Room to Read Blog

New School of Thought Helps Promote Literacy in Nepal's Classrooms

The moment she enters her first grade classroom, Amrita Thapa heads straight for the supply cabinet tucked away in the corner. She shuffles through the myriad of educational materials stored there, and arranges a few of them in a neat pile, ready to begin the day’s lesson.

“What is this letter?” she says, holding up the first card.

The students recognize the consonant immediately. “Ka,” they respond excitedly in unison. Increasing the degree of difficulty, Ms. Thapa pulls two other cards from the pile, and holds them up with the first letter.

“What is this word?” she asks with a smile.

“Ka, Ma, La,” the students respond in chorus, pronouncing the letters one at a time. And then—after a brief pause—“Kamala!”

“What is a Kamala?” challenges Ms. Thapa.

“Kamala is a flower!” one student chimes in; “I have seen it!” says another. “It was in the pond, and very big,” adds the first grader, stretching out her hands for effect.

At this point, the students are instructed to write down the spelling of their new word—Kamala—in their workbooks, and the room goes silent, except for the furious rustling of paper and pencils.

This is how Ms. Thapa’s class begins each day, ever since she started participating in Room to Read’s Reading & Writing Instruction program. 

“Back when I started teaching,” she says, “teachers generally sped through the course. The lessons were not enjoyable for the students and most had trouble catching up. We lacked the essential resources to make learning enjoyable.”

In addition to changing her approach to teaching, Ms. Thapa says the program has helped her—and others at Shree Jwalamukhi Lower Secondary School—focus more on outcomes. Before the training from Room to Read, she says, “rarely was the question asked: Were the students learning?”

As it turned out, many were not. When Room to Read began its intervention at Shree Jwalamukhi, located in Nepal’s Dhading district, most first grade students were struggling to keep up with the curriculum, and many were reading below grade level. Studies of the surrounding area confirmed that the problem was widespread.

Through in-service training, material development and the assistance of on-site literacy facilitators, Shree Jwalamukhi is steadily adding more innovative teaching methods to its literacy curriculum. “We have learned to center our teaching around the students and not the other way around,” says Ms. Thapa. “With resources like the word charts and alphabet cards, the lessons have become more interactive and fun for the students.”

And she is already seeing results. “Students are finding it easier to associate letters with their respective sounds and vice versa,” she says. “After every lesson, I devise a game, a song or a story to reinforce it—their knowledge builds with each passing day!”

Reflecting on her experience so far, Ms. Thapa says, “my favorite part of the program is the creative freedom it gives to teachers. It inspires me to give my very best.”

Watch a video about our Reading & Writing Instruction program, or learn more about our work in Nepal.

Making the Most of a Second Chance in Nepal

“I want to lead a worthwhile life, and I know for sure that my education will take me places,” says 15-year-old Phulmati Tharu, but her future hasn’t always looked so bright.

At the age of eight, Phulmati was forced to leave the second grade, her family and everything else she’d ever known to enter a new life as an indentured servant for a family wealthier than hers in a village far away. She spent four long years as a Kamlari—an illegal but culturally accepted practice in some parts of Nepal by which parents enter a contract to have their daughters work as bonded laborers. As a servant in Nepalgunj for a family of five she was expected to work around the clock, leaving no time to attend school. “Those were indeed dark days,” she says.

Then, in 2008, Phulmati received some very good news. The local government and several nonprofits in the area were cracking down on indentured servitude and called back hundreds of girls working as Kamlari. “Coming back home after four arduous years of labor was a memorable moment,” says Phulmati of her return. “I recall walking down the lane to my house and seeing all of my family members who had gathered to welcome me back.”

After her rescue, Phulmati was accepted into Room to Read’s Girls’ Education program, and immediately began an intensive bridge course to help her catch up to grade level. She finished the bridge course, which normally takes 6-9 months to complete, in just four months—driven to use her second chance in school to create a better life for herself.

