know, educated women have healthier
families and take a role in society as
leaders.” With their Girls’ Education
Programme, girls are supported to
complete secondary school, they are
introduced to women mentors who
guide and inspire them, and they are
taught to develop themselves in life-
skills workshops.
THEIR APPROACH
According to Wood, “It’s a part of our
founding DNA to make sure we are
empowering the local people and
communities as much as possible.
An organisation that arrives in an area
for a few months, tells everyone what to
do and then leaves is not going to make
long-term and sustainable change.”
Room to Read works with local
families, schools, communities, and
governments. They prioritise the
employment of locals (88 percent of
their employees worldwide are local
nationals) who know their area and
community. Room to Read teaches
them the skills to become leaders and
empowers them in their responsibility
to design and implement projects. They
also get the entire community involved,
as people give up their time to work on
projects, such as painting the walls of
a library. These kind of activities may
seem comparatively minor within theWHAT YOU CAN DO
You can volunteer at one of Room to
Read’s fundraising chapters (there are
four in Asia Pacific – in Hong Kong,
Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney) or attend
one of their fundraising events. You can
also opt to raise funds in creative ways of
your own choosing. Some of their events
to date include:HOST A READ-A-THON
Read books to raise money. Ask family,
friends and neighbours to support your
reading goal through pledges – all
while improving your own reading skillsBEERS FOR BOOKS
Choose a venue and host a happy hourBOOK SWAP
Give-a-book, take-a-book. This can be
organised just about anywhere. Guests
pay a small entry fee, socialise and
discuss their favourite book, and then
each person chooses a book to take home“It’s a part of our founding
DNA to make sure we are
empowering the local
people and communities
as much as possible”
John Woodbigger scheme of the organisation’s
agenda, but each one has a significant
effect in that the communities have
a sense of ownership of their school
or library. This kind of engagement
ensures that the literacy and gender
equality programmes are sustainable in
the long run.