Lima 1

Esther Hadassa Bariani de Lima

Mrs. Pritchett

English Writing

March 24, 2021

Helping kids and teenagers to improve their literacy rates

In Brazil, there are a lot of illiterate people this happens, because of social

inequalities and hierarchy. A lot of Brazilians don’t have the conditions to go to a good

school, and a lot of kids and teenagers need to sell candy at the traffic light which

hinders them from learning. According to MEC in 2012, there was a decrease of 2,5

million illiterate people comparing to 2001, but there's still is a long way to go. Due to

COVID-19, more people quit studying and working. As a result, the economy and

education of Brazil have been harmed. So, how can we help kids and teenagers who live

in the slums to achieve Higher literacy rates? 

According to an article from Globo, almost 70% of people who live in the favela

don’t have money to afford food during the week. The article also says that 71% of the

families that live in the favela are surviving with half of all of their wage income.

Unfortunately, because of this virus, the conditions of living keep worsening in Brazil

because of the economy, they need to help their parents to make ends meet. Because of

that a lot of kids and teenagers are illiterate.

Some of the things that can be done to help include creating a website for

donations to collect books and other materials for these kids and teenagers. We can also

do a library for these kids at the slum, which will help them to improve their literacy

rates. According to an article from Merrimack College “Reading helps students to have

more confidence, knowledge, develop critical and analytical thinking skills, strengthen
 Lima 2

memory, and extended vocabulary. Helping them to become successful students”

(Merrimack). This article from Merrimack College shows the benefits and importance

of reading. With these facts, we can see that creating a social project of a library can

help and improve a lot of the kids’ literacy rates, and consequently their quality of life.  

All the kids and teenagers deserve the opportunity to study, read, and write. But

unfortunately, that is not the reality for a lot of them. Helping them to improve their

literacy rates can have a lot of benefits, for example helping them to learn a new skill,

and to improve their creativity. According to concernusa.org literacy can improve

health, can also promote lifelong learning and builds skills, promotes economy and

creates jobs, promotes gender equality, promotes democracy and peace, can build self-

esteem and overall quality of life. The article shows another reason why people should

create a community library. A library can help them to improve in a lot of areas of their

life, like creating a reading habit and helping them to be more organized. 

That’s why projects like this can be so important. It`s a long-term investment

with huge returns. Small actions can lead to big changes in the world, that`s why we

need people to think more about what they can do to change the country, city,

neighborhood, school, and their house. As for me, I want to help with books, one story

at a time.  

 
 Lima 3

Bibliography

“Analfabetismo No País Cai De 11,5% Para 8,7% Nos Últimos Oito Anos.” Educação,
portal.mec.gov.br/component/tags/tag/34167.

Bocchini, Bruno. “Quase 70% Dos Moradores De Favelas Não Têm Dinheiro Para
Comida.” Valor Investe, valorinveste.globo.com/mercados/brasil-e-
politica/noticia/2021/03/13/moradores-de-favelas-nao-tem-dinheiro-para-comida-diz-
pesquisa-instituto-data-favela.ghtml.

Educa Mais Brasil. “Bolsas De Estudo De Até 70% Para Faculdades – Graduação e
Pós-Graduação.” Educa Mais Brasil,
www.educamaisbrasil.com.br/enem/geografia/analfabetismo-no-brasil.

IBGE, www.ibge.gov.br/apps/snig/v1/?loc=0&cat=-1%2C1%2C2%2C-
2%2C3%2C4%2C-3%2C128&ind=4693.

Unesdoc.unesco.org,
unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000266077/PDF/266077eng.pdf.multi.

“5 Reasons Reading Is So Important for Student Success.” Merrimack M.Ed., 25 June

2020, online.merrimack.edu/student-literacy-important-for-student-success/. 

“6 Benefits of Literacy in the Fight against Poverty: Concern Worldwide US.” Concern

Worldwide, www.concernusa.org/story/benefits-of-literacy-against-poverty/.