WORDS OF WISDOM
“I WAS SHOCKED TO SEE THAT THE STUDENTS HAD NO BOOKS—ONLY A HANDFUL OF OLD PAPERBACKS LEFT BEHIND BY TRAVELLERS” up the mountains on the backs of donkeys to the same school a year later. But it soon became something much more substantial. It became a personal mission to bring about sustainable change in these remote areas of the world.”
Though it’s been nearly 15 years since the organisation’s founding, Wood’s dedication to the cause has not faltered. “The early years of Room to Read came with many challenges, but I always remembered that headmaster in Nepal and the joy on his students’ faces when I returned to their school. I could’ve pursued my interest to address global illiteracy as a hobby—but hobbies don’t scale. I decided to jump in with both feet. And although there were a few scary moments along the way, I am lucky to have many great people join me on the journey.”
Some of those people he refers to include Room to Read’s co-founders, Erin Ganju and Dinesh Shrestha. Today, the organisation has offices around the world to oversee fundraising efforts for their programmes, including chapters in Hong Kong, San Francisco, New York, Vancouver, London, Sydney, Mumbai and Tokyo. Literacy and gender equality in education remain at the core of Room to Read, and Wood believes