Room to Read Blog

And the Results Are In! More than 4 Million Children Reached!

This week Room to Read announced its latest cumulative results numbers from year one (2000) through year nine (2009) and we're excited to report it all out to you here.

As many of you who are familiar with us know, Room to Read is a results-focused organization and we take great pride to set ambitious goals just like any other global corporation would do, and we work hard to meet them.  Each year, our nine country offices work closely with our Regional and Global office teams to set their program goals for the year ahead and this year is no exception.  As 2010 begins, our Asia and Africa teams have already started working on their program targets –- whether that means establishing libraries, publishing new children’s titles, building schools, or accepting more girls into our Girls’ Education program.

At the same time, through our database system (and thanks to the Salesforce Foundation), Room to Read tracks each program project and monitors its progress.  It is this same tracking system that allows us to accurately report out to our investors at the end of the year what their donor dollar helped us accomplish.

Without further ado, we are proud to share that through the end of 2009 Room to Read has…

Established: 9,220 libraries
Constructed: 1,129 schools
Published: 433 local language book titles
Printed: 4.1 million local books
Donated: 3.3 million English language books
Supported: 8,707 girls’ educations
Benefitted: 4,066,775 children!!

We had an incredible first decade and we thank you all for being such a significant part of our success.

As we always say around here, onward and upward and…just you wait…there is definitely more to come!

Room to Read Adds 2 New Board Members & 1 Management Position to its Executive Team

The new year is bringing new (and great changes) to Room to Read and to start our announcements, we’re thrilled to welcome Barclays Capital president Jerry Del Missier and Harvard education professor Fernando Reimers to our board of directors.  Last but not least, we’re excited to report that Dr. Cory Heyman will be joining our management team as strategic advisor.

For those that don’t know these gentlemen's distinguished backgrounds, we’ll tell you about some of their many accomplishments below:

Jerry Del Missier is Barclays Capital President and Co-Chief Executive of Corporate and Investment Banking.  Jerry joins the Room to Read’s board of directors after serving as a founding member of our U.K. advisory board and with a distinguished background in international finance. Most recently, Jerry was appointed to the Barclays Group Executive Committee at Barclays Capital, where he is responsible for the firm’s global markets businesses, encompassing the trading, sales and research functions globally. Before joining Barclays Capital in 1997, Jerry was the senior managing director of derivatives products for Bankers Trust in London.

Fernando Reimers is Ford Foundation Professor of International Education and Director of International Education Policy at Harvard University.  Like Jerry, Fernando also is joining the Room to Read board after having previously served on its advisory board. Prior to joining the faculty at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Fernando was a senior education specialist at the World Bank. He has extensive experience in the area of international development assistance with the United States Agency for International Development, the World Bank, the Inter American Development Bank and other development organizations. Fernando is best known for his theory of 'Informed Dialogue', an approach to bridge scientific research and education policy through the mapping and mobilization of social networks.

Dr. Cory Heyman is joining the executive team of Room to Read as strategic advisor supporting the organization’s Girls’ Education program and monitoring and evaluation units.  Cory has acted as a close advisor to Room to Read since 2004 when he assisted in developing the organization’s first monitoring and evaluation study.  He has also been an active member of its advisory board since 2008. Cory will be starting full time with Room to Read in March and bringing along his extensive experience in international development and education, having recently served as the vice president and deputy director of the Academy for Educational Development’s Center for Gender Equity. Cory has worked at the nexus of public, private, and non-profit sectors for nearly two decades and brings with him great experience in managing large-scale educational projects in the United States, Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

"We are thrilled and honored to have such talented, smart, passionate and well-connected people joining the leadership team of Room to Read.   Each will provide his incredible insight and extraordinary talent to help Room to Read to 'grow with quality' as we begin our second decade," said John Wood, Founder and Executive Chairman.  “All three of these amazing individuals will bring such a wealth of knowledge and experience that will make us even more effective as we pursue our goal of bringing educational opportunities to 10 million children across the developing world.  I can say with complete confidence and pride that a strong team just got stronger."

This is only the start to what we have in store for Room to Read in 2010.  Watch this space for more to come!

To read the press release about this announcement, click here.

