This is the fifth year that the Rotary Club of St. Maarten is donating Dictionaries to students of group 5 (3rd graders) in sixteen primary schools.
"There should be no doubt about the commitment of Rotary to literacy says President of the Rotary Club of St. Maarten Maria Buncamper-Molanus". These Caribbean English Dictionaries in most cases are the first dictionaries the students can call their own and over the five year period we have made over 3250 children proud owners of a Caribbean English Dictionary.
For most of us, reading and writing are as natural as breathing. But nearly 800 million adults worldwide lack the literacy skills needed to complete a job application, understand a child’s report card, or read a prescription.
Rotary International and the International Reading Association know that literacy is an essential ingredient for reducing poverty, improving health, encouraging community and economic development and promoting peace. Since 2002, Rotary International and the Rotary International Association have combined their resources and skills to advance literacy in communities worldwide by providing books and educational materials, building and supporting schools, mentoring students, training teachers and establishing literacy programs for children and adults.
Community Project Chairman Marc Groeneveldt will continue to focus during this Rotary year on literacy with additional projects being unveiled in March 2014 "Literacy Month".
"I would like to emphasis the fact that we are able to carry out projects such as this one, because of the contributions we receive from individuals and corporate sponsors, this is truely the result of private – corporate cooperation": concludes president Buncamper-Molanus.