Going Ape

Apparently, Spain could be the first country in the world to grant human rights to apes!*

What a bizarre world we live in. Unborn babies in the majority of so-called ‘civilised’ societies do not automatically qualify for the most basic human right, the right to life, yet campaigners are fighting to enable apes to have human rights.

I wonder if they want to teach apes how to read and write?

The Global Campaign for Education (GCE) says that, “illiteracy is a violation of the fundamental human right to education.” David Archer of GCE said that, “Literacy is the fertilizer needed for development and democracy to take root and grow.”

Any volunteers for literacy workers to the apes so that they can develop and create the world’s newest democracy?

Seriously though, apes aside, illiteracy is a huge problem in the world.

The United Nations education agency, UNESCO, says in a report that the regions with the lowest levels of literacy are sub-Saharan Africa, south and west Asia and the Arab states, where only 60% of the population are able to read and write.

High levels of illiteracy are hindering attempts to erase world poverty, the report warns. It also points to links between better literacy and improved health, political, social and economic life.

Literacy, of course, can also have a tremendous spiritual impact on communities. Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free!

Pray for us as we upgrade Loron literacy materials in preparation for new literacy campaigns in Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso later this year, and early next year.


*Report in The Daily Telegraph, June 10, 2006.