“One day when I was working as a Kamlari in Nepalgunj,” she recalls, “I had to do all the grocery shopping and felt ashamed that I couldn’t do simple addition.” She believed she had been shortchanged, but couldn’t be sure. “At that moment,” says Phulmati, ”I realized how important education was, and made up my mind that if I should ever go to school again, I would make the best of that opportunity.”

Now a seventh grader at Shree Prithivi Lower Secondary School, Phulmati has become a dedicated student and avid reader. “I was devoid of the company of the books for four years,” she says. “Our school now has a beautiful library with scores of books that have helped me a lot to progress in my studies.”

And that’s not all that has changed in her life. Phulmati says her family now supports her 100 percent in pursuing her education. Two years ago, when her school partnered with Room to Read’s School Construction program to add more classrooms, her brother was first in line to volunteer labor to the project.

“He dedicated most of his time to constructing the new building, even though he had other commitments,” she recalls. “He said that no sister of his belongs in a school without decent buildings.”

Learn more about our Girls’ Education and School Construction programs.

Why I'm Lucky: Guest Blog by Eight-Year-Old Jazmin Zage

Transcription: My name is Jazmin Annabelle Aiko Zage. I am 8 years old. I am American and live in Singapore. On November 3rd, 2011 I went to Cambodia with my family to visit schools and libraries that were built by Room to Read. When I visited a school I realized how lucky I was. I learned that most schools don't have libraries or many books. It made me think of my huge library at the Singapore American School. I thought I was very lucky that my mom and dad have enough money to send me to such a good school.

I noticed that the kids at the school were very happy even though they didn't have much. The children were very friendly. I got to go into a classroom and participate in their writing lesson. One of the students taught me how to write Cambodian words.

I think Room to Read has really helped these Cambodian children. But there are still so many children to help.

Learn more about our Students Helping Students program, or how you can visit our work in person.

Six Short Weeks: Room to Read’s First Ever (Mini) Film Festival!

Over the past year, documentary filmmakers James Connolly and Rachelle Escaravage visited Room to Read projects throughout Asia. They met the children and communities that are benefitting from our programs, and recorded their stories on film.

Now those stories are the subject of six mini-documentaries, each focusing on one aspect of Room to Read’s work promoting literacy and gender equality in education. Over the next six weeks, we’ll be releasing those videos one at a time—providing you with a closer look at our programs than ever before.

The videos will take you to India, Laos, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, inside the libraries, homes, classrooms and communities of the children we serve. So grab some popcorn, press play and enjoy the show!

 Watch the videos 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.

Room to Read Volunteers: Rolling Up Their Sleeves to Support Literacy

Volunteers are the lifeblood of most non-profit organizations, and Room to Read is proud to claim a worldwide network of individuals who have committed their time and efforts to help us continue our work in education. They are officially named our Chapters, but we regularly call them our heroes, ambassadors and superstars.

December 5 is International Volunteer Day, as established by the United Nations in 1985, and though we appreciate our chapter volunteers every minute, we take this special opportunity to take our hats off and express our warm thanks for countless hours of work that have produced outstanding results in fundraising and awareness-raising for Room to Read.

Who are these individuals who willingly give up their evenings and weekends to coordinate and attend fundraising events and meetings, stuff envelopes, make phone calls and spread the word about the work we’re doing?  At our annual chapter leadership training, the hankies come out as we hear the moving stories of why each individual decided to commit their time and energy to Room to Read. For some, it’s having experienced economic challenges as a child, for others, it’s having traveled to areas where we work and wanting to make a difference.

Jennifer Mathy, the driving force behind the new chapter in Ridgefield, Connecticut (scheduled to officially launch in 2011), was drawn to Room to Read looking for a way to turn tragedy into world change. She recently returned to Connecticut after spending two years in Singapore with her family. While in Singapore, she got involved with a charity that builds schools in Cambodia and provides student scholarships in the Philippines.

She explains, “The first school I helped to rebuild had collapsed 11 years before, during the Khmer Rouge regime, a time when an entire generation of educated adults were massacred, leaving an entire generation of kids without access to an education. More than 1,000 children in the area had never been to school, had never learned to read or write, had never seen a book. Visiting that school, meeting those villagers, changed my life.”

