Literacy is one of the cornerstones of Rotary. Reading bends minds in new directions. It revolutionizes world view. Words inspire creativity. Challenge. Change.
At the 2014 Rotary International Convention in Sydney, Rotarians are building a book labyrinth to support Pathways Through Literacy. Every book contributed to the labyrinth will go to Australian children to support reading.
MTM and I purchased The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket by Irish author John Boyne.
I remember what it was like to get lost in a book when I was a kid. Reading made me crave adventure. I could lose myself in a page and go anywhere. Be anyone. Do anything.
All because I could read.
Rotarians around the world support the development of vocabulary through the Dictionary Project. They visit classrooms and read to children via Rotary Reader. They provide programs that teach children and adults to read.
Think literacy isn’t a problem? According to the RI website, sixty-seven million children worldwide have no access to basic education. More than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. YOU know some of these people. They’re in your communities. Maybe in your workplaces or even in your classrooms.
Whether you’re involved in Rotary or just want to be a good citizen, support Rotary literacy programs in your area. Reading changes lives.
I know it changed mine.
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Purchase my novel To Live Forever: An Afterlife Journey of Meriwether Lewis today, and a portion of the proceeds will support Rotary Literacy projects worldwide.
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To view photos from our visit to the Rotary International Convention, click here: Andra Watkins Tumblr
13 Comments
Writers MUST read. There’s no other way. I will investigate the Portland Rotary.
What about your book? Are you adding a copy of your book to the project?
Glad to hear about Rotary. I subscribe(free) to a daily post called The Literacy Site . I click,and a free book is given to a child. This is another outlet to give children without the means to buy books the chance to be literate.
Thanks for mentioning this! Done!!
A most worthy cause! Ranks right up there alongside the work to eradicate polio and the shoes for every kid! And every mention brings forth new ideas and information. I didn’t know about The Literacy Site before today! 🙂
i think this is one of the best causes in the world. reading changes worlds. )
I agree with ksbeth. Reading IS one of the best causes in the world. I would not even want to imagine how barren my life would have been without the ability to escape, dream, and achieve through reading.
Reading does indeed change lives. Even if it’s one moment at a time.
I taught remedial reading to learning/socially disabled but gifted high school kids (Project for alternative learning, Helena, Mt, 1970-1980.) It was a rewarding experience to say the least.
Imprisoned in a Victorian family library for much of my childhood (evil step-father syndrome), books both; saved my existence and prepared me for overcoming the typical cycle of inter-generational violence. Books also pointed to my becoming a writer later in life.
Home schooling my youngest, at 11 years of age, I assigned him Washington Irving’s great works, gave him an encyclopedic dictionary and had him look up words he did not know at the end of each chapter. Three years of this sufficed, as it happened when I’d enrolled him in an accelerated charter school at age 14 years, he was more fluid reading aloud than some of the school’s staff. Several times since, he has thanked me for the experience (that he had hated.)
1,000 quality books on our walls were a far superior value to any satellite dish-
^ Typo, it was 1979-1980
What a very worthy cause! I support literacy projects when I’m made aware of them, but you’ve encouraged me to think about what I might do on a more regular basis. I’ll see what our local Rotary is doing and go from there!
Amen and I’ll second that. Reading is the key and any program that supports literacy for children is right by me, Andra.
I will be back as a member of Rotary, after a 25 year break, on July 1st. The Rotary Club of San Juan Island sponsors our island’s Spelling Bee. My granddaughter enters, and this year I will help put it on.
I plan on looking into the Dictionary Program and see if we can do it here… who knows, maybe they already do.
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