Room to Read's Board of Directors also includes Hilary Valentine (Chair), Christopher Beer, Craig Bruya, Scott Kapnick, Kim Anstatt Morton, Dambisa Moyo, John Ridding, Muneer A. Satter and John Wood.  Click here for full bios of our board.

Guest Blog: Twitter Visits Room to Read Programs in India

Below is a re-post from Twitter's official blog from December 30, 2009.  We are re-posting it here with permission by the author.

When Twitter announced The Fledgling Initiative in October—making and selling wine to benefit an organization called Room to Read, I was thrilled.

This past month, my enthusiasm and commitment increased dramatically when I had the chance to visit some of the sites where Room to Read works in India.

Teachers and students in Hardiwar gave me the warmest of welcomes. I was given the opportunity to help children read books in English and one group of students even invited me to sing a song for them. My performance of Itsy Bitsy Spider (see above—pit stains included), sent the kids into fits of laughter.

The schools in these areas face incredible obstacles but the community approaches problems with passion and vigor. One school was having trouble with a dangerous elephant so parents volunteered to take turns walking the kids to school and would even sleep there for a night or two.  When I was little there were snow days but nothing like this. Seeing kids get excited about learning to read made my heart skip a few beats, and made me feel proud to work at a company that chooses to partner with world-changing organizations like Room to Read. Here are some of the photos from my trip and you can learn more about Room to Read at their web site.

-- Maggie Utgoff or @mutgoff, Twitter

Karmic Blessings from India: One Father's Thanks

From the verandah where we were sitting I could see him sitting on his haunches under a tree across the dusty road and squint to keep out the sun.  He had been sitting there in the hot sun for more than two hours and I thought he was waiting to escort his child back from school.

We had barely finished talking to other students, but perhaps our movement of picking up our files gave him the cue -– for in a jiffy he was standing on the edge of the verandah with his palms pressed together in a namaste.

The moment he caught my eye, he walked towards us with his hands still folded. He looked tired and a little dehydrated and before we could ask him anything he said: “My name is Nagaraj, K Nagaraj,” emphasizing the ‘K’ as if is his whole identity hinged on that one letter.

He sat on the periphery of the grass mat and looked at the floor as he spoke.

“I know you are busy but I will take just two minutes,” he said before continuing, “When I learned that you were coming to this village, I asked your Room to Read staff to help me get an appointment so that I could personally thank you all for all that you have done for my child.  I don’t know how or why you chose to help our village, but I am sure my daughter has done some good karma to be blessed with this opportunity. If Room to Read had not helped my child, today she would be sitting at home and I would have been cursing my fate.  Please convey my family’s gratitude to all your staff for doing this good deed.”

When he looked up his eyes were wet but he was not finished.

“I have three children and I could only afford to educate two. Since the older two were already in school when Kripa, my youngest, was born, they continued with their schooling.  When Kripa was five, I found it difficult to tell her why she should not go to school. What made it even more difficult was her enthusiasm for school. She would get up early and even before her mother could cook breakfast she was ready with her school bag!”

Nagaraj is a farmer and has a small piece of land on the outskirts of the city. It is not a very fertile patch but he manages to coax a groundnut harvest each year from that. The little earnings from that is all that the family has for a livelihood.

“This land is all I have and if I sell it or pawn it, my family will starve. I was in a dilemma because from my own experience, I knew too well that education is the best gift we can give our children.  I was helpless.

“It was then that Room to Read came to my rescue. Since my daughter was a good student, she was selected as part of the Girls’ Education program and Room to Read helped to find her a school with a boarding facility so that she does not have to travel long distances.”

Nagaraj’s voice breaks but his broad smile conveys his happiness. Currently, all three of his children are in school and he is a proud father. Kripa is a brilliant student and is now in 8th grade.  Her elder brother is about to graduate grade twelve and her older sister is in grade ten.

“We get to see Kripa two or three times each term.  Her mother misses her especially when there is a festival or family gathering. Sometimes I catch her crying softly at night and I know she is missing Kripa.  But, I chide her and remind her that we are lucky that our child has this opportunity and we should encourage her to do well instead of making it difficult for her.

“For me it is important that my children study because when I was growing up, my parents did not realize this. My father thought it was more important that I tended to the cattle. As a result, I only studied through 5th grade. When I see my old classmates now, I cringe with shame but because of my children, I don’t have to cringe any longer.”

