Room to Read Blog

Zak the Yak is Here to Give Back!

It’s been years in the making
And we’re proud to declare
Zak the Yak has arrived
And his story’s quite rare

In the Nepal Himalayas
He sets out on a quest
To bring books to the children
He will work without rest

With his two young helpers
Named Manju and Arul
The team has a simple goal
Books for every child in the school

To find out the ending
We invite you to read for yourself
We hope Zak’s tale will inspire
These books to fly off the shelf!

We are proud to announce that Room to Read Founder and Board Chair, John Wood, has published his first children’s book, Zak the Yak With Books on His Back. In fun and rhythmic prose, Wood tells the story of sturdy, lovable Zak, a yak whose determination and strength help to bring thousands of books to a rural village in Nepal.

Thanks to the generosity of our friends at the Republic of Tea, who have underwritten the printing costs of the book, every dollar raised from Zak the Yak With Books on His Back funds Room to Read’s educational programs. The book's publication coincides with Room to Read's 10 year anniversary and the triumphs that accompany it: establishing our 10,000th library, opening our 1,000th school and funding the education of 10,000 girls. 

Can’t wait to get your hands on a copy?  Add it to your shopping cart on The Republic of Tea website.

Remember, for every book you order, Room to Read will put 10 books into the hands of children across the developing world!

To learn more about how The Republic of Tea supports Room to Read with its line of Little Citizens’ Herb Teas, read the press announcement.   

Find out more about Zak the Yak on the Room to Read website. 

Guest Blog from CEO Erin Ganju: My Favorite Week

This week is our annual Country Management Conference, a time when our management teams from around the world gather to discuss strategies and plan for the following year.  Erin Ganju, our CEO, submitted this guest blog following the opening of this year's conference in Kathmandu, Nepal.

***

This is always one of my favorite weeks of the year. Every summer, the management teams from each of Room to Read’s offices, from San Francisco to Bangladesh, converge for our Country Management Conference (CMC). It’s a week that is both exhausting and exhilarating, as we spend countless hours sharing best practices, learning about challenges and successes, and setting the strategic direction for the organization for years to come. In the past, we’ve rotated the location of the conference to a different Room to Read country in order of the year our country offices were established. This year we made an exception to our own rule and brought the CMC back to Nepal in honor of Room to Read’s 10-year Anniversary.

As we sit and discuss our first decade and make plans for our second, I sometimes find myself pondering how we got here -– building an organization that defends the global right for every child to grow up with a quality education, and, at the same time, empowering leadership in each country to have the flexibility to contextualize how we deliver our programs.  It is a complex balancing act, but one that has resulted in depth and richness in our programming.

When I look around the room, I get my answer -– for around me is a melting pot of incredible personal perseverance and commitment to providing education to children now and in the future. It is fascinating to hear my colleagues discuss how we can enhance our library program, launch literacy pilots, improve government partnerships or conduct life skills workshops for our girl scholars through the lens of the real in-country challenges they face and the solutions they develop on the front lines.

Dinesh Shrestha, Room to Read's Co-Founder and Regional Director of Human Resources and Administration in Asia, embodies the essence of what Room to Read has achieved in the past ten years. He has demonstrated and helped develop our model of local leadership, one of the cornerstones of our success. Like Dinesh, each country director brings a personal story that reveals the heart of what drives them to work so hard for educational opportunities for children. For example, Kall Kann, our country director in Cambodia, grew up separated from his family as a young teenager due to the Khmer Rouge and had to struggle himself to get an education. Wiseman Ngwata, our regional director in Africa, has devoted more than 30 years to ensure that the quality of the education in classrooms meets the dream of parents to have their children be able to read and write. Sunisha Ahuja, our country director in India, has been a role model for women breaking through the glass ceiling and showing generations of girls in our Girls’ Education program that it is possible for women to play a significant leadership role. And Chris Mothupi, our country director in South Africa, who experienced the denigration of apartheid South Africa (and blogged about it last week), yet was determined to complete his education and share that gift with generations of children.

Each person at our conference this week brings a compelling story to the table and each story is very different from the person sitting next to them. And yet, they all share one quality -- a personal commitment to our mission of bringing education to children in the developing world. After a week of long hours and seemingly endless meetings, we will all return to our home offices, energized and ready to take the next step in Room to Read’s success. Millions of children are counting on us, and with the diverse and talented team we have in place, I’m confident we will fulfill, and likely exceed, our commitment.

Read more about our Leadership team.

