Room to Read
Room to Read's mission is to provide under-privileged children with an opportunity to gain the lifelong gift of education. It was founded on the belief that education is crucial to breaking the cycle of poverty and taking control of one's life. We currently focus our efforts on Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, South Africa, and Zambia; countries with a desperate lack of resources to educate their children.
Our successful strategy for addressing the lack of educational opportunities for children in the developing world includes:
- Partnering with villages to build schools
- Establishing libraries and filling them with donated English books and local language books published by Room to Read
- Providing computer and language labs to improve employment skills
- Providing comprehensive, long-term scholarships for under-privileged girls, including fully sponsored school fees and supplies, health expenses, mentoring and tutoring, transportation, field trips and workshops
To increase the likelihood for success and long-term sustainability, Room to Read enlists community involvement and co-investment through our Challenge Grant model. Villages often raise a significant portion of the overall expenditure in the form of dedicated space, labor, materials, and/or small amounts of cash. These challenge grants act as catalysts for community building while also maximizing the local participation and expertise brought to our programs.
Our long-term goal is to build 20,000 schools and libraries, thereby educating 10 million children in the developing world. Since our inception in 2000, Room to Read has impacted the lives of over 1.7 million children by:
- Constructing 442 schools
- Establishing over 5,160 libraries
- Publishing 226 new local language children's titles representing over 2 million books
- Donating over 2.2 million English language children's books
- Funding 4,036 long-term girls' scholarships
- Establishing 155 computer and language labs
Room to Read operates efficiently and with very low overhead. We are committed to ensuring that the lion's share of each donation is put to use where it is most needed: our programs!
To learn more and see photos of our incredible students, please visit our website: www.roomtoread.org
