This is a good project to run during July, Literacy month, and also because it is the beginning of the new Rotary year.

Invite a keynote speaker to update everyone on the state of literacy in the area as well as other experts who can advise on     things to address.

Rotarians could also report on what Rotary is already involved with in the district. It is vital for Rotarians and clubs to establish     where there are needs for literacy and these are very often so obvious in the workplace.

Adult literacy is always a problem and almost every country has its share of immigrants who, perhaps, can speak but not read and     write their adopted language.

Brainstorm what can be done by clubs for any form of literacy or education taking into account some (or all) of the ideas listed     below (see item Girl Child below).

A discussion could also be held on the obstacles to adults becoming literate and how Rotarians can help.

Free Books for Children in need :Books are essential for reading development. Many low income homes have no books in them     and in Africa the ratio is one book to five children. Visit a website at http://www.theliteracysite.com and click the red "Give     Free Books" button. That is all that is needed and for every 100 clicks a book will be given to a child by the advertisers and     sponsors. There is NO cost to you and you can click every day. This last year in 2004 more than 1, 55,000 books were funded by     visitor's clicks. Encourage web users to set their home page to this site and click there first thereby adding their click every     time they use the web. For detailed information contact PDG David Fowler of the Rotary Resource Group. Another source of     getting books  to needy people is through Book Aid International based in the UK. The figures we have are that there are about     1, 15,000 books dispatched monthly to African Countries. Visit their website at http://www.bookaid.org and support their     efforts.

Books for babies:This project is to present mothers with a book for their newborn babies' even while in hospital to encourage     lifelong reading. Clubs would be able to include a book plate in the book about the Rotary club and Rotary's philosophy.

Book for schools:Locate an international Rotary club as a partner to supply books to a school. This is not very difficult as there     are many clubs who donate and ship books to needy schools. This can be done directly Donations-in-kind and also through the     World Community Service. However the Literacy Resource group will be able to advice.

Books and magazines for Hospitals: See under libraries for a hospital library project but clubs could also arrange to get     magazines to hospitals for patients. This could be an on going project for a Rotary club.

Create a library in a school Where there are underprivileged schools it is very likely that they have no library so this is a good     place to help.

As in 2(c) above there are ways to acquire books from other clubs. There is also there possibility of getting help from the Rotary     Foundation by way of a Matching Grant to purchase books and other equipment.

The school may also need help in setting up     and operating the library. In any event make sure it is the wish of the school before embarking on such a project.

Create a mobile library If there is a need, for example in a rural community or a community where is no suitable building or     where the local population is not easily able to travel to a distant library, then there is a good case for a Mobile library. This     could be arranged with a Matching Grant and stocked but the managing of it would have to be done with council or other     departmental agreement unless Rotary can staff it wit volunteers. This is a very worthwhile project.

Create a library in a hospital A wonderful project is to help with a library in a hospital for patients and staff who both have times     they would like to be able to read and improve their reading skills. It may involve creating the library as well as stocking it with     readable books. This would be of particular benefit of staff who are not literate are able to have literacy training at the hospital.

Encourage user friendly libraries Establish the extent to which your local library is used and particularly by children. Very often     libraries are intimidating in the way they are run. Libraries should be a welcoming and friendly place where children and     influence those in charge to make their library user friendly.

Encourage libraries to assist reading Encourage libraries to have a reading hour. This would need to be a separate room where     stories may be read to children in a reading hour. The Rotary Club could help to provide people to do the reading and they     could also arrange to help at this facility where parents may choose to bring their children after work for help with reading or     learning.

CLE program for reading and writing This methodology has been used in many countries as a basic reading and writing program for adults as well as children. It is an interesting and exciting program for new learners. Concentrated Language Encounter (CLE) demonstrates its effectiveness in a remarkably short time and is extremely cost effective because the teachers can develop some of their own teaching and learning materials. A core feature of this approach is that all language is engaged in activity based experiences - either through the reading of a starter book or the making of something at the beginning of each program unit. For any information on how to get training in this program please contact your 2005- 06 Rotary Resource Group member. Our Rotary developer and expert consultant is Dr. Dick Walker of Brisbane, Australia, who is always available for advice and does a great job in keeping the CLE website www.cleliteracy.org up-to-date.

