Why

Because there is a NEED…

Jamaica

• Despite a literacy rate of 85%, the vast majority of children do not enter Grade 1 as emergent readers.
• Our children need special books to make the literacy targets.
• As a society, we need to become galvanized around a positive social purpose

Haiti

• The country in our District most in need.
• Unprecedented destruction from the earthquake and a human tragedy that has created much need in  materials and support.
• Before the earthquake, the literacy rate was 45% – that can only be expected to fall in the absence of major intervention.

—-

Because we MUST…

• Literacy is the foundation of sustainable development everywhere in the world
• Because we can help millions of children –and families –to help themselves. And in doing so, we create stronger more stable societies for us all.

Some key quotes:

Social Stability/Crime Prevention:

• “Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper.”-Robert Frost

Sustainable Development

• “Literacy arouses hopes, not only in society as a whole but also in the individual who is striving for fulfilment, happiness and personal benefit by learning how to read and write. Literacy… means far more than learning how to read and write… The aim is to transmit… knowledge and promote social participation.”-UNESCO Institute for Education, Hamburg, Germany

Cultural Preservation:

• “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”-Ray Bradbury

Tolerance:

• “It is not enough to simply teach children to read; we have to give them something worth reading. Something that will stretch their imaginations–something that will help them make sense of their own lives and encourage them to reach out toward people whose lives are quite different from their own.”-Katherine Paterson

Opportunities:

• “The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”-Dr. Seuss, “I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!“

Leadership:

• “Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.”-W. Fusselman

—-

Because we CAN….

• Rotary’s commitment to literacy is well established and without question.
• Many projects around the world! Speakers,Reading/Story hours, book drives,support of libraries etc.
• March is Rotary’s Literacy Month
• May is Child Month in Jamaica
• The first week of May is Education Week in Jamaica
• May 4th is Read Across Jamaica Day

We have the experience, the expertise, the network, the will, and the drive to make this happen