Earnest owns a Coca Cola Bottle Museum in Havannah Harbour, Vanuatu. When asked if he'd ever seen the Golden Gate Bridge, he responded, "No, but if you can read you can go anywhere."

He's just one of around 2,500 young people who have been given a second chance for literacy through World Vision's innovative programmes in communities throughout Vanuatu.

Other success stories from the programmes include a man whose inability to read the weight of his kava crop left him open to being cheated, a mother whose literacy gave her the confidence and courage to check herself into hospital when she fell sick, and a cargo manager who studied at night to hide from his employers that he had lied about being literate.

According to 2004 National Statistics Office figures for Vanuatu, literacy rates in teenagers and young adults (aged 15-24 years) are an alarming 34%. School attendance is low and many young people drop out because of family poverty or low schooling standards.

Since 1989, literacy programmes supported by World Vision have been helping people to learn to read and write in their native Bislama language, establishing a generational legacy of literacy.

The programmes began through the Presbyterian Women's Missionary Union in response to a problem raised by a local women's group in northwest Malekula that they could not undertake church work because they could not read or write.

The aim of these programmes has been to build skills in literacy and numeracy, empowering people of all ages to take part in group discussions, story writing, reading, small business, health awareness, nutrition, community advocacy and so on.

Over the years World Vision has also created a large range of Bilsama teaching resources to support these initiatives, ranging from traditional stories to basic Bislama curriculum and tests.

Though many of World Vision Vanuatu's literacy interventions are interwoven with other sectors, two of the current projects focus exclusively on literacy.

On Pentecost Island, a New Zealand funded project aims to increase literacy and numeracy among women in rural villages who lack the opportunities for formal schooling.

The TVET Literacy Training Project, funded by AusAID, runs literacy classes in correctional services centers in Port Vila and Luganville.

World Vision Vanuatu sees literacy as the foundation stone for all other development initiatives. Reading and writing empowers communities to access their own information and participate in their own development. As people recognise the advantages of literacy, they pass their skills on to others in their communities.

For instance, in Santo Island, local woman Pauline became the teacher of the literacy class and encouraged her husband to enrol. Once he was able to read and write he began a small shop selling soap, vegetables and other groceries, giving their family a stability they had not known before. With both of them able to read and understand issues affecting their communities, their commitment to educating their own children will be stronger.