Illiteracy in the Communities We Serve Is a Pandemic
Stack of books donated by MdC to children
The Situation
The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the education system in Mexico. In the areas that we serve, many children were already struggling to keep up with their studies, a gap that was only widened by the pandemic. Schools in Mexico have not been full-time in person since early 2020. As for those that are open for in-person learning, it is on a part time schedule. To supplement the lack of in-person, there has been a move toward online. For the poorest families, who don’t have electricity or internet, they are missing a majority of their schooling every week.
It has a compounding effect. In 2020, despite the broken academic year, children were advanced to the next grade leaving their missed curriculum material behind. Children are struggling and suffering in their new classes, both because they are missing foundational skills and also because each week they miss a majority of their lessons. Based on a recent survey of 33 children in our Besitos community, the vast majority indicated they are struggling in both math and reading.
We are seeing a fundamental breakdown! At MdC’s most recent medical fair (November 2021), there were many children between the ages of 8-11 that were not even able to read the alphabet on the eye chart. It was heartbreaking.
One area of focus for MdC’s is to provide books for children. Contributing to the problem of a lack of literacy, a majority of the children we serve do not have any type of books in their homes. As a result, they miss those years of literacy building where parents are reading to their children and children are flipping through books on their own. But just distributing books is not enough! MdC is in the process of developing more intentional programs to address this problem.
Why Does it Matter?
Reading is known to open thousands of doors, and not just academic. For the children we serve without electricity, books provide a valuable source of entertainment. They also provide an opportunity for children to practice building relationships while fostering their curiosity. Beyond broadening horizons, reading is an essential part of cognitive development. Numerous studies have shown that reading daily helps children improve their language skills, broaden their vocabulary, and develop empathy. There is also the additional confidence that children gain when reading out loud and achieving measurable goals. The goal of reading is not to inundate children with new books and to create a competition, but to establish a routine, cultivate a love of learning, and to aid in one-on-one relationship building. Not only does this prioritize psychological importance, but it also recognizes the pivotal role that literacy has on an individual’s life beyond childhood.
Reading and literacy also aid in critical thinking and self expression. If you are interested in law, you might be familiar with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In Article 19 of the document, it declares that “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression...and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas” (Article 19). The link between human dignity, self-sufficiency and literacy, although central to this document, are often overlooked in daily life.
Why Don’t They Have Books?
The answer to this is simpler than you might suspect. When families are forced to leave their homes, for any reason, books are not the first item packed. This is not because they are not important, but simply because they are less important than legal documents, identification, or essentials like medicine. Furthermore, books can be heavy! For similar reasons, books are often neglected from donations as many organizations tend to prioritize food and toy drives.
Similarly, once families become settled, often there are competing priorities for their financial resources and books are not top on the list. But there are also cultural norms that impact the lack of books in homes. If in the States, this problem would solved by visiting the public library, however in this area in Mexico, libraries are not part of the cultural norm.
How Can I Help?
MdC’s vision is to help families escape extreme poverty and become independent and self-sufficient. Books are just one way we can do this. If we can start to foster the love of reading and learning among children at the youngest ages possible, we can start to change the current paradigm.
If you are able, please help us in this mission by donating books through ourAmazonSmile book wish list. It is easy, you just select the books that you would like to donate and they ship automatically.
Let us know if you have a favorite book in Spanish and don’t see it on the list!
Buy a book here
AmazonSmile will automatically ship your book to our AZ location. Please be aware that we are not notified who donated books, so thank you in advance and you can drop an email here to let us know it is coming. info@mdcaridad.org