RI President Bill Boyd:

“Without literacy, all the written words we encounter every day – not just in books and newspapers, but in maps, labels, street signs, and billboards – are mysteries and roadblocks to full integration into society. For me, teaching someone to read is one of the most rewarding acts of service imaginable. All it costs is patience and time, and the rewards are incalculable.

Like nothing else, literacy is a stepping stone away from poverty. It
is a gift of self-reliance, one that can be freely passed on from
generation to generation. Once there’s literacy in a family, it’s
almost always there to stay, as literate parents raise literate
children. Literate parents are also more likely to raise healthier
children, whose horizons will stretch far beyond their own homes and
villages. Literacy, quite literally, opens up a new world.”