Room to Read: Los Angeles Chapter

Room to Read: Los Angeles Chapter Room to Read LA Chapter meets the 2nd Tuesday of every month to brainstorm innovative ways to raise money for our cause. Please join us!

We accomplish this by building dozens and eventually hundreds of libraries, populating them with local-language children’s books and providing scholarships to hundreds of girls who otherwise would not get an education. Sign up here to receive updates & meeting times! https://www.roomtoread.org/volunteer?chid=33

COVID-19 is spreading at a devastating rate in India, Room to Read’s largest country of operations, as well as numerous ...
05/25/2021

COVID-19 is spreading at a devastating rate in India, Room to Read’s largest country of operations, as well as numerous low-income countries that we work in across Asia who are also struggling with a crippling rise in cases.

As an organization dedicated to education, we are doing everything we can to ensure that children are not left behind and learning continues amid these crises, and we need your help.

Education is a vital source of stability, comfort and – perhaps most importantly – hope. As the pandemic worsens in some parts of the world, our work is proving to be invaluable as we continue to provide the lifeline of remote learning.

Our 600+ staff on the ground in India, for example, are connecting with children and their families as they cope with COVID-19 suffering and losses, to provide both crucial safety information and educational resources.

Across all the countries we work in, our community mentors are reaching out to girls to help them use their life skills to navigate mounting challenges. Qualities like communication, perseverance and resilience, which we foster through our life skills education, are crucial as girls and their families struggle to maintain some degree of equilibrium and stability during this turbulent period.

We have the tools and the expertise to support children through this incredibly challenging time, but we need your support to reach the children who are suffering the most.

That is why we established our Education Resilience Fund, to ensure we have the resources we need to continue this critical work. Please consider donating to help us meet our greatest needs and support the children who are relying on education to help them get through this challenging time with hope for their futures.

We are deeply grateful for your support during this education emergency.

Young girls are most affected by this pandemic. We need to do our best to keep them in school & educated. 👧🏽 📚
03/25/2021

Young girls are most affected by this pandemic. We need to do our best to keep them in school & educated. 👧🏽 📚

Existing inequalities and challenges to girls’ education have been heightened over the past year as the impacts of the C...
03/08/2021

Existing inequalities and challenges to girls’ education have been heightened over the past year as the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic sparked a global education crisis for the world's most vulnerable children. Families who were already struggling financially have been faced with increasingly difficult decisions about their children's education. Especially their girls. Many girls are still at risk of permanently dropping out of school.

Want to help? Fundraise or donate to RoomtoRead.org or any NGO advocating for basic education or gender inequality.

Happy Women’s Day! 🌺
03/08/2021

Happy Women’s Day! 🌺

A 2018 study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison showed that 50% of children’s literature depicted characters that we...
07/30/2020

A 2018 study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison showed that 50% of children’s literature depicted characters that were white, while only 10% showcased Black characters. Even poorer were the portrayals of Asian or Pacific Islanders (7%), Latinx (5%) and those of the First Nations (1%). strives to change these statistics with diversity in characters, cultures, physical abilities and more, because we know that books can help children recognize our shared humanity and experience a world beyond our own.

Meet Keya. She lives in Cox’s Bazar, a region in Bangladesh that has taken in nearly one million Rohingya refugees in re...
06/25/2020

Meet Keya. She lives in Cox’s Bazar, a region in Bangladesh that has taken in nearly one million Rohingya refugees in recent years. In response, Room to Read partnered with UNICEF to support education for children inside the refugee camp, and we also work with the host community, where Keya lives, and where rising poverty levels have placed an unequal burden on girls.

Keya has faced immense barriers to education in an area where girls face pressure to marry young along with regular threats to their safety, and where menstruation can make it difficult to go to school.

Through Room to Read’s Girls’ Education Program, Keya participated in life skills lessons with her peers, including sessions on reproductive health, and receives support from her Room to Read social mobilizer, a trained female mentor from her community.

“I have learned how to be independent, self-sufficient and how to prepare to be self-reliant,” Keya said.

These skills, along with continued support from Room to Read, are helping Keya persevere during the pandemic. Her father lost his job and the family has no source of income, but Keya remains focused on her studies.

“I love Room to Read,” Keya said. “They help me in so many ways. It was through Room to Read that I got to know about the distance learning classes on TV... I don’t think other girls are getting this type of support, but I don’t have contact with others these days. Room to Read stays beside us during times of crisis such as this and I appreciate the support.”

