Room to Read Blog

Cambodia Adopts Nationwide Library Standards, with Help From Some Friends

Last year, the Cambodian Ministry of Education released a report indicating that over 55 percent of the country’s 6,555 primary schools had libraries. Normally, this would be great news, but as it turned out, things weren’t exactly as they seemed. With no official standards to use as a guide, many of the schools reported having a library even if they had just a few books or none at all.

“Some called it a library with only a few books, others with only one chair and a single shelf for schools with many classrooms,” says Kall Kann, Room to Read’s Country Director in Cambodia. “In grades one through three," he continues, “they rely on two textbooks to study, and they have no additional reading material.”

Seeing a need to change this in their country, Room to Read Cambodia teamed up with local partner NGOs SIPAR and SVA, initiating a year-long effort to enact nationwide standards for school libraries including a set ratio of books to children, a description of the library environment, and minimum qualifications and pay for the librarians who run them.

“Without a minimum standard, schools couldn’t request money from the central government to allow them to buy books,” explains Kall, “they do not know how many books should be in the library, they don’t have librarians, and they don’t have an understanding of what qualifications are required for a librarian.”

Hammering out the details of the new library standards and getting the necessary approvals took just under a year, and included discussions with both national and provincial education representatives. It all paid off!  On May 3, 2011, the Ministry of Education finally adopted the new standards as the official benchmark for all primary schools nationwide.

“I see that when children read a lot, you increase their knowledge, increase their understanding and their attitude becomes more mature—they are much more understanding of the situation around them and trends across the globe,” said the Minister of Education, who hopes that the new standards will help his department to better mobilize its resources.

Kall also has high hopes for the new policy, and its potential effect on the Cambodian education system as a whole. “We need to make sure our children learn to explore, learn to do research, learn to summarize,” he says, things which “can be achieved by reading a lot.”

Read more about our work in Cambodia.

Guest Blog from John Wood: From Yak Bells to Closing Bells

From the earliest days of Room to Read, we have enjoyed a tradition of ringing a yak bell from Nepal in honor of each significant victory. Be it an investor funding a new school, a program milestone like our 10,000th library, or having made a key hire, the yak bell provides an opportunity for the Room to Read team to pause during very long days, take a deep breath, and celebrate with our colleagues.

This week, there is a new bell to ring–the daily closing bell of the NASDAQ stock exchange. 

One of the key reasons for Room to Read’s meteoric growth during our first decade has been the support of the business and financial communities. Companies like Atlassian, Barclays Capital, Bloomberg, Caterpillar, Credit Suisse, the Financial Times, Goldman Sachs and Jones Day have embraced our model of using education to empower people across the developing world to help themselves. Executives from such companies have joined our global Boards, hosted fundraising events, and been active members of our chapter network in 56 cities around the world.

 
  So it is with great pride that today Room to Read has been invited to ring the closing bell on the NASDAQ stock exchange. I am delivering the lunch keynote today in New York at an annual shipping industry conference called Marine Money on the topic of “Why Capitalists Should Care about Education in the Developing World.” Each year, the Marine Money team is invited to  ring the bell as the day’s frantic trading comes to a close. I was completely surprised last week when the event organizers emailed to say, “We’d rather see Room to Read in the spotlight, and have the world learn more about your team’s great work.”

And what a spotlight it will be. My short remarks, along with the bell ringing, will be streamed live online here. It will also be broadcast in New York’s bustling Times Square, via a 100-foot tall electronic billboard. Hopefully it will inspire the business community to continue to think big about the power of education to change lives.

The first time I delivered a yak-load of books to schools on Nepal’s Annapurna Circuit over ten years ago, I could never have imagined our little start-up receiving such an honor. From yak bells to the closing bell–we couldn’t have made it this far without you, our incredible community of passionate supporters. Go team!

 

Learn more about our corporate partners on our website.

On World Refugee Day: Finding Refuge in Sri Lanka Classrooms

Although the civil war in Sri Lanka recently ended between the government and the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam (aka Tamil Tigers), a return to normalcy for most families has yet to occur. Passage through to the north of Sri Lanka is heavily monitored and individuals need special government clearance just to visit the area. The road to the war-torn Mannar District in the Northern Province, where Room to Read has been invited to work, is freshly tarred and empty of traffic except for an odd military truck or a land rover. Police check-posts are replaced with military check-posts every 50 yards and the road is fenced on both sides with barbed wire, indicating that the areas beyond are still mine-ridden. This is the story of one recent visit to three schools in Mannar.

