March is Literacy Month
Posted by Martin Ward on Mar 07, 2014
LITERACY STARTS AT HOME. Even in the ‘lucky countries’ of ours, there are children who don’t own one book, let alone have access to the rich home reading environment that your children experienced. A poor start to this process of becoming literate disadvantages those children throughout their schooling.
IN OUR OWN COMMUNITIES. Develop your own programs. Talk to the literacy professionals, welfare organizations and others in your communities who see the effects on people of low literacy skills and will have ideas about what you can do.
INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS. The ability to read, write, and do simple math is critical for the well-being of individuals in any society. International Literacy and numeracy projects allow us to make a real contribution to building nations and reducing poverty. Work with another organization by sponsoring an international project.
RAISING AWARENESS OF LITERACY ISSUES. Let’s celebrate literacy and the efforts of Rotary clubs everywhere. Special emphasis should be a feature of every club’s program during Rotary Literacy month in March. We also ask clubs to celebrate International Literacy Day on September 8th each year.
Literacy empowers people and is essential for community development. Literate populations are more likely to develop economically, live healthier lives, and be more peaceful. Nearly 800 million people worldwide over the age of 15 can neither read nor write.
Building literacy goes beyond the ability to read and write. It involves developing the skill to read and understand the written material and to write statements that are relevant to everyday life.
(taken from the March issue of "The Bridge" the District 6330 monthly newsletter)