Room to Read Blog

Celebrating World Teachers' Day: A Teacher in India Transforms a Library

On October 5, we honor the men and women around the globe who have dedicated their lives to the noble profession of educating the world’s children. At Room to Read, we have an important bond with the teachers who work in our School Room and Reading Room programs because they are the critical link to educating the next generation. The following story about one of our teacher-librarians in India is an example of the extraordinary commitment that teachers make in our schools. Room to Read is equally committed to providing the resources and training these important individuals require so that they can be as effective in their work to educate the next generation of eager learners.

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Being a widow in India carries with it more than the loneliness of no longer having a spouse. Because a woman’s status in many regions of India is solely tied to her husband, the loss of a spouse can mean complete ostracism from family and community for the grieving wife and her children. The widow is often viewed as bad luck and blamed for her husband’s death -- and in the end, she finds herself suddenly cast into the position of being a non-person in society.

Some women, primarily those who are educated, are able to rise above cultural norms. Bharti Devi is such a woman. After the death of her husband, Bharti was rarely able to leave her home. But being the determined woman that she is, she finally convinced her in-laws that she should work as a teacher in the nearby school.

However, when Bharti started teaching at the government middle school in her small village within the Indian state of Jharkhand, she quickly realized there was not a lot of interest in innovative teaching plus students were not being given proper attention, resulting in poor academic progress. As fate would have it, shortly after Bharti's arrival, Room to Read began making plans to establish a library at her school. This was thrilling news to the new teacher, for she saw this as a great opportunity to build a fun learning atmosphere in the school. When a library training was announced for teachers at the school, Bharti jumped at the chance to attend and, once the library opened, Bharti was put in charge of running it!

Though she was initially nervous about her new role and received little support from the other teachers, she began by opening the library early, before the morning assembly, so that children had time to come and check out books. She decorated the library with colorful posters and paintings made by the students, and made the library a very welcoming place to read and learn.

With encouragement from Bharti, the other teachers soon recognized that the library was an important resource for learning and could actually help them teach more effectively in their classrooms. Older students helped younger students by reading stories to them, and other activities such as word games, poetry reading and drawing became very popular in both the library and the classrooms. The atmosphere in the school started to charge, and, before long, many teachers shared Bharti’s enthusiasm.

Bharti still has a lot of work ahead of her as she continues to promote the library and its value within the school environment and for this, she continues to return every morning, two hours before school begins, to welcome hundreds of eager children into her special world of books.  On World Teacher's Day, we salute Bharti and her commitment to educating her students and shaping the learning environment.

Read more about our programs in India and our Reading Room program.

A Precious 30 Minutes for the Children of Vietnam

It was years in the making for Room to Read Vietnam. Back and forth with the various levels of education officials. Countless meetings, schools visits, negotiations, extensive research, and reams of paperwork. But finally, here they were, Room to Read Vietnam’s Program Director, Thuy Nguyen, and the Vice-Director of the Department of Education and Training of Vinh Long province, signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which would having lasting effects on the children and families in their community.

What was at stake was 30 minutes of reading time every week for over 3,700 primary school children in Vinh Long, one of five provinces along the Mekong Delta where Room to Read has programs. Thirty minutes a week to put away all other school work and just read, for the pure enjoyment of it.

Erin Ganju, Room to Read's Co-founder and CEO, fortuitously happened to be in Vietnam at the time of the MOU signing, which made the elaborate ceremony -- replete with multiple speeches and presentations -- even more special to the Vietnam staff. Our local teams cheered when the signatures on the document dried and the “reading period” program was officially launched.

The goal of a “reading period” is to improve the reading skills of primary school children, but to do it in a way that will help kids associate reading with fun. Our teams will work closely with 255 teachers to help them come up with creative ideas for reading period activities, including reading games like “guess what happens next” or “what if," play-writing and drawing pictures of story characters.

The "reading periods" will initially take place in 13 of our libraries every other week, but eventually the program will grow to weekly periods. We know that schools in other districts and provinces are eager to sign onto the program, and once this pilot program proves successful, we're looking forward to sharing!