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The Tamil community here is tight-lipped and wary of strangers. Many of them still continue to stay in the guarded government-run "internally displaced people" camps ("IDP camps"), a stark indicator of their refugee status in their own country. Others have been allowed to return to their villages.

“The two main concerns for the people here are health and education. The priority for most families is to send their children back to school,” says Mary Matilda Pillai, the principal of a school in one local village in Mannar which will soon be receiving Room to Read’s support for classroom libraries.

Unlike earlier times when the Catholic Church or missionaries managed most schools, now all the schools in Sri Lanka are under the control of the government—which is actively encouraging children to go back to school but the lack of basic infrastructure and safe buildings poses a big challenge. As a result, many nonprofit agencies have been invited by the government to help contribute to school and educational system improvements.

Room to Read launched operations in Sri Lanka following the devastating tsunami in 2005. Last year, we moved into the war-torn Mannar District to work with 43 schools and local communities in three villages. Here, we are providing libraries, books and in some cases, building schools and classrooms.

At one local school, the staff and teachers are elated with the books they received from Room to Read this past January. The colorful books are all prominently displayed in a corner library where the children, for the first time, have story books in their own language. In fact, several students decided to spontaneously read their favorite stories aloud to show off their reading skills to our visiting staff.

“Before Room to Read gave us books we just had nine books in our library and the tragedy was, despite our children being able to read, they did not have access to any books!” says principal J. Wijeykumar. “Now both teachers and students are excited about taking books home and there is a noticeable improvement in their class work.”

“Scholastic books like ‘Seven Wonder’ and the ‘Magic School Bus’ has made teaching easy and interesting and I depend on some of these books to teach,” says the senior school English teacher. Adds the science teacher, “The community is happy with this facility because they realize that their children have a better future if they are educated.”

At another village school, the excitement is even more palpable. The children take us to a room where the new school furniture is stacked high and one student points to the pile and says animatedly, “Soon we will have a new classroom with new tables and chairs so we will not have to sit on the floor anymore!”

Their school principal, Mr. Robert Amalathasan explains, “Room to Read is supporting us at every step of this construction. After years of misfortune, the children have something to look forward to. We are going to make the best use of this opportunity and make this school a happy place for the kids.”

While students in these two schools are celebrating, at another nearby village, students and teachers are anxiously waiting for Room to Read to arrive. According to Patricia Ammal, a senior teacher, “This school was established in 1932 and was a thriving school until the war breached its walls. Today, the school looks more like a dilapidated military barrack and as a result, parents prefer to send their children to other schools."

But Ms. Ammal is optimistic that once they have a new library filled with child-friendly books in the local language, there will be a big change. Sharing her final thought, Ms. Ammal says, “Our hopes are now pinned on Room to Read’s support. For the displaced people here, education is the only way forward.”

Learn more about our programs in Sri Lanka.

In Memory of a Special Father: One Family’s Passion for Reading in Sri Lanka

Last month, our communications manager, Reena Luke, visited Sri Lanka and met this wonderful family who taught their two daughters to develop a passion for reading and books; their passion was significantly fueled when Room to Read opened a library at the local primary school. Just two weeks ago, we sadly learned that the family has since been involved in a tragic moped accident which killed the father and put these two young girls in critical condition in the hospital. Our hearts go out to this family and in tribute to this wonderful father on Father’s Day (also celebrated in Sri Lanka), we wanted to post this story with our thoughts, prayers and deep appreciation for teaching his children how to find their passion. The two girls are now recovering at home and we wish them a quick recovery and send the entire family our condolences on their loss.

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Eight-year-old Paboda and her elder teen-age sister Sandeepa, are two cute book worms always fighting for the latest book to read!

I met Paboda first when I walked into a Grade 3 classroom in Sri Lanka. She greeted me but was in the middle of reading a story to her class. Impressed with her reading skills, we struck up a conversation about the book she was reading.

“My sister read out that story to me last night so I had heard it before,” Paboda said.

Mrs. Rohini Fernando, the school librarian explained, “Paboda’s elder sister, Sandeepa, was a student here two years ago. When Room to Read began supporting us with books, Sandeepa was in Grade 5 and she had never read a story book.” 

