Room to Read Blog

Doing Good is Clearly Good for Business

They’ve done it again! In just 12 short months, global software company Atlassian has once again exceeded all expectations by raising an incredible $500,000 for Room to Read through their Starter license program, which you can read more about here.

The promotion was launched last fall as an extension of the overwhelmingly successful Stimulus Package that was introduced in April 2009. Through the promotion, small software startups can purchase six of Atlassian’s most popular software products for just $10 each, with all proceeds benefitting Room to Read programs in Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.

The funding from Atlassian is already making a big difference, with current and future projects to include 34 new libraries, four schools and two local language books. Money is also being set aside to provide 250 scholarships for the holistic education of participants in Room to Read’s Girls’ Education program. All told, more than 32,000 children will have benefitted from educational opportunities thanks to the Start License promotion.

According to Atlassian CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes, selecting Room to Read as their charity partner was an easy choice after having been inspired for years by our efforts to promote literacy. What was unexpected, he said, was how quickly the promotion “took on a life of its own,” with 31,000 licenses sold to date.

The software company’s support of Room to Read is an extension of the their model wherein 1% of employee time goes to volunteer work, 1% of company equity goes to the Atlassian foundation and 1% of products are donated to non-profits. It’s a model that, according to Room to Read Founder John Wood, “shows how companies can succeed while also doing good for their community.”

Atlassian was also a major player in the Financial Times’ seasonal appeal to readers this year, which raised over $4 million for Room to Read.  The company pledged to match readers’ donations up to $100,000, effectively doubling the impact of those readers’ individual contributions.

Story from Sri Lanka: Prashanthini Wins the Day

Until recently, Prashanthini was known to her family and neighbors as a timid girl who could hardly look a person in the eye. Her turning point came the day her school library was transformed with colorful books donated through Room to Read’s Local Language Publishing program.

As the only girl born into a family of laborers of Tamil origin (an ethnic minority in Sri Lanka), Prashanthini’s chances of receiving an education were bleak.  In fact, it was her elder brother who received all their parents’ encouragement and support to pursue schooling.

Disappointed, but undeterred, Prashanthini enrolled in the Malaimakal Tamil Vidyalayam school and plodded along the long road to school each day with dogged determination. But even so, she remained painfully shy and did not participate in any class activities.

Prashanthini vividly recollects the day that changed -- it was the day she discovered the book, Equal Rights for Rani Wins the Day. What amazed her about the book were the similarities between her life and that of the main character, Rani.  It told the inspiring story about how despite all the setbacks Rani encountered, she still managed to achieve her goals. Prashanthini was so impressed and overjoyed with the story that she said she read the book more than five times!

Finding herself newly inspired and emboldened, Prashanthini began to work harder in school.  She set goals for herself and gained the confidence to make new friends.

“If I had not received this opportunity from Room to Read, I would not have these books to read and I would have remained illiterate and unmotivated,” says Prashanthini.

The change has been so dramatic and swift that Prashanthini’s entire community has noticed -– especially her parents who are now very proud of their daughter’s academic success and know both Rani, and Prashanthini have "won the day."

To learn more about our programs in Sri Lanka, click here.
To learn more about our Local Language Publishing program, click here.

News from our Sri Lanka Country Director: 44,000 Books Means 2 Books Per Child

We heard this morning from our Country Director of Room to Read Sri Lanka, Glen de Mel, with some exciting news:

It is with great pleasure that we inform you that we have successfully concluded the 2009 Local Language Publishing book launch with the Honorable Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Rathnasiri Wickremanayake.

The Prime Minister spent almost two hours with our team — along with our authors and illustrators — and each author and illustrator personally presented their titles to the Prime Minister. One of the leading authors in the country, Dr. Leel Gunasekera, made a speech on our local language book titles and following, the Honorable Rathnasiri Wickremanayake gave a speech highlighting Room to Read's efforts and presented us with a Letter of Appreciation under his seal.

At this event, we ceremonially handed over 44,000 books (approximately LKR 15 million or USD $131,153 ) to be distributed among the children in IDP camps and re-settled areas in the war-affected north. These books will serve 22,000 children and provide each child both an English-language and a Tamil-language book. 

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This news is on the heels of the Financial Times reporting from our programs in Sri Lanka.  Read more through the links below and don't forget that all donations made toward the Financial Times campaign (up to US$1 million) will be matched thanks to the generosity of three of Room to Read's corporate donors: Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse and Atlassian.

