I recently came across an organisation called Room to Read which is working in Zambia, South Africa, Tanzania, Laos, Bangladesh, India, Cambodia, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Their aim is a simple one: We envision a world in which all children can pursue a quality education, reach their full potential and contribute to their community and the world. To this end they have focussed on literacy and gender equality in education.
What has impressed me in reading about them is that they employ local teams to implement the programs - 'local teams who are personally invested in their nation’s educational progress, and familiar with the challenges ahead. They speak the language, know the customs, and understand what it takes to implement each program successfully.' Once this happens the success of programmes such as these is a whole lot more likely.
To date, according to their website, they have achieved the following:
| Schools | 1,556 |
| Libraries | 13,152 |
| Books Published | 707 |
| Books Distributed | 11 3 million |
| Girls' Education Participants | 15,388 |
| Children Benefited | 6 million |
Pretty impressive.
Below are some pictures from their website as well as from the website Passports with Purpose who last year worked with Room to Read Zambia and are now busy building libraries with monies raised.
