Dear Family and Friends,

We really want to help kids like us in India go to school and be able to read and write, like we all do. We want them to have the hope of a better future.

With Mommy and Daddy’s help, we are participating in a Read-a-Thon from March 22 to April 4th organized by Pratham through SeeYourImpact.org. Will you please pledge to sponsor us for each book we read?

Pratham is a non-profit organization that helps kids in India to succeed in school. With only $14, Pratham can support a child in school for one year; and just $280 will pay for a reading program for an entire village.

When you sponsor us in the Read-a-Thon, you motivate us to read books, and together we can change the lives of many young Indian children. We have a goal to help kids in India by reading 14 books (Neil and Sheila are early readers and Eva loves to listen). Will you support us today by visiting the link below and making a pledge or flat donation for every book we read?

If you decide to pledge, we will email you to remind you of your pledge when our Read-a-Thon is over. You can make your donation (flat donations are great too!) on my personal SeeYourImpact Read-a-Thon page. SeeYourImpact will send you a tax receipt. About two weeks after you give, you will receive a story and photo about the child whose life we have helped change.

We are really excited to spend time learning to read to help educate kids, and we sincerely hope that you can help us reach our goal of education for 20 children. As Board members of the Raleigh chapter, Mommy and Daddy appreciate your donations too!

Thank you for sponsoring our Read-a-Thon!

Love,
Neil, Sheila and Eva
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India is home to 40% of the world’s illiterate.
India is a special country, with an especially big literacy problem.

Children suffer the most.
Even worse, of the country’s 210 million children, almost half are unable to read. That is both the root of the problem and its cruelest consequence. Without education, these children are vulnerable and unlikely to ever rise above the poverty of previous generations.

A Persistent child labor problem.
In India, an estimated 11 million children work as child laborers. It is an unacceptable truth that is both a cause and byproduct of India’s continuing cycle of illiteracy.

Simply raising enrollment isn’t the answer.
Most individuals unfamiliar with India’s education crisis would expect that a lack of school access is the primary problem. However, although 96.5% percent of children are officially enrolled in school, half of them cannot read.

Women are not learning.
On top of that women’s participation in school is particularly poor–a fact which does not bode well for women’s standing in society or the job market.

Teachers are falling short.
In addition to low student attendance, in many regions teacher attendance is very low. Furthermore, many schools have only one teacher per classroom, and far too many children per teacher.

Even the literate are lagging.
Even India’s literate children continue to struggle and lag behind acceptable learning levels. In many cases, they’re attending, but just not learning.
•100 million cannot read or write at the age appropriate level
•46.3% of fifth graders cannot read a 2nd grade level text
•64.1% of fifth graders cannot do basic division

India’s children need Pratham’s programs now more than ever.