Room to Read Blog

Show and Tell: Half the Sky Movement Draws a Crowd in NYC

This post is part of the ongoing series, Show and Tell, where we bring you photos and stories collected by Room to Read team members on the road. 

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This past Monday, Room to Read was honored to be featured in the ground-breaking documentary Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. In honor of the occasion, our New York Chapter held a special screening of the documentary and invited special guests Nicholas Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn and producer Maro Chermayeff to share their experiences shooting the film, along with founder John Wood. Amy Powell, New York Chapter Leader, who moderated the conversation, shared these photos from the inspirational evening.

Learn more about the Half the Sky Movement.

Big News from the ICC World T20 Tournament in Sri Lanka: Room to Read and ICC Bring Cricketers' Stories to Life

There is a lot of excitement around the ICC World T20 cricket championships in Sri Lanka these days, but not all of it is on the pitch. In partnership with the International Cricket Council, Room to Read has released two new original children’s books based on the lives of cricket stars Virat Kohli of India and Angelo Mathews of Sri Lanka. Amid the ICC World T20 excitement, we caught up with the writer of Virat’s Inning and the illustrator of Little Angelo’s Big Day in Cricket, to hear more about their experiences bringing the stars’ stories to life.

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Aruna Keerthi Gamage, illustrator of Little Angelo’s Big Day in Cricket, has been involved with Room to Read’s Book Publishing program for five years and has illustrated more than 10 books in Sri Lanka.

Room to Read: What made you interested in illustrating for children?

Aruna:  I read children’s story books while I was growing up—especially those from the Soviet Union and China. I realized that good children’s books manage to strike a harmony between storyline and illustrations. You cannot separate the two.  As I got older, my curiosity for learning the art of illustration also grew, so I started searching for new training opportunities in this area.

Room to Read: How was the concept for Angelo’s book developed?

Aruna:  Angelo’s book was a challenge since it was a biography and I had to determine how true I wanted to stay to his actual life. I had to imagine his childhood in my mind. I also tried to imagine what an aspiring cricketer would go through in this country—the feeling of wanting to play for their country.

For research, I surveyed newspaper articles, the internet and other archival materials to observe his features and physical attributes. I also met Angelo and his family members and did extensive interviews with them.

Room to Read: What makes an illustrator successful? What advice do you have for aspiring illustrators?

Aruna: Well, first and foremost: understand children. Illustrations should talk to children and be attractive. Think out of the box and also, newcomers should have the ability to observe the world around them.

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Bimal Mohan is a sports journalist by profession, but his passion for writing led him to Room to Read. He found his niche within our Book Publishing program in India, and authored this year’s original title Virat’s Inning, based on the life of cricket star Virat Kohli.

Room to Read: What initially interested you in writing children’s stories?

Bimal:  Well, being a sports journalist, the one question that we often ask sports stars is how they plan to give back to the game. This question stands true for me as a journalist, too. I believe that our generation will only leap forward when we give back to society. So when I got an offer to write for children, I had no second thoughts.

Room to Read: Was it difficult writing a book on a famous cricketer?

Bimal: Yes and No. No, because this exercise was in a way similar to reporting as a sports journalist. Yes, because normally when we write our news reports, we do so for audiences which are at least young adults and upwards and not small children. Writing for children requires a different outlook.

Room to Read: What interested you most in Virat’s story?

Bimal: Irrespective of the sport, every champion has a unique story. All of them cross a difficult hurdle to reach the pinnacle—athletes like Usain Bolt, Mo Farah, Sachin Tendulkar and Lance Armstrong. Virat is no different. He is a true champion in the making.

He lost his father in the midst of playing an important match, but continued to play, which speaks volumes about his mental state. Sports teach a lesson about duty, honor and teamwork. Virat Kohli learned it the hard way and came out the other side with flying colors. 

Room to Read: What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

Bimal: Observe, persevere and read as much as you can.

Learn more about our partnership with ICC at http://www.roomtoread.org/wt20

Mark Your Calendars: Tune in to PBS on October 1 to See Room to Read's Work on the Small Screen!

In the best-selling book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn explore one very powerful idea: that in the developing world, "women are not the problem...they are the solution." That same thesis is central to the two-part documentary of the same name that will air on PBS stations across the US this Monday, October 1 at 9:00pm (8:00 CT), and will feature Room to Read's work in Vietnam. 

