Role Models in Literacy: Shyah (VIDEO)

Here's the link to the very first Role Models in Literacy video.  Check it out!!

http://vimeo.com/80568083

First Video Nearly Complete!

I'm almost done editing the first Role Models in Literacy video.  The main attraction of the video is a 2nd grade American girl named Shyah.  We are friends with her family, and she goes to elementary school right around the corner from our house so we recorded footage in both places.

There will be another video coming up soon of her sister, Boston.  Stay tuned!

Fertility Rate & Literacy Rate Correlation

After taking a peek at Indexmundi.com, I have learned that there is a correlation between Literacy Rates and Fertility Rates.  Although it's not a very strong correlation, there is enough evidence to prove that more educated countries tend to have less of a population issue.

Some examples of nations with high literacy rates:

Country:                    Lit. Rate:               Birth rate:

Switzerland               99%                       1.48
USA                          99%                       2.07
UK                            99%                       1.66
Germany                   99%                       1.37
Russia                       99.5%                    1.33

Pretty much everyone can read in these kinds of countries.  And the average amount of kids a woman will give birth to falls in the range of 1 or 2.  Now, let's take a look at some countries with poor literacy rates:

Country:                    Lit. Rate:               Birth rate:

Tanzania                    70.7%                    5.24
Ethiopia                     35.1%                    5.55
Haiti                           51.2%                   4.86
Burkina Faso             16.6%                    6.34
Niger                          9.7%                     6.91

Clearly, the women of these nations give birth to too many children for them to handle.  My goal, using Role Model In Literacy, is to elevate the literacy rate of such a country to a point in which the women are giving birth to one or two children.

Check out the Indexmundi website for more data: http://www.indexmundi.com/g/correlation.aspx?v1=31&v2=39