Room to Read builds libraries in Sri Lanka
December 18, 2009

It looks like a normal prize-giving ceremony at a normal school. Children are arranged by age on rows of seats in the barn-like hall. They wait patiently, a burble of chatter rising on the boiling air towards the tin roof....Read the full article

Drawing out talent to create children’s books
December 15, 2009

By day, R.C. Pradeep Kumar runs the gauntlet of Sri Lanka’s political and ethnic divide as a cartoonist working for a Tamil daily newspaper.By night and at weekends, he turns to the less politically sensitive pursuit of drawing illustrations for children’s books...Read the full article

Room to Read's results in Sri Lanka
December 11, 2009

The first thing I noticed about 11-year-old Kasun Amarasinghe was the state of his shirt. Theoretically white, it was tinged with a bluish sheen, possibly the result of being washed together with his navy blue shorts.....Read the full article

 

Once Upon A Time in Sri Lanka…Part II

Seven-year-old Mohan is Mallika’s classmate who shares her love for story books and he is always all ears during storytelling time. (Read about Mallika’s captivating narration skills in Part I here).

Each day Mohan takes a book home; however, he can only enjoy the pictures because he struggles to actually read the books by himself.

Mohan’s teacher Ms. Nipunisa explains, “Mohan is a bright and enthusiastic student, but his reading skills are not in the same league as Mallika’s because he has no one at home to help with his studies or reading -- which means he continually lags behind.” Mohan comes from a broken home; he stays with his grandmother while his father works as a mason, often returning home long after Mohan has gone to sleep.

So Room to Read and Ms. Nipunisa decided the best way to help Mohan improve was to pair him with a classmate who could read along with him to help him practice. Mohan seems quite happy with the arrangement as he points to a classmate and says “I ask my friend Hasan to read out the stories to me and together we enjoy the book.”

His teacher acknowledges that even though Mohan is a slow starter, he is an eager student who loves school and never takes a day off. “Of course I love coming to school,” chirps Mohan. “I never miss school and I wish we did not have to sit at home on weekends. In school, I get to play with my friends and listen to the stories my teacher tell us every day. My favorite story is about a squirrel and a rabbit because I love animals. Someday I will keep a dog as a pet and write a story about him.”

Mohan’s aspirations don’t end there. When asked when he was plans to narrate a story like Hasan and Mallika, he is quick to answer. “The next time you come you will see me standing in front of the class and reading loudly,” says Mohan while flashing a thumbs up sign to seal that pact.

--Reena Luke

Once Upon A Time in Sri Lanka...

Ashoka Mallika is only seven years old but her storytelling skills can put a grandmother to shame! She volunteers to narrate one of her favorite stories and soon has every one in rapt attention.  She has an appealing lisp but it is her changing expressions that endear her to everyone. Suddenly she stops and sticks her tongue out. She has forgotten the name of some character in her story. Without wasting a minute, she rushes to the corner library and pulls out the book and opens the page and continues the story by reading it to the class.

She reads fluently, not faltering once and even manages to change the voice for different characters! It is obvious she is gifted, but Mallika is not the only one in her classroom who loves stories.

Most of her classmates love the “story period.” Each day, the class teacher, Nipunisa Devika, pulls out a book and reads a story to the students. She also encourages them to take the books home and tells the parents to spend some time with the children by reading to them but unfortunately, not all parents from this village know how to read.

Mallika is lucky because her father is a school teacher and her mother, a home maker, takes much interest in Mallika’s studies. Mallika also has an elder brother who indulges her by reading stories out loud to her.  “I have to fight with him to get him to read stories to me. After he finishes his studies, he is always playing with his friends and I have to wait a long time to hear a story from him.” On being asked why she troubles her brother. “Sometimes in the evening my mother is busy cooking dinner and I would be too sleepy by the time she finishes with her work. I cannot read that fast and I will have to return the library book without having heard the story if he does not read it out to me!” Mallika smiles and crinkles her eyes to indicate that it was a fair justification to fight!

-- Reena Luke

Room to Read Joins Humanitarian Efforts to Help Displaced Children in Post-Conflict Sri Lanka

Room to Read announced today that it has joined humanitarian efforts to respond to the needs of the nearly 60,000 children living in the "welfare villages" in northern and eastern Sri Lanka that have minimal access to educational facilities to continue their education. Read the press release.