READ GLOBAL: A PROVEN SOLUTION TO RURAL POVERTY

CONTACT:

Kate Fenner/READ Global

Email: kate@readglobal.org

Phone: (202) 347-7070

Every month, five million people flee the poverty of their rural villages to find work. That decision - to leave home and family – is not just heartbreaking, it creates severe urban problems that fundamentally threaten the health of the global community and strength of the global economy: increased pollution, the spread of disease, diminishing resources, lack of clean water and safe food.

Enter READ Global. A recipient of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation prestigious Access to Learning Award, READ Global has a remarkable 100% record of long-term sustained success. Going against the tide of NGO handouts, READ was an early pioneer in sustainable aid – a revolutionary concept 20 years ago.

READ partners with a rural community on two fronts: 1) READ helps launch a profit-making business that employs locals and meets an important community need (examples include: ambulance service, furniture factory, general store, equipment rental; 2) and works alongside communities to construct a READ Community Library and Resource Center which is financially supported by the business enterprise. READ Centers hold far more than books – they provide economic, educational, vocational, and social services that meet that community's unique needs. This thriving local ownership is the hallmark of READ's long-term success: no READ Center has ever failed.

READ Centers serve over a half million people throughout Nepal. Building on almost two decades of success READ moved its model into India and is beginning work in Bhutan, as one of the only international NGOs allowed to work in the closed kingdom.

Founder Dr. Toni Neubauer cares deeply about READ's long-term impact: “The Centers succeed because they are community planned, owned, and meet rural conditions in villages that differ tremendously. READ's intent is, through quality sustainable businesses, the Centers will inspire rural prosperity – no just today but for generations.”

Please contact us for information, personal stories, to tour a READ Center, meet villagers and READ US-based and in-country staff.

Inspiring Rural Prosperity: http://www.readglobal.org/