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Erin Ganju is the co-founder and CEO of Room to Read; an organisation that believes world change starts with educated children. Room to Read seeks to transform the lives of millions of children in developing countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. Since 2000 Room to Read has supported over 5.1 million children by providing better access to education and has built 1,442 schools and established 10,759 bilingual libraries.

What made you leave the corporate world of Goldman Sachs and get involved in Room to Read? After leaving Goldman Sachs I went and worked for Unilever in Vietnam, setting up their Vietnam operation and while there I set up 3 factories and employed 25,000 Vietnam locals. I got to see firsthand what impact foreign direct investment had on developing communities and how education can truly transform communities. This experience gave me immense motivation to continue to work in the area.

Room to Read has 2 objectives - literacy and gender equality in education. Why is it so important for girls to be educated? What impact does this have on a community? I think educating girls should be a tactical decision as it produces a huge return on investment. Educating girls decreases infant and maternal mortality and family and community health problems. Every year a girl continues in high school her opportunities are increased by 15%. So if a girl reaches the end of high school she is presented with totally different opportunities than if she was not to attend high school. Educating girls is simply smart economics.

What does putting books in the hands of the most disadvantaged children in the world mean to them? A great part of my job is visiting the Room to Read libraries around the world. I recently spent 3 weeks in Vietnam and Cambodia talking to the children and staff in our schools and libraries.  In a school in Cambodia a young boy asked me "what the ocean tasted like?" He had seen the ocean in a book, and wanted to know what it is like. Books open these children to other possibilities - they can travel through books. In a very poor province in Cambodia a school was talking about a book about street lights. The children in this school had never even seen a street light.  A young boy said he dreams of seeing street lights and wants to stay in school and get a good job so one day he can travel and see street lights. Books open their minds and encourage them to learn.

Room to Read’s in-country operations are run by local teams. Is this an important part of your strategy? Yes, this is the key to how we have been able to grow so quickly. By investing in local people we are creating social visionaries within communities. Local people understand the complexities of the community and how to make things happen. Room to Read can bring more resources, but local people know how best to use them. Using local people ensures that a library in Lao is the right library for Lao and that it will be most effective. We do not want a cookie cutter approach.

Room to Read has over 52 chapters in 16 countries around the world. Can you please explain the chapter system for us? The Chapter system is amazing. Room to Read have been operating for over 10 years and have found the chapter system the best way to get people excited and involved. In the early days we asked people in different cities to hold a fundraiser and get their friends and colleagues together. Now, one third of the annual Room to Read budget is funded by these chapters. This chapter system allows us to access people we otherwise would not have access to, it creates networks. All our volunteers have normal day jobs, but being involved in Room to Read is a vehicle for them to contribute.

How is Room to Read funded? Can you explain the funding model to us? Room to Read is privately funded; 65% from individuals and the rest comes from corporates and foundations. We believe we are so successful because individuals or groups can ‘adopt a project’, so they can sponsor a particular library or group of girls. They receive feedback about what their contributions are doing and in return feel a 1-to-1 connection with the difference they are making. Also the price point is reasonable, most of the countries we work in people earn less than a $1 a day, so people’s money can go a long way and they can see that.

How do you measure whether or not you’re making a difference? We do this in 2 parts. Firstly, we invest in monitoring and evaluation. In each country we have employees who monitor each school and library. They go into the schools talk to the students and teachers. They are also able to provide onsite training to fix any down fall they see. Secondly anecdotal evidence shows the difference we are making. This is harder, as what we are doing creates generational change, but we can certainly see change in communities over the years.  I have met girls who were very reserved, shy and quiet; when you address them they hardly say anything back. Then I come back in a few years and talk to the same girls, who now have matured, have self confidence are taking leadership roles and learning life skills. We now have over 10,500 girls in our girls program so that is a whole generation we are changing. I recently had a powerful experience. I was sitting in on a discussion that was facilitated by a girl who graduated the 12^th grade. The discussion was about gender and was between some girls and their parents.  The group of girls were so confident in telling their parents their aspirations for the future and you could see that some of the parents were taken aback that this was their daughter speaking with such vigour, but you could also see that they were proud.

Room to Read would have a lot of success stories. Do you have a favourite? Nga was from a program in the Mekong Delta which is in the An Giang province in South Vietnam.  She was from a farming family that earned less than $1 a day and she was 1 of 5 children. She was the first person in her family to make it to high school and graduate. She did so well at school she received a scholarship to attend university. She is now studying law and wants to become a lawyer to ‘fight for the rights of the agricultural worker’. It is amazing to see the impact education has had on her life and how it has totally changed her circumstances. Stories like this are inspiring, because not only has this one girl changed her life and the life of her family, but now she is going to make a bigger difference too.

Visit Room to Read to learn more and to contribute to the difference they are making.

www.roomtoread.org/australia

australia@roomtoread.org