Room to Read: World Change Starts with Educated Children
“Nearly 800 million people are illiterate and 2/3 of them are women and girls.” — John Wood, Room to Read Founder
Co-founded in 2000 by John Wood, Erin Ganju, and Dinesh Shrestha in Nepal, Room to Read has grown from supporting fewer than 100,000 children in its early years to an expansive literacy program that has benefited 11.5 million children across 10 countries in Asia and Africa.
From building libraries and schools, to engaging communities on the ground, Room to Read has provided girls in developing countries with access to literacy that enables and empowers them to define their own destinies.
We invited Room to Read founder, John Wood, and Director of Girls’ Education Program, Lucina Di-Meco, to talk about the incredible work that they have done, and continue to do in Room to Read.
How did Room to Read start out?
John Wood:
Room to Read was founded in 2000 after I took a trip that changed my life. In 1998, I was on a much-needed holiday in Nepal, when I met a man who offered to show me a local school. There were 450 kids who could have been learning to read, but they didn’t have any children’s books. They had only a handful of old paperbacks that were left behind by travelers, and even these were kept under lock and key.
After noticing my surprise, the headmaster turned and uttered a sentence that would change my life forever: “Perhaps Sir, you will someday come back with books”.
At that moment the seeds were planted for Room to Read. The empty library I saw there inspired me to leave my corporate position and take on a mission to bring literacy and education to children around the world. Quality of life, health and economic opportunity — all depend on education, and an education crisis exists in low-income countries.
Nearly 800 million people are illiterate and 2/3 of them are women and girls. Even with increased access to school, many children aren’t learning the basics while in primary school due to under-prepared teachers, inadequate funds, lack of books, and school infrastructure challenges. And it gets worse for girls in secondary school, when female student enrollment sharply drops because of societal and economic challenges.
Working in partnership with local communities in the world’s poorest regions, we envision a world in which all children can pursue a quality education that enables them to reach their full potential and contribute to their communities and the world.
How has Room to Read grown over time?
Our Literacy Program has made a difference in over 18,500 government schools. We have data showing that children check out approximately 8 million books annually and learn how to read with fluency and comprehension at a greater rate than they would without the presence of our program. Our Girls’ Education Program has supported more than 38,000 girls, and 93% either remained in school or graduated from secondary school in 2015.
We are now focused on scaling our impact even further in the countries where we work and beyond for long-term systemic change in literacy and gender equality in education.
We do this through our core programmatic work, and we also do this through Room to Read Accelerator, our technical assistance unit that shares and trains other organizations and government partners to implement similar delivery models. This amplifies Room to Read’s reach into additional regions and countries. We are now working in Grenada, Indonesia, Rwanda and Jordan through Room to Read Accelerator.
What is the most challenging project Room to Read has taken on?
John Wood:
As we grew rapidly to other countries outside Nepal, our internal assessments and early cross-national evaluations demonstrated that children were still unable to read at grade level and were not reading for pleasure.
Attributing this fact to the lack of culturally relevant reading materials, in 2003 we evolved from English-language book donations and began publishing quality, age-appropriate books written in local languages. Because many of the countries where we worked lacked such local-language reading materials, we began to identify and train local authors and illustrators to produce these types of materials. To date we have published more than 1,200 original, local language children’s titles.
Tell us about the people you meet through Room to Read projects
John Wood:
As founder, I am constantly on the road traveling and meeting with Room to Read investors and speaking publicly on behalf of the organization. But my favorite times are when I am in communities that we serve and meet the children who benefit from our programs. Girls like Tay Thi from Vietnam, whose parents burned her textbooks not once, but twice to try to deter her from continuing her studies. Tay Thi persevered and through support from Room to Read’s Girls’ Education Program stayed in school and went on to graduate college to realize her dream of becoming a teacher. These children understand better than anyone that education unlocks a better future for themselves and their families.
Governments and people overall are realizing the amazing ripple effect of investing in girls’ education. There is no better way to ensure equitable and sustainable development.
Lucina Di-Meco
What are your strongest beliefs about girls’ education?
Lucina Di-Meco:
I believe education is about choice, freedom and oportunity. Education provided me with the possibility to understand who I was and freely chose my path. It also provided me with the opportunity to realize my choices. Our Girls’ Education Program seeks to empower young women and help them develop the key life skills to find their own individual voices and life paths.
What part of working with Room to Read do you find most rewarding?
Lucina Di-Meco:
The most rewarding part of my work at Room to Read is working with a talented and committed group of people in the field, which include “social mobilizers” who are local women that act as role models, advisors and advocates for girls in our program. These individuals are dedicated to improving the lives of girls in their own communities and region, supporting girls emotionally and guiding them through both individual and group mentoring sessions.
Where do you see Room to Read five years from now?
John Wood:
Room to Read will continue to lead a global movement for literacy and gender equality in education.
We will continue to work in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations, and governments to develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children. And we will continue to support girls to complete secondary school with the relevant life skills to succeed in school and beyond. We will continue to work hard and to work smart to achieve our bold goals. In 2015, we met our goal of reaching 10 million children five years earlier than we had anticipated. By 2020, we aspire to impact 15 million children.
Room to Read continues to open doors for millions of children through data-driven literacy programs and community outreach projects. To learn more about their story, visit their Facebook page and YouTube channel.