This wasn’t the first event that had a profound effect on Jennifer’s life. On September 11, 2001, she was heading to work in Tower Two in New York. "I had just walked through the door to my office building when the first plane hit that morning," she recalls. "My experiences that day, the horrible things I witnessed and the amazing people I met, will stay with me for the rest of my life.”

Last summer, Jennifer read about a local initiative to build a memorial to commemorate the victims of 9/11. “When I read the article about the Ridgefield memorial, I asked myself, ‘Why does a memorial have to be a physical structure?’ A memorial like that is important to a community, to remind us of the people we lost and of those who stepped up and said, ‘Yes, I’ll help another human being.’ But why can’t a memorial be a living, breathing thing? Why can’t I be a memorial to those 7,600 people? That’s when I contacted Room to Read.”

Room to Read’s goal is to help 10 million children by the year 2015. Jennifer has personally committed to helping 7,600 of those people, one for every person who lost their lives or their spouses or parents in the Twin Towers. She has already recruited 15 people to join the new chapter and she is planning to hold an informational meeting about Room to Read for the entire Ridgefield community, not only to recruit chapter members, but also to raise awareness of the organization.  She notes, “We have a lot of talent in Ridgefield, and I want to be sure we get the word out about the amazing work Room to Read is doing.”

There are more than 5,000 Room to Read volunteers around the world like Jennifer Mathy.  Almost from day one, Room to Read established a unique chapter model to utilize volunteers in major cities around the world and these volunteers make long-term commitments to help promote the organization within their own personal networks and communities. This year, our fundraising chapters in over 50 cities worldwide have raised more than US$10 million, which is one-third of our annual budget.

Room to Read’s continued success in fundraising translates directly into more books, more schools, better teaching and expanded access to quality education. We salute our family of volunteers around the globe who have helped us reach over five million children.

For more information about how to get involved with a chapter near you or for other volunteer opportunities, please visit our website.

 

Room to Read Holiday Gift Catalog: Unwrap World Change

Ready, set, login...shop! As the calendar edges into December, shopping frenzy is reaching its peak. Today is Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day of the year when the World Wide Web becomes a virtual shopping mall.

As you slog through the dozens of emails from retailers offering mega-deals on holiday gifts, we invite you to visit our own unique holiday gift catalog and consider a different type of gift-giving this year. Here, you’ll find something for everyone, and until the end of December, it’s buy one, get one free because all donations are being matched!

Your gift of support to Room to Read can positively and permanently change the life of a child. For as little as $25, you can buy school uniforms for four students in our Girls’ Education program. For $50, you can fill a library with puzzles, games and other learning supplies. If you’re looking for something for the person who has everything, you can sponsor the establishment of a library or school in their honor. Thanks to the generosity of two of our donors, all online gifts made through the end of December 2010, will be matched 100% up to $500,000!

Giving is easy -- choose a gift, make your payment and select an attractive gift card that you can either email or print.

We believe that education isn't a gift -- every child should have the right to wake up daily and attend school. Through our efforts in literacy and gender equality, we support that right for over five million children in Asia and Africa. But we need your support to make that number grow rapidly, for millions more children are still without access to education. Visit our holiday gift catalog, and you'll see the direct impact you can make. 

Also, if your gift-giving calls for something wrapped and with a bow, several socially-conscious retailers have partnered with Room to Read and help our efforts by donating a portion of their net sales from their products to us. Some of these include The Republic of Tea, Alp-n-Rock clothing, Booda Brand children's wear, Mirasa infant wear, and Fledgling Wine from Twitter. They appreciate your business, and we appreciate the added support.

On behalf of the entire Room to Read family, we hope that whichever holiday you celebrate this season, it is filled with joy, family and friends -- and, of course, reading!