Learning to read and write - for children Many teachers may very well be interested in this method of teaching reading and     writing. It is great for teaching children who have very little idea of what words and writing are. There are many children who     come from illiterate homes, their parents do not read and have no books, and they only experience reading and writing when     they attend school for the first time.

The process is electic and includes all approaches from phonics through to whole language but the process is appealing to new     learners because it holds their attention. The methodology very simply is as follows: 1. Read a story to the learners 2. Role play     and act out the story 3. Negotiate a text with the learners 4. The learners write the same text 5. Learners are involved in     language activities

From the above it will be seen that all that is needed to begin teaching CLE is - a children's book or story with illustrations and a     good story line - large sheets of bland paper and some thin cardboard - felt-tip pens and a set of crayons for illustrating -     perhaps a pair of scissors and a stapler for making books This methodology has been extensively introduced to school teachers in     Thailand, India, Bangladesh, the Philippines, South Africa and a number of other countries. Training trainers, who can spread the     method to local teacher, can be arranged. For advice on how to proceed please contact your member of the Rotary Literacy     Resource Group.

Learning to read and write for adults:It seems that people lacking literacy skills are twice as likely as the average to be on a     low wage, and 4 times as likely on average, to be in a relationship where neither partner works. The CLE program is excellent for     teaching adult illiterates to read and write.

Instead of reading a story to the learners as in the item above (Reading and writing for children) the adult learners will take part     in an activity and will proceed as follows:
    1. The activity is demonstrated to the learners
    2. The learners reconstruct the activity themselves
    3. A text is negotiated with the learners
    4. The learners write their own books as per the negotiated text
    5. The learners are involved in language activities

As in the above the requirements for teaching this process are minimal. The methodology has been very successfully used for     teaching adult illiterates in Turkey and a number of other countries. For example, many immigrants have found this as useful way     to learn how to read and write in the language of their adopted country.

Reading and writing for children at risk: Because very often the attention span of children on the street, or other children at     risk, is very short, a way of teaching them that holds their attention is needed. It is for this reason that the CLE methodology is     very appropriate as it holds the learner's attention all the time. The lessons are never boring and can be used across the     curriculum. The method is exactly the same as for adults for older children and the method can be adapted for children as in     above

Reading and writing for grades 4 to 7 :The CLE program as described above is a stage 1 program for learning to read and write     and can be followed with a stage 2 program to widen the student's experience with different kinds of texts (genres) particularly     those which are most commonly encountered in everyday life. A stage 3 program is also available which is intended to cover the     few years of primary school and could even carry over into secondary school.

School Supplies In many counties there are schools which struggle, for whatever reason, to keep ahead with supplies,     maintenance and the daily requirements of running a school. Very often they would be delighted to receive help in kind, even as     far as administration and accounting is concerned. Contact heads of local schools to establish their needs. In many cases, School     principals are chosen from the ranks of teachers and do not necessarily have the training or the desire for administration. If the     school cannot keep ahead it will affect not only the morale of existing teachers but also the ability to attract good new staff. It     will be of benefit to the pupils to have a contented staff who have good facilities and equipment.

Schools need computers Often schools do not have the resources nor do they have the expertise to provide and install a     computer section. In to-day's world it is vital that children are exposed to computers at an early age. So often underprivileged     children do not have their own access to computers and so schools need to provide this capability. Clubs need to find out     whether there is a need at schools they have access to.

Mentoring - School Project Contact heads of local schools to establish whether their needs include a mentoring program. A     willing Rotarian could offer morning or afternoon assistance to help a particular scholar. Assist teachers by accompanying pupils     to the school library. Perhaps, even for an hour, to just read to the younger pupil and so motivating them to enjoy stories and     reading. Often it is useful to just listen to the reading of the more able pupils who may miss out while the teacher gives more     attention to the struggling learners.

