Room to Read Blog

Clap, Clap, Whoosh!

Ever want to know what it's like to work at Room to Read's global office in San Francisco?  Well, on a typical morning, the rhythmic tapping sound of computer keys dominates. Whether working on grant proposals, elaborate spreadsheets or emails to our country offices, staff are usually head down and hard at work in this office ruled by a GSD (“Get Stuff Done”) attitude.

Last week, the silence was broken several times by squeals of recognition and reunion, as several of our remote office staff arrived for a week of training and to attend the annual Room to Read staff retreat. Team members from Japan, London, Sydney, Hong Kong and New York joined our San Francisco team to create a melodious cacophony of accents, as finally, after weeks or months of emails, faces were put to emails, skypes and phone calls.

It's hard to believe but we had almost seventy people attend our staff retreat this year and for 35 of them, it marked their first Room to Read off-site experience and their nervous excitement was palpable. Our facilitator, Clara, who packed a wallop of enthusiasm into her petite stature, admitted that a few years ago she too had interviewed for a position with Room to Read (and recognized her interviewers as they gave embarrassed waves from the audience). She hadn't gotten the job, but was thrilled to have come full circle to work with us after all.

It’s not easy to walk into a room of high achievers – Room to Read is comprised of a bunch of multi-lingual, well-traveled, highly-educated, marathon-running, former Peace Corps-volunteering, corporate refugee, do-gooders.  We’re competitive, have a keen sense of justice, don’t shirk hard work and can entertain ourselves by improvising games involving peanut butter and ping-pong balls when the electricity goes out (which it did...for several hours).

The first order of business for any conference/retreat is to set the ground rules. Clara announced that every time someone made a comment during the next two days, the rest of the group would acknowledge the comment with two claps and a verbal “whoosh,”  complete with a spell-casting flick of the fingers. Eye-rolls and eyebrow-raises were evident throughout the room, and the first few Clap, Clap, Whooshes were definitely awkward. But by the end of the second hour, speakers graciously accepted their Clap, Clap, Whooshes. In fact, though no one would likely admit it, it actually felt good to be on the receiving end of this silly gesture!

So what was it about the Clap, Clap, Whoosh that was so effective, despite its high potential ranking on the hokey meter?  Translated, it’s a high five, a thumbs up, or a knowing wink – the message is universal, as was evidenced by the general acceptance of the "whooshing" by our entire global staff.

At Room to Read, we take special pride in doing our own version of the Clap, Clap, Whoosh – it’s part of our culture to recognize and acknowledge everyone who reaches out to our organization – donors, information seekers, volunteers, and most importantly, the children and communities with whom we work.  We recognize the important contributions of every individual, because we know the power of one. One person to take an idea and turn it into an organization. One person to write a check to support our work. One person to teach a child to read. One child to learn and, in doing so, to change his or her life and the lives of their own community.

And so, from the entire Room to Read family to all of you who have been a part of us or are considering doing so, prepare to receive a very loud, very sincere and very appreciative CLAP, CLAP, WHOOSH!

Please visit our website to read more about the people who keep the wheels at Room to Read turning and if you are interested in joining our team, please check out our career opportunities.

Guest Blog from COO Steve Zimmerman: Reflections on World Humanitarian Day

In 2009, the United Nations designated August 19 as World Humanitarian Day in an effort to raise public awareness of humanitarian assistance. The day honors those who have lost their lives in humanitarian service and those who continue to bring assistance and relief to millions around the globe. It also seeks to draw attention to humanitarian needs worldwide and to explain what humanitarian aid work entails.

Steve Zimmerman, Room to Read Chief of Operations, has devoted his life to humanitarian efforts and has held senior positions with several international development organizations prior to joining Room to Read.  Steve provides his reflections on his career below in honor of World Humanitarian Day. 

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It was not my plan to enter the world of humanitarian assistance.  I came from a long line of auto industry people, and I thought that this would be my future as well.  But a brush with development work  many years ago, while on a junior-year-abroad program in North Africa, lit the fire. This awakening, combined with a family upbringing that stressed the need for one to give back more than one takes from this world, made the eventual shift to relief and development work almost natural. When I completed my formal schooling in the mid-1970s, I joined the first of several NGOs with whom I have worked over the past 30 years.  I have never looked back.

As with many of my colleagues in international development, I like to believe that I can leave the world a better place, even if in only one tiny corner of the world at a single point in time. I have been in the midst of civil wars and in the aftermath of major disasters. I share the frustration of many in experiencing how societies can turn against themselves or how destructive the forces of nature can be.

One of the most difficult challenges of any humanitarian worker is facing an enormous crisis with limited resources and time. In these environments, we all struggle against becoming overwhelmed and paralyzed -- a “deer in the headlights.” We also try to avoid becoming so numbed by these crises that we eventually become immune to the suffering of others. And we must remain aware of where we are and the dangers faced not only by the people with whom we are working, but also ourselves -– we are not “invincible.”

