“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
Room to Read raises money to build Libraries and works with local publishers in effort to eliminate Illiteracy & Gender Inequality in our lifetime. They have since benefited 20 million children to date. Kids with education have a far likely chance of propelling out of poverty than those with no education, especially girls. Many poverty-stricken families do not find it necessary to educate their daughters as they are seen as burden until they get married off. Room to Read believes that girls hold up half the sky, and that by educating them, it will only help the local economy as well as the global economy as a whole.
Empowering Local Communities
Room to Read hires local teachers instead of outside volunteers to teach through effectively-proven academic curriculum. With it’s proven success in hiring student’s test scores, the curriculum has been adopted by many other NGO’s through Room to Read’s “Accelerator Program”.
They also hire local residents as Life Skills Mentors, Librarians, Country Directors, local writers, publishers & artists to write culturally relevant books in the local language. This goes along with their policy of encouraging, training Self-Sustainibility within a local economy.
Get Involved Locally with Room to Read!
Room to Read does not take outside volunteers because they want to empower and employ the local community. I highly recommend getting involved at a local level to fundraise and raise awareness. There are opportunities to visit the schools once you become a chapter leader. And there are also designated dates throughout the year for other visitors to avoid disrupting classrooms.
Room to Read is rated 4/4 Stars on Charity Navigator, the most reputable ratings website for Non-profits. Their ranking puts Room to Read in the top 1% of all charities on Transparency & Efficiency.
Room to Read Media
Recommended Books:
- Leaving Microsoft to Change the World
- Creating Room to Read (both written by the founder, John Wood)
Recommended Documentaries:
- Half the Sky
- Girl Rising (features Room to Read’s work in Vietnam and Nepal)
Watch Videos on the Students, Teachers & Staff on: Youtube.com/RoomtoRead
$25 to Fill a Bookshelf
Spark students’ curiosity and imagination by providing 25 children’s books.
Your gift can fill a shelf in a school library with colorful and exciting storybooks created in-country by local authors and artists.
$50 to Teach a Child to Read
Your support can provide children with a trained teacher and engaging educational materials for a year.
$300 to Keep a Girl in School
Your gift can provide a young woman with mentoring, life skills training and material support for one year so she can stay in school and thrive.