Adopt-a-School Project Rotary Club of Tulsa (Oklahoma), Rotary District 6110, contact MIKE CHITOM, Originally the club adopted     Celia Clinton Elementary School in 1993, being concerned about declining reading scores and decided Rotarians would make     good reading mentors. The program has grown quite a bit since then they have about thirty members (out of a club of about 400     members) who work at the school on a regular basis. What they do falls under three categories: one-on-one mentoring,     classroom mentoring or helping and other activities. They have about 10 one-on-one mentors. Typically the school gives them     the children with the most problems - both reading and everything else. Another group reports to a particular teacher and they     work in the classroom, take a group of children to the library or the cafeteria, read to them; or they read to me or work on     whatever they are learning in the classroom. Under the classification of "other activities" a Rotarian teaches an advanced math     class to outstanding students to keep them from getting bored, a father and son team help the 4th and 5th graders with their     writing skills while other Rotarians visit and work with kids on their science skills - still one other who organized and still runs a     chess club.
    The Rotary club extended their activities to other fields. For example they started a clothing drive and had so many clothes     donated that the school had to bring a trailer to hold them all - every child at the school got at least one item to wear. Two     years ago the club built an out door learning center which has a small amphitheater for putting on plays and several flower beds     where the children can plant flowers and vegetables. The kids love to grow things. They started a Career Day where Rotarians     from different professions come to the school and talk to the children about what they do. Because many of these children do     not eat well or not enough over the weekend, Rotarians are collecting canned and dried food to donate to the poorest families     on Fridays. This started with Rotarians are collecting canned and dried food to donate to the poorest families on Fridays. This     started with Rotarians providing the children with fruit during the week also donated by Rotarians. Another activity has     developed and that is the giving of Christmas gifts. The families really are poor and cannot afford this luxury themselves.

Computer programs There are computer programs for most things and there are many used in teaching literacy. Someone who     wishes to teach may need a program such as this. Another possibility is to provide some computer skills training for learners to     enable them to become computer literate. A good project is to locate a room and install some used computers and to employ a     person who would teach simple (or advanced) computer techniques to disadvantaged learners who do not have access to a     computer. In today's world it is necessary for almost everyone to be familiar with a computer and its software.

General There are many other ideas and things that can be done by clubs for an under privileged school which will improve the     standard of education. Websites which may help are: The Pahar Trust (Nepal) at www.advsys.co.uk/pahartrust through which 11     schools have been constructed and equipped. Children of the Andes (Colombia) at www.childrenoftheandes.org which trust,     working with Rotary assistance, provides shelter and education for street children. The Freeplay Foundation at     www.freeplayfoundation.org supplies solar powered and wind-up radios to enable local people to listen to literacy and     educational programs in Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa. School Aid at www.school-aid.org supports schools in southern     Afirca and needs donations of books, desks, chairs, writing and art materials, hand dewing machines and also funds. Check also     our own website www.cleliteracy.org as well as www.rotary.org as a source for potential projects.

District Simplified Grants (See page 127 of the latest Manual of Procedure) These grants are designed to support the service     activities and / or humanitarian endeavors of districts. A district can request upto 20% of its District Designated Funds (DDF) for a     grant that can be used to support multiple projects locally or internationally. These funds are not dependent on the Rotary     Foundation and are decided upon by the districts themselves within the parameters set out in the Manual of Procedure.

Matching Grants (see page 128 of the latest Manual of Procedure) These grants are available from the Rotary Foundation for     groups of 2-5 people for qualifies international service in Rotary countries and works well for being able to teach people in     needy countries.

There are many projects in operation around the world where Rotarians help the inmates of prisons to become literate or to improve their education as the case may be. It is a really useful project to undertake as the number of illiterate prisoners is often high relative to the other population. In the UK, David Fowler writes, it is estimated that 65% of the prison population has a reading age of under 8 years and 10% are totally illiterate while 80% of young offenders are functionally illiterate. This is probably not very different in other countries.

Libraries in prisons One of the projects that can be undertaken is approach the local prison authorities to determine whether     there is a need to create a library and to stock it with books. If there is one it may need to be restocked with books.

Computers and classes for prisons As part of the inmates' rehabilitation program they may wish to become computer literate and     the necessary part of that is to provide suitable computers and to ensure and instructor is available. In many cases one of the     inmates is able to help with the instruction.

Literacy classes for prisons Another very useful and helpful activity is for the members of a Rotary club to provide literacy classes     for those inmates of a local prison who wish to learn to read and write. The CLE program for adults outlined above is very     suitable for this. In the case of adults it is not always necessary to have a qualified teacher to do the teaching but simply a     person who is fluent in the language of instruction.

