Nationwide Literacy Contest Underway

(Virginia) December 19, 2009 –

summary of what message they would send to millions of underprivileged girls and their fathers

regarding the importance of education and literacy. THE CONTEST DEADLINE FOR

ENTRIES IS DECEMBER 31, 2009.

The selected Sister Envoy for Education and Development (SEED) will be flown to Washington

DC to deliver her speech at a special event with invited dignitaries and the media. The contest,

which is sponsored by Virginia-based charity The Father and Daughter Alliance (FADA), is

open to girls/young women, residents of the United States, between the ages of 13 to 23. Submit

your summary by e-mail to

First Prize is a trip to Washington, D.C. (approx. value of trip and accommodation $3,000) for

the SEED Envoy and her father or father figure; Second Prize is $2,000; and the Third Prize is

$1,000. The winning SEED Envoy, selected among 10 finalists, will travel to the nation’s capital

during spring break of 2010 and deliver her speech which may be videotaped, broadcast and

featured on FADA’s website and worldwide. So, get creative SEEDS and help the world

blossom!

“I have a daughter, and when these girls in India and other countries are denied an education for

whatever reason, every girl’s potential in the world is greatly undermined,” said Pedro C.

Moreno, the Founder and President of the Father and Daughter Alliance. FADA is a grassroots

effort to connect fathers and daughters in the slums of New Delhi, India and enroll the girls into

schools. “Many are denied valuable education because they lack $20, or because the schools do

not have bathrooms, or simply because their fathers don’t allow them to do so, potentially

subjugating them to a life-time of exploitation.”

Girls reportedly account for more than half of the approximately 75 million children out of

school. Their fathers are for the most part the sole decision-makers about whether girls go to

school or not, in countries like India, Afghanistan, Benin, Guatemala and Yemen. FADA, which

is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit, plans to expand the program from India to other countries to enable

fathers to enroll their daughters into schools.