One of Children in Crisis’s community education centres in Afghanistan.
At Stranger Collective, we’re passionate advocates for literacy. We believe in the power of words to transform, to influence and to make a difference for the better. However, for us, and for the majority of our clients, having access to the right words isn’t a matter of life and death.
For my latest Feed, I looked at the work of a charity which knows literacy can mean exactly that. Children in Crisis develops literacy and broader education programmes in conflict and post-conflict zones, supporting children hard hit by war.
“56 million children will still be out of school in 2015.” Children in Crisis
The charity aims to “support children to read, write, think, pursue their life goals and contribute positively to their communities,” and does so against the toughest of backdrops, including Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Through a combination of high quality teacher training, adult literacy and children’s education programmes, they work to ensure the most vulnerable children in these areas have a fairer chance in life – that they are allowed to flourish.
It was sobering to discover the scale of the task – there are currently 56 million children not enrolled in school across the world, and the majority of these children live in fragile, often conflict-affected states.
“Education has been called an inoculation against poverty and resurgent conflict.” Children in Crisis
Hit by the numbers, and the realisation each one of those 56 million children is missing out on something you (reading this) and I (writing this) take for granted every day, something that allows us to take full advantage of what life has to offer, surely creates some sort of duty to act for those of us who believe in the power of words to change.
So that’s what we’re going to do. Act. Watch this space, and in the meantime, find out more about Children in Crisis.