Akoha’s Room to Read Community Challenge
What if playing a game could make the world a better place? Playing Akoha missions can be fun and meaningful. As part of our play testing phase, we’ve adopted a school project with Room to Read. After the Akoha community completes 25,000 missions, we will sponsor a Room to Read school in Nepal on behalf of our player community. Now your completed missions can not only lead to everyday adventure, but also benefit a great cause.
What is Room to Read?
In 1998, 35-year-old Microsoft employee John Wood went on a trekking vacation in Nepal. There he met an “Education Resource Officer” named Pasupathi who offered to show him a school he managed. At the school, Wood found a depressingly small library: the book collection included a romance novel, a travel guide for Mongolia, Finnegan’s Wake, and little else. The school considered these books so precious it kept them under lock and key for fear the children might damage them.
Pasupathi said to Wood, “Perhaps, sir, you will someday come back with books.” After leaving Nepal, Wood collected over 3,000 books from friends, acquaintances and donors, and returned to deliver the books in person. In 2000, Wood left Microsoft and founded Room to Read, a nonprofit organization committed to children’s literacy that he operates to this day. Wood described his experience in a memoir, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World.
Since its humble origins in Nepal, Room to Read has expanded into Cambodia, Laos, India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, South Africa, and Zambia, impacting the lives of over 2 million children. Room to Read’s libraries give children a friendly space to read and explore. Its children’s books allow students to read stories in their local language. Its schools give children a safe place to learn. Its computer labs help children gain 21st century skills. And its scholarships allow girls to enroll and stay in school. Room to Read’s goal is to help over 5 million children by 2010 by bringing educational opportunities and resources to children throughout the developing world.
How Does the Community Challenge Work?
Once the Akoha player community completes 25,000 missions, Akoha will partner with Room to Read and a school community in Nepal to sponsor the construction of a library and fill it with books, games and posters. Now, in addition to creating everyday adventure, your Akoha missions can also benefit a great cause: giving children access to enhanced educational resources.
To learn more about our community challenge and the Room to Read organization check out the Akoha blog.
