September 8 is International Literacy Day

It's so important for all of us to take note of what is happening in the world around us.  We very often get soaked up in our own world of work, relationships with important others and the joys and stresses associated with that.  We should be reminded every now and then that there really is a whole different world 'out there', where people have to deal with their own dilemmas and set-backs which are quite foreign to us.  It's good to not only take note of important dates and events happening all over the world, but to try to make our own contribution, big or small, in whichever way we can.

Today International Literacy Day is celebrated world-wide.  I say celebrated because there are nearly four billion literate people in the world.  It is, however, also a day to become aware of the other side of the coin - according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), about 774 million adults lack the minimum literacy skills. One in five adults is still not literate and two-thirds of them are women. About 75 million children are out-of-school and many more attend irregularly or drop out.

UNESCO and its partners promote the day to underline the significance of literacy for healthy societies, with a strong emphasis on epidemics and communicable diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis and malaria.  

The goal of this day is to raises people's awareness of and concern for literacy problems within their own communities.  We can each make a small contribution by simply being patient and showing kindness towards those who are illiterate.  On a slightly bigger scale - find out what is done and how we can get involved with projects in our community to address this problem.  Positive change won't happen overnight but it does start with me and you. 

Let's try to apply this mindset to International Literacy Day today and then to general issues in life that we would like to change - everyday! (That might be a bit over ambitious, once a week might be a good start ;-)