story and words as I read it.
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Congrats on being Freshly Pressed! I always go around with a book, and probably “consume” about 2 books a week, plus a ton of reading online. Do you think that we could use the internet to help with literacy? Maybe a bunch of Kindle’s in developing countries could replace sending over hundreds of books by consolidating them all into one device?
Thanks! We can absolutely use the internet to help with literacy, by raising awareness and connecting people who want to help organizations. And also by creating solutions. Using Kindles and other e-readers is definitely the way of the future, check out this link about Kindles and a program in Ghana: http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tech-transport/worldreader-to-boost-literacy-in-ghana-with-kindle-e-readers.html
Thanks for reading and your comments!
Cheers to this great cause. Increasing literacy throughout the world is incredibly important.
For instance,
If you read the writers who move, over and over, all the books by them you can find, you might not only become a reader, but a good writer too, if you want.
It is like listening to certain music. Some leaves you cold, but other goes direct to your heart, and deep into your being. You catch the infection and it remains with you. And so does the rhythm of good writing by those writers that move you, with the way they pick and choose their words for best emotional effect.
Great post! Thanks very much for this.
Here in NZ a local programme is “Books In Schools” and “Books in Homes.” Volunteers mentor kids in getting interested in reading and once they connect in school they try to get the parents reading as well.
FYI, here is the link for the organisation:
http://www.booksinhomes.org.nz/Page/Schools/SchoolsHome.aspx
Thanks for the link, Thomas! I like the idea of involving both the kids and the parents; that’s key.
I must be living under a rock. I didn’t know there was a such a thing as International Literacy Day.
Thanks for the Reminder!
And Congratulations on FP!
I’ve just signed up to be a literacy tutor with the group Washtenaw Literacy in Michigan
Thanks for this post. There are really so many things we can do to improve literacy in every part of the world. I volunteer for a small group called KaEskwela (http://kaeskwela.org/) in the Philippines, which extends help to public schools (many in rural areas) through book donations, training seminars for teachers, reading/writing/art workshops for the kids, and building libraries.
It sounds cliche, but when you see the joy in the faces of the kids when they get a hold of a story book or new notebooks–you just want to keep on helping
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THANKS!!
I am hoping we can learn about the group in Cambodia and see what we can do together!
Thanks for sharing!
http://www.womanonamission.info
nice article….I recall a Wide Angle Documentary about education crisis…and boy! did it open my eyes about this issue…. always say YES to literacy!
I think I remember that as well, I’m going to look it up, maybe it’s online somewhere.
One more: the Gaza “Right to Read” campaign. More information here: http://www.freegaza.org/right-to-read
http://jornaldowhisky.wordpress.com/
Cheers!
Thank you for the information on how to get involved!
Thanks for this important story. Wish I had known it was Literacy Day before the event I would have done something more…. as a former literacy tutor I feel very strong about literacy for both children and adults.
Great post..thx for sharing
Hi Abby,
that’s great post and nice pic & very impotent content.thanks for shearing her communities…..
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great post keep it up!
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