Library Expansion
The Literacy Problem:
If you’ve been following us on Facebook, you have seen some staggering facts about the importance of literacy in developing nations.
- Only 10 countries account for 72% of the world’s illiterate population, and Pakistan is one of them.
- In Pakistan, more than 70% of primary school children can not read at grade level
- A child who is born to a mother who can read, is 50% more likely to survive past the age of 5.
- There are 49.5 million illiterate adults in Pakistan and 2/3 of these are women.
At Shining Light International, we are passionate about bringing literacy to Northern Pakistan and beyond, and our dream is to play a part in reducing these statistics. USAID and AllChildrenReading.org have come up with a powerful infographic to help wrap our minds around the problem of illiteracy in Pakistan and around the world:
How Shining Light Will Do Its Part:
When children have access to books, not only are their lives changed and their futures shaped, but entire communities are transformed. In Northern Pakistan at Shining Light Academy, we recognize the great need of providing a quality library to our students. We desire for them to have a wealth of knowledge at their finger tips, and have planned a $10,000 make-over to the school’s library. This will include new bookshelves, furniture, and expanding our book selection. We are hoping to purchase and receive several hundred new books in both English and Urdu for our students to reference throughout their time at Shining Light. Not only will they be able to use the library at school for projects, but they will also be able to bring these books into their own homes to impact the lives of their families as well.
We believe that providing our students with the opportunity to read will open up their lives into entirely new possibilities. Their worldview will be expanded and there will be no limits to where they can go. We agree with Dr. Seuss: