Monday was Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, and many people honored his wisdom and eloquence by sharing lines from some of his greatest writings and speeches.

He was a man who fought for the rights of many, and a man who understood the value of education. He challenged us to understand that “a right delayed is a right denied,” a perception that is confirmed when you look at the countries in which we work.

But can we get more specific?

Let’s look at the right to an education.

That is the way most Americans think of it – education is so ingrained in our culture, so essential to success by our standards that we believe everyone is entitled to it. But for many of the children in our ministry, education is beyond a privilege. If it is an end goal, it is fraught with cultural barriers and financial obstacles.

Many politicians and experts thought that the need for “universal primary education” as it is described in the Millennium Development Goals could be addressed if the governments of developing countries understood the value of an education and made it available to all young children. And so many countries did.

Enrollment in primary education has improved, reaching 89% in 2008, up from 83% in 2000. Still, over 69 million school-aged children are not in school, barred from attending because their parents could not afford the associated school fees such as those for uniforms and textbooks, which can consume more than a quarter of a family’s already meager income.

To alleviate this, some countries (including Ethiopia, Kenya, and Mozambique where Mission of Mercy works) have sought to eliminate school fees all together, creating a surge in enrollment. This would be a wonderful thing if it didn’t put further strain on the resources available to poor communities. School buildings were already overcrowded; teachers were already overworked and underpaid.

But removing obstacles to enrollment or shoring up strained learning infrastructure does not ensure success – one of the biggest challenges occurs before enrollment is even possible.

It’s all in the preparation.

Tune in tomorrow for more of what we mean by that. We’ll profile some of the challenges our projects in one country face and why our programs can make a real difference in the life of a child who has never sat inside a classroom or held a pencil.