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READ Global pioneered the concept of sustainability as an international development organization dedicated to combining education and private enterprise to make rural communities viable places to learn, build, and prosper. A recipient of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s prestigious Access to Learning Award, the organization has helped establish forty nine Community Library and Resource Centers paired with for-profit enterprises throughout Nepal and India that serve over a half million people annually. Building on its proven record of 100% sustainable success, READ Global is expanding to three new countries, including Bhutan, by 2011.
READ partners with rural communities to create, sustain and grow projects in a manner that is politically and culturally appropriate. READ funds up to 85% of the cost of the Community Library and Resource Center, and the village is required to contribute at least 15% of the total cost. READ then seeds a for-profit business that meets that community's need (examples include: ambulance service, factory, storefronts, equipment rental). That income-generating business, along with contributions from READ, funds ongoing operating costs of the Community Library and Resource Center. This READ Center provides much-needed economic, educational, vocational, and social services to that community. Ultimately, READ inspires rural prosperity by fostering community independence, competence, and empowerment. |
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