Page 14 - Memory of the World filled with Color_revised Edition_online

24 The ability to read and write are necessities in opening one’s educational opportunities 25
and ensuring their rights. It is a fundamental skill that connects us to the world and the
vast knowledge it holds. Up to this day, building capacity in providing primary education

is a continuing task for many societies. Among many attempts, Nicaragua’s five-month
National Literacy Crusade succeeded in providing basic learning opportunities and
lasted as a commemorative example depicting educational achievements.

◆
The National Literacy Crusade (CNA) was made possible by the conditions created
after the victorious Sandinista Revolution of July 1979. The overthrow of one of Latin
America’s notorious dictatorships released energy in fostering strong national unity

in addressing the nation’s most crucial task: education. Along with Nicaragua’s high
illiteracy rate of 50%, the initiation of the National Literacy Crusade was a resolution to
the peoples’ yearning for social transformations and their educational aspirations.

The Crusade had a simple goal: eradicate illiteracy and strengthen the solidarity of
the society and its comprehension among different communities. Over 60,000 youth
volunteers named brigadistas lived in rural areas to teach more than half of the
Nicaraguan population, who were then illiterate. A collective level of national unity and
global support were fundamental factors for the Crusade. International organizations

and multiple governments contributed funds and supported personnel. Teachers from
16 countries voluntarily joined the CNA to aid technical organizations, prepare teaching
materials, and the brigadistas for their mission. The Crusade reduced the Nicaraguan
illiteracy rate from 50% to 12% in five months through domestic and international efforts.

Due to its massive, participatory, and supportive nature, the Literacy Crusade became
the most important educational and cultural event in the history of Nicaragua and one

of the most relevant literacy processes worldwide, recognized by many international
bodies.

The National Literacy Crusade (CNA) archives are a unique collection of a variety of
documents generated and created during the mass literacy campaign. The IHNCA-UCA
has collected and preserved a wide variety of materials and documents prepared by
the CNA, with special reference to letters, interviews, first-hand accounts, diaries, maps,
cassettes, literacy exercise books, and textbooks written in Spanish, Creole English,
Miskito, and Sumu-Mayangna languages ◆◆ .

◆ Cruzada Nacional de Alfabetización (CNA)
◆◆ Widely spoken by Nicaraguan afro descendants, and
indigenous people form the Caribbean coast of the country

National Literacy Crusade