Mrs. Fernando continued, “Almost overnight, the child became a bookaholic! I still remember her excitement after she finished one book and within a week she got hooked to reading like no other child in this school. Each day she would take a new book home and it is a habit that she still continues even though she is no longer our student.”

When Sandeepa passed 5th grade, she started attending a senior school a few kilometers away where her father is a music teacher but since that school does not have a library, each morning she sends a “wish list” to Mrs. Fernando via Paboda with the names of books she wants her sister to bring home. 

“I send back at least three books,” Mrs. Fernando says. “The best part is that over the last two years, Sandeepa has never defaulted in returning these books and it is such a pleasure to indulge her.”

Sandeepa’s passion for reading has encouraged her kid sister Paboda to follow in her footsteps.

“I take books for my akki [elder sister in Sinhala] as well as for myself,” explains Paboda. “Earlier my grandmum or my mother used to read out the story to me, but now I can read on my own.  But I enjoy the story best when my akki reads it out to me because she also acts out the story. But I have now made a pact with her: I will get books from my library only on the condition that she reads out one story to me each day!” says Paboda with a big smile.

Continues Paboda in all eagerness, “But it is not that simple because akki too has some conditions: She will read me a story only after I finish my home work and also after I have read aloud one story.”

I get to hear three stories each day,” explains Paboda. “I read one story, my akki reads out another story and my grandmum reads out a story to me at bedtime. Now I know the most of the stories in my class and I am the one my class teacher picks when she wants the class to hear a story.”

At Paboda and Sandeepa’s house, I met  the proud grandmother who is an “O level” graduate. “I used to get my granddaughters books instead of giving the girls sweets or clothes every time I met them. I used to also read out the stories to them to fire their interest and hoped to get them into the habit of reading. Fortunately my efforts were complemented with Room to Read’s library in the girl’s school and so today these girls are book worms!”

Tracking down Sandeepa, we meet her and her father, Aruna, getting ready to leave for their home.

Said her father “Now that Sandeepa is in her teens, her mother monitors what she is reading.  My passion is music and but I have realized that it is not music but books that excite my kids. We are happy that Room to Read helped their school with books because we cannot afford to buy new books every month.”

Learn more about our programs in Sri Lanka and our library program.

To make a special tribute gift in honor of Father's Day, please click here. Father's Day eCards and printable cards are available following your donation.

It's Her Choice: Proud Fathers and Grandfathers Support Their Girl's Education

Room to Read is in the midst of conducting a post-secondary transition study of our Girls’ Education Program. Researcher and guest blogger, Kirsten Anderson, traveled to India, Nepal, Vietnam and Cambodia to interview girls who are currently enrolled in our Girls' Education program as well as those program alumnae and parents. Findings from this study will be released later this year. In celebration of Father’s Day, Kirsten shares her conversation with a grandfather and father in Cambodia. This is the third in the series of blog posts from her travels. (Read her previous posts here and here.)

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There is a Khmer proverb ស្រីបង្វិលចង្រ្កានមិនជុំ (srey bang vil chang kran min chum) that literally translates to: “Women are unable to walk around the stove.” The meaning being that woman can never be far from the kitchen. Yet the participants in our Girls' Education program have strayed from the kitchen into the classroom—the most fortunate of which have the support of their family, including fathers and grandfathers. Meet, for example, Mr. Huon, the proud grandfather of a girl scholar in rural Cambodia. Sitting on retired school benches in the shade of a teacher’s home, he stayed behind after our official research meeting ended to discuss girls’ education.

Mr. Huon explained that he has been blessed with many grandchildren and today, in fact, was the wedding day of one of his granddaughter’s. However, instead of celebrating with his family, Mr. Huon had other priorities. He had decided to miss some of the festivities to discuss the future education of another one of his granddaughters who was being supported by Room to Read and about to graduate from high school.

Mr. Houn explained, “Poverty is the biggest challenge facing young women and education today.” In rural Cambodia, if a family is struggling financially, girls often drop out to help in the fields or to work at a garment factory. He admitted that he needed some convincing at first, but after talking with Room to Read’s Social Mobilizer and with the help of Room to Read’s Girls' Education program, he realized work and marriage could wait, but knowledge could not. One of Mr. Huon’s granddaughters is working in a garment factory. He is convinced his other granddaughter who is gaining an education will have different opportunities and more choices. His hope is that she will go to university and he is educating himself about her options.

