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親愛的扶輪社員們： Dear fellow Rotarians, 身為愛書人家庭的成員，我們總是把閱讀書寫當成生活中最重要優先的事。我們家中擺滿了書籍，蘿拉和我旅行時沒有不帶兩三本書在身旁的。閱讀對我們兩人而言都是極大的享受，閱讀也是我們和我們兒女及孫兒女的共同喜好。不幸的是，對世界上許多人而言，閱讀這樣簡單的樂趣似乎遙不可及。 As members of a family of book lovers, we have always made literacy a high priority in our lives. Our home is full of books, and neither Lorna nor I ever travel without two or three. Reading is a great joy for both of us, and it is a joy we’ve shared with our children and grandchildren. Unfortunately, for many people around the world, the simple pleasure of reading seems hopelessly out of reach. 如果不認識字，我們每天遇到的所有書寫文字─不只在書本及報紙上，還包括地圖、標籤、路牌、及看板─都會變成神秘不可解，構成我們完全融入社會的路障。對我來講，教人閱讀是我想得到的最有成就感的服務行動之一。只要有耐心及時間，收穫是無可計量的。 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. 識字是脫離貧窮的踏腳石，這是其他技能無法比擬的。它是一種自助的能力，可以自由代代相傳。一旦家中有人識字，幾乎一定會流傳下去，因為識字的父母親會養育出識字的孩子。識字的父母親也比較可能養育出更健康的孩子，這些孩子的視野將遠超出他們的自己的家庭及村莊。實際上，識字能開啟一個新的世界。 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. 我們必須知道，文盲不只是開發中國家的問題。甚至在實施普及教育的最富有國家，許多人在文字應用能力上還是文盲。在有些地方文盲代表恥辱，掃除文盲尤其困難。然而，在識字率高的社會，幾乎任何一種工作都要求會讀、會寫。只要到任何監獄或醫院，你就會發現功能性文盲的人不成比例的多。太多從事非技術工作的人都是文盲，需要他們的工作夥伴幫他們閱讀。但是蘿娜及我在烏干達看到了不識字的女人在數天之內就學會看字，而且在南非看到第一次接觸書本的孩子們發現了一個他們所不知道的新世界。我們看到印度、奈及利亞及土耳其的扶輪社員運用集中語言接觸教學法來教數以千計的婦女及兒童、以及一些男人閱讀。問題不在於智力，而在於機會。 We need to be aware that illiteracy is not a problem only of the developing world. Even in the wealthiest countries with universal education, many people are functionally illiterate. Where illiteracy carries a stigma, it can be especially difficult to combat. Yet, in highly literate societies, being able to read and write is crucial in almost every job. Go into any prison or hospital, and you will find a disproportionate number of people who are functionally illiterate. Too many of those who work in unskilled jobs are illiterate and need their workmates to read for them. But Lorna and I have seen illiterate women in Uganda learn to read within days and children exposed to books for the first time in South Africa finding a new world they didn’t know existed. We’ve seen Rotarians in India and Nigeria and Turkey using the concentrated language encounter method to teach thousands of women and children, and some men, to read. The issue is not one of intelligence but of opportunity. 許多年來識字一直被列為扶輪服務項目當中的優先項目之一，這是正確的，識字甚至應該成為每個扶輪社的重要計畫。無論計畫目標是捐書、開設識字班、提供字典給小學生、或只是幫助兒童寫作業，識字計畫都能以些微的投資達成卓越的成果。就像某些人一樣，我曾經花許多小時坐在矮小的椅子上聽兒童們唸書，因此我由衷相信，如果能換得終生識字，肌肉的麻木只不過是小小的代價。 Literacy has rightly been high on Rotary’s service agenda for many years now, and it should feature among the projects of every Rotary club. Whether the goal is donating books, running literacy classes, supplying elementary school students with dictionaries, or just helping children with their schoolwork, literacy projects bring great results with very little investment of money. As someone who has spent many hours sitting on undersized chairs listening to children read, I wholeheartedly believe that the stiff muscles are a small price to pay for the lifelong benefits of literacy.
W.B. (Bill) Boyd 白義德 國際扶輪2006-07年度社長 President, Rotary International, 2006-07
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