Room to Read Blog

Tune in: Suma’s Story Comes to CNN this Sunday!

Since opening in theaters this March, the groundbreaking film Girl Rising and its real-life stars have helped fuel a movement. Bound by their mutual struggle to earn an education and united in courage, the nine young women in the film have invited audiences around the globe to hear their stories, serving as a call to action for all of the 600 million girls living in developing countries today—many of whom face similar struggles.

One of those stories belongs to Suma, one of more that 20,000 students currently enrolled in Room to Read’s Girls’ Education program. After being rescued from a life of indentured servitude at the age of 12, Suma is not only thriving in school, but actively involved as a community advocate, fighting to ensure more girls in Nepal stay where they belong: in school. “I’ve seen where change comes from,” says Suma in Girl Rising. “It’s like a song you can’t hold back.”

This Sunday, June 16, Girl Rising will bring Suma’s story and eight others to CNN in the film’s worldwide television premiere (CNN international will air the film on Saturday, June 22). In honor of the occasion, we bring you a special message from Nepal, courtesy of Reema Shrestha, Girls’ Education Program Manager. In the video, Reema encourages audiences around the globe to tune to Girl Rising and shines a light on the thousands of girls like Suma in Nepal who are now writing their own futures, with help from Room to Read:

  

In honoring Suma and the other brave young women in Girl Rising, all donations toward our Freedom to Dream campaign for Girls’ Education will be matched through June 23 (up to $850,000). To watch the film this week, check your local listings.

Upendo's Promise: Paying it Forward in Tanzania

“Being a social mobilizer for Room to Read is a dream come true!” says 22-year old Upendo Mchau. Upendo spends her days working with the female students of Nassaro Seif Secondary School in Tanzania’s rural Mvomero district—conducting life skills lessons, providing mentorship and visiting with parents to encourage a supportive environment.  It’s a scene she saw many times in her own childhood, and to which she attributes much of her own personal success.

“When I was in secondary school, I had a teacher who served as a mentor to me and went out of her way to make sure I did well in class,” says Upendo. “She really helped me to succeed in school, and inspired me to work in a field like hers.”

Upendo recalls a time when her teacher visited her parents at home and encouraged them to enroll their daughter in a tutoring program to improve her academic performance. “She did this for lots of girls,” says Upendo.

Growing up, Upendo always knew the value of a good education, with a school secretary for a mother and a father who held a university degree. “My parents worked hard to ensure that my four siblings and I could go to school,” she says, recalling her childhood.

These days, Upendo is determined to pay it forward—helping disadvantaged female students get the scaffolding and support they need to succeed. “On my first day as a social mobilizer, I was so nervous,” she admits readily, “but I have earned the girls’ respect now and feel confident in my role.”

Many of the girls Upendo works with are facing an uphill battle in completing their secondary education. “Most of their families live in poverty and don’t have enough food,” she says, adding that the girls are “often solicited to do inappropriate things for money, food or transportation.” Determined to help the girls make good choices and avoid the numerous obstacles before them, Upendo says her focus is on ensuring each individual girl has the knowledge she needs to avoid dangerous situations and make smart decisions. “I really enjoy educating the community about the importance of education,” she says with a smile, “but my favorite part of my job is helping the girls reach their goals.”

Join our Freedom to Dream campaign and help more girls across Asia and Africa pursue their dreams. All gifts through May 31 to our Girls’ Education program will be matched (up to US$850,000)!

Guest Blog from our CFO: Earning Our 4-Star Rating, 365 Days of the Year

This is a guest post by Joanne Chou, who has served as Room to Read’s Chief Financial Officer since 2008.

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At Room to Read, we know that how we work is just as important as what we accomplish, so when we learned last week that our organization had received Charity Navigator’s highest-possible 4-star rating for the seventh consecutive year, we were positively elated.

Only two percent of charities rated by Charity Navigator can claim such a long string of 4-star ratings, which measures several factors of organizations’ financial health along with their commitments to accountability and transparency. Here are some examples of the ways in which Room to Read works that have helped us earn our “exceptional” rating:

Financial Efficiency – For the fiscal year upon which the current rating are based (2011), 85.2% of every dollar we spent went directly to programs (as opposed to fundraising and administration costs). Without downplaying the need to invest in infrastructure and our teams across all functions, we keep a watchful eye on expenses and use technology and innovative partnerships to work more efficiently. This includes video conferencing to connect geographically-dispersed teams and purchasing many of our materials in and around the communities where we work, where costs are significantly lower. We have also started looking at aggregating some purchases across program countries to get economies of scale.

