Learning About Global Literacy

As a Scholastic Book Fair volunteer, I’ve helped raise thousands of dollars to purchase books for our school and classroom libraries. With my Girl Scout troop, I’ve collected gently used books to donate to less privileged schools during the annual Martin Luther King Literacy Drive.

Promoting literacy is my most personally rewarding volunteer work.

I vividly recall my first book. When I returned to the US at age 7, after three years in Argentina; I could barely speak English, much less read it. Still, I was thrilled when I was able to buy a gently used Clifford book at my school’s book fair for just 25 cents. This exciting opportunity fueled a life-long passion for reading and learning.

Two recent books - Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time and Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur’s Odyssey to Educate the World’s Children - eloquently describe how determined volunteers are working to make the right to read and learn a global reality, despite the staggering number of people around the world who cannot read and who don’t have books.

One is the story of a hero who fosters peace, the other is a blueprint for successful activism. Both are inspiring reading for anyone who wants to make the world a better place.

Global Literacy

Access to education determines the opportunities available to individuals and communities.

UNESCO reports that 850 million people lack basic literacy. “One in five adults is still not literate (two-thirds of them women) while 72 million children are out-of-school.”

Literacy and educational opportunities impact: hunger and poverty; health; infant mortality; the spread of HIV/AIDS and other preventable diseases; gender equality; sustainable development; and peace.

Three Cups of Tea

My book club met last week to discuss Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace… One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Sharing our opinions over samosas and a variety of kabob entrees at the Afghan Grill, we were grateful for a meal that was far different from the meagre fare that can be expected in the villages described in this book.

Three Cups of Tea is the inspiring, true account of Greg Mortenson, a failed K2 climber and founder of the Central Asia Institute, that has built over 55 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In building these schools, Mortensen promotes peace by striking against the ignorance, lack of opportunities, and unbalanced madrassa education that fuels extremist terror. Greg Mortenson is a true hero.

Jahan, one of the Center for Asia Studies’ first scholarship recipients, says, “Before I met you, Dr. Gregg, I had no idea what education was…But now I think it is like water. It is important for everything in life.”

Greg Mortenson is a passionate humanitarian who succeeded in building schools, and bridges between the US and Central Asia, despite a complete lack of nonprofit or business skills. It is amazing to see what one person can accomplish through sheer perseverence and the willingness to listen to others.

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World

John Wood shares Greg Mortenson’s passion to build schools and libraries in parts of the world that lack both. Unlike Mortensen, Wood decided early on that he wanted to tackle this problem on a global scale with the ambitious Room To Read nonprofit organization.

So, while Three Cups of Tea reads like the heroic account of one man’s struggle to beat insurmountable odds, John Wood’s Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur’s Odyssey to Educate the World’s Children reads like a business plan for running a successful nonprofit organization.

John Wood’s Guide for Successful Nonprofits:

1. Making The Ask - Be prepared to sell your vision and expect to be rejected. If you don’t get rejected, you aren’t casting your net widely enough.
2. Sell hope and optimism, not doom and gloom.
3. Stop Talking, Start Acting Avoid listening to naysayers. Be willing to take on risks and take a leap of faith that you will accomplish your goal.
4. Think Big from Day One. Thinking big can be a self-fulfilling prophecy as you problem-solve to make your vision a reality.
5. Build a strong team, encourage debate, show loyalty by providing a positive work environment.
6. Be accountable for results. Provide tangible data on achievements.
7. Build a volunteer network of “super-empowered individuals” by providing opportunities for people to contribute without sacrificing their careers.

John Wood says, “If you ask people to reach deep, to think creatively, and to produce extraordinary results, they usually will. Too often in our modern world, they are simply not asked.”

What does it cost to fight illiteracy?

Mortensen and Wood demonstrate that, when you partner with the community; a school can be built, stocked with books, and run successfully for $10-12,000.00.

A penny can buy a pencil, and $1.00 can purchase a child’s education for one month.

How can you help? Contact:

Central Asia Institute - Help fund education and literacy, especially for girls, in Central Asia.

Pennies for Peace - Program where children can collect pennies to help fund education in Central Asia.

Room To Read - Donate, Volunteer, or Adopt a Project in Asia or Africa.

Students Helping Students - Kids can learn about global education and find ways to help.

Other Global Literacy Links:

Global Literacy Project, Inc.

The White House Conference on Global Literacy

Send Girls To School

Another Comparative Book Review:

Riches For Good: Three Cups of Tea

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