 

 

Drawing a Line in the Sand on Literacy

Literacy is defined as "reading skill and reading habit," and it has the power to unlock doors to opportunity. As Room to Read focuses on enhancing literacy skills in the nine countries where we work, we're introducing literacy pilot programs that include additional teacher training, curriculum development and supplemental classroom materials. Joel Bacha, Room to Read's Southeast Asia Program Manager for Literacy, describes a visit to a school in Cambodia where our literacy pilots have been initiated.

Walking with the principal toward the grade 1 classroom at Tatouk Primary School in Siem Reap province, we notice several students watch our approach through an open window. The principal explains that the grade 1 reading program is different this year: the students are more active – from his office, he can hear them sing songs and play games, and overall they seem to be enjoying school more. In today’s class, there are about 40 students. The teacher asks for volunteers and half the class raises their hands. The teacher calls on one girl who comes to the front of the class and chooses a letter. She holds it up to the class, and everyone calls out the name of the letter, “Shri-la.”

After we observed the class for 10 minutes, the teacher had the students go outside and line up in two lines. She asked them to draw the letter shape they had just learned in the air. Then the students bent down to write the letter in the sand.  When they were finished, each student checked their neighbor’s work to see if they had drawn the letter correctly. For those who needed more help, the teacher provided extra guidance, and in some cases, the teacher directed students to help each other. To reinforce the lesson, students wiped the area in front of them clear and practiced writing the letter again in pairs.  Afterwards, they washed their hands, returned to the classroom and pulled out their notebooks. The teacher wrote the letter on the board several times and the students followed by writing the letter in their note books at their own pace.

The literacy program is seen as important in Siem Reap where a large percentage of students are not reading at grade level by the time they reach grade 3. The program aims to promote a balanced approach for teaching reading where students are exposed to phonics instruction and structured reading time. Part of the challenge has been the limited training for teachers and the complex Khmer script which students are expected to learn in a short amount of time.

Earlier this fall, 36 grade 1 teachers from 20 schools in the local school district participated in a Room to Read literacy teacher training. However, while many grade 1 teachers are used to teaching phonics, teaching reading is still new. The teachers were introduced to interactive teaching and learning methods for phonics, reading and writing in the Khmer language. One of the teachers commented, “The extra activities in the [My Reading] book are really helpful. The students are learning better [than last year] because they are interested in the activities. I thought that trying the “new” way would be difficult. It takes more time to try at first, but once I get used to the activities, it seems better for students.”

For more information about our pilot programs and our work in Cambodia, visit our website.

 

Finding Miss Gilchrist: Guest Blog from South Africa

Lisa Ellis, Room to Read Director of New Country Operations, visited our staff and projects in South Africa last week and met a teacher who personifies the values of Room to Read -- dedication to students and a love of learning.

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One of the most motivating teachers I ever had was my third grade teacher, Miss Gilchrist. She not only made learning fun and interesting by using pictures, books, and other materials in the classroom, but she very obviously loved teaching, and learning as well.  Her enthusiasm was inspiring as it was infectious -- even to an eight-year-old.

Imagine my happy surprise when I found a carbon copy of Miss Gilchrist teaching in a poor, rural primary school in the Eastern Cape, where Room to Read South Africa got its start. I was visiting the area last week for various meetings, but the highlight of the trip was a visit to one of our schools.

The road to the small village was dotted with cows and goats grazing on the hillside and near the road. We turned off the main road and travelled a few kilometers down a winding, pot-hole filled dirt road. Our destination was Makhazi Primary School whose student body included approximately 300 children and whose staff included an amazing teacher, Mrs. Vuyiswa Dlephu.

 Mrs. Dlephu had been trained as a librarian by Room to Read staff in 2007. She spoke passionately about all of the things she had added to the library since it first opened, such as  a corner section with current newspapers and magazines,  and a room filled with artwork made by the children and local posters about hygiene.  She described the assistance she gave the other teachers on how to test the children on what they learned from the books and other materials in the library.  Room to Read had not just found a teacher to train as a librarian, but we had presented a motivated teacher with the resources and professional development  to inspire her entire school -- teachers and students alike.