The proud father of Champey (highlighted in our 2009 Girls' Education Yearbook) thinks similarly. I met him, along with other parents of girls supported by our program, in a rural village near the Thai-Cambodia border. Champey’s father described the employment opportunities for uneducated young women in his community—illegal migrant agriculture labor or factory work across the border in Thailand. Because of the limited employment opportunities for uneducated young women these parents spoke about the honor their daughter has brought to their family. Neighbors often comment and admire their families because they have a daughter that is studying. They feel lucky because their daughters have access to knowledge, reading and writing.

“I’m so proud of my daughter. She has the chance to continue her studies. She wants to be a teacher or a doctor. I will support her decision either way, it is her choice,” her father said.

These two men demonstrate the encouragement male figures can provide to enable girls to walk around the stove, out of the kitchen, into the classroom, onto university, and beyond. The girls on our Girls' Education program agree: “Disregard this proverb because it no longer applies to us, we are capable of doing anything we want.” These young women now have choices and dreams of giving back to their communities, their country and their family. This grandfather and father are proud and in awe of their accomplishments—happy to offer support and encouragement every step of the way.

Learn more about our programs in Cambodia and our Girls' Education program.

Photo caption: above, Champey (2nd from the left) and her friends celebrating their soon-to-be accomplishment: graduating from high school!

Guest Blog from Bangladesh: Traveling by Van, Boat and Foot to See Education in Action



Last week, Room to Read held its annual Country Management Conference (CMC) in Bangladesh. The CMC is a time when Room to Read’s senior staff from our country, regional and global offices get together to share, learn, provide input and make decisions on important strategic and operational matters facing the organization and make plans for the year(s) ahead. Pierre Towns, Room to Read’s Chief Talent Officer, attending this year’s CMC for the first time and sent us his thoughts on the experience.

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The hallways and common areas of our hotel in Dhaka, Bangladesh, were filled with excitement and anticipation of the week ahead. As we gathered in the meeting room, I admit I felt a little jealous as I watched old friends and colleagues renew acquaintances and reminisce about old times at Room to Read. However, as with most Room to Read gatherings, it didn’t take long for celebrations and a festive atmosphere to break out—even during panel discussions. 

 
As I surveyed the composition of my new colleagues, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the mosaic of ethnicities, nationalities, attires and cultures. I have worked in international companies most of my career, but this is the first international organization where the leadership is truly international. It is an extraordinary and uplifting sight that I can already tell is a real asset for our organization.

The energy, participation and commitment to our work was exemplified by our sleepless schedule which included working weekends and attending early morning, dinner and late night side bar meetings. Luckily, after three days confined to our meeting room, we had the opportunity to visit our Bangladesh projects to see the work for ourselves! I chose to see our Girls’ Education program in Dogachi Chor, one of the most remote chars (sandbar island) in Sirajganj Sadar. Eighteen girls from this char go to three different schools and if you can believe it, their only means of transportation is by boat—some of them travel several hours a day to attend school.

For us to reach Dogachi, we traveled four hours—first by van, then boat and finally by foot. The drive from the city to the distant Jamuna River was both harrowing and exhilarating! The busy streets were filled with transportation modes of every type: livestock, domestic animals, and people of every hue. Their colorful dress combined with the activity on the crowded street formed a collage of machine and humanity.

After a few hours of driving, the noise and activity succumbed to a lush, tropical and tranquil countryside accented by rice patties, wheat fields, a mixture of palm and hardwood trees, makeshift huts and dwellings, and the occasional roadside commercial establishment. It is as though we traveled back in time to a simpler and less hectic life. Out the van window I could see clay bricks being pulverized by man and hammer to form every size of gravel imaginable; wheat being cut in the fields by hand using a sickle, then separated from the shaft by makeshift bamboo pitchforks and man as it is tossed into the air; people bathing in the river and lumber being milled by hand. As I observed the people go about their day, I couldn’t help reflecting on how difficult their existence seems to me yet how determined, prideful and unaffected they were as they went about their chores. 

By 6:30am, we had already been on the road a few hours and the initial van chatter died down and the quiet interrupted only by a cell phone ringing or a snore from a napping colleague. Determined to see everything, I stayed awake!   