Accountability & Transparency – We like to take a “more is more” approach to transparency, and publish six years’ worth of audited financials, 990 forms and annual reports on our website. We also make sure to post information about key staff, an extensive privacy policy and a full list of our board members, so that our supporters can invest with confidence.

As a global organization, we know that sound fiscal management, transparency and accountability are the responsibility of every member of our team, and have built a culture around these values that crosses borders and has permeated every level of the organization.  As chief financial officer, I am proud of the respect our worldwide staff shows every day for the fiduciary duty we owe to our supporters, partners and beneficiaries, and note that this latest recognition from Charity Navigator is a direct result of that organization-wide commitment.

To learn more about how we work, visit the financials page on our website or see the press release announcing our most recent rating.

Guest Blog from India: 10 Years. Two Million Children. One Big Reason to Celebrate!

The following is a guest blog by Kushal Mazumdar, acting country director for Room to Read in India. 

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The New Year of 2013 started with a bang for Room to Read India. This week, we were presented with the Times of India Social Impact Award—the only NGO recognized in the category of education.  I can’t think of a better way to kick off our tenth year of operation in India than an honour such as this.

The Times of India is the most widely-circulated (and highly respected) English-language daily newspaper in India, and its Social Impact Award is highly sought-after. The selection process includes a stringent preliminary review of all nominees, followed by site visits, meetings with staff and beneficiaries and a final deliberation by a jury of experts.

For our staff, this award represents a quality certificate of our work and impact. It is a testimony that we are headed in the right direction and should continue to do our part in helping our nation and society develop further. Room to Read India is part of a global movement—a network of people dedicated to building a better world through education, and I feel proud that I have the opportunity to work with such extraordinary people. The hard work and conviction my colleagues demonstrate every day has resulted in this award. Congratulations are due to all!

In addition to the validation it lends our work, the Times of India award has also given our organization a great platform. At Monday’s ceremony, which was televised nationally, the President of India, political leaders, ambassadors from all over the world and business leaders from many multinational companies were in attendance. Our work also graced the pages of the publication for weeks leading up to the event.

We are ready to take our work to the next level and impact the children we have yet to reach. In our first ten years, Room to Read India has benefited more than 2.8 million children, and this new recognition will help us do even more. Two of those beautiful children, Jyoti (9) and Ujala (10) presented the Times of India award on Monday, and their presence made the ceremony all the more meaningful. Both girls study in 5^th grade at government-run primary schools (one in Delhi, one in Rajasthan) and learned to love reading in their school libraries, established by Room to Read. Coincidentally, both girls’ names mean “light,” and as they confidently came on stage to do their part, no term could be more fitting.

On behalf of the entire team of Room to Read India, I would like to thank all of our supporters for joining us in the belief that World Change Starts with Educated Children. We look forward to many more years of success.

Learn more about our work in India.

Thanks for another great year!

Join us in celebrating all that we have accomplished together over the past 12 months, with a short video we put together to say thanks.

 

And don't forget...there are still a few days left to get in your last-minute gifts before the end of the year! Make your donation today at www.roomtoread.org/donate and double your impact (through 12/31).

A Message from Our Team: Honoring the World's Educators

Dear Friends,

As most of you have probably heard, last week a small town in Connecticut was devastated by a school shooting that killed 20 young children and six educators.  As we continue to learn more about this tragedy, so many of us are angry and frustrated with violence that has plagued the United States and moved into our once-safe school environments.  Just as powerful, though, are our feelings of awe and respect for the teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School who did everything they could to protect the children there from harm.

This incident has reminded me that teachers—no matter what country they work in and what resources they possess—have some of the most difficult jobs in the world. Not only are they responsible for the huge task of helping children to learn, but also for teaching morals, wiping children’s noses when they run, and protecting children under the most difficult circumstances. In addition to parents and families, teachers are the most important participants in ensuring the success of our work at Room to Read. They are a huge part of our overall success.