When I asked her how long she had been teaching, Mrs. Dlephu proudly told me 20 years -- it’s the only job she’s ever had.  She explained that while she had received her teaching diploma years and years ago, she had only recently finished her bachelor’s degree in education. She was then pleased to tell me she had just applied for a master’s program and planned to do her research thesis on needed improvements to the education system, especially as it relates to her community.

With a big smile on her face, she said, “I want to be a role model for my children and for all the children who have been through this school.  You can never stop learning!”  She went on to say, “I have always been a teacher and I always will be, no matter how much education I get. I will never leave this community!” 

I left that school hoping that the community realized what a tremendous, encouraging, motivating, and committed teacher they had in Mrs. Dlephu, the Miss Gilchrist of South Africa.

Read more about our work in South Africa on our website.

Trek to 10,000: Day 4 - Ngadi and the Marching Band

 

NGADI: Our day started with an early morning breakfast in the town of Besi Sahar.  After we had filled our bellies with Nepali tea and hearty breakfast treats, we started the four-hour uphill climb along the Marshyangdi River to the town of Ngadi in Lamjung Province.  We reached Ngadi just in time for lunch, and as we were carefully crossing a rickety bridge, the tranquil sound of the river flow was suddenly broken. Coming toward us was a 75-person “marching band” ready to accompany us to their village!  We must have been quite a sight as we ambled up the hill for the last 45 minutes of our journey -– Room to Read trekkers being serenaded by villagers playing trumpets, horns and drums, and women in brightly colored saris weaving in and out of our group handing out flowers.  From every direction, from every mouth, we heard the warm greeting of “Namaste,” and felt like we were being welcomed home. 

When we reached the village, we were greeted by a large red “welcome” banner and were escorted to a very familiar school -– the first Room to Read school that had been established back in 2000.  Awaiting us were 700 people who had come from all over to greet us, 300 of which were students!  

It was wonderful to see our honored guests be recognized: Robert and Caroline Wood (John’s parents), because this school had originally been dedicated to them in 2000, as well as Angela Anstatt and her daughter Kim Anstatt Morton, because the extension of the school had been dedicated to Herman and Bruce Anstatt (Kim’s father and brother). 

Room to Read has been working with this particular school over the past ten years and helping them expand their educational resources.  The school was originally built in 2000 to house grades 1-5, and in 2003 it was upgraded to accommodate students through grade 10. The facility now also houses a beautiful and colorful library which was established in 2008, and to help fill the library shelves, we presented over 300 newly printed Room to Read local language children’s books to the teachers.  The books had had their own journey to reach the village, having been transported  up the river and by donkey caravan to get here! The applause we received was priceless and will be long remembered.

People often ask us about how we know our libraries are working. We decided to do an impromptu check of this library and are thrilled to report that when we looked at their library registry book, more than 6,600 books had been checked out of this library over the last three years!

Our group then broke into teams of six and participated in a project to decorate the walkways of the library with a mural of pictures.  We were drawn specifically to two painting done by students.  One was a self-portrait of a young girl reading who had a halo over her head that was the Room to Read logo.  The second painting, done by a young boy, showed an adult male wearing only one flip-flop to show his lack of wealth and holding an upside-down pen.  “What did this picture represent?” we asked.  The young artist told us it showed an uneducated man who was sad because he was illiterate and could not write.
 
We were then treated to a play put on by the students which told a story of a little Nepali girl whose parents would not allow her to go to school because they wanted her to work and did not see any value in education.  Well, you can guess the happy ending of the play -- a Room to Read staff member and a teacher, played by students, intervened with the parents and taught them the valuable lesson that “world change does started with educated children” –- their own children.  The girl was allowed to attend school and yes, that was the happy ending. But the happiest part for us was seeing the mothers of the students and the children themselves watch the play with rapt attention and listen to and agree with the important message.

This day was filled with so many incredible images, sights and sounds -– immersed in the wonder of the nature surrounding us and the warmth of the people engaging us, our tired muscles are quickly forgotten.

-- Kim Anstatt, Tim Koogle and John Wood (Room to Read Board Members)

Visit www.roomtoread.org/trektotenthousand for more news and photos!