-- Reena Luke

To learn more about our programs in India, click here.

A Special Holiday Message from Erin Ganju, CEO (and video!)

Dear friends,

As we conclude another successful year at Room to Read, I would like to thank everyone in the Room to Read family -- staff, donors and volunteers -- for all of your support. Your commitment to our work has allowed us to reach new heights each year and has helped change the lives of millions of children throughout Asia and Africa.

I encourage you to take a minute to meet some of the children we have impacted through the video below. 

Inspirational images like these remind me how much our work means to our partner communities and our students and how excited I am, with your help, to reach further in the year ahead.

We have big dreams and I hope that you will continue your support and join with us in 2010 and beyond as we open the doors of opportunity for children throughout the developing world.

Thank you again and Happy New Year,

Erin Ganju
Co-founder and CEO, Room to Read

P.S. Inspired by the images of children enjoying their first book or library? If so, please consider Room to Read for your end of year giving.

News from our Sri Lanka Country Director: 44,000 Books Means 2 Books Per Child

We heard this morning from our Country Director of Room to Read Sri Lanka, Glen de Mel, with some exciting news:

It is with great pleasure that we inform you that we have successfully concluded the 2009 Local Language Publishing book launch with the Honorable Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Rathnasiri Wickremanayake.

The Prime Minister spent almost two hours with our team — along with our authors and illustrators — and each author and illustrator personally presented their titles to the Prime Minister. One of the leading authors in the country, Dr. Leel Gunasekera, made a speech on our local language book titles and following, the Honorable Rathnasiri Wickremanayake gave a speech highlighting Room to Read's efforts and presented us with a Letter of Appreciation under his seal.

At this event, we ceremonially handed over 44,000 books (approximately LKR 15 million or USD $131,153 ) to be distributed among the children in IDP camps and re-settled areas in the war-affected north. These books will serve 22,000 children and provide each child both an English-language and a Tamil-language book. 

***

This news is on the heels of the Financial Times reporting from our programs in Sri Lanka.  Read more through the links below and don't forget that all donations made toward the Financial Times campaign (up to US$1 million) will be matched thanks to the generosity of three of Room to Read's corporate donors: Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse and Atlassian.

Room to Read builds libraries in Sri Lanka
December 18, 2009

It looks like a normal prize-giving ceremony at a normal school. Children are arranged by age on rows of seats in the barn-like hall. They wait patiently, a burble of chatter rising on the boiling air towards the tin roof....Read the full article

Drawing out talent to create children’s books
December 15, 2009

By day, R.C. Pradeep Kumar runs the gauntlet of Sri Lanka’s political and ethnic divide as a cartoonist working for a Tamil daily newspaper.By night and at weekends, he turns to the less politically sensitive pursuit of drawing illustrations for children’s books...Read the full article

Room to Read's results in Sri Lanka
December 11, 2009

The first thing I noticed about 11-year-old Kasun Amarasinghe was the state of his shirt. Theoretically white, it was tinged with a bluish sheen, possibly the result of being washed together with his navy blue shorts.....Read the full article

 

Nepal: A School for Her Granddaughter

Bishnu Maya Gurung, age 60, woke up a little early that day anticipating what was on the horizon.  She cooked and cleaned around the house, hoisted her granddaughter on to her back and made her way on foot to the Shree Lamaguru Secondary School.  It takes her approximately 15 minutes to walk from her house to the school; it was the school her kids attended and last she heard, it was now in shambles and needed major attention.

She was well aware of the school's existence since it had been established in 1974 -- some 35 years ago when it was one of the first schools to be opened in her native area of Jugedhara, Dhading, Nepal. Jugedhara is a 2-hour uphill walk from Dhadingbesi, the district headquarter of Dhading district, which itself is about a 3 hour journey to Nepal’s capital city Kathmandu.

Bishnu Maya remembers when she first heard that the school was in decline. “There was even the talk of shutting it down,” she remembers. Around the same time, circa 2001, the school elected a new management committee and a new head teacher. The new management committee, along with the local members of the community, vowed they would restore the school to its former glory.

