US Based Charity Promotes Literacy in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Aug. 25, 2011 - PRLog -- The International Alliance for Child Literacy (“IACL”), a U.S.-based non-profit charity continued its Caribbean literacy educational outreach efforts with a shipment of children’s books, an assortment of educational materials and school supplies to Georgetown Secondary School (“GSS”) in Georgetown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.  The shipment represents the IACL’s second literacy initiative in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.  Earlier this year the IACL donated children’s books, school supplies, and culturally relevant learning materials to a primary school on the island.

Reiko Jones, a Peace Corps member who volunteers at GSS, was thrilled to receive the educational materials and hopes to use the donated materials to encourage students to improve their reading and comprehension skills.  GSS, which has a student body of over 600 students, is one of the largest high schools in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.  The school also serves as a local resource center for the community by providing enrichment classes and adult education to the population at large.  Ms. Jones reached out the IACL for support because of GSS’s dire need for books and basic classroom supplies.

GSS recently launched a literacy intervention project entitled the “Academy of Reading” to help struggling readers of all ages improve their reading and comprehension skills.  “When I heard about GSS’s new literacy program, I knew we had to offer our support,” stated IACL President Andrea de Vries.  “Improving literacy skills is the core mission of our organization and what better way to work towards that mission than to partner with a school that shares that mission and is taking steps to encourage reading as well.”

The IACL partners with American and international organizations and local communities in the developing world to establish libraries and literacy centers for children.  Founded on the belief that education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty, the IACL focuses on empowering children through education.  The IACL will donate literacy programs and over 20,000 books to Latin America and Caribbean schools, orphanages, and community centers in 2011.  For more information, please visit www.theiacl.org or www.facebook.com/theiacl.