So in this holiday season, as we think about the people who matter most in our lives, I wanted to send a special thank you to the teachers around the world who work hard to protect, influence, educate and change lives.

My very best to you and your families during this holiday season.

Sincerely,

Cory Heyman
Chief Program Officer
on behalf of the entire Room to Read Family

Guest Blog from Bangladesh: A Country Director's Journey

This is a guest blog by Zaki Hasan, Room to Read's founding country director for Bangladesh.

 

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Every morning I rush to the office with renewed energy, knowing that Room to Read’s literacy and girls’ education programs are helping to provide a better education to nearly 100,000 children per year in my country. The faces of those children, whom I often meet on visits to the field, and of their families are my primary motivation. I am lucky to be part of an incredible team—both here in Bangladesh and internationally—that includes partner organizations, government ministries and colleagues, all of whom are dedicated to making a difference in the lives of children.

 

As we marked the fourth birthday of Room to Read Bangladesh this summer, the entire team was extremely proud of the recognition we have received this far. Our success has been abundant, but just as I started to reflect on those moments, another surprising recognition came my way: the prestigious 2012 Eisenhower Fellowship.

 

Although I never applied directly for the fellowship, a past recipient of the award from Bangladesh had proposed my name, having heard of my work with Room to Read. The fellowship turned out to be a wonderful experience, including a seven-week trip around the United States with 21 other leaders from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

 

We spent the trip discussing leadership, social entrepreneurship and education, and I couldn’t help but think one thought throughout the weeks: what experience is it that has led me to be in such company?

 

The more I thought about it, the more one answer became clear. The single enabling factor for me to become an Eisenhower Fellow is a decision that my mother made when I was in the ninth grade.

 

With three children between 9th and 11th grade, my mother was left to care for us alone when my father passed away from a heart condition. She was in deep trouble, as my father had always been the only earning member of the family. My uncles advised her to move to a village where we could work in their shops, but she already knew about the power of education. After all, my own father had been the first ever postgraduate from his village.

 

In the end, my mother decided to stay in the city where we could have access to a better education—putting our wellbeing above her own. With a monthly pension of around $30, it was extremely difficult for us to live in the capital, but by working part-time jobs while in school and with the help of neighbors, I managed to complete my education and earn a university degree.

 

My mother’s single decision to put education first for her children changed my world, and has allowed me today to be recognized by the Eisenhower Fellowship Committee as a leader from South Asia. My education has also allowed me to make the most of this incredible opportunity—to share ideas and learn from the other fellows, and discuss potential partnership.

 

Because all of my past and future accomplishments were made possible by education, that is where my contribution to society will always remain: working with children, parents and teachers to help them continue down the challenging but rewarding path of education.

 

I started the seven weeks of the Eisenhower Fellowship proud of the recognition I was to recieve and I have retuned more motivated than ever to provide the children of Bangladesh with a second chance in like through quality education.

 

Learn more about Room to Read's work in Bangladesh.

Guest Blog from CEO Erin Ganju: This Giving Tuesday, Give the Gift of Trust

As analysts and consumers alike read reports on the impact Black Friday and Cyber Monday may have on the economy, today the nonprofit community is focused on another important day—Giving Tuesday. This first-ever Giving Tuesday seeks to unite and transform the way we think about, talk about and participate in the end-of-year giving season. Wouldn’t it be nice if the droves of post-Thanksgiving shoppers invested in charities with the same enthusiasm as they had while waiting to purchase the latest hard-to-get electronic or finding the best online deal for this year’s most popular toy?

There was an essay I read in The Wall Street Journal this past September that questioned why charities can’t be sold like perfume, unfettered from the restrictive financial expectations that require them to almost do the impossible: spend less on salaries while keeping staff satisfied and invest little in infrastructure, fundraising and marketing to lower administrative costs while operating effectively on minimal resources. During the holiday season—when most charities experience a peak in investments—those of us in the nonprofit community are fighting an uphill battle against corporations spending billions of dollars to get your attention. So, we hope at least on Giving Tuesday, you’ll take notice of us!

I came from the business world—working both on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley before becoming co-founder and CEO of Room to Read, a global nonprofit organization focused on literacy and gender equality in education in the developing world. Now that I understand the operational efficiencies and inefficiencies within both the nonprofit and business sectors, I want to offer you some advice on how to spend your philanthropic dollars this Giving Tuesday and throughout this holiday season. And really, it comes down to investing in trust.

