Read-a-thon for Literacy

Participants in the Read-a-thon for Literacy read to give others the chance to learn to read.

Being able to read and write are not skills we learn on our own. They are are taught to us by others who have learned from others before them. Literacy is a gift one generation passes along to the next.

Over a billion people in our world are denied this privilege, though. Most of these people live in countries too poor to provide education to all their citizens.

This is the case in Haiti where there are so few public schools that only about half of school-aged children ever attend school and most who do must attend private schools where their parents often struggle to pay tuition. The majority of students must drop out before completing elementary school. The result is that only about a quarter of Haiti's people are functionally literate.

Meanwhile, many of us who are more privileged take the opportunity to learn to read and write for granted.

Through the Read-a-thon for Literacy readers and their sponsors can work together to share the privilege of literacy with both children and adults in Haiti. Students in local schools, youth groups, or Sunday school classes can raise both money and greater awareness to share the gift of literacy. Readers raise support for literacy training and basic education in Haiti by collecting sponsors who pledge support for each page or book read. Both readers and sponsors learn about Haiti and the importance of education. In some cases participating classes can be matched with school children in Haiti for correspondence.

Instructions and forms for organizing your own Read-a-thon for Literacy are available here online or may be requested directly from Beyond Borders. Instructions for downloading the Read-a-thon Reader's Log and Sponsor Forms are provided in the column to the left.

To learn more about organizing a Read-a-thon for Literacy, contact David Diggs by e-mail or by phone at (202) 686-2088.