To prove their point (and tide over audiences until the nationwide premiere) the Half the Sky Movement released the following video featuring two of the most effective solutions around: education and economic empowerment. Take a look:

 

To learn more about Room to Read's role in Half the Sky:Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide go to www.roomtoread.org/halfthesky and don't forget to tune in to your local PBS station on Monday, October 1.

Show and Tell: Cricket Star Angelo Mathews Becomes the Character in New Children's Book, with Help from Room to Read

Cricket superstar Angelo Mathews is used to being at the center of attention, but last week the co-captain of the Sri Lanka team gained a new form of notoriety as the protagonist of a children's book published by Room to Read.

Funded by the International Cricket Council, Little Angelo's Big Day tells the story in Sinhala and Tamil of 10-year-old Angelo, who goes to watch his father play a friendly cricket match. After one of the player's becomes ill, it is up to Little Angelo to join the game and score the final run.

The book was launched in a ceremony at the Sri Lanka Foundation in Colombo on August 13. In attendance were 36 students from our partner schools, including several girls from our Girls' Education program in Hatton who have formed their very own cricket team (and won the under 16 tournament).

After the book had been revealed, Angelo read aloud from another Room to Read title and joined an illustration workshop with the students. He then fielded questions from the inquisitive crowd. "I wanted to be an artist and paint nice pictures," he said of his school days, "but my favorite subject was Mathematics."

When asked about his involvement with Room to Read, Angelo had this to say: “Let us do our level best for improving the literacy levels in this country.”

Learn more about our Book Publishing program.

Photo Blog from Vietnam: The Color Palette

Phong Le is Room to Read’s Country Director for Vietnam. Last week, in addition to his usual duties, this meant hosting our annual Country Management Conference (CMC), a time when our country, regional and global management teams gather to make decisions on strategic and operational matters affecting the organization as a whole. An avid photographer, Phong agreed to share some of his pictures and reflections from the event.

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I named this post “The Color Palette,” because that is the best way I can think of to describe Room to Read—different people from different continents, countries and cultures working together to provide better education for our children. After hosting the Country Management Conference this year, I see us as colors on a palette, and am more confident than ever that together we are painting a bright picture.

This year’s CMC was a long-awaited and very inspirational event for me, and for the rest of the Room to Read Vietnam staff. We have been hard at work preparing enthusiastically for the arrival of our colleagues from around the world, and the effort was well worth it.

The week began with a celebration of CEO Erin Ganju’s 10 years of service to the organization. We then continued the conference with many meetings, workshops and discussions around how to make our programs the best they can be, and how we can learn from each other’s successes. We ended the week with a farewell dinner that introduced Vietnamese culture to our guests, with traditional dance and music performed by our staff and their friends.

The cap on a truly inspirational week was a group site visit to see some of Room to Read Vietnam’s projects in the field. I was so touched to see our Girls’ Education program participants speaking confidently with our guests from other countries and hearing the young students in our libraries read aloud for us. I was reminded of the power education has to connect people, and to make distances—even between countries—seem shorter.

Lear more about our work in Vietnam.

Show and Tell: New York Gala Draws Influential Crowd

This post is part of the ongoing series, Show and Tell, where we bring you photos and stories collected by Room to Read team members on the road. 

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Last week, Room to Read's New York Chapter celebrated in style at the Midtown Loft in Manhattan. Their Spring Gala, designed to raise funds and awareness for our work around the globe, was a resounding success and even drew a few familiar faces, including author and journalist Katie Couric and CNN correspondent Poppy Harlow. The evening included a lively auction and an appearance by Room to Read Founder and Board Co-Chair John Wood.

Here are some photos, courtesy of our New York Chapter Leaders and photographer Jane Bruce:

Learn more about our Chapter Network, and get involved with Room to Read where you live.

Show and Tell: Room to Read Founder Honored at the Tribeca Film Festival

This post is part of the ongoing series, Show and Tell, where we bring you photos and stories collected by Room to Read team members on the road. 

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Last week, Room to Read Founder and Board Co-Chair John Wood hit the red carpet, accepting an award for lifetime achievement at the Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards. Recognized for his work with Room to Read, John accepted the hammer-shaped award alongside fellow honorees Jack Dorsey of Twitter, actor Ed Burns (pictured below) and pop superstar Justin Bieber.

Here are some photos from the event:

Learn more about Room to Read's Awards and Recognition.

Show and Tell: Students Sing for a Cause in California

This post is part of the ongoing series, Show and Tell, where we bring you photos and stories collected by Room to Read team members on the road. 

