September is Basic Education and Literacy Month for Rotary. This is one of Rotary’s six areas of focus. We all know how critical reading and writing are for success in life – for gaining information, communicating, making agreements, and so forth. Enhancing Basic Education skills and Literacy are essential in reducing poverty, improving health, encouraging community and economic development, and promoting peace. Improvements can reduce maternal death, improve childhood survivability, and reduce poverty. They can also enable success in business or a profession.
Projects undertaken by a Rotary Club can address low adult literacy, returning youth to school, enhancing student performance, or supplementing limited school resources. Listed below are examples of a number of projects in which clubs can be engaged in..
Consider how your club is, or could SERVE TO SAVE LIVES by supporting basic education and literacy in your community or somewhere else in the world.
RESOURCES
Rotary International provides a variety of resources to assist clubs with projects. For example, Basic Education and Literacy Project Strategies (RI document 618en).
Literacy Rotary Action Group (LITRAG). This is a world-wide network of Rotarians with a special interest in alleviating illiteracy, enhancing literacy teaching and learning globally, and helping to provide materials and equipment for literacy education. Check out their website http://www.litrag.org/
PROJECTS AROUND THE WORLD
There are many Rotary projects around the world supporting basic education and literacy. Here are a few examples, some of which were exhibited at the 2019 RI Convention in Hamburg.
Guatemala Literacy Project. Rotary clubs in Guatemala and North America partner with a nonprofit organization, the Cooperative for Education, to provide textbooks for children. They also support the Culture of Reading Program, and Computer Program. http://www.guatemalaliteracy.org/ 
Books for Africa. The project collects, sorts, ships, and distributes books to students of all ages in Africa. The goal is to end the book famine in Africa. https://www.booksforafrica.org/index.html 
Rotary India Literacy Mission. The organization has a goal of Total Literacy and Quality Education. Their comprehensive T-E-AC-H program fosters Teacher support, E-learning, Adult Literacy, Child Development and Happy Schools. http://rotaryteach.org
WASH in Schools. This program provides information on water, sanitation and hygiene in the school setting. It helps to improve school attendance and enhance health. And it is fun for the children. http://washinschools.info 
Souns for Literacy LLC. A letter-sound program, with touchable symbols. Souns is an early literacy program the way children are introduced to the symbols of printed language. The goal is to ensure basic literacy. It is especially helpful for special needs children. http://www.souns.org/ 
Kapadia Education Foundation. They support College Education in Developing Countries. Direct financial assistance and guidance are provided to needy college students in developing countries, seeking to make a difference in their communities. http://www.kapadiaef.org/