With all the violence, injustice, and unequal opportunity in the world, it can be easy to feel helpless. But through your support of Room to Read, you are giving hope to children like Keya through the enduring power of education.

Watch her story - Link in Bio!

June 20 is World Refugee Day.According to the United Nations, every minute 20 people leave everything behind to escape w...
06/16/2020

June 20 is World Refugee Day.

According to the United Nations, every minute 20 people leave everything behind to escape war, persecution or terror, contributing to the staggering 70.8 million people who are forcibly displaced worldwide. World Refugee Day, on June 20th, was created to bring awareness to the plight of refugees, and to call a global community to action.

Room to Read supports refugee communities, as a part of our continuing mission to bring equity in education, and provide children everywhere the same access to a quality education. We currently distribute high-quality Arabic storybooks to Syrian refugees in Jordanian camps, and partner with UNICEF to educate Rohingya children whose families have taken shelter in nearby Bangladesh.

Room to Read's Work with Rohingya Refugees in Cox's Bazar, a coastal region in southern Bangladesh that experienced a large refugee influx, taking in nearly one million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. The video is presented by Rakhi Sarkar, Room to Read Bangladesh’s Country Director (link in bio)

RoomtoRead.org’s May 18 blog post portrays the joy, perseverance and determination of Keya, a Girls’ Education Program participant from Cox’s Bazar. Keya doesn’t know when she will return to school. Her father also lost his job and Keya’s family currently has no source of income, yet what remains constant are her individual mentoring sessions and support from her Room to Read mentor, Bobita.

Your support and the support of your networks for refugee communities through Room to Read is the driving change we need to bring education to every child. When children learn, they are able to drive change in their families, their communities and the world.

As leaders of a learning organization, Room to Read’s Board of Directors, leadership team and staff have been thoughtful...
06/09/2020

As leaders of a learning organization, Room to Read’s Board of Directors, leadership team and staff have been thoughtfully listening and processing the recent events in the U.S. and the wave of response to George Floyd’s death, and countless other Black lives senselessly lost, in cities around the world. A collective voice is calling for racial justice and social reform in support of the Black community. Room to Read stands in solidarity with this movement as a 20-year advocate for change on behalf of disenfranchised, marginalized and oppressed populations across the globe.

We believe unapologetically that Black Lives Matter. We believe in equality for people of all races, religions, sexual orientations, cultures, ages and genders.

We need to dedicate ourselves to building systems that embrace the gifts of all humanity and to dismantling systems of discrimination. Room to Read will continue to listen to the experiences of those at the forefront of the justice movements, reflect on how our organizational values and practices combat discrimination, and act responsibly as a member of the international development community.

At our core, Room to Read stands for equality, diversity and inclusivity. We seek to affect systemic change and build a fair and equitable world through the power of education. We know that many of you are searching for ways to cope and, more importantly, take action to repair what is broken in our society. We have found the below resources helpful in our own journey of reflection, and we hope they educate and inspire you as a like-minded change-maker:
📚
"Diverse books are bridges to embracing our differences," op-ed by Christabel Pinto

"Books can rewire our brains, and connect us all," op-ed by Geetha Murali

“Anti-Racist Reading List” from Ibram X. Kendi

“These Books Can Help You Explain Racism and Protest to Your Kids”, The New York Times

“Anti-racist books for children and teens”, The Guardian

In solidarity 🌟,

Mary Byron
Room to Read Board Chair

Without Equality, there cannot be Liberty.
06/09/2020

Without Equality, there cannot be Liberty.

Due to poor internet connectivity, conducting classes online is not a practical solution for many of the low-income comm...
06/03/2020

Due to poor internet connectivity, conducting classes online is not a practical solution for many of the low-income communities that works in.

To reach our youngest students worldwide, the organization is focusing on radio broadcasts – a more common and accessible medium. For example, in Rwanda, Room to Read has developed audio lessons for students and is collaborating with the Rwanda Education Board to develop scripted lessons for students to follow. Help support the effort to make sure that !

Thank you all, and have a wonderful week!

Best,
Room to Read LA Chapter

“Virtue knows no Color Lines.”-Ida B. Wells
06/03/2020

“Virtue knows no Color Lines.”
-Ida B. Wells

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