 

Guest Blog from CEO Erin Ganju: Through the Eyes of a Child

This guest blog is from Erin Ganju, Room to Read’s CEO, who is currently traveling through Asia with her daughter and mother to visit several Room to Read's offices and educational projects.  This entry is from Vietnam, where Room to Read has been working since 2001 and was in fact, the country that brought Erin to Room to Read.  After living in Ho Chi Minh City for more than two years, Erin developed a passion for the development of Vietnam and managed the launch of Room to Read in Vietnam, which marked Room to Read's first operation outside of Nepal.

***

Seeing your work through the eyes of your child can be an invaluable lesson in perspective. Last week, my four-and-a-half year-old daughter, Julia, joined me for her first visit to a Room to Read library, and as we drove up to Long Hoa Primary School in Tien Giang Province in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, she yelled out, “Yeah, Room to Read!” while pumping her hands in the air. Her enthusiasm was contagious and stirred up mine -- albeit a little less vocally.

As the van stopped in front of the school gates, we could see children lined up with flowers for us, along with the mandatory Vietnamese drum corps ready to alert the entire neighborhood that we had arrived. Our hands filled with flowers, we were then treated to a dance routine by the children and songs by the teachers about the value of education. I’ve had the honor of being part of these elaborate welcoming ceremonies dozens of times, but to see the twinkle in Julia’s eyes and her excited clapping at the end of each performance reminded me how special these events really are.

We were here attending one of Room to Read’s "Reading Summer Camps" in Vietnam, a new program designed by our Vietnam library team. The camps are designed to gently ease kids back to school for a few hours each day during the summer with a mixture of reading skill practice and fun activities. We spent a wonderful couple of hours exchanging drawings with some kids, reading aloud to a group of children in the library and then having them do the same for us, and teaching each other songs. The Itsy Bitsy Spider was a big hit! 

When I later asked Julia what she thought of the school and how it differed from her school in San Francisco, she replied, “Those girls dancing got to wear make-up to school.” (Yes, I have a four-and-a-half year-old going on sixteen.) Then she said, “They sure do have fun in school here.” I explained how it was summer camp, and that actual school was much more serious.

I then realized that Julia and I didn’t see the school in the same way. I walk into schools and think about how much more we need to do and all the things that can be improved. But for Julia, it was not about the physical environment, but the experience. And I was excited to think that, like Julia, maybe these students in Vietnam were returning home every day telling their parents, siblings and neighbors that school is fun and that they can’t wait to go back. From the perspective of a child (and her mother), that is success and something to celebrate!

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

Guest blog by John Wood: Lucky Number Ten

In January 2000, an exciting piece of news showed up in my mailbox in San Francisco, courtesy of the Internal Revenue Service.  

Exciting news? From the IRS? Actually, yes. Inside that envelope was the news that my dream had been realized -– the approval of incorporation for a new and badly-named charity called Books for Nepal.

Ten years later, the organization now known as Room to Read has achieved far more than I ever dreamed possible. Thanks to the passion and dedication of so many of us who believe that World Change Starts with Educated Children, we are now able to celebrate what we think of as “the year of tens.” 

During our ten year anniversary year, we will grow our Girls’ Education program so that it supports the education of over 10,000 girls. We have already opened our 1,000th school, and quite soon -– in fact just next week -– we will celebrate the opening of our 10,000th Reading Room library! 

As a person whose life was profoundly influenced by the libraries in my school and my home town, I cannot think of a happier set of numbers than these: over 4 million children visiting 10,000 libraries stocked with over 7 million books.

The 10,000th Reading Room celebration will take place on April 30, back in the place where it all began:  Nepal. Along with a small group of Room to Read investors, we will experience the history of Room to Read by doing a “check up" visit to the first school we opened, along with that first library in the village of Bahundanda. We will then celebrate the 10,000th Reading Room milestone on the outskirts of Pokhara, in the shadow of the Annapurna mountain range. While there, we will make our vow to continue bringing books, libraries, and the lifelong gift of education to even more children during our second decade.

Along the way, as much as we can get out to you, our team will be blogging, Tweeting, FLIPing, Facebook posting, taking photographs, and pretty much doing everything short of sending you a personal voicemail in order to share the excitement of this trip.

And, thanks to all your RT’s on our #tweet4books promoted Twitter campaign and thanks to the generous donation by Breadpig (@breadpig), we’ve raised the equivalent of over 3,600 books that will fully stock our 10,000th library. I look forward to carrying in some of my favorite Nepali local language children’s titles like Tommy Tempo or Dorje and Bhakku and handing those over to the children who are eagerly awaiting the opening of their new library.

