Leaving Microsoft to Change the World
Posted by Stuart at 02:17 PM on November 08, 2006Imagine being an high-ranking executive making a huge salary at one of the world's biggest companies, with frequent interactions with the world-famous CEO. Now imagine throwing it all away to build schools and libraries in some developing country on the other side of the world.
John Wood did just that, and lived to write a book about it: Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children. I picked it up by chance a couple of weeks ago, and finished it off on our recent weekend trip to Phuket.
I have to say it's a great read, and highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in education in developing countries. The book is basically an auto-biography of the last few years as Wood turned himself from high-flying software exec to running a bare-bones startup NGO that donated books and built libraries, first in Nepal, but then expanding into Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka, through an organization called Room to Read.
I saw a lot of similarities in John's story and my own life. Many of his anecdotes about his travels in Asia were very similar to mine. And like him, I grew tired of working hard in San Francisco making rich companies richer. There is so much that can be done in this part of the world to help children have an opportunity to improve their lives and the lives of their families. Reading the book was definitely encouraging to me personally to try to find a way to do what I can myself to help. I won't be founding a non-profit to deliver books to Nepal any time soon, but perhaps there are other ways to make a contribution. In the case of Room to Read, their website has a list of ways that people can participate.
Of course not everyone can quit their job and change their lifestyle and pick up to move to another continent, but everyone can make small donations to organizations like John Woods', whether its donating money, books, time, or just spreading the word. One of the most impressive statistics about Room to Read is that, unlike many NGOs, they keep their overhead as low as possible -- under 10% so far. You can also earmark your donations to a specific cause: $2000 will build a library in an existing school, while $2,500 will fund one girl's scholarship to school for 10 years. A full list of possible projects you can sponsor can be found on Room to Read's Adopt a Project page.
It's great to see the success they have had so far: Founding almost 3,000 libraries, donating over 1.2 million books, and funding over 2,000 girls scholarships, among other achievements. Here's hoping they have continued success.
That's a great question, Beth. I am glad you asked. In most developing countries in the world, girls are left out of the education picture. In most of these countries, education is not free. (We are so lucky to have good public education in the U.S.) So if a family can only afford to send one child to school, it is usually the oldest boy.
These economic and cultural constraints mean that women around the world have a much higher illiteracy rate than men. According to some stats I just dug up at UNESCO, the literacy rate for men in developing countries is 83%, but for women the rate is 69%. Surprisingly, the problem is most acute in what they call "South and West Asia". Men have literacy rates of 71% while women are at 45%, the lowest rate of any part of the world.
And since women are usually the family caretakers, when you educate a woman, you are educating the whole family. So you get a great "return on investment" when you educate a woman because she will pass on the learning to the next generation.
The current situation is bleak, but thanks to efforts by UNESCO and groups like Room to Read, hopefully these gender gaps will eventually disappear.
(By the way, the stats above came from the "Education for All Global monitoring Report 2005" from UNESCO, and can be found at: http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=35964&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html)
Hmm, I feel like I left Microsoft to change the world too (although I never worked at Microsoft nor have I helped the world as much as I wanted to... yet).
I'll be looking up this book pronto. Thanks for the heads up and congrats on cleaning out the US House and Senate!
Sounds like you're working hard on your new educational software company.
Hi Bob. The new company does take up most of my brain waves in my waking hours. And yes, of course this book does play some role in all of that. It definitely gave me some encouragement. I have seen what passes as education in the rural areas of Thailand, so I would feel very fortunate if I am able to help out in some small way. (And Thailand is way ahead of surrounding countries in these respects. At least they don't have the gender discrepancies that I mentioned above.)
And actually, the whole "competition" thread relates as well. What motivates Thai students? It's not getting an "A", as I mentioned. I just have to find the electronic equivalents of bags of juice and cookies and spares for gutter balls :)
Wouldn't that be fabulous, not only to be able to do that financially, but also to possess an inner drive and a desire that is outside of onself to want to contribute in that way.
I did notice one aspect that I found curious .... you mentioned "girls" scholarships on two occasions ..... what about boys?
Love you!!