International Literacy Day

“A Boy on Horseback” Photo credit: I-Stock with permission

I first saw him, a young boy on horseback, dressed in national costume, riding the grassy slopes of the steppe lands of Outer Mongolia, where my work, at that time, took me. The boy set out, early in the morning, on horseback. I was told by the Mongolian host that he was headed for school some 30 miles distant. It was through this encounter that I learned that, despite the hardships that the country was enduring at the time, a commitment to free compulsory schooling remained a pervasive cultural value with an emphasis on reading and writing.

One of the results of such nationwide policy, arising during the 20th century socialist period and continuing, is the astounding level of adult literacy in the country. Even today, Outer Mongolia is a leader in global literacy tables. Between 98-99% of the population read and write. Even given such success, further moves are now being taken to strengthen the reading skills of children under 5. What a tremendous example of global possibility as on September 8, each year, International Literacy Day (ILD) is celebrated.

First declared by UNESCO in 1996, this year International Literacy Day is celebrating a 60-year anniversary with a gathering in Mexico entitled, “Literacy for the People, Planet and Prosperity”. The celebration of ILD serves as a reminder that reading and writing are basic human rights opening the door to other rights. Having literacy skills helps to significantly reduce poverty, enhance health, create equality and social growth–offering possibility across the globe. As former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, has said: “Literacy is a bridge between misery and hope.”
As well as traditional “book-skills”, ILD has also encouraged effective and responsible engagement with digital media. Of note, however, this year are recent initiatives, led by the Scandinavian countries, to move away from digital-first classrooms to reverse a decline in reading comprehension and dropping literacy skills. A return to the use of physical books and handwriting, while not discounting gifts of the digital age, are being shown by scientists and educators to improve focus, comprehension and memory retention.

So, how might we celebrate International Literacy Day this year and contribute to the gift of literacy? Ideas may include making financial contributions to global and national projects that encourage reading and writing given that millions still lack these skills. More locally, reading with our children, inviting inclusive story gatherings, gifting books for our family and friends, hosting book drives to match teacher’s wish lists, volunteering to tutor children or adults, exchanging books with others, holding book clubs, promoting the use of libraries near us all help to raise awareness, enjoyment and social possibilities.

Next time we are nestled down with a good book or journalling the gift of our life’s journey, let’s also celebrate, with gratitude, these gifts. In the words of Pam Allyn, American literacy expert, “Reading is like breathing in and writing is like breathing out”- an essential then for a life well lived!

 -Sister Mary Rowell, CSJ

Labour Day

We will soon be celebrating the statutory holiday known as Labour Day which always falls on the first Monday in September.  Most of us think of it only as the end of the summer holiday season or the end of the season for wearing white.  Google helped me go back to the origins of Labour Day.

In 1869 labourers were required to work 12 hours a day. A movement began in Hamilton, Ontario called the “Nine-Hour Movement,” to advocate for a shorter work week.  The request of this union spread to Toronto where the demands for a shorter work week were refused by the owners of printing shops, “most vehemently by George Brown of The Globe.”  By 1872 the request had turned into a demand and finally a threat to strike, resulting in a printers strike on March 25.

A series of protests, dubbed the Nine Hour Movement, led to the government enacting The Trade Unions Act, which, for the first time, made unions legal in Canada. (Photo: Parliament Hill, Ottawa. Wikimedia Commons/Library and Archives Canada. C-002837.)

To show solidarity with the printers’ strike, 2,000 workers in Toronto paraded through the city led by marching bands.  The parade ended at Queen’s Park and had increased to 10,000 sympathizers.  George Brown fought back by accusing and successfully jailing members of the strike committee for breaking a Canadian law of 1792-making union activity a criminal offense.

Sir John A. Macdonald embarrassed George Brown by passing the Trade Unions Act on June 14, legalizing and protecting union activity and rescuing the strike committee from prison.  Macdonald became a friend of the working class.

The movement spread and so, on September 3, 1894, 3,000 workers met on Market Square in London, Ontario which was acknowledged to be the first nationally recognized Labour Day in Canada.  According to Craig Heron and Steve Penfold in their book entitled The Workers’ Festival: A History of Labour Day in Canada,“the first union contingents headed off down the city’s main streets under the blazing noonday sun.  Leading the way was a group of seventy-five butchers on horseback, who set the tone of respectable craftsmanship with their crisply white shirts and hats and clean baskets on their arms….”

With this bit of new-found knowledge, I intend to pay more attention to the first Monday of September and pray that workers will find a way to survive the downward trend in the job market.  Difficult decisions are being made by business owners; workers are facing the possibility of jobs losses.  The experience of COVID was a bit of preparation for what the future holds for workers and now we see Artificial Intelligence making its debut on the horizon.  The labour-force survived the Industrial Revolution and I believe the creativity of the human soul will help us evolve our way through the AI revolution.  

-Sister Elaine Cole, CSJ

Mercy in the Making: How We Meet Our Moment in History

Poet and philosopher David Whyte makes some pretty provocative statements about the human race, about God, about mercy. He thinks in terms of decades and centuries somewhat reminiscent of the newest book by John Paul Lederach’s, “the centuries wrap round us.”

1.      Does our human conditioning of the past become a present-day obstacle in our evolution into the future? What is the role of stillness on a collective level?

2.      How do we humans discover our common call of belonging to and with each other?

3.      He presents a view of God who refuses to step in [and is unable to], wave a magic wand and solve the dilemmas we are in.

This last point is not really all that new. Walter Brueggeman, author and theologian spoke about this decades ago when he clearly asserted that “What God does first and best and foremost is to trust us with our moment in history.”

David Whyte, along with many of us, wanders through the days sometimes wondering if we are in fact trustworthy. That wondering is followed by,

“How do we make practical choices now that lets mercy guide us?”

-Sister Margo Ritchie, CSJ

Image: NADER AYMAN/Unsplash