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Last Saturday, a passionate group of students from Milpitas, California put their talents to the test, hosting a live music performance to raise funds for Room to Read.  Dressed in traditional Indian attire, the group performed at Shirdi Sai Parivar Temple, and shared information about Room to Read's work in between songs. After just 2.5 hours, the students had raised nearly US$4,000!

Kim Vallejo, Room to Read's Community and Youth Outreach Associate, attended the event and brought back these photos of the students in action.

Learn more about our Students Helping Students program.

Guest Blog from Dr. Molly Teas: Celebrating Solutions that Work at the Women in the World Summit

The following is a guest post from Dr. Molly Maguire Teas, Senior Advisor for Education for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of South & Central Asian Affairs.

I am writing today from the Women in the World Summit put on by Newsweek & The Daily Beast in New York City. The event has a special significance for me because one of the featured participants is a young Nepali woman named Suma Tharu. Suma is one of the 1,200 young female scholars that my Bureau has supported through our partnership with Room to Read.  10x10, a global action campaign and groundbreaking film, brought Suma to New York for the Women in the World Summit to share her story.

Suma was originally slated to sing a song she wrote on the last day of the event. But, after hearing Suma rehearse, Tina Brown, the Founder of the Women in the World Summit, decided to change the entire agenda and add Suma’s song to the opening of the event as well.

It was a fitting beginning. Suma sang about her life as a Nepali girl who was sold into indentured servitude by her own family. After six years of work, a non-governmental organization rescued her, and Room to Read provided her with a scholarship and the associated tutoring, mentoring and life skills training she needed to enroll in school and reclaim her right to a dignified life. While her song broke the collective hearts of the audience when she sang, “Mother, why did you give birth to a daughter? Did you want to see me suffer?”, her confidence, her clarity about how education has changed her life, and her commitment to make life better for other girls inspired us all.

Meeting Suma before the event began was a joy for me for many reasons. One reason was the simple fact that Suma not only survived her ordeal but is clearly thriving and loving her new life and identity as a “pardeko keti” or school girl. Those who have read my previous DipNote blogs on State.gov know that I began my career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal nearly thirty years ago. At that time, I worked as a science teacher in a remote mountain village school with no electricity, water or latrine. Suma reminded me of the tiny group of girls in my village who managed to stay in school all the way to sixth grade, and who, despite long treks to and from their homes and the almost total lack of books and materials, were so thrilled to be in school that they, like Suma today, positively glowed. It was that small group of girls what also inspired me to commit the rest of my professional life to improving schools and education for girls.

In a most befitting way, Secretary Clinton, in her closing remarks at the Summit, highlighted Suma and the support that State Department’s SCA Bureau provided in changing her life and the lives of many like her. The inspiring image of Suma interacting with the Secretary of State and Oscar-award-winning actress Meryl Streep back stage is a symbol of what is possible when girls and women are empowered. 

The State Department is clearly committed to ensuring that girls’ education programs like Room to Read’s are expanded, and we are shining a spotlight on stories like Suma’s, so that others will witness the power of education and be motivated to support proven solutions that are advancing education for girls around the world.

Learn more about Suma's story and how you can help girls like her across Asia and Africa at www.roomtoread.org/meetsuma

Hitting Another Room to Read Milestone: 10 Million Reasons to Celebrate

Today, in the Tien Giang Province of Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, Room to Read celebrated a milestone eleven years in the making.

At a ceremony held at Ngu Hiep 2 Primary School, founder John Wood and the Room to Read Vietnam team delivered a brand new box of books to the school’s library, symbolizing the 10 millionth book donated to our network of over 12,000 libraries in nine developing countries.

The emblematic book, Floating Market, is a Room to Read original title produced through our Local Language Publishing program, which comprise more than half of all books donated to date. It is also a “big book,” of which we’ve printed many in Vietnam—designed to help teachers and librarians facilitate shared reading activities.

The commemorative ceremony was indeed a moment of reflection and pride for our hard-working team, but most of all it was about the children we work with. The day’s festivities included literacy games, story time and a workshop lead by one of our talented illustrators, and attended by a bustling crowd of enthusiastic young readers.

Below are several photos of this morning’s ceremony, which we hope you’ll enjoy. After all, without our passionate community of supporters around the world, none of this would be possible. On behalf of the entire Room to Read family, thank you for joining us in our belief that World Change Starts with Educated Children, and for helping make it a reality.

 

 

Read the full press release related to our 10 millionth book milestone on our website.