Dear Friends of Ethiopian Books for Children -
Thank you for your interest and support in EBC. We have a lot of news to share!
An exciting summer marked a new chapter for
Ethiopian Books for Children.
In July, we welcomed Gebregeorgis Yohannes,
our founder and Executive Director, to the United States for a series of meetings with our Board of Directors as well as supporters throughout Colorado, California, Kansas and Washington, D.C.
This year, we continued the successful operation of the first free Children's Library in Ethiopia, Shola Children's Library, as well as our reading center in Awassa and the mobile donkey library, pulled by the venerable Queen Helina, noblest of all the donkeys! We also expanded our book publishing to include an edition of Silly Mammo in Sidama, one of the languages spoken by children around Awassa.
EBC is also preparing to publish an English-Amharic version of my book, Pulling the Lions Tail. As an author and educator, I know how important it is for children to see their own lives reflected in words and images.
That's just the beginning! Our friends at Room to Read, a pro-literacy nonprofit in San Francisco have pledged $20,000 to publish four additional books in Ethiopian local languages if EBC can raise a matching $20,000.
This exciting challenge could place thousands of books in the hands of Ethiopian children. That is EBC's mission in action!
All of these changes are moving EBC closer to our founder, Yohannes Gebregeorgis', dream
of improving life in Ethiopia, one book at time.
As Yohannes says, books change lives.
Please read on and visit our website for more information on how you can get involved.
Thank you,
Jane Kurtz
President, Ethiopian Books for Children Board of Directors
Click here to read more about the current goals and accomplishments of EBC.
Ethiopia - The Need to Read
Do you remember the first book you loved as a child? Remember the magical experience of getting to know and love the characters and even missing them when the book was finished? For children, books can be so many things: comfort, learning tools, windows to other worlds both far-away and familiar. Books teach us that we have the right to dream.
Since EBC opened Ethiopia's first free children's library, thousands of children have experienced the joy of reading for the first time. This seemingly simple act has had a profound impact on their young lives. In Ethiopia, books represent hope. Ethiopia is a beautiful country, with breathtaking scenery and a vast richness of culture and spirit. But it faces tough challenges. Reading will equip today's children with the skills to become tomorrow's problem solvers.
There are many obstacles to education. Consider:
-58% of Ethiopians age 15 and above cannot read.
-Classes in government schools around typically have
approximately 180 students at a time.
-At present, 99% of schools in Ethiopia have no
libraries!
EBC sees the difference that just one library, one book, one story can make in the life of a child. We see it in the faces of the thousands of children who visit Shola Children's Library every month. Last year, we logged 60,000 visits. Is there any question Ethiopia's kids love books?
Please join EBC in our mission to develop a reading culture in Ethiopia by connecting children with books. We are working to encourage children's book publishing, reading, and literacy in Ethiopia, which is often listed as one of the poorest nations in the world. The average annual family earns the equivalent of about $125 per year. That is about the cost of McDonald's and a movie for an American family of four.
Here is how you can
make a difference.
Ethiopian Books for Children welcomes your tax-deductible donation in any amount, which can be made through Paypal
or by printing and mailing this
donation form.
For a limited time, with a contribution of $100 or more, we are offering a copy of Silly Mammo, EBC founder Yohannes Gebregeorgis' retelling of a beloved African folktale, or EBC President Jane Kurtz's Saba: Under the Hyena's Foot, winner of the 2004 Children's African Book Award.
Interested in Volunteering for EBC?
Click here!
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Article about John Wood, Room to Read - Huge supporter of Ethiopian Books for Children
Ex-Microsoft exec spreads the words with books for poor
Goal is 10 million volumes for libraries across Third World
By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News
October 16, 2006
BOULDER - John Wood earned plenty of money and saw plenty of the world's richest and poorest people by the time he was 35.
As a Microsoft executive, the 1986 University of Colorado graduate traveled the Pacific Rim - its glitzy capitals and its downtrodden villages - for the world's largest software company.
"I noticed this incredible gulf between the opportunities we take for granted in the First World and the utter lack of opportunities for kids in the Third World," he said.
To Wood, that gulf started with books - the dozens of books a middle-class kid reads in the United States before age 10, compared with the scarcity of books in many of the world's villages.
"It's inherently unfair to live in a world with this much abundance where there are 1 billion people in the world who lack basic literacy," he said.
So Wood took the lessons of Microsoft - think big, double your size every year - and left the corporate world for the philanthropic world.
"The question was how to create a long-term systemic change," he said. "The answer to me was to get education right, to give kids a better possibility to become self-sufficient."
His goal is to put 10 million books into nascent libraries in Third World villages and schools.
His foundation, Room to Read, started with one library in a school for 450 students in Nepal.
That was just the beginning.
"At Microsoft, the saying was 'Go bigger or go home,' " he said. "I decided we really need to go big on this."
Now, Room to Read publishes its own books in the local languages of villages in Vietnam, Nepal, Cambodia, India, South Africa and elsewhere.
The organization also builds schools and libraries, computer labs and language labs.
The books don't contain political ideology or anything about condoms or avoiding HIV or religious animosities.
"It's simple things," he said. "ABCs, one-two-three books about animals, moral lessons. But nothing heavy-handed."
