By David Risher One question many nonprofits ask themselves is: To increase our impact, how much should we collaborate with governments? In many cases it’s a leading question: most of the areas that people like us hope to improve—health, societal wealth, education—are right in the middle of what governments should ensure for their citizens. So … Continue Reading →
Worldreader’s large-scale projects always involve considerable monitoring and evaluation to examine how e-readers and access to digital books help children read more and read better. Our latest work in Ghana takes this effort even further. In 2010 when we launched our first pilot program, iREAD, we focused on providing access to required curriculum textbooks, supplementary … Continue Reading →
In the last few months, Worldreader made headlines in various newspapers, magazines and TV shows, and attracted interest from many other prominent international organizations. One of our favorite stories aired recently on the United Nations television network. Ghana: An Education Revolution was televised on UNTV: 21st Century, a news magazine program distributed to about 50 … Continue Reading →
By Fatos Berisha At Worldreader there are many stories. One before my time is called the “Blue Truck.” On the back of the blue truck were the first 400 Kindles we shipped to Ghana. Volunteers took shifts guarding the truck overnight. The customs clearing form described the boxes carrying 400 “Candles” instead of Kindles. When … Continue Reading →
By Samuel Alomenu Creating an environment that fosters the reading habit and gives children an opportunity to explore the endless world of learning are prerequisites to developing a reading culture. That’s why we continued our summer reading program again this year. Since the students were going to have about 45 days off from school, we … Continue Reading →
By Jennifer Baljko We started this series last spring to spotlight authors who believed in the same thing we do: Reading has the power to transform lives. Since then, we’ve been engaging with many authors and are happily surprised by their generosity and support. It’s great to see our author community expand, but often, too, … Continue Reading →
By Jennifer Baljko As a lean, nonprofit social enterprise, much of what we do is powered by the enthusiasm of our volunteers. Now and again, Worldreader shines a light on their initiative, shares their on-the-ground experience with our broader community, and gives them a big public hug. You may remember, Sara Rhyne, for instance. She … Continue Reading →
Every day, Worldreader receives e-mails and inquiries from groups interested in implementing e-reader programs like ours. For sometime we have been working on a way to extend our reach and respond to these requests, because like us these groups understand that e-readers have the potential to utterly change the way the developing world reads. By … Continue Reading →
By David Risher Stephen King says that when fans asked him where his ideas came from, he answers: “Utica. They come from Utica, New York.” So here’s my version: ”My ideas come from the dentist’s office.” A few weeks ago, I took my younger daughter to a new dentist. She wasn’t a big fan, but what’re … Continue Reading →
By Jennifer Baljko Sometimes, the book that sticks with you isn’t the happy book with a storied ending of love and laughter conquering all. Sometimes, the toughest stories make you fall in love with the power of the written word. It happened that way for Ellen Banda-Aaku, author of children’s book Wandi’s Little Voice and … Continue Reading →