Guest Author - Sandy Mullins

September 8th is International Literacy Day and the International Reading Association’s theme for 2006 is true to the Baha’i teachings: Literacy, The Path out of Poverty.

It is estimated that worldwide:
860 million adults cannot read.
2/3 of the 860 million that cannot read are women
100 million children do not have access to education.

With numbers like this, does it surprise you that we have world hunger and poverty? If every person had the right to a good and equal education, several things would happen:

Poverty would diminish and classes would be equalize.
Hunger would become a thing of the past.
Prejudice and hatred would diminish and probably have less war.

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s) theme for 2006 is Literacy sustains development .

From the Baha’i writings about education and literacy:
Bend your energies to whatever may foster the education of men.
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 9)

From the heaven of God's Will, and for the purpose of ennobling the world of being and of elevating the minds and souls of men, hath been sent down that which is the most effective instrument for the education of the whole human race.
(Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 87)

The ninth admonition is in regard to education. All the children must be educated so that there will not remain one single individual without an education. . .All these wars have arisen from the ignorance of humanity, because of misunderstandings, and through the lack of the education of human kind.
(Compilations, Baha'i Scriptures, p. 278-311)

For a more local ways you can help check out the NIFL (National Institute for Literacy) website below. For more information of this day and a few of the organizations and their observances check out the links below: