Room to Read Blog

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

This is a guest post by John Wood, founder and executive chairman of Room to Read.

*****

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!

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!

A Special Recognition by the Microsoft Alumni Foundation

This blog is a guest post from Craig Bruya, Former Microsoft Employee and Room to Read Board Member

Last night, the Microsoft Alumni Foundation announced the first class of Integral Fellows, a fellowship program that recognizes and supports a Microsoft alumnus who has made a meaningful difference to others by contributing to the community.
 
The 66 nominees were narrowed to six finalists by a group of prestigious judges: Former President Jimmy Carter, Bill Drayton, Bill Gates Sr., Pierre Omidyar, and Tom Tierney. Of the six finalists honored at the gala last night, John Wood was announced as one of the three inaugural Integral Fellows along with Trish Millines Dziko of Technology Access Foundation and Patrick Awuah of Ashesi University. 

John left Microsoft in 1999 after visiting a primary school in Nepal and seeing first-hand the absolute poverty and extreme lack of educational resources. As a result, he started Room to Read in 2000, and since then the organization has provided educational opportunities to over 3.1 million children across Asia and Africa. 

I’m very proud to be a member of the Room to Read Board of Directors. The work this organization does is outstanding, and the momentum continues to build as we move forward into our second decade. Room to Read is working with the Microsoft Alumni Foundation to identify how to partner in a variety of ways. We look forward to their support of and engagement in our work so that more former Microsofties can join us in our efforts to change the world through the lifelong gift of education.

Please join me in congratulating John and Room to Read for receiving this honor. Our accomplishments are due to a growing global network of supporters, and we thank you for being a part of it!

To watch a video on John from the event and to read more about the Microsoft Alumni Foundation, click here.

Once Upon A Time in Sri Lanka...

Ashoka Mallika is only seven years old but her storytelling skills can put a grandmother to shame! She volunteers to narrate one of her favorite stories and soon has every one in rapt attention.  She has an appealing lisp but it is her changing expressions that endear her to everyone. Suddenly she stops and sticks her tongue out. She has forgotten the name of some character in her story. Without wasting a minute, she rushes to the corner library and pulls out the book and opens the page and continues the story by reading it to the class.

She reads fluently, not faltering once and even manages to change the voice for different characters! It is obvious she is gifted, but Mallika is not the only one in her classroom who loves stories.

Most of her classmates love the “story period.” Each day, the class teacher, Nipunisa Devika, pulls out a book and reads a story to the students. She also encourages them to take the books home and tells the parents to spend some time with the children by reading to them but unfortunately, not all parents from this village know how to read.

Mallika is lucky because her father is a school teacher and her mother, a home maker, takes much interest in Mallika’s studies. Mallika also has an elder brother who indulges her by reading stories out loud to her.  “I have to fight with him to get him to read stories to me. After he finishes his studies, he is always playing with his friends and I have to wait a long time to hear a story from him.” On being asked why she troubles her brother. “Sometimes in the evening my mother is busy cooking dinner and I would be too sleepy by the time she finishes with her work. I cannot read that fast and I will have to return the library book without having heard the story if he does not read it out to me!” Mallika smiles and crinkles her eyes to indicate that it was a fair justification to fight!

-- Reena Luke

Miss Library: A Special Poem from South Africa By Mr. Poet

We posted this poem to our quarterly eNewsletter but it was too good -- so we had to post it here as well!  The following was  written by “Mr. Poet,” a student and frequent visitor to a Room to Read library in East London South Africa. 

Miss Library

Miss Library, you are the quiet lady full of respect and dignity.

You attend to people who take time to seek information and never get disappointed.

Your shelves are full of books filled with knowledge, inspirational information and amusement.

Through you I shared in the ideas of very important people like William Shakespeare and Gcina Mhlophe.

The dinosaurs became extinct before our time but you kept record of them and make them alive to us.

Anytime I visit you seeking knowledge, I depart more powerful which confirms the saying ‘knowledge is power.'

When I seek a good story, she leaves me inspired. Oh Miss Library you are one of a kind.

You are a mother of all nations.

You feed the nations with knowledge and wisdom.

Feed us.

***

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

To sign up for our Quarterly eNewsletter, click here.

Meet Dr. Sindiwe Magona, One of Our Local Authors from South Africa and Voted Top 10 Best African Women Writers

Kim Morton, a recent addition to the Room to Read board of directors, just returned from South Africa and Zambia where she was able to witness Room to Read's programs and impact first-hand.

*****

South African writer Dr. Sindiwe Magona thinks African children need more stories about naughty girls and boys that can cook. And she should know! She's been voted Top 100 Best African writers and and Top 10 Best African Women writers. She's written over 100 children's books in all 11 of South Africa's official languages. Dr. Magona believes that if you want children to read, you must write exciting books, wild stories, fables, and mysteries.

Last week, when I sat down to talk with Dr. Magona in Johannesburg, she was intense and focused on the dire situation South African children find themselves in today. Grinding poverty, illiteracy, prevalent HIV/AIDS, and orphaned children are the daily reality. Twenty-eight percent of pregnant women (2007) were living with HIV, perpetuating the cycle of sickness for another generation. But, last week as I toured rural and urban South African schools and visited Room to Read's libraries, I saw real hope amidst these tough circumstances. Children love the refuge of their bright colorful books, they engage in their Room to Read libraries whose shelves hold Xhosa and Setswana stories like Dr. Magona's, and several of our libraries have dedicated librarians with time built into the curriculum to visit the library, be read to, play word games and even check a book out to take home. Think of the pride a child feels taking home a book and reading to an illiterate parent or grandparent.

Dr. Magona points out that in several different African languages, the word for a person who cannot read is "blind". "We can make a breakthrough!" she promises. "Right now our South Aftrican children are crawling while the rest of the world runs! If we make books interesting for kids, and we write them in their mother tongue, children will develop a love and a habit of reading." Room to Read agrees, and is fortunate to collaborate with Dr. Magona's vast expertise in children's literacy. She serves on Room to Read's Book Selection Committee, she helps to train aspiring young writers in South Africa, and she has served as a Judge for Room to Read's writing competitions which often receive hundreds of submissions in all South Africa's official languages. The winners of the competition are published by Room to Read and are then placed in Room to Read's libraries across South Africa so young children can read exciting books about their own cultures in their own languages.

"We are all born with  our hands tightly fisted, " says Dr. Magona. "That is where the Maker, the Universe places the talents we come bearing to the world. And it is only by using these talents that we can leave the world a better place than we found it. So do your bit. Sing if you must; Write if you must; but do your bit to make the world a better place."

To learn more about our programs in South Africa, click here.

To learn more about our Local Language Publishing program, click here.