Following the launch ceremony, our Vietnam team set the wheels in motion to get teachers trained, materials ordered and children on their way to reading. The staff has had many years to prepare for this moment, and they didn’t want to delay the program progress any longer. As the "reading period" proposal states, “We believe that dedicated reading periods in schools will set us on the path to reach our common dream of a New Generation of Young Readers.”

To date, Room to Read has established 460 Reading Rooms in six provinces of Vietnam. To read more about our work in Vietnam and our Reading Room program, please visit our website.

Room to Read Student Becomes a Teacher in India

“I know how empowering good education can be,” says Hema, a 19-year-old graduate of Room to Read’s Girls Education Program.  And she means it –- in addition to pursuing her college education, Hema has been a teacher at the Shishu Mandir School in her home village in Uttarakhand, India for the past year, passing on the gift of education to the next generation of her community. Soft-spoken by nature, Hema completely transforms in the classroom -– always poised and in command. “There is so much satisfaction in helping children to learn. I am adopting the campaign slogan, ‘Each one, teach one’ and taking it to a new level by teaching so many at once,” she says of her plans to pursue a teaching degree.

One of Room to Read’s first Girls’ Education participants in India, Hema was forced to give up her studies after 10th grade when her parents became unable to afford the school fees for all five children, and decided educating their two daughters was not a priority.  With Room to Read’s help, she was able to continue her schooling, and passed 12th grade with flying colors two years later.

Immediately after graduating, Hema begin dedicating herself to helping other students succeed, tutoring younger Girls’ Education program participants to help pay for college.  Her dedication to the younger students lead her local school to offer her a job, which she eagerly accepted, and now happily juggles that responsibility with her undergraduate studies. “I am here today as a teacher because Room to Read helped me when I needed that support most,” says Hema, “I would like to thank this wonderful organization for helping me, and other girls like me, get the opportunity to change our lives.”

It is in partnership with dedicated teachers like Hema, that Room to Read is able to affect the lives of so many children in the developing world.  This week, for Teacher Appreciation Week, we thank all the incredible educators on the ground in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Zambia, who work tirelessly to provide the lifelong gift of education to their communities.  We couldn’t do it without you!

To read more about Hema and other stories from other girls on our Girls' Education program, please download our 2009 Girls' Education Yearbook (pdf).

And, don't forget for the month of May in honor of Mother's Day, all donations to our Girls' Education Program are matched up to $150,000!  Click here to donate for yourself or in honor of a special loved one.

Guest Blog: In Honor of Teacher Appreciation Week

This week we are celebrating teachers in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week.  Angela Lasiter, Room to Read's Manager of Legal Operation, blogged about that special teacher who inspired her to follow her passion and work for international NGOs.

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Many students have that “one” teacher in elementary or high school who influences them and shapes the person they eventually come to be.  While I had many great teachers at both levels, the connection that would send my life down an unexpected path came at the university level –- during my senior year! 

After three years of studying accounting at Arkansas Tech University, I signed up for “Model United Nations,” an elective I thought would beef up my public speaking skills and prepare me for law school.   The Model United Nations course professor, Dr. Kenneth Rogers, was a political science teacher, a former Air Force officer (like my father) and very, very serious about this subject.  The first semester was extremely challenging, but because the subject matter interested me, I made the cut and was able to continue in the course. 

Dr. Rogers would not allow us to represent powerful, developed countries so we spent our days playing the roles of U.N. delegates representing the interests of smaller, developing countries.  We quickly became experts on the particular country assigned to us.  We studied how the true delegates voted at the U.N.  If our country acquiesced to the drug trade, we had to vote along the same lines with regard to weakened trade or shipping regulations and tariffs.  If our country worked hard to fight human trafficking, that became our new caucus discussion.  Dr. Rogers taught us and led us into discussions regarding international nongovernmental organizations, nonprofits and their impact on the world stage.

I became so much more aware of the world around me and the issues that were being discussed on the nightly news became ALIVE to me.  At the end of semester, we were selected, after winning first place in State, to compete with other schools in the country at the national competition.  I represented Tanzania with another student.  After several days of deliberating, caucusing, friendly debating, and 18-hour days, “the delegation from Tanzania” won first place! 

