Literacy and Digital Inclusion
Literacy and digital inclusion for youth and adults are priorities for the Beneficent Spiritist Center União do Vegetal. Since 2002, more than five thousand people have passed through the classrooms (computer labs) of the Light of Knowledge Project to learn how to read, write, and to use the computer as a tool of citizenship.
In 2010, a new software program was developed – the Light of Knowledge – which was the result of a partnership between the Beneficent Association Casa da União (an assistive branch of the UDV) together with the Casa Brasil (from the Presidency of the Republic) and the Department of Education of the State of Ceará.
The software program is free for distribution and open source, and can be adapted and improved in accordance withthe public need. The methodology was based on the theory of educator Paulo Freire. Easy to use, the Light of Knowledge is available on the internet, to download or to use online via the website of the Department of Education of the State of Ceará. It can be used at home and in schools, and for both child and adult education.
For the União do Vegetal, the Light of Knowledge Project is a form of human advancement, offering broad access to literacy and digital inclusion. In 2014, through the service of its members which is always voluntary, the UDV supported or fostered the organization of literacy labs in nine cities: Alta Floresta and Cuiabá (MT); Campo Grande (MS); Criciúma and Florianópolis (SC); Ilhéus (BA); Belo Horizonte and Ipatinga (MG); and Rio de Janeiro (RJ).