Imagine this for a moment if you will:
You were born into a situation that meant there was no money to put you through school.
Your government, or the isolated environment you live in, or the time and age you were born in means you cannot access written education.
There is no one to teach you to read and no books for you to read even if you had a teacher.
According to this website "roughly 781 million adults worldwide... cannot read or write".
Just let that sink in: 781 million adults.
That's basically the equivalent of the entire populations of Indonesia + Nigeria + the Philippines + Bangladesh. All of them. Altogether.
Not being able to read or write is a very big problem for the world we live in today.
Few people are able to continue to live the way we used to, in tribes, living off the land. Collectively we have changed the world so very much that to be illiterate (not able to read or write) in at least one language creates enormous limitations on a person's potential.
I'm not even talking about being able to read and write in the most widely spoken languages--English, Mandarin, Hindi, Spanish & French--I'm talking about being able to read and write just in your own mother tongue.
Obviously, being able to read and write in one of the world's most widely spoken languages has its real advantages. And some of us have been lucky enough to have been born with one of these as our very first language.
But if you're reading this, even if English is your second or third (or fourth or fifth!) language, the fact that you can read it is a huge blessing to your life.
Not because my posts are the best thing you've ever read (馃槀) but rather because so much opportunity is afforded to you if you can read posts such as this.
If there is one problem in the world I would love to solve it would be illiteracy. Why? Because I value education so much!
Imagine the world that we could create if everyone had access to the things you and I get to learn just because we can open an internet browser and type in a question?
Imagine the problems we could solve, collectively, if people could read books on personal development, and business, and finance?
Imagine!
How beautiful would that world be if we could all,
all of us,
every last brother and sister,
from every single country on the planet,
learn the things our minds yearn to learn,
read the stories that would open our hearts to one another,
write the things our souls want to express?
Can you imagine how beautiful that world would be?
This was my response to the following prompt:
The solution
If you were able to find a solution to only one of the following problems, ONLY ONE, which would you choose and why? Write a post of 300 words or more.
Unemployment
Illiteracy
Homelessness
Animal cruelty
Organised crime
If you're looking for something to write about this weekend, Galen has provided six options for you to pick from in his WEEKEND EXPERIENCES Community. Check them out here.