Christmas is a time for giving and most people are exceedingly generous at this time of year. No child should go without a gift or a warm meal on Christmas Day and many people in the world try their best to ensure that this doesn't happen. However, come the New Year, a warm meal is long forgotten and a new toy has lost its novelty. One of the best ways to make a difference at Christmas time is to ensure that your gift or donation keeps on giving long after the decorations have come down. Helping a child learn to read is one of the greatest gifts that you can give and goes a long way to securing for them a brighter future.
We have all heard that reading is important, but very few of us actually know why. Besides that fact that most illiterate people struggle to find jobs or manage everyday activities, reading actually plays a vital role in all areas of human development. Each stage of a child's development is interlinked, for example a hungry child is incapable of concentrating long enough to learn, while a child that cannot learn also struggles to socialise.
Studies show that it is vital that reading is part of a child's life even from infancy. Reading to a baby facilitates a bond between the parent and child and significantly aids in early brain development, helping to ensure that a well-rounded child develops. Children who are read to early on in life also find it much easier to grasp the phonetics of languages later on, making it much easier for them to learn and significantly increases their linguistic skills.
Later on in life, when children begin to read themselves, the actual physical act of reading can greatly improve their development. Turning the pages of a book can fine tune motor skills while reading stimulates eye muscles as well as the brain. Studies have also shown that a child's inclination and attitude towards education is formulated early on through their peers and immediate surroundings. By being exposed to reading in a positive way early on, children are pre-disposed to want to learn, making the educational process much easier and more successful.
UNESCO does annual surveys and in 2008 concluded that nearly 774 million people worldwide are illiterate. This means that roughly one out of five adults in the world can neither read nor write. The situation is worst in Africa with an estimated one in four adults still being illiterate. This not only limits them from working and providing for their families, but also restricts their children from receiving the ideal start to life in terms of reading, education and development.
While this all may make perfect sense, many people can't see how they can play a role in this process. It is impossible to enter every home and read to every child nor can everyone afford to fund a child's entire education, but there are ways that, especially at Christmas, you can make a small but significant difference:
Many of us don't have the time to volunteer, especially over the busy festive season. But this doesn't have to mean that you cannot help in the fight against illiteracy. There are many charities out there that are doing amazing work with regards to reading and education. Breadline Africa is one such charity. This grant-making organisation funds the following charities:
Biblionef South Africa donates books to libraries, schools and mobile libraries across South Africa and Lesotho. This African charity ensures that books are available in all 11 languages as well as Braille and gives millions of children access to an imaginative world that they would never have had otherwise.
Ubuntu Self-Help Education Centre is located in the Limpopo province and provides training and resources for teachers in the area. Confident, well-prepared teachers can better teach their learners and instil a love for reading in them.
EDUTAK is also in the Limpopo province and educates women about early childhood education and entrepreneurial skills. This not only helps these women to help themselves and find work, breaking the chain of poverty, but also allows them to understand the importance of reading for childhood development. They can then pass this knowledge on to assist in the creation of a culture of reading in their own communities.
Ikhayalethemba Project is based in Hout Bay in the Western Cape and makes use of old containers to create colourful, safe crèches for children whose parents are at work. Here these children are stimulated and read to, helping them prepare for their schooling and instilling in them a love for learning.
These are but a few of the charities currently working to eradicate illiteracy in Africa and with so many to choose from it can be difficult to decide on one to donate to. Donors often also worry that their money will actually reach people in need, but struggle to know how to verify the credentials of a charity. Grant-making organisations like Breadline Africa can be the answer to this problem. Acting as a fundraiser and overseer, organisations like this provide funding to a variety of African charities, as well as checking that this money is used wisely and legitimately. This allows donors to contribute to many different charities through one simple donation and gives them peace of mind that this money will indeed be used to make a difference in Africa.
Breadline Africa is an internationally registered grant-making organisation that funds a variety of charities across different spectrums. From promoting education and literacy among children and the youth to HIV/Aids awareness, Breadline Africa aims to help the African people break the cycle of poverty by teaching them to help themselves and become self-sustaining.
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