We hope you will, as they say, "WATCH THIS SPACE" and keep tabs on our journey. Our Twitter feeds are: @roomtoread and @johnwoodRTR.

We will announce new blog posts from Nepal via these Twitter accounts. We hope you will not only follow us, but also share the news and excitement with friends, family, co-workers, and potential chapter members and investors.

We will look forward to updating you, live from the Himalayas!

With warmest regards,

John Wood

Charity Navigator Honors Room to Read (Again) with its Highest Rating

We did it…again!

Charity Navigator, America's largest and most-utilized independent evaluator of charities, has awarded Room to Read its coveted 4-star rating for sound fiscal management for the fourth consecutive year in a row. Only 8 percent of their rated charities can claim what Charity Navigator says demonstrates to the public a charity that is "worthy of their trust."

Charity Navigator uses a unique method of applying data-driven analysis to the charitable sector – focusing on accountability, transparency and measurable results – to help savvy donors evaluate which charity is going to make the most effective and efficient use of their philanthropic dollars. According to Ken Berger, Charity Navigator President and CEO, "Room to Read consistently executes its mission in a fiscally responsible way, and outperforms most other charities in America."  That’s a bold statement coming from a charity evaluator that assesses ten times more charities than its competitors and which influenced an estimated $10 billion in charitable gifts last year alone.

"Receiving this honor for the fourth year in a row places us in an elite class and goes a long way in reinforcing the confidence our donors have in their investment in our work," said John Wood, Room to Read Founder and Executive Chairman. “From our beginning in 2000, we have taken an entrepreneurial and creative approach to running a tight ship. I have used over 4 million donated frequent flier miles to travel the world, and in numerous cities hotels provide free rooms. Credit Suisse provides no-cost office space in Hong Kong, London and Tokyo, and over 3,000 volunteers run fund-raising chapters in 45 cities around the world. Room to Read’s consistent four-star rating is a reflection of this commitment to putting our investors’ money where it is most needed: into quality and scalable education programs in over 10,000 cities across the developing world.”

This news comes on the heels of our recognition as a “high-impact giving” organization in Barron’s 2009 “25 Best Philanthropists” issue, ranking 11th on the list.

Click here to visit the Room to Read page on the Charity Navigator website for more information.

Room to Read Unveils Vision for Our Future

For those of you on our email newsletter list, this message hit your inbox today.  But in keeping with our efforts to communicate our work to as many of our supporters as possible, we are cross-posting this message on our blog to make sure you are up-to-date on our exciting plans for Room to Read's second decade.

***  

Dear Friends:

It’s hard to believe that this year Room to Read celebrates its ten year anniversary!

Last year, knowing we were about to mark year ten, we embarked on a global strategic planning process to chart the roadmap for our second decade and to reflect on our strengths and key learning’s from the past ten years. It was a collaborative and comprehensive process that involved input from our country, regional and global offices, our advisory and board of directors, our donors, and experts in the field of international education.

We are excited to share with you the outcome of that process -– our vision for our second decade that focuses our mission and our work in two key areas: literacy and gender equality in education.  In the past ten years, we have built and scaled an organization that is working with thousands of communities across nine countries to provide enhanced learning opportunities for millions of children in Asia and Africa. Our future goal is more ambitious than ever: to enable more than 10 million children in over a dozen developing world countries to maximize their educational experiences by 2015.

We’ll accomplish this through evolving our programs to better focus them on developing literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children, and supporting girls to complete secondary school with the relevant life skills to succeed in school and beyond.  As we like to say, “this is an evolution, not a revolution” for our already successful programs; we will continue to implement our library, school, and local language books programs as well as support girls’ education but now these programs will have even more defined goals and outcomes.  We encourage you to read more about it in our plan Envisioning Our Future: A Roadmap for Learning.

Room to Read has always believed that “World Change Starts with Educated Children” and that every child has the right to a quality education in order to reach their full potential. We are confident our strategic vision outlines a clear roadmap to continue our progress towards this goal. We are in awe of all that we have achieved together and excited about the future direction for the organization. We hope you are as well and that you will continue on this journey with us.

Onward and Upward,

 

John Wood & Erin Ganju

Download Envisioning Our Future: A Roadmap for Learning here.

To sign up for our quarterly eNewsletter, click here. 

To read the complete Q1 2010 eNewsletter, click here.

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.

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.