You trust your financial institution with your retirement money so you should have that same trust in those who receive your philanthropic dollars. If you trust the company you are making the investment in—whether a start-up you think will be the next Facebook, or the charity that is doing work you are passionate about— you need to trust they know the best way to apply your donation to achieve the most significant impact.

But how do you know? Start by getting to know the organizations working in your field of interest. As the investor, conduct proper due diligence just as you would when purchasing a product or stock. While it is important to look at an organization’s overhead to see what they spend on programs verses administrative costs, don’t make this your only indicator. There are smart ways a nonprofit can invest in overhead to increase operational efficiency, such as investing in their workforce and IT infrastructure.

Also, evaluate how your charities compete in the marketplace. The little known secret in the nonprofit space is that, although we don’t like to admit it, the nonprofit sector is competitive—for donor dollars! Although nonprofits often share information and lessons learned, which do not pose a drain on limited resources, many expect nonprofits to collaborate extensively and even partner if they work on the same issue. Yet, do we ask Pepsi and Coke to do this because they are both in the beverage industry? When I worked in Vietnam for Unilever in the mid-90s, no one asked me to collaborate with our major competitor, Proctor & Gamble. Instead, I was expected to beat them at every opportunity with the understanding that healthy competition drives quality and efficiencies.

Once you have identified charities you have grown to trust and understand, I suggest making bigger donations to fewer organizations. Your chosen nonprofits can now have greater impact with your resources and build a stronger and longer relationship with you, the investor. I also encourage you to give unrestricted funding. Philanthropic investors should see their investment in an entire organization, not just one business unit. An investment in Apple, does not include the option of investing solely in iPhones or the cost to keep the lights on in Cupertino, California, so why do we allow this in the nonprofit sector? When donations are restricted to individual projects, organizations may then have limited funds  to support program monitoring and evaluation, internal audits of funds, and investment in more effective systems, processes and infrastructure.

So, as peak shopping season continues, we hope you will consider investing in charities on Giving Tuesday and beyond. There are millions of philanthropic opportunities for you to consider and millions of us working hard to gain your attention. One of these days I hope this holiday sees results akin to those of Black Friday or Cyber Monday and we too are asked to open our doors earlier to manage donor demand. Until then, we simply ask for the gift of your trust.

This post originally appeared in The Huffington Post on November 27, 2012 in honor of Giving Tuesday.

Room to Read is participating in #GivingTuesday. Donate anytime between now and Wednesday, November 28 to have your impact tripled!

Giving Girls a Voice

Today, 25,000 girls got married. All of them were under 18 and most had no say in when or who they would marry. The overwhelming majority will drop out of school if they haven’t already. This is not acceptable.

Early marriage and pregnancy among teenage girls is common in developing countries—a product of tradition, economic scarcity, lack of opportunity and deeply-rooted gender bias. As Global Director for Girls’ Education at Room to Read, I have witnessed firsthand how early marriage and pregnancy affect the lives of teenage girls in places like Nepal, Bangladesh and Zambia, further limiting their options in communities where the roles for women are already extremely circumscribed.

Studies have shown education to be the single most important predictor of age at marriage, a number that can mean the difference between life and death. According to research done by the International Center for Research on Women, pregnancy (often preceded by early marriage) is the leading cause of death for young women between the ages of 15 and 19 worldwide. By missing out on the completion of their formal education, many young brides lack the knowledge of how early pregnancy affects their health, when and how to obtain medical care, and the emotional maturity to actually seek it—skills more likely to be developed during adolescence.

Through our work in girls’ education, Room to Read provides support for girls at their most vulnerable phase—in the transition to adulthood—so that they can reach key milestones like marriage and pregnancy later in life and from a more powerful place. We also work with families, communities, and schools to foster a more empowering environment.

I have seen what happens when a girl from a disadvantaged background is supported to stay in school and develop the skills she needs to make informed choices.  The results are truly transformational.

As girls build confidence and academic success, it is not only those around them that begin to recognize their worth. The girls themselves develop the confidence to see a broader set of options for their lives and the agency needed to build a brighter future.

