This will be the 17th post I’ve done about WorldReader—if you put its name in the search bar up there, you’ll find this post and 16 others…
They sent me an email the other day with this exciting headline:Our Read To Kids Partnership Reaches 200,000!
from WorldReader:
“Two years ago, we asked ourselves a question: could we use mobile phones, local digital books, and local partnerships to get entire communities to read with their kids?
“Today, we’re incredibly proud to announce that over the course of our Read to Kids pilot program, co-created with Pearson, we’ve reached 200,000 families in and around Delhi, India with the life-changing power of reading.”
If you’re pressed for time and not able to take that last link, do, please, watch at least the first short video at the end of this post…
A bit more from WorldReader:
“Thanks to Pearson and to each of [our donors], we’re learning how to support parents to create a culture of reading in the home— a child’s first school. With what we learn, we hope to empower millions more families around the world, from their first days and throughout their lives. Each step gets us closer to realizing our shared vision that everyone can be a reader.”
If you take that last link you’ll find 6 e-books that you can donate for $1.00 each and have them sent directly to students in Ghana and Kenya…
Oh! You can also decide to send multiple copies of each book to multiple students :-)
It looks like it might be only for folks in the U.S.A.; but, they do accept Dollars, Euros, and Pounds…
And, the books (as you’ll see if you take the last link) are stories that take place in the country the students are from…
Worldreader is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Barcelona, London and Accra.
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I’ve written aboutWorldReaderbefore and taking that last link will show you a number of past posts about this critically important organization (plus you’ll see this post, since I tag all my posts and, the Top Tags widget{down a bit on the left} is the Best Way to find stuff on this blog...) [if you’re on a phone, find something like “show desktop site” in the menu…]
One of WorldReader’s main tenets is:
“A generation of children are waiting to become scientists, doctors, engineers, teachers. We help them reach their potential through reading.”
And, since 2010, they’ve reached nearly 5,500,000 children with their programs.
They’ve recently been working hard on a new Initiative, Read to Kids:
“Read to Kids is promoting reading to children amongst parents and caregivers in Delhi, India. It is a two year pilot in Delhi State in India that seeks to promote pre-literacy skills by encouraging parents to read to and with their young children (age 0-6) and by empowering them to do so by giving them access to a free digital library of high quality, locally relevant books and educational materials via their mobile phones.”
“Children are the most vulnerable victims of the Syrian Refugee crisis. And while host countries like Jordan are taking generous measures to improve access to education for these children, many are at risk of being left behind.
“At Worldreader we believe every child should be able to benefit from the power of reading. That’s why we are proud to announce that we are building on the success of our Read to Kids program in India by expanding it to conflict-impacted families in Jordan.”
It’s easy to encourage folks, who are able, to Donate to WorldReader; but, I hope this post and the videos below will encourage you to share this information about how WorldReader is taking the Empowering Act of Reading to the most needy families and children on our planet…
And, in case you wonder if most folks would really read on Mobile devices:
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Google Author Page For Private Comments or Questions, Email: amzolt {at} gmail {dot} com
“My corporate life had taken its toll. I’ll spare you the details, but I found myself curled up in the fetal position in a hotel room in New York City. I called my wife and said ‘I can’t do this anymore!’
“By coincidence I had previously committed to going on a volunteer trip to Honduras in a few weeks’ time. Our project involved helping to build a library in the middle of the Honduran jungle. That’s what got the wheels turning in my mind.”
>>>So, Brad, how does GoneReading work?
“GoneReading is a lifestyle brand of merchandise and gifts for book lovers like you and me. Our current offering consists of original designs, each coupled with a slogan to pique the interest of readers…Everything is available for purchase at the GoneReading Store.
“We’re donating 100% of the company profits in perpetuity to fund new libraries in the developing world. We actually wrote that into our corporate charter.”
There are around a billion fellow humans who don’t read because they can’t get books…
Folks like Brad are doing something about it and helping folks like me and you do something, too…
Here are just a few of the categories of gifts for readers you can buy and have your purchase help Brad help others build libraries:
And, there are 19 more categories of gifts at the GoneReading Store:-)
Plus, on their FAQ page, you’ll find this Mission Statement:
“We envision a world where everyone has the opportunity to better themselves through the open pursuit of the dreams and ideals of their choosing. We envision a world where such opportunity exists for everyone, regardless of their country of origin or locale. Our mission is to bring the world closer to this vision by helping to ensure that everyone has open access to the reading materials they want and need. We accomplish this mission by providing new funds for reading-related charities that focus their work across the developing world.”
And, here’s a very excited Karen Blue reviewing a few things from GoneReading:-) As you watch, don’t forget this quote from Brad:
“We’re donating 100% of the company profits in perpetuity to fund new libraries in the developing world.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you don’t see a way to comment (or, “reply”) after this post, try up there at the top right… Read Some Strange Fantasies Grab A Free Novel…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For Private Comments or Questions, Email: amzolt {at} gmail {dot} com
“An A to Z list of world problems that could be eased by being able to read is at the heart of a campaign launched in the U.K….an international initiative to raise public awareness and support for efforts to combat illiteracy.”
Another:
“But what immediately struck us was a near total lack of awareness. Ask people to name the world’s top problems and they are far more likely to mention others, like hunger. Yet scratch the surface, and illiteracy is a factor in them all.”
One more:
“The idea was to exploit the power of juxtaposition, according to art director Julia Ferrier. The appeal of a pictorial alphabet lay in the power of contrasting the simplicity of a children’s ABC-style of approach with the stark reality of the global problems illiteracy feeds.”
“Illiteracy affects over 757 million people worldwide and has an impact on global development. Although it is a largely invisible issue, the repercussions of this can be seen in everyday struggles such as poverty, gender inequality, and access to basic civil rights.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you don’t see a way to comment (or, “reply”) after this post, try up there at the top right… Read Some Strange Fantasies Grab A Free Novel…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For Private Comments or Questions, Email: amzolt {at} gmail {dot} com
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