At the Jamuna River we left the van to take the naota (small wooden boat) to Dogachi Chor. With four of my colleagues I boarded the naota and settled in for the 40-minute trip to the river island, trying to enjoy the breeze, sights and sounds while watching our boat’s first mate bailing water out of the boat! I did a quick check for the nearest life preserver.   

After arriving safely on the island, we braved the 35 degree centigrade (95º F) temperature and stifling humidity as we walked through sesame and jute fields on the way to the village.  At last we arrived and were greeted with flowers by the villagers and the girls who are supported through our Girls’ Education program. With a “welcome” coconut to sip in my hand, we were treated to a dramatic performance of “The Tale of Two Girls,” a musical produced by some of Room to Read’s Bangladesh staff. The play, performed not only for us but in front of most of the village, was about two girls born into the same challenging circumstances and how each of their lives took different directions because one received an education and one did not. Following the performance, we had the opportunity to visit with the girls and share questions and experiences. 

 As we strolled back to the river through the sesame fields, all of the effort, heat and harrowing transportation experiences became a distance memory, replaced instead by fond recollections of a very inspiring and motivated group of girls with ambitious plans for their future!

Now, as I write this, we are back in the Dhaka meeting room wrapping up the final days of the conference. But, thanks to a little village on a remote sandbar, in the middle of a river, and 18 Girls’ Education program superstars, all of us here approached our work with a renewed enthusiasm and commitment as we planned for 2012 and beyond!

Learn more about our programs in Bangladesh.

One School Takes Global Literacy Local and Makes Year-long Commitment

Room to Read’s Students Helping Students program started when students began raising awareness and funds on behalf of the organization following the 2005 Asian tsunami. Since then, schools and communities around the world have worked tirelessly to support Room to Read in big and small ways—from bake sales and read-a-thons to large-scale events, student groups have taken action on behalf of literacy and gender equality in education. 

 

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As with many of our best relationships, our partnership with the John Eliot School, an elementary school in Needham, Massachusetts, came to us by way of a dedicated Room to Read chapter. In this case, Boston chapter leader Wendy McAllister had been working with the Eliot school and forging a friendship with its principal, Ms. Suzanne Wilcox, when a partnership was born. Ms. Wilcox saw the connection between Room to Read’s work and her own school’s challenges almost immediately.

Despite being a high-performing school, the Eliot School’s literacy test scores had reached a plateau. Once she learned more about Room to Read’s work, Ms. Wilcox realized that taking the global literacy movement local might be just the way to improve performace at Eliot. “It occurred to me that becoming involved with this organization just might be the ticket to engaging students in more recreational reading, resulting in improved rates of literacy for the students at Eliot,” said Ms. Wilcox. “Developing an interactive program with Room to Read would naturally align with our school and district goals, 'to advance standards-based learning, develop the social and emotional skills of all students, and promote active citizenship'.”

Ms. Wilcox knew that the success of embedding Room to Read’s work within the school’s curriculum wouldn’t ultimately hinge on her, but on the talented and dedicated faculty at the Eliot School so she presented the idea to her colleagues. "In a matter of minutes, the room erupted with enthusiasm,” she said. Brainstorming ensued. At the end of their meeting, the teachers agreed to collaboratively create a curriculum spanning classrooms and content areas. Ms. Wilcox applied for and received a grant from the Needham Education Foundation to sponsor staff development days for teachers to come together to plan out the year ahead. Their sessions resulted in three components that led to the school’s success: summer reading (adult and student), classroom buddies, and the Eliot School Cultural Diversity Day celebration.  

Planning for success from the beginning, Ms. Wilcox and her team put on a skit just before the start of summer vacation. She and a teacher posed as a student and teacher and explained to the children the importance of a summer read-a-thon.  To the students, "it seemed unthinkable that so many of the world's children, partuclarly girls, had no access to books or education."  Shortly after, the school’s motto for the summer was formed: “Give the gift of literacy while receiving it yourself!” The students left for the summer, reading logs in tow, revved up to read more than ever before. In addition, parents and teachers were given copies of John Wood's Leaving Microsoft to Change the World, to further unite the community in this effort. “Research shows that when children see their parents reading, it encourages them to read as well,” Ms. Wilcox added. At the end of the read-a-thon the students and teachers were thrilled to discover they had raised $5,000 and that over 85% of the students had participated!

