The need to develop a reading culture
There is an old joke that 'if you want to
hide something from an African, put it in writing.' This stereotype wasn't
based on scanty mockery but sheer reality. While reading is not guaranteed to
revolutionize your life, it changes one's perceptions, ideologies and increases
general knowledge. It is here that literacy is exercised and great intellectual
introspection skills are built. There is personal freedom in knowledge and that
knowledge can be attained through reading. This personal freedom "opens a
world" of opportunity and enhances the quality of one's life.
It’s therefore evident that the permanent cure for ignorance is the application
of knowledge gained through reading what others have discovered and written in
books or shared in seminars about their experiences, theories and ideologies
regarding individual and societal perceptions. An individual or society that
fails to read and study will definitely lag behind, because the dark cloud of
ignorance will continue to hamper the penetration of the light of
transformation.
It’s
factual that developing any form of 'culture' takes time and effort, but first
establishing whole-school initiatives such as “Drop Everything and Read” or regular
library sessions for mankind is an
excellent foundation from which to build a robust reading Culture. It has discovered that the
reading culture in Uganda is considered low with few people willing to take
time to read a book. This is because the tradition of buying and reading books
is perceived to be a luxurious "Whiteman’s" inclination.
Because
many young people in Africa do not want to read, this weakness partly explains
the high levels of unemployment due to lack of confidence, creativity and
employable skills in the young folks. When they have time, they opt for online
chatting, drinking, femininity, loitering, television and other activities that
aren't principally useful. This renders them irrelevant and incapable of
combating most of the challenges that come with ignorance.
We
forget that learning is not only limited to academics but personal safety,
health, spiritual growth, emotional and financial independence.
By
living in an evolving world where things change all the time, we are part of
the global village, which thrives on all sorts of information which one needs
to be intellectually equipped with. This makes knowledge indispensable for self
and societal development, because it is the force to transforming any
situation. “Where there is no knowledge the people perish”.
Therefore, an uneducated, uninformed and illiterate community is a total burden to the whole nation but a fair level of literacy and knowledge possession can help even the most seemingly spontaneous individual to develop in thought, intellect and personal resourcefulness. Let us read and get empowered.
Therefore, an uneducated, uninformed and illiterate community is a total burden to the whole nation but a fair level of literacy and knowledge possession can help even the most seemingly spontaneous individual to develop in thought, intellect and personal resourcefulness. Let us read and get empowered.
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