Written by AllDolledUp

You guessed it! An education. Learning to read and write, are the skills necessary for getting people out of poverty in many regions. September 8 is observed by all UN member states as International Literacy Day. The definitions of illiteracy and literacy, have evolved over time. Today, to be "literate" is to be informed, and competent in specific fields of knowledge and acquired skills. Examples: Digital Literacy, Legal and Medical Literacy, Critical Literacy, and Conventional Literacy (which is defined as traditional focus on reading and writing).

To raise awareness, I'd like to share some facts and statistics on what makes literacy so important. The UNESCO Institute for Statistics, recently reported that despite conventional literacy showing growth among youth today (based on data collected over the past five decades), over 750 million people of adult age are estimated to be illiterate, and about 120 million of the illiterate population is between the age of fifteen and twenty-four years old.

Cultural references: To give you an idea of how illiteracy affects people's lives, think about the premise of the 2009 American film Precious, (adapted from the book written by Sapphire) which revolves around an illiterate, inner-city 16 year old American girl that suffered child abuse and after getting pregnant, she hustles and gets into a program that teaches her to read and write. 

This film is heartbreaking and hard to watch. For Precious to survive and provide a better life for her children, she needed to overcome adversity and to become literate. Another example is the current installment of Annie, featuring an illiterate orphan girl that manages to stealthly participate in school without reading or writing.

Illiteracy isolates people in a time where computer literacy is required and most markets have evolved and adapted to a technically inclined world. Common causes for illiteracy  include dropping out of school, poverty, learning disabilities, neglect, or even being part of a generation within a specific region of the world that did not have the advantage of being as educated as their succesors. 

If you have a difficulty with reading, writing, and numbers, please remember, there is nothing wrong with you. Every person is unique, more than capable of learning a new skill and has the right to achieve their educational dreams. Life can either be a series of missed oppurtunities, or series of choices we must make to help improve ourselves and improve the lives of others. If you'd like to help people in your community, seek out orgazinations who focus on advancing literacy for all, and considering tutoring people who might want your help. A literate world is a better world for all.