I have lost many friends and colleagues over these years -- some to being in the wrong place at the wrong time and becoming victims of violence or disaster.  But many more to health conditions, easily treatable at home, but often fatal in the environments in which we work, and to road accidents, which remain one of the greatest threats to humanitarian workers throughout the world. When we meet one another by plan or by chance, we often reminisce about past adventures and the people we knew, honoring them in our memories.

Humanitarian work has matured in the past quarter century and is now a multi-billion dollar industry. We are professionals with strong skills. We follow universal standards. And we are increasingly accountable to the people who trust us with their money. As the crises become larger and more complex, we are both evolving and increasing our capacity to respond. The world is now much more aware of the role of humanitarian organizations in responding to global crises.

Because the nature of Room to Read’s work requires a certain degree of political stability, we do not operate as a “first responder” when disasters strike. However, we still play a major force in rebuilding a community, as we did in war-torn Sri Lanka, providing education infrastructure and a sense of normalcy for the children whose world has been violently shaken. And, in many of these countries, Room to Read or our education-focused NGO colleagues will surely be there after the first responders depart, because education is not only a basic human right, but also acts as a critical vehicle for countries as they recover and rebuild.

Steve Zimmerman has lived abroad and traveled extensively during his many years in international development. His traveling experience was the subject of a recent profile in the New York Times.

A Precious 30 Minutes for the Children of Vietnam

It was years in the making for Room to Read Vietnam. Back and forth with the various levels of education officials. Countless meetings, schools visits, negotiations, extensive research, and reams of paperwork. But finally, here they were, Room to Read Vietnam’s Program Director, Thuy Nguyen, and the Vice-Director of the Department of Education and Training of Vinh Long province, signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which would having lasting effects on the children and families in their community.

What was at stake was 30 minutes of reading time every week for over 3,700 primary school children in Vinh Long, one of five provinces along the Mekong Delta where Room to Read has programs. Thirty minutes a week to put away all other school work and just read, for the pure enjoyment of it.

Erin Ganju, Room to Read's Co-founder and CEO, fortuitously happened to be in Vietnam at the time of the MOU signing, which made the elaborate ceremony -- replete with multiple speeches and presentations -- even more special to the Vietnam staff. Our local teams cheered when the signatures on the document dried and the “reading period” program was officially launched.

The goal of a “reading period” is to improve the reading skills of primary school children, but to do it in a way that will help kids associate reading with fun. Our teams will work closely with 255 teachers to help them come up with creative ideas for reading period activities, including reading games like “guess what happens next” or “what if," play-writing and drawing pictures of story characters.

The "reading periods" will initially take place in 13 of our libraries every other week, but eventually the program will grow to weekly periods. We know that schools in other districts and provinces are eager to sign onto the program, and once this pilot program proves successful, we're looking forward to sharing!

Following the launch ceremony, our Vietnam team set the wheels in motion to get teachers trained, materials ordered and children on their way to reading. The staff has had many years to prepare for this moment, and they didn’t want to delay the program progress any longer. As the "reading period" proposal states, “We believe that dedicated reading periods in schools will set us on the path to reach our common dream of a New Generation of Young Readers.”

To date, Room to Read has established 460 Reading Rooms in six provinces of Vietnam. To read more about our work in Vietnam and our Reading Room program, please visit our website.

A Library for Everyone in Cambodia

Earlier this summer, Jen Daly, Room to Read Senior Reading Room Program Associate, visited some of our library sites in Cambodia and shares some of her memorable experiences.

  As the second grade class of Tram Kong Primary School in Siem Reap, Cambodia, files out of the school library and into the courtyard for recess, a five-year-old bundle of energy rushes past in the opposite direction and bursts through the library doors. His disheveled appearance stands in stark contrast to the other students, who all sport the standard blue and white uniform. With a mischievous grin on this face, he boldly and confidently leads a line of children into the library and makes a beeline for the puzzle area.

Intrigued by the situation, I approach the librarian and learn that the children enthusiastically reading and playing before me live in the community, are too young to attend school, but are permitted -- and encouraged -- to use the library whenever a class is not in session. These eager readers all know the class schedule by heart, and the bold little boy leading the pack has taken it upon himself to gather the others whenever the library is available.

Because there are no local public preschools or kindergartens, these neighborhood children will not be old enough to attend school for a few years, explains the librarian. Before Room to Read opened this library two years ago, she says, these children had no place to gather during the day. With no childcare options to speak of, their parents had no choice but to leave for work each morning, and worry about their children all day.

Among the small crowd of children gathered around a book in a corner of the room, I see several of them demonstrating what I recognize to be core pre-literacy skills, such as flipping the pages from left to right and stringing the illustrations together to create a storyline -- skills that will serve as integral building blocks for these kids when they begin school.

In the past year, I have met with countless educators, administrators, and government officials to discuss the impact we have on our students. But on this day, as I watch the children scamper excitedly about the library, my thoughts turn to how the library Room to Read has built here has not only changed the lives of the students and teachers of Tram Kong Primary School, but has also impacted the lives of those that have yet to begin school, their parents and their community at large.

 

This year, as part of our Year of Tens celebration, Room to Read cut the ceremonial ribbon on its 10,000th library. Visit our website to earn more about our Reading Room program.