Room to Read Blog

Show and Tell: Celebrating International Literacy Day in Nepal

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. 

*****

It is already September 8, International Literacy Day, in many parts of the world and celebrations have already begun and will continue throughout the weekend. In partnership with the Education Resource Development Center Nepal, Room to Read Nepal spent Friday celebrating in Lalitpur in a festival they called DEAR: Drop Everything and Read. Check out some of their photos from the event!

 

 

Join Room to Read in celebrating International Literacy Day throughout September. For each action you take, $1 will be donated to support our work.  Learn more at www.roomtoread.org/ILD2012.

Show and Tell: Celebrating Literacy and Freedom in Zambia

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. 

*****

Today is African Freedom Day in Zambia, a holiday celebrating the widespread re-emergence of indigenous African leadership across the continent. In honor of this special day, we bring you a video shot by our team at Chinyuyu School in Chongwe District, where students treated Room to Read staff and some special guests to a performance celebrating the connection between literacy and freedom. Enjoy!

  

Learn more about our work in Zambia.

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. 

*****

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: A Warm Welcome in Nepal

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. 

*****

This week's Show and Tell comes from Eric Krassow, local-language publishing fellow. Eric is a leading editor from Pearson, currently "on-loan" to Room to Read exploring potential enhancements to our Book Publishing program around the globe. During a recent site visit in Nepal, Eric had the chance to meet a classroom full of eager young readers at Shree Kalika Primary School. He sent along this video of the welcome dance performed in his honor:

 

Learn more about our Book Publishing program, or find out how you can visit our work in person.

Show & Tell: Postcards from Vietnam's Mekong Delta

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. 

*****

Today’s show and tell comes from Danielle Reichner, senior global program operations officer.  

Along with colleagues John Beaulieu (regional director for Asia) and Steve Wisman (director of international operations), Danielle had the chance to visit a Room to Read library in the Tieu Can District of Vietnam's Mekong Delta earlier this month. 

Danielle sent back these photos from her visit:

Learn more about our School Library program and our work in Vietnam.

Show and Tell: On Air with our Girls Education Scholars in India

Today’s show and tell post comes from Sukanya Sen, communications officer for Room to Read India. The photos feature some of our Girls’ Education scholars who had the chance to appear on one of India’s most popular radio stations, 92.7 Big FM, in honor of International Literacy Day. 

On the station’s breakfast show, a group of fifth grade girls introduced themselves and read aloud from one of Room to Read’s local-language books, “Power of Friendship.” They also sang songs and spoke with the host about their favorite Bollywood heroes. Later on, some of the older girls in our program shared their stories of struggle in finishing secondary school and how Room to Read has helped.

 

Show and Tell: Setting the Stage for Better Literacy Instruction in Bangladesh

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. 

*****

Zaki Hasan, country director for Room to Read Bangladesh provided the photos for today’s Show and Tell, which features a recent round-table discussion on literacy that he and the rest of our Bangladesh team hosted in Dhaka last month. The discussion centered around the teaching of the Bengala language in primary schools and resulted in a list of recommendations from the participants regarding education policy, curriculum, material development, assessment, school culture and teacher training. Dhir Jhingran, Room to Read's chief program officer, attended the event as keynote speaker.

Show and Tell: Accepting the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy in New Delhi

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. 

*****

Today's show and tell is hot off the presses. Taken earlier today in New Delhi at the UNESCO Literacy Day 2011 celebration, it shows Wilfredo Pascual, global program officer for our Local Language Publishing program, accepting the 2011 Confucius Prize for Literacy on behalf of the entire Room to Read team. The award was presented by President of India Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil and Dr. Qian Tang, Assistant Director-General for Education for UNESCO.

Show and Tell: Story Time at Chreav Primary School

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. 

*****

Today’s show and tell comes from Danielle Reichner, a senior global program operations officer based out of our San Francisco global headquarters.  

Danielle is currently traveling to several of our program sites in Asia, supporting our teams in-country as they plan their next year of operation. During her time in Cambodia, Danielle visited Chreav Primary School, where she witnessed a reading competition. Each child in the competition had memorized their favorite book, and presented it aloud to their audience, Danielle included. 

Here are some of her photos from that special day:

Show and Tell: Students Go Global in England

Often at Room to Read, our quest to lead a global movement to support developing world education takes us on the road. Between our global office in San Francisco, California, seven international fundraising offices, 53 chapters worldwide, and 10 program countries…at any given time it’s a safe bet that somewhere in the world, a member of the our team is in transit—by plane, on foot, or even by boat—raising funds, building awareness and implementing programs on behalf of Room to Read.

On these voyages, there seems to be a pattern: send a passionate, enthusiastic Room to Read team member out into the field, and they will return with stories of inspiring individuals they met along the way.

Without further ado, we welcome you to the first installment of our newest blog feature: Show and Tell. When we come across a great photo or other tidbit while out and about, we’ll post it here, and you can let us know what you think.

*************

Today’s photos come from Jill Carlson, a development fellow who helps students around the world find ways to get involved with Room to Read. Jill is in England this week, where she is working on the Go Global Challenge—a competition in which high school students are challenged to come up with entrepreneurial fundraising plans to fund our programs in Asia and Africa. So far, the ideas have been incredibly impressive, as has the students’ dedication to helping their peers in developing countries.

Here are some pictures Jill shared of students in Blackburn, England, working on their Room to Read fundraising plans:

Learn more about Student Engagement at Room to Read.