Reading can Change the World
Reading is a privilege for an elite few in this world. Candice Jaques reports how generous Australians are using this privilege to bring positive change to those who need it.
Imagine a place where less than half the adult population can read or write. You can read but both your neighbours can’t. Obviously, you have a job and they don’t, because you can read. But there’s more. You catch the bus and they don’t, because you know where it’s going. You get value for money at the shops and they don’t, because you can count the correct money. Your children are in good health and theirs aren’t, because you’re sure of their medicine dosage. Your kids are in school and theirs aren’t, because you understand the difference an education makes and can afford it.
Get the picture? What you’ve just imagined is the reality for billions of people around the world, including your neighbours just across the sea.
In Papua New Guinea, only 42.7 per cent of those above the age of 15 can read or write. In Bougainville, an island province east of the mainland, the literacy rate is estimated to be even lower due to civil unrest, preventing an entire generation from receiving a formal education.
The challenges faced by those living in these areas are extreme, which is why thousands of Australian volunteers are doing something about it.
Every year, an estimated 6000 Australian volunteers knock on doors to make a difference for people in poverty.
Starting in August, the annual doorknock appeal for the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) launches around Australia.
This yearly campaign raises money for ADRA’s work in the Pacific and around Australia; work such as what is being implemented in Bougainville.
ADRA’s Bougainville Adult Education Program is helping those who have struggled for years to bring sustainable change to their communities.
In partnership with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), ADRA is providing training to literacy specialists, so they can equip local literacy teachers to provide much-needed education to communities.
In addition to literacy education, ADRA is training selected CSO members to provide communities with skills in catering, tailoring, animal husbandry, crop management and income generation.
These additional skills complement literacy education because together, they enable community members to implement activities that can change the future for their families.
The annual ADRA Appeal also changes lives in Australia. In New South Wales, for example, ADRA supports communities in western Sydney through a centre in Blacktown, which provides free counselling, referrals, drug-intervention programs and adult literacy. In Brisbane, Qld, a community centre in Logan offers free counselling, computer training, literacy classes and food parcels. An exciting adventuretherapy project for at-risk young people in Mildura, Vic, uses hot-air ballooning activities to teach communication, respect, teamwork and healthy self-esteem. And in Tasmania, ADRA’s support of “Chance on Main” provides at-risk youth and young offenders with vocational, personal, and educational training and skills.
Life-changing initiatives like these are only possible because kind-hearted Australians give of their time or money to support the annual ADRA Appeal.
You, too, can play a part by donating to a volunteer doorknock collector or contacting ADRA. Now you’ve finished reading—because you can—please consider how you, too, can play a part in changing the world.
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