The LitWorld team is ramping up for this years World Read Aloud Day on March 9th, 2011. They’ll be posting tips and resources on their blog and you can read more on their website. You can check out the Facebook Event here. Last year was the first World Read Aloud Day with 35 countries and 40,000 participants. This year let’s reach more countries and more people.

Across the globe nearly 171 million children could be lifted out of poverty if they left school with basic reading and writing skills. Quality literacy education is the difference between life and death, prosperity and despair. This is literacy for survival.

Hi readers, do you remember the empty plane we worked to fill with school supplies for Iraq students (from this post)? LitWorld is at it again advocating global literacy.

This time LitWorld has accepted a challenge from Global Giving to raise $4,000 by December 22nd. With this money, five new Girls Clubs for Literacy sites throughout the world can be launched. What’s Girls Clubs for Literacy? From LitWorld:

Girls Clubs for Literacy is a project that provides literacy and leadership workshops for girls in countries including Iraq, Kenya & Liberia. We provide mentorship, health & safety information and a safe space for self-expression. LitWorld Girls Clubs for literacy create a network of girls worldwide using literacy for power and social action, and girls use their newfound skills to convey issues of health, information, safety and inspiration to other young women in their community.

Check out this video to learn more and let’s make a difference by donating here. As I write this, LitWorld has already raised $2,535 with just over 13 days to go. Let’s make a difference! Skip that gingerbread latte and drop those $5 to this worthy cause! Happy Holidays!

Monica Goldenberg on behalf of the National Federation of the Blind contacted me this morning with some exciting news on a U.S. Mint coin with readable braille. Very cool stuff. From Monica:

An astounding 90 percent of blind people today are Braille illiterate. This would be viewed as a national outrage if the same crisis faced sighted individuals, and yet blind people continue to be deprived of the Braille education and resources they need to obtain jobs, pursue stimulating careers, and enjoy the same opportunities as sighted individuals. Further, Braille illiteracy is the leading contributor to a shocking 70 percent unemployment rate among 1.3 million blind Americans and it’s only going to get worse – 70,000 people are losing their sight each year.

To help fund Braille literacy programs, the NFB has teamed with the U.S. Mint to issue the first coin ever to feature readable Braille. The Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar will be launched this Thursday, March 26, 2009 at the NFB’s headquarters in Baltimore, MD, after which the coin will be available for purchase. Every coin sold will support Braille education nationwide and ensure that every blind American enjoys the same opportunities for success as sighted individuals. Note, only 400,000 coins will be minted and available for order at www.usmint.gov until December 31, 2009.

The National Federation of the Blind is also publishing a report to the nation, titled “THE BRAILLE LITERACY CRISIS IN AMERICA: Facing the Truth, Reversing the Trend, Empowering the Blind”. The report, a comprehensive overview of the crisis and proposed solutions to reverse it, is currently under embargo until the launch day on March 26, when it will be posted online at www.nfb.org and www.braille.org.

Monica also shared this information:

Why should I care about the coin, especially if I am not blind or don’t know anyone who is blind?

Each of us has a right to literacy. Every purchase of this one-of-a-kind commemorative coin will help reverse Braille illiteracy and ensure that every blind American enjoys the same opportunities for success as sighted individuals. When the blind can read, the blind can achieve so much more. 

 

Connect with the National Federation of the Blind online:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/National-Federation-of-the-Blind/54344454247

Twitter: http://twitter.com/BrailleLiteracy

Twitter: http://twitter.com/NFB_voice

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/NationsBlind