Rural Education and Development (READ) Global
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Mission Statement
We are a non-profit organization working in rural Asia to build community library and resource centers (READ Centers) and seed small businesses. Our Centers offer programs in education, economic empowerment, technology, and women's empowerment.
About This Cause
READ (Rural Education and Development) Global believes that empowering rural communities is key to alleviating global poverty. READ partners with rural villages to establish community library and resource centers (READ Centers) as vehicles for social and economic transformation. The organization works in countries where a majority of people rely on subsistence agriculture to make a living, and one in four people live on less than $1.25 per day. More than half of women are illiterate in South Asia, and in the rural communities where READ works, few economic opportunities exist. Centers are owned and operated by the local community, and offer training programs to people of all ages and backgrounds in the areas of education, economic empowerment, technology, and women's empowerment. With each Center, READ also seeds a for-profit "sustaining enterprise" — a small business that generates income to fund the ongoing costs of the Center, while providing the community with much-needed services, resources and local jobs. Since 1991, the READ model has evolved from the simple idea of a rural library to a thriving network of READ Centers and sustaining enterprises. To date, 71 READ Centers and 103 sustaining enterprises have been established across Bhutan, India and Nepal, providing access to more than 2 million rural villagers. Every day, rural villagers are visiting READ Centers and improving their reading skills, gaining new livelihood skills to help them earn a living, learning how to access the Internet or accessing critical health information. By 2014, READ Global aims to build a comprehensive information communications technology (ICT) program, introduce alternative energy to all new centers, and create more high-profit generating enterprises. For more information, visit www.readglobal.org.