It’s been a grim start to the year, but we have some good news. Contentworks has again renewed support for Room to Read by purchasing 500 library books for 2021. And we’re super excited about this ongoing collaboration. While working to educate children across the globe and keep young girls in school, this dedicated non-profit has also adapted to support youngsters during the pandemic. This has been no easy task, but we’ve been blown away with Room to Read’s successes. Join us as we break down Room to Read’s achievements, delve into case studies and find out what they’ve been up to recently.
Room to Read – Outstanding Achievements
Believing that world change starts with educated children, Room to Read has enjoyed outstanding achievements to-date. Here’s the latest:
- Over 18 million children worldwide have benefitted from Room to Read’s educational programs and resources. From Nepal to Tanzania, Jordan to Cambodia, Laos to Vietnam, the charity focuses largely on poor and underprivileged communities. It works closely with governments and community leaders to implement new models of education.
- Room to Read has distributed over 2 million local language books in Sri Lanka alone and has paved the way for systematic change in Indonesia. The latter has been done by partnering with local publishers to teach Indonesian authors and illustrators best practices for making engaging storybooks. Such workshops have seen new creations land in the hands of students and have put the magic back into reading.
- Over 85,000 girls have enrolled in the Girls’ Education Program. The intervenes in communities where girls are most likely to drop out of school and focusses on teaching essential life skills.
- The Room to Read Literacy Program is also highly successful. Student Sugisma Kadel was recently awarded the prize of “Best Reader in Nepal” by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Information Technology. This was for checking out a record 296 books supplied by Room to Read and written in her local language.
Room to Read’s Covid-19 Response
Room to Read is dedicated to making sure education endures even during difficult times. Global shutdowns led to school closures across the globe and with many students at risk of never returning to education, the charity dug deep to provide as much support as possible.
- Broadcast educational TV programs to more than 117 million households.
- Broadcast radio programs to more than 13 million households.
- Sent more than 4 million direct messages to teachers, students and families via email, text message or messaging apps.
- Delivered physical printed materials to assist with home learning. Literary resources were delivered to over 500,000 children in Asia alone. Sadly, Room to Read fears illiteracy rates may rise for the first time in two decades if children in Asia are not supported throughout lockdowns with additional deliveries of materials. Therefore, they’re going the extra mile to get materials to families who lack a computer, let alone an internet connection.
When it comes to Girls’ education specifically, Room to Read has been monitoring students carefully. More than 28,000 students have been surveyed for dropout risk factors and more than 72,000 remote learning sessions have been delivered to girls.
Speaking of the hard work carried out by Room to Read, Contentworks Director, Niki Nikolaou said:
“We’re living through challenging times and it’s important to focus on making a positive impact. We’re extremely impressed by Room to Read and are thrilled to continue supporting their efforts.”
Creative Director, Charlotte Day added:
“Room to Read encompasses all the things we are passionate about. Books, literacy and equal rights for women and girls. We love being a part of their success and look forward to sharing updates through the year.”
If you would like to donate you can do so via this link. Make a one-off donation or show monthly support with a fixed amount. To put things into perspective, just $50 can teach a child to read and write for a year. We’ll be sharing regular Room to Read updates throughout the year on our blog and across social media, so watch this space.
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