NURTURE

Words Farhan Shah Photos Heal the World, Room To Read Make it a Better Place Over 100 million young girls Every morning, Sum Sin’s mother, welcomed shot in the around the world will wake an illiterate fish seller, wakes up arm for a first-world and heads to the village market. In citizen like me, so used up each day without the most that enclosed space, she hawks her to electricity at the important thing in the world produce for more than 12 hours. On flick of a switch and – hope for a better future.. a good day, she earns about US$2, with most of my daily barely enough to support the family. On problems consisting of bad days, Sum Sin and her mother go what to eat for lunch. hungry, praying to the Gods for a better This first-world privilege day tomorrow. There are more bad that we possess is both a days than good. boon and a curse. We live in relative comfort while Sum Sin used to have a father and four folks like Sin suffer in abject poverty, smile. “We started a programme to siblings. Four of them – Dad and three simply because the genetic roulette ensure that more young girls could siblings – passed away before she favoured us. stay in school for as many years as turned nine. Her final sister married at possible, until they at least have a a young age and was tortured to death In fact, first-world privilege is an secondary-level education. We focus by her husband when Sin was 15. It’s important issue that the folks at on empowering the girls and ensuring a tragic tale but in Cambodia, where Room to Read have bravely tackled. that they have the skills required to Sin and her mother live, and many Erin regularly brings her own young continue staying in school,” says Erin. other rural countries around the world, daughter on her mission trips to Asia, stories like these are commonplace. exposing her to a side of the world she How much of a financial and economic rarely sees. She similarly advocates impact is Erin and her team making to Erin Ganju knew that she could no Singaporeans parents to do the same, the lives of Sin and the rest of the other longer sit in her cushy office chair and for sowing the seeds of empathy in girls? According to data from UNESCO, watch silently as the world continually a young child moulds them to grow for every year that a girl in a third- put these girls through the grinder up and become a responsible global world country stays in high school, her and spat them out. “When I realised citizen. “One of the most incredible earning potential increases between that I was more passionate about my gifts you can provide your child is to 10 and 20 percent. “So, if you get her voluntary activities than I was about my teach them about the world and give to 12th grade, her family’s chances of full-time job dealing with investment them an insight into how it’s like to economic prosperity will be drastically banking, I knew that I had to switch grow up in another country through different,” says Erin. “Considering careers,” says Ganju. Today, she is books and videos,” says Erin. “Children that most girls give 90 percent of their the CEO of Room to Read, a non-profit love to read stories and pictures wages back to the family, investing in organisation that supports literacy from other children and there are so the education of young girls ultimately and gender equality in education, and many age-appropriate ways to teach pays off not only for her parents but for works alongside fellow co-founders them how to be a global citizen and her community as well.” John Wood and Dinesh Shrestha to contribute their time, their money, as well as a dedicated team of staff their talents, etc.” Sum Sin, a beneficiary of the Room to and volunteers to become the social Read scholarship, recently completed change that the world is desperately Thanks to Erin’s capable leadership, a reading and writing instruction crying out for. Room to Read has grown from programme for teachers and is a small start-up to a global now equipped to teach Grade Three Listening to Erin passionately explain organisation that is changing lives students. It was a long, hard slog, the programmes that Room to in 10 countries. And her tireless marked with taunts from neighbours Read runs – establishing libraries, work hasn’t gone unrecognised. Fast who thought she would amount to constructing classrooms, training Company recognised her as one of its nothing more than a fish seller and educators, etc. – is a much- Extraordinary Women for 2012 and disdain from those who thought she in 2014, the World Economic Forum was wasting her time and money on a chose her to be one of its silly thing called education. Sin never Schwab Foundation wavered though. She shares: “No Social Entrepreneurs. matter what other people said, I believe in myself and believe that I will achieve Nothing gives Erin my dream of becoming a teacher. I more joy, though, than see that many people have better lives seeing first-hand the because they are educated. This is the social impact of the miracle of education. Whenever I think work she puts in every about it, my heart swells.” day, the reason why she bolts out of bed the And so do our hearts. moment the alarm clock rings instead of hitting Room to Read has a Singapore chapter. the snooze button. Sum If you’re looking to volunteer your time Sin is one of the 27,000 and/or talents, do drop them an email reasons that makes Erin at [email protected].

14 Family & Life • Christmas 2014