Dr. Rogers had such a significant role in my senior year.  That year changed my life and influenced my future career path.  I had learned about many of the great international nonprofits during my coursework and I was fortunate to be hired by one of the larger humanitarian organizations after school.  After almost ten years, I was then introduced to Room to Read and I now work with the most talented team in the world -- the Room to Read global staff.

Our educators, at the beginning stages of life or many years into it, can play such an important role in the lives of our youth.  Dr. Rogers’ passion and excitement drew me closer to charitable work and giving.  While Dr. Rogers left the university for other classrooms, like so many do, I feel sure he would be proud to know of the impact he had on me. 

Zambia: The "Teacher Librarian"

Chingale Mudenda has been teaching for the past two years at the Lukwipa Basic School in Zambia. What she loves best, she says, is that she gets to teach children how to read and write. “I spend a lot of my time with the children in the library to help them improve their reading skills,” she says. One could scarcely miss the enthusiasm and passion on her face as she goes on to explain how she skillfully helped set up the library at her school following the librarian training she received from Room to Read. So it’s no surprise that as a result of her efforts, she became known as the "Teacher Librarian."

Asked what the new library has meant to the school, Ms. Mudenda says, “It is a valuable gift to our children. In the past, the school had no books at all. But now, thanks to Room to Read, we have nice story books and our children are excited to spend their time in the library reading.”

As she walks through the library to check on what’s going on, she is impressed to find children busy reading. When asked what her role is, Ms. Mudenda proclaims that her duty is to help and encourage pupils to spend time in the library. She talks enthusiastically about how the book-borrowing system is working and how she encourages children to borrow books and read at home with their families.

Ms. Mudenda is so passionate about enhancing children’s reading skills that she even enlisted helpers to ensure that the library remained open during the day. She took it upon herself to train two pupils as library monitors and another as a teacher library assistant.

“When I’m busy teaching, the library assistant takes over and the monitors help out during the students’ free time,” she says proudly.

Thanks to Ms. Mudenda leadership and guidance, students at Lukwipa Basic now have a library (with helpers!) they can depend on to offer lots of story books that will help them to develop good reading habits and a love of learning.

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

World Teacher's Day Tribute: Guest Post from Bangladesh

I first saw him when I was a secondary school student. A group of volunteers from “Bishwo Shahitto Kendro” (World Literature Center) came to our school to invite us to join their Book Reading Program. More out of curiosity, I joined the program.

I was handed a list of 16 books that I had to read and at the end of the course, there would be a test.  At the time, I was in a public school and we had no real library facility so I didn’t have a clue that such wonderful books existed in the world!  Those 16 books made me interested in reading even more books, especially because I scored highest in that test and received the books as a prize directly from the founder and CEO of Bishwo Shahitto Kendro, Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed – one of the greatest teachers I’ve ever had in my life. I stayed in the program for three years following that award and continued to be inspired by Professor Sayeed’s motto, “We want enlightened people.”

When I was admitted to Dhaka College, Professor Sayeed became my direct teacher. Every class that he taught excited and encouraged me.  He became not only my idol as a teacher, but my hero as an educational activist and it made me start thinking about devoting myself to the education sector which has now become my career path.

When I became Country Director of Room to Read Bangladesh, I went to Professor Sayeed to invite him to help me launch Room to Read in Bangladesh but he didn’t recognize me -– how could he with thousands of followers and students that he has made during his lifetime?  But I told my beloved teacher, “Professor Sayedd, the reasons I have reached  this leadership position in my life and am now working to promote reading among children is because of you and your Book Reading Program.  You taught me about the importance of reading and I have become positively impacted  because I followed your advice and chose to read more books.” Thankfully, he gladly accepted my invitation to be a part of our Room to Read Bangladesh launch ceremony and it made so proud to share the stage with one of my greatest mentors.

Decades had passed but Professor Sayeed still delivered his speech with the same enthusiasm and excitement about the importance of ensuring reading opportunities for children.  His speech energized me even more and I said to myself, "Yes sir, I have experienced the good side of reading and surely I will work hard to make sure that millions of children of this country can go through similar experience of enlightenment”.

-- Zaki Hasan, Country Director, Room to Read Bangladesh

Learn more about our programs in Bangladesh.