#WRAD15 – World Read Aloud Day Celebrated with Joy and Passion in Nepal

Report on WORLD READ ALOUD DAY
By: Aryashree Aryal & Harinee Suthakar

“It is not enough to simply teach children to read; we have to give them something worth reading. Something that will stretch their imaginations – something that will help them make sense of their own lives and encourage them to reach out to toward people whose lives are quite different from their own.” –Katherine Paterson, author of Bridge to Terabithia

World Read Aloud Day (WRAD), celebrated every year on the first Wednesday of March, calls for global attention to the importance of education and literacy. LitWorld honors WRAD by reading out loud and sharing stories. This year we celebrated WRAD a little later on Friday, March 6, 2015.

Still I Rise by Maya Angelou Read Aloud

On Friday, children expressed excitement and enthusiasm – setting up the perfect environment for Rukmini Foundation’s WRAD celebration. The program was held in Shikharapur Community School at 11:00 A.M. Rukmini Foundation scholars, and Arunodaya Higher Secondary School scholars were actively engaged as performers in the WRAD celebration. Students in grades 6, 7, 8, and 9 supported and applauded their peers who performed.

Rukmini Scholars shared their own personal stories out loud

The atmosphere was filled with creativity as stories were shared through performances. Students made different characters come alive on stage. These performances emphasized the importance of imagination in education. Students did not hesitate to participate in WRAD. Even Kindergarteners – some younger than five-years old – took part in WRAD by singing nursery rhymes and reading aloud their books.

The scholars shared famous quotes by women from all walks of life

WRAD encourages children and adults to celebrate the power of words through reading out loud and sharing stories. To highlight the power of words, quotes from different leaders and inspirational individuals around the world, and poems by Maya Angelou and Laxmi Prasad Devkota were recited. Participants spoke in their native languages, such as Newari or Tibetan. German volunteer, Caroline Laura, recited a beautiful poem in German. Ms. Alissa Shrestha, a social work trainee, played wonderful music throughout the program.

We even included some music in this event

There is magic in reading – a sense that the text and the reader fully understand each other. All the students who celebrated WRAD felt this magic as they learned a new way to experience reading. The success of this program would not have been possible without Rukmini Foundation staff and social work trainees in the Pharping area. We appreciate Representatives from the Nepal Police Wives Association for recognizing the value of WRAD events.

We even had some German being read aloud as volunteer Caroline from Germany read a poem by Goethe

Through our WRAD program, Rukmini Foundation showed students the unparalleled power of education and literacy.

Another wonderful and successful World Read Aloud Day

More photos from #WRAD15 on our Flickr Page

The order of stories, poems, and quotes, as recited by WRAD participants is shown below:

PROGRAM	CATEGORY	Group
A Friend In Need is A Friend Indeed	Story	Isha & Laxmi
Bell the Cat	Story	Saurav, Rahul, Shekhar
The Blind Man with A Lamp	Story	Pramesh, Saurav, Rashmita
Paagal – Laxmi Prasad Devkota	Poem	Ujen  (9)
Quote – Nelson Mandela	Quote	Abiral (9)
The Patient Little Girl	Story	Himshree, Jasmine
The Evil Plan	Story	Scholars from Arunodaya
Quote- C. Joybell C.	Quote	Nirupa Paudel
Quote- Marilyn Monroe	Quote	Junu Tamang
Still I Rise- Maya Angelou	Poem	Sajina, Roji
Quote – Nick Vujicic	Quote	Roshan
The Milkmaid	Story	Anita, Sushmita
The Selfish Dog	Story	Smriti, Sadikshya
Quote – Gautam Buddha	Quote	Sudip (9)
The Dog and the Donkey	Story	Siroj, Dipesh
The Bad Company	Story	Rohit, Arbin
The Fox and the Grapes	Story	Pranaya
Quote – Dalai Lama	Quote	Bigyan (9)
Tibetan Language	Language
Newari Language	Language
German Poem	Poem	Caroline Laura Zähringer
The elephant and the tailor	Story	Anmol, Nikhil
The wolf and the shepherd boy	Story	Anusha, Prajwola, Samita
The dishonest doctor	Story	Surav, Dipika, Roshan
The hidden treasure	Story	Rabin, Manish, Sajjan, Darshan, Jaganath, Prachan