Starting in 2001, the new management committee scoured various ways to improve their educational status in the district. They knew that the Shree Lamaguru Secondary School was the only school in the nearby vicinity so it was vital that they take charge because failing to do so would mean that their children would have to walk for hours to attend another school. The school explored numerous options and alternatives for fixing the situation; they called in various organizations to help –- which some did.  However, one day a member of the local community heard about Room to Read and their Challenge Grant model and thought this would be a wonderful  opportunity to rebuild the school.

“The community needs to pitch in,” Bisnu Maya remembers thinking out aloud. The last time the community got together was to advocate giving the barren patch of land to the school. Now it was again their turn to help the school but this time they needed to be more proactive and engaged to ensure its sustainability.

The school called a meeting with the community. In the meeting, the members passed a motion that they would all come together to help build the school.  And, that same year, they did -– joining hands to clean, excavate and help in whatever way they could.

On November 24th , when the school was on the last leg of construction, Bishnu Maya, along with rest of the community, came waltzing in with a special spring in their steps. They helped to smooth over the land that would house the future playground for their sons, daughters, grandsons and granddaughters. Like swarm of bees, they came in droves and immediately started to work. Some of them brought their own tools, some used their hands and did whatever task was required. Despite their senior age, many grandparents like Bishnu Maya, also pitched in to help.

“It shows that how eager they are to build the school,” says Som Nath Nepal, the head teacher of the school.  It was due to him and Kaal Bahadur Gurung, the School Management Committee head as well as Musa Ghale, the head of the Construction Committee that the school is in such a progressive phase. The hard work and dedication put forth by these three was matched equally by the local community. The head teacher believes that the community, most of whom are under-educated or illiterate, “instinctively know the value of education” and came to help in the physical construction of the school.

Kaal Bahadur Gurung voiced the same opinion. “The community,” he says, “are more than happy to help.”

And, on the day when she hoisted up her granddaughter on her back, Bishnu Maya was joyous and celebratory. “I’m doing this for my granddaughter,” she said and then motioned to a cherub sleeping peacefully on her back. "One day, when she grows up, she will be able to look back fondly on her school. It was the school her grandmother help to construct."

-- Rishi Amatya

To learn more about our School Room program, click here.

Once Upon A Time in Sri Lanka…Part II

Seven-year-old Mohan is Mallika’s classmate who shares her love for story books and he is always all ears during storytelling time. (Read about Mallika’s captivating narration skills in Part I here).

Each day Mohan takes a book home; however, he can only enjoy the pictures because he struggles to actually read the books by himself.

Mohan’s teacher Ms. Nipunisa explains, “Mohan is a bright and enthusiastic student, but his reading skills are not in the same league as Mallika’s because he has no one at home to help with his studies or reading -- which means he continually lags behind.” Mohan comes from a broken home; he stays with his grandmother while his father works as a mason, often returning home long after Mohan has gone to sleep.

So Room to Read and Ms. Nipunisa decided the best way to help Mohan improve was to pair him with a classmate who could read along with him to help him practice. Mohan seems quite happy with the arrangement as he points to a classmate and says “I ask my friend Hasan to read out the stories to me and together we enjoy the book.”

His teacher acknowledges that even though Mohan is a slow starter, he is an eager student who loves school and never takes a day off. “Of course I love coming to school,” chirps Mohan. “I never miss school and I wish we did not have to sit at home on weekends. In school, I get to play with my friends and listen to the stories my teacher tell us every day. My favorite story is about a squirrel and a rabbit because I love animals. Someday I will keep a dog as a pet and write a story about him.”

Mohan’s aspirations don’t end there. When asked when he was plans to narrate a story like Hasan and Mallika, he is quick to answer. “The next time you come you will see me standing in front of the class and reading loudly,” says Mohan while flashing a thumbs up sign to seal that pact.

--Reena Luke

Barron’s Names Room to Read in Top 25 “Best Givers” Demonstrating Effective Giving and Results

It is an exciting week for Room to Read in the press.  This week, Barron’s magazine unveiled their cover story on The 25 Best Givers and John Wood and Room to Read ranked 11th out of 25 worldwide philanthropists. 

Being on the list at all was an honor itself.  Being ranked 11th above Bill and Hillary Clinton, Jimmy Carter, George Soros, Peter and Jennifer Buffett, Brad Pitt and "Magic" Johnson was truly humbling.  But, to be included in the list along with our funders and friends Jeff Skoll and Bill and Melinda Gates was the icing on the cake!