One of my favorite examples is Esther, a student from a very rural region in Zambia where teenage pregnancy is widespread. She told me when we met that she wants to be a lawyer and motivational speaker. Esther’s experience in secondary school combined with the life skills training she has received from Room to Read have given her the confidence to stand up for her own right to education and to advocate for the other girls in her community.

When she is out of school and on breaks, Esther goes back to her village—quite a distance from her boarding school—and talks to her friends about their futures. Most of her contemporaries did not make it to high school and many are at high risk for early marriage. “I tell them not to just go with marriage but to think creatively about their options—there is no rush!” she counsels. Esther’s friends listen to her, she says, and she is proud to help them expand their thinking. It seems to me that Esther need only work on the law degree, as her career in motivational speaking is already in full swing!

Esther’s story is a perfect example of the potential that is unleashed when a girl is afforded the opportunity to stay in school and develop her own voice. While early marriage and pregnancy manifest differently depending on regional, class, and cultural contexts, the crippling effect they have on the lives, health, and livelihoods of millions of women across the world is unquestionable. It is incumbent upon the international community to stand alongside girls and young women on this issue that is so widespread and gender-specific. If we provide support and a platform to Esther and the hundreds and thousands of girls like her, then together we will turn the tide on the practice of early marriage within our lifetimes.

Statistics featured in this piece were taken from resources provided by the International Center for Research on Women. 

This blog post was originally published by The Huffington Post on November 2, 2012. 

Guest Blog from South Africa: Mouma's Story

Shauna Carey is Room to Read’s Marketing and Communications Associate. In this guest post she shares her experience on a recent visit to Room to Read schools in South Africa.

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Nkadimeng Primary school is less than two hours from Pretoria, but its rural setting makes the high-rise buildings and bustling streets of the capital feel a world away. We pull up to the gates just as classes are starting. The schoolyard is a hub of frenzied activity with hundreds of blue and grey uniforms scurrying in all directions.

Room to Read has been partners with Nkadimeng since establishing its first library in 2010, and also introduced our Reading and Writing Instruction program there earlier this year.

Our visit included readings, storytelling and songs from students of all ages in the library. It’s a beautiful space, adorned with fully-stocked bookshelves and brightly-colored murals about the importance of education, and the perfect backdrop for the excited group of students who proudly displayed their reading skills for their visitors.

It’s clear that the library has already had an effect on the students’ reading habits, and seeing their unbridled enthusiasm, it was hard to believe that the library had experienced a somewhat slow start.

When Room to Read’s three-year support period began, teachers and administrators participated in the regular training sessions help by our team as planned, but found that with more than 700 students and no full-time librarian, they did not have time to put that training to use. For the first few months, library traffic was low and the resources were not being fully-utilized.

At this point, it was clear that the staff needed help, so they went to the local community in search of volunteers. They found Mouma Mokubjane.

Mouma grew up just 2km away from Nkadimeng, and has lived in the community her whole life. She has two young children now, who attend another school in the district, but when she heard that Nkadimeng was looking for a volunteer librarian, she jumped at the opportunity.

“Getting the library period scheduled for all classes was my big challenge,” says Mouma, whose first order of business was to help teachers and students alike get acquainted with the new resources. In the beginning, she would collect a set of books and bring them to each classroom—helping the teacher see how they could be used to enhance the existing curriculum. “Once they saw how helpful the books were,” she says, “teachers started bringing their classes to the library more and more.”

Now that all classes have regular library periods, Mouma is focused on planning activities that are fun and nurture students’ budding literacy skills. One of her favorites is helping them interpret their favorite local-language books into plays, which they perform for their peers.

For this activity, Mouma focuses on books that cover important social issues in the community, like HIV and AIDS. Approximately 50 percent of Nkadimeng’s students are orphans (largely due to the epidemic’s prevalence in the region), so she chooses stories that discuss prevention and destigmatization. “It teaches the children that they must not be scared of people who have [HIV] because they are just like everyone else, and lets them know about how to take precautions,” she says.

It’s clear that Mouma loves volunteering at Nkadimeng, but I couldn’t help but wonder why she chooses to spend so many hours at one school when her own children attend another. “Literacy is the way we can improve this whole community,” she said without hesitation. “I want to see all the children here succeed.”

Learn more about our work in South Africa.