This group is for JET Programme (www.jetprogramme.org) participants interested in volunteering for the international nonprofit organization Room to Read (www.roomtoread.org), to receive volunteering information and to share ideas about volunteering.

Room to Read partners with local communities throughout the developing world to provide quality educational opportunities by establishing libraries, creating local language children’s literature, constructing schools, providing education to girls, and establishing computer labs. They seek to intervene early in the lives of children in the belief that education empowers people to improve socioeconomic conditions for their families, communities, countries, and future generations. Through the opportunities that only education can provide, Room to Read strives to break the cycle of poverty, one child at a time.

Starting in Nepal in 2000, Room to Read has now expanded throughout Asia, including India, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka. Since its conception, it has impacted the lives of over 1.7 million children by constructing 442 schools, establishing over 5,160 libraries, publishing 226 new children’s local language titles, funding 4,036 long term girls’ scholarships, and establishing 155 computer labs.

JET Programme participants support Room to Read in a three-fold way: through fundraising initiatives, by educating about global issues in our classrooms, and by visiting Room to Read sites and experiencing first-hand the important work of the organization.