There are many global issues that affect the world today, and we hear about them daily in the news or around the water cooler. There's no doubt that things like crime, poverty, and other large social issues are worth conversation, but there's one global issue that's never talked about: illiteracy.
If you're reading this than you should know just how important literacy is. Reading and writing open up new doors, not just for the imagination, but also for jobs or basic human interaction. The scale of illiteracy is staggering, with over 750 million people affected around the world, including millions in America.
Project Literacy aims to change all that.
Founded by Pearson, a company devoted to helping people around the world learn, Project Literacy aims to create partnerships and move together to combat illiteracy.
You may think that you've never met anyone who was unable to read or write, but many people with illiteracy are very good at hiding their struggles; like Wanda Steward.
Wanda dropped out of school in the 10th Grade after years of trying to hide her inability to read and write. She did all the normal things people do, got a job, went to work, had kids, but still her illiteracy kept her apart from the rest of the world.
She joined Project Literacy last year, and explained how she struggled to head bedtime stories to her children when they were young. She'd make up her own instead, based on the pictures she was seeing.
After a year of working with Project Literacy, Wanda can now read and write, she's even written her own Children's book: The Little Chicken Named Pong-Pong.
Wanda is using her story to help the almost 1 billion other people who are illiterate, and Hollywood is getting in on the action too.
Superstar Idris Elba heard about Project Literacy and felt he had to join in. He's using his big name, with the help of 60 Second Docs, to help get Wanda's story, and other inspiring stories, out there.
You can download Wanda's eBook for free, and when you do Project Literacy will match up to $1 to adult literacy charities.
It's important to remember that reading and writing are essential skills for almost any job. Those who don't have the skills are less likely to get a good-paying job, and children of illiterate parents frequently also struggle to read and write, creating a viscous cycle.
Breaking that cycle by helping the millions of adults who are illiterate is a primary goal of Project Literacy. With the help of people like Wanda, Elba and you, they can end illiteracy by 2030.