On Saturday, I entered a Korean mall and could not find the elevator or stairs to explore the rest of the stores. I kept going until I found an escalator that was going up. I got on and traveled to the next story and then the next. I discovered that I was actually travelling the different levels of a parking garage. Realizing the mistake that I had made, I walked into the parking garage to see if I could find my way out into the mall itself. I was able to find my way only when I saw a big sign that said “STORE” and an arrow pointing the way. I realized that I might have trouble getting around for the next year unless I find English translations and pictures.
I found this episode somewhat amusing until I contemplated the event later on during the day. I realize that without the English language, I was completely at a loss. Now, I have learned over the years to compensate for this by being careful of my surroundings and not venturing too far from the familiar, so I feel safe. However, I thought about the millions who live every day without being able to read…anything.
UNESCO states that “there are still 757 million adults including 115 million youths who cannot read or write a simple sentence.” (Unesco) And DoSomething.org states that “1 in 4 children in America grow up without learning how to read.” (dosomething.org) Regardless whether we believe these statistics, the fact remains that there are many people today that do not know how to read. These people live their lives in darkness confusion and fear. This little episode, even though I was able to find it humorous, taught me much about the reality of illiteracy. I wrote this post today to hopefully alert other to the problem of illiteracy in people’s lives. It is important to teach others to read. I am happy that Compassion takes the small amount that I give to support a child and uses this money to teach her to read, as the organization seeks to help others rise out of poverty.
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If you are interested in sponsoring a child please, look further at Compassion.org.
Richard Muniz says
So true. To me, the ability to read has transformed my life, not only through reading the Gospel, but re-inventing myself time and again for Job requirements and so on. I firmly believe if you can read, you can change the world around you.