Once the summer read-a-thon ended, the "reading mileage" challenge began. Ms. Wilcox and her team decided to have their buddy pairs (one upper-grade student and one lower-grade student) calculate the mileage needed to travel to their Room to Read country of choice and back to Needham. Those miles then converted into pages and with their itineraries set, the pairs took off on their read-around-the-world challenge.  As a result, every buddy pair read their way to their country and back, and some made the trip more than once! 

The school’s year-long focus on Room to Read and its program countries culminated in the Eliot School Cultural Diversity Day celebration, where classrooms presented their projects on Room to Read countries. Throughout the project, parents had many opportunities to engage in the overall reading goals of the school, including several opportunities to participate in book discussions. From classroom buddies to logging their miles, the students, staff, and families of the John Eliot School truly demonstrated that literacy is a priority, both at home and abroad. 

As Ms. Wilcox examined her test data last fall, it was clear the campus-wide campaign had worked; students' scores showed marked progress in both English language arts and mathematics, particularly among special education students. “The notion that Room to Read could serve as a catalyst to help students explore and understand world issues, offer students an opportunity to take action and increase the volume of student reading with the outcome of an improvement in overall literacy rates was simply something we could not pass up,” she said. 

The Eliot School is kicking off its second annual summer read-a-thon this summer and is looking ahead to a school year full of service learning tied to Room to Read’s mission. Learn more about our Students Helping Students program or email Jill Carlson at jill.carlson@roomtoread.org.

Photo caption: Director of the Cambodia office of Room to Read Kann Kall poses with members of Allison Dick's 3rd grade class. From Left: Lila North, Jenna Sandler, Kurt Brinkhaus and Brian Poolman. Photo credit: Credit Robert Rosen

 

Room to Read Joins “Who’s Who” at International Education Gathering

From April 30 to May 5, the 2011 Comparative International Education Conference (CIES) was held in Montreal, Quebec. The annual conference brings together professionals and academics in the field of international education to share research and exchange best practices. This year, four Room to Read staff members attended to present on the recent work the organization has been doing to promote literacy and reading skills. Headlining Room to Read's participation was Dhir Jhingran, our chief program officer for literacy who is based out of New Delhi, India. Joining him were Amrita Sengupta, South Asia regional literacy program manager; Stacey Warner, global director of literacy; and Peter Cooper, global monitoring and evaluation officer.

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On the second floor of the Fairmont Queen Elisabeth Hotel in downtown Montreal, the halls are filled with people—each bearing a name card and intently combing through an 80-page booklet that contains descriptions of the week’s 500-plus sessions. “Which session are you going to?” asks one woman. “I’m not sure,” her colleague replies. “Maybe the one on early-grade reading in West Africa. Or perhaps the one on evaluating teacher training in Asia. It’s tough…they all look interesting.”

Every year, the Comparative International Education Society (CIES) conference brings together the “who’s who” of the international education community, many of whom present the latest research and best practices from their work around the globe. This year, they included renowned academics, seasoned practitioners, graduate students, and representatives from major international donor agencies.

With no fewer than 50 conference sessions devoted to some aspect of literacy, the momentum in this educational area is growing and the discussions are deepening.  And while it isn’t the first time Room to Read has had a presence at the conference, thanks to our emerging literacy work in Asia and Africa, we are front and center as these discussions are happening. 

Sharing our experiences ranging from designing early-grade literacy instructional materials, to our efforts to launch primary grade literacy programs in Asia and Zambia, to presenting key findings from a qualitative study of our library program in Nepal—we were excited to have each presentation end in a flurry of questions. Most noticeable was the larger conversation taking place this year around the quality of education. In the not-too-distant past, such discussions were not as commonplace because the international education community was mainly concerned with access to educational opportunities. But, in recent years, discussions have shifted firmly towards quality, with literacy at the forefront.

By the end of the five-day conference, we were a little worn out from all of the sessions, but left Montreal eager to apply some of the new ideas and best practices that were shared. Most importantly, we left feeling proud that Room to Read has a seat at the table on how to improve education for children around the world. And it’s a seat we intend to continue occupying.

Learn more about our Literacy Pilot, our Reading Room program, and the way Room to Read is Tracking Results.