This year, 75 new titles will be published, and next year 100 new ones. By the end of the year, 2 million Room to Read books will be in Third World libraries.
Despite his years at Microsoft, Wood is skeptical about electronics and computers solving the Third World's problems.
"Most of these places lack electricity or a phone grid," he said. "Throwing computers at the problem doesn't help.
"Once kids gain basic literacy, they're on their way. Ninety percent of this is low-tech."
Wood worked at Microsoft for nine years.
"I learned a lot about thinking big, about global organization and management," he said. "I was there at the right time.
"But then I said, 'OK, I'm 35. I can go the rest of my life toward making rich people richer. Or I can devote my life to helping the poor get educated.' "
His Microsoft experience opens a lot of doors in his fundraising role, he said.
"I get meetings with people who otherwise wouldn't take meetings," he said.
"The human brain is the most amazing thing ever designed," Wood said. "Get a kid at a young age looking at a book . . . they become lifelong learners. The hope is that if they continue to read for a lifetime, they become aware of the possibility of self-sufficiency and break the cycle of poverty."
Wood credits his CU undergraduate years with opening his eyes to the world at large.
"I was meeting students from China, Venezuela, reading The Economist. I had professors at the business school with a global view of the world. I traveled overseas on summer holidays. The world grew for me."
Wood was in Denver and Boulder this weekend to promote his new book, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World, and to attend the CU-Texas Tech football game.
He encourages students to help with fundraising for his efforts by having read-a-thons, bake sales or other events.
Room to Read
• For information, go to www.room toread.org, or call 415-561-3331.
Goal is 10 million volumes for libraries across Third World
By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News
October 16, 2006
BOULDER - John Wood earned plenty of money and saw plenty of the world's richest and poorest people by the time he was 35.
As a Microsoft executive, the 1986 University of Colorado graduate traveled the Pacific Rim - its glitzy capitals and its downtrodden villages - for the world's largest software company.
"I noticed this incredible gulf between the opportunities we take for granted in the First World and the utter lack of opportunities for kids in the Third World," he said.
To Wood, that gulf started with books - the dozens of books a middle-class kid reads in the United States before age 10, compared with the scarcity of books in many of the world's villages.
"It's inherently unfair to live in a world with this much abundance where there are 1 billion people in the world who lack basic literacy," he said.
So Wood took the lessons of Microsoft - think big, double your size every year - and left the corporate world for the philanthropic world.
"The question was how to create a long-term systemic change," he said. "The answer to me was to get education right, to give kids a better possibility to become self-sufficient."
His goal is to put 10 million books into nascent libraries in Third World villages and schools.
His foundation, Room to Read, started with one library in a school for 450 students in Nepal.
That was just the beginning.
"At Microsoft, the saying was 'Go bigger or go home,' " he said. "I decided we really need to go big on this."
Now, Room to Read publishes its own books in the local languages of villages in Vietnam, Nepal, Cambodia, India, South Africa and elsewhere.
The organization also builds schools and libraries, computer labs and language labs.
The books don't contain political ideology or anything about condoms or avoiding HIV or religious animosities.
"It's simple things," he said. "ABCs, one-two-three books about animals, moral lessons. But nothing heavy-handed."
This year, 75 new titles will be published, and next year 100 new ones. By the end of the year, 2 million Room to Read books will be in Third World libraries.
Despite his years at Microsoft, Wood is skeptical about electronics and computers solving the Third World's problems.
"Most of these places lack electricity or a phone grid," he said. "Throwing computers at the problem doesn't help.
"Once kids gain basic literacy, they're on their way. Ninety percent of this is low-tech."
Wood worked at Microsoft for nine years.
"I learned a lot about thinking big, about global organization and management," he said. "I was there at the right time.
"But then I said, 'OK, I'm 35. I can go the rest of my life toward making rich people richer. Or I can devote my life to helping the poor get educated.' "
His Microsoft experience opens a lot of doors in his fundraising role, he said.
"I get meetings with people who otherwise wouldn't take meetings," he said.
"The human brain is the most amazing thing ever designed," Wood said. "Get a kid at a young age looking at a book . . . they become lifelong learners. The hope is that if they continue to read for a lifetime, they become aware of the possibility of self-sufficiency and break the cycle of poverty."
Wood credits his CU undergraduate years with opening his eyes to the world at large.
"I was meeting students from China, Venezuela, reading The Economist. I had professors at the business school with a global view of the world. I traveled overseas on summer holidays. The world grew for me."
Wood was in Denver and Boulder this weekend to promote his new book, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World, and to attend the CU-Texas Tech football game.
He encourages students to help with fundraising for his efforts by having read-a-thons, bake sales or other events.
Room to Read
• For information, go to www.room toread.org, or call 415-561-3331.
Monday, October 09, 2006
Thank you from Ethiopian Books for Children
As the board and volunteers of Ethiopian Books for Children work toward their Fall goals - a big thank you to those in the D.C. metro area who have already offered their support - in one way or another.
- Global Fund for Children
- Meridian International
- Ethiopian Community Center
- Zethiopia
Thank you!
- Global Fund for Children
- Meridian International
- Ethiopian Community Center
- Zethiopia
Thank you!
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