This list itself was compiled by Barron’s, in collaboration with the Global Philanthropy Group, to highlight the “best of the best” and most effective charities when people are looking for the greatest “bang for their buck.”  As reporter Suzanne McGee suggests, “With the recession squeezing donors and charities alike, it's more important than ever to make sure your giving really makes a difference.”

Room to Read has always been committed to transparency with our donors and considers itself, as Barron's called those on the list, a "high-impact giving" organization that takes care with each dollar invested with us.  Especially considering the state of the economy during this giving season, we are particularly proud of our accomplishments and we thank Barron’s for recognizing us and bestowing us with this award.  Read the full article here.

And...because we have your attention, we also can’t help mentioning that the Financial Times published their second large feature story on us in their FT Weekend edition on Saturday about the Kamlari girls we support in Nepal.  In Servant to schoolgirl, Asia editor David Pilling profiles Asha Tharu, whose parents sold her at age five into bonded labor for USD $40. She worked as a servant for eight years until one of Room to Read’s partner organizations rescued her. Room to Read now supports her in school and provided her with special classes to get her caught up to the mainstream curriculum.  Asha is now a happy 15-year-old schoolgirl, with an aptitude for math; on the weekends she works at a brick factory to help her elder sister pay for her schooling.  Read the full story here.
   
You can read all the Room to Read stories from the Financial Times by visiting www.roomtoread.org/FT and don’t forget, through this FT seasonal campaign, all donations are being matched thanks to our corporate sponsors: Barclays Capital, Atlassian and Credit Suisse.

'Tis the Season: Room to Read Benefits from Financial Times Seasonal Giving Campaign

LONDON: 'Tis the season to be thankful and Room to Read certainly has much to be grateful for!

I’m now in London for the kick-off of the Financial Times’ annual seasonal giving campaign that this year benefits Room to Read and it's been a whirlwind of activity and excitement!

In case you haven't heard, we were chosen as the Financial Times' charity partner for its 2009-2010 seasonal appeal in a vote by 1,600 FT employees worldwide. Read the official press release here.

Also as part of the launch, tonight in London I joined the Financial Times CEO John Ridding, Room to Read Board Member Dambisa Moyo, our UK Advisory board and staff, our corporate sponsors, and many others, at a celebration of our partnership at the elegant Quintessentially Soho at the House of St Barnabas. The evening included our first generous donor commitment to fund a school in Nepal as part of the campaign! We hope to replicate that success and enthusiasm at other launch events with the FT that are planned for Hong Kong and New York in early December.

Just as exciting is that starting today and through mid-January, the Financial Times will run print and online stories as well as public service announcements on behalf of Room to Read to raise money and increase awareness of our work. The first story, All sitting comfortably? by FT Asia editor, David Pilling, hit news stands this morning and paints a great picture of our work in Laos.  We will be posting all the upcoming stories and videos at www.roomtoread.org/FT as well as www.FT.com/appeal throughout December.

 
FINALLY, all donations made to the campaign (up to US$1 million) will be matched dollar for dollar and pound for pound thanks to the generosity of three of Room to Read's corporate donors: Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse and Atlassian.

It goes without saying that Room to Read is truly honored to be the selected beneficiary for this Financial Times campaign and we will do all that we can to reach our goal of raising US$2 million over the next 8 weeks. Millions of children are counting on us!

To make it easy, we are accepting donations in seven different currencies to make sure everyone who wants to support this campaign can. Visit www.roomtoread.org/FT and consider making a gift that will give more children the chance to learn.

We want this to be the most successful appeal in Financial Times’ history and we appreciate anything you can do to help us to accomplish this dream through the incredible networks that you bring to Room to Read!

-- John Wood, founder and executive chairman of Room to Read

P.S.To mark the launch, the Financial Times and Quintessentially are also holding an Online Charity Auction through eBay where you can bid on some exclusive luxury and money-can't-buy items such as: a rare signed auction booklet for J.K Rowling’s ‘The Tale of Beedle the Bard’, your name as character in a future novel by bestselling writer Adele Parks, a holiday for two at the Half Moon Resort in Jamaica, and an elite membership to Quintessentially for one year.  Bidding has already started and goes through November 30 at http://www.quintessentially.com/auction/.   Happy bidding!