Room to Read
The San Francisco- based non-profit organization Room to Read was founded in 2000 by the American John Wood .
founding
John Wood was a top manager at Microsoft for many years . A trip to Nepal in the late 1990s prompted Wood to quit his job at Microsoft and turn to development aid.
“We know how to get money to stop boredom. Having money in the bank is no fun. It's fun to start a school with it. "
organization
The organization is tightly organized by Wood like a commercial enterprise and according to the motto "It is all about results" (Eng. "Only results count"). Projects are treated like business - with measurable results. The organization itself is lean and, according to its own information, has an administrative burden of around 17 percent of the donation amount. At Room to Read, donors are treated like investors, making projects possible that directly show what will be achieved with the donations at Room to Read.
A third of all donations worldwide are collected from over 7,500 volunteers who organize themselves in 52 Room to Read Chapters.
aims
The aim is to give children early access to schools and books. Room to Read is convinced that education can improve the economic and social conditions of families, communities, countries and future generations. By 2015 Room to Read aims to provide ten million children in developing countries with access to education.
Areas
The organization works with local communities in nine developing countries (Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, South Africa and Zambia) to initiate solid educational opportunities. This includes the construction of libraries and schools, the publication of children's books in the respective national languages and the awarding of school grants for girls. Room to Read's holistic and multi-layered approach helps children receive a sound education that will benefit them for a lifetime.
Results so far
- Construction of 1,442 school buildings
- Creation of 11,246 libraries
- 9.4 million new children's books published in 22 languages. Four of them are minority languages
- 10,590 girls take part in the girls' scholarship program
- 149 girls have successfully completed the scholarship program
Awards
In addition to numerous prizes such as the Sand Hill Group Foundation Social Entrepreneurship Award and the Time Asia Heroes Award, the organization has won the Social Capitalist Award four years in a row .
Books
- John Wood: Creating room to read, New York 2014, Penguin
- John Wood: From Microsoft in the Himalaya, Hamburg 2008
Web links
- Official website
- Projects for which donations are collected in Germany
- Article at faz.net
- Interview with John Wood
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.tagesspiegel.de/wirtschaft/room-to-read-von-microsoft-in-den-himalaya/1049038.html
- ↑ Sebastian Balzter: From manager to do-gooder . In: FAZ.net . October 8, 2007, accessed October 13, 2018 .
- ↑ John Wood: Rich through Giving. In: Focus Online . November 7, 2008, accessed October 14, 2018 .
- ↑ - ( Memento of the original from May 31, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.worldcat.org/title/creating-room-to-read-a-story-of-hope-in-the-battle-for-global-literacy/oclc/849718935&referer=brief_results
- ↑ http://www.worldcat.org/title/von-microsoft-in-den-himalaya-bucher-fur-eine-bessere-welt/oclc/880358275&referer=brief_results