Other educational classes for prisons These classes could be extended to provide a whole range of other education which not     only involves school subjects but may include hairdressing courses, nail and other beauty care, dressmaking and other topics of     interest to women. Other topics of interest for inmates are limitless in scope and can include paving, woodwork, metalwork     including welding, computer repairing, motor car maintenance and many, many more topics of interest which could be useful for     helping inmates rehabilitate themselves.

Example of dictionary project - conducted in D6110 by The Southside Rotary Club of Tulsa. Procedure

Secure official approval from your local school superintendent and ask for names and addresses of local elementary school     principals that have 3d grade classes.

Explain to each elementary school principal that you need the names of classroom teachers and rosters of their classes and that     you will not retain any privileged information.

Order books through Southside Rotary, % Stanley Dixon at phone 918/418-3188, Tulsa, FAX 918/418-6553, e-mail;     stanleydixon@sbcglobal.net. The price will be $1.46 each, FOB Tulsa, Delivered, in full cartons of 24 copies. The Southside     Foundation is a 501c3 charitable non-profit corporation.

Arrange for printing of bookplates, or order through Stan Dixon. It is imperative that each book contains the student's name, the     school name, and the club name and address. Our current bookplates cost $.14 each.

Bookplates Bookplates are usually printed six to a page on regular letter - sized forms. They have self-adhesive backing. We print     the Rotary logo on our bookplate so that you don't have to avoid the extra effort of inserting the Rotary stickers afterwards.

Conclusion The cost is minimal. $1.60 won't buy the average a meal at the local McDonalds. But $1.60 invested in The Dictionary     Project will result in memories 20 years from now.

Orphanages:In the same way that it is useful to assist with a library at schools there is very likely a great need at orphanages or     libraries and books to stock them. There may even be a need to help children with reading and school work

Blind:Those who are visually impaired have particular needs when it comes to reading matter. They would need to have books in     Braille or another is to provide taped material or simply make a contribution to Tape Aids for the Blind who then make audio     tapes available with taped material.

Handicapped etc.: Depending on the nature of the handicap, and if it is severe, or of a particular disabling kind, the incumbents     may be institutionalized in which case a library there would be a good idea and, if there is one, then it may need to be updated.

The CLE program is excellent for teaching adult illiterates to read and write. Instead of reading a story to the learners as in the item, Reading and Writing for Children, The audit learners will take part in and activity (see 4(b) above) If possible include a vocational component and even income generating activities, this is attractive to adults and for families it is especially useful to include family health care and sanitation. Assist in overcoming the problems adults have in becoming literate

Learning to read and write for adults with a vocational component: A useful idea would be to introduce a vocational or an     income earning aspect with the literacy component. For example they could learn working with beads and simple jewelry making     as well as sewing, knitting or woodwork, metal work and many more ideas. This is especially attractive to adults who may be able     to earn some income with those ideas and is not difficult to teach. Training trainers, who can spread the method to local     teachers, can be arranged. For advice on how to proceed please contact your member of the Rotary Literacy Resource Group     who can put you in touch with trainers.

Identifying problems adults face in becoming literate Obstacles adult learners have to overcome Shame/embarrassment Call the     literacy lessons by another name Lack of time Sell the advantages for work, family care and finances Communication Advertise     and get friends to tell their friends Travel Rotary clubs to pay for, or provide, transport to lessons Limited finances.

Use inexpensive CLE & sponsor for advanced learning Child Care A crèche at the learning centre could work Lack of funding     Rotary clubs should investigate and see what can be done Self esteem
    (a) Encourage a friend to come with the learner
    (b) Advertise the simplicity and the advantages Educational values Publicize good role models, often role models are gangsters If     Rotarians can help to overcome these problems, they will be doing a great service to the long suffering adults permanently     locked into poverty.

Education- e.g. Turkey, Africa CLE adult women In Turkey and Africa there are projects teaching literacy to adults and in many cases these are women. If you are or your club is, unable to directly assist someone in this situation then try to help by sponsoring

Matching Grant with a club in one of those countries.

Awareness - Conferences, PETS, Assembly Ensure that all incoming club officers and presidents are aware of the situation     regarding literacy. If necessary it would need someone making a plea at PETS or the District Assembly for clubs to recognize this     need as stressed by the current and incoming RI Presidents.