In 2009, a teacher named Nadirah applied for and received a Room to Read grant to build a new library for her schoolkids in Chataika village, Zambia. The Pearson Foundation also joined the project, enthusiastically agreeing to stock the library with 10,000 books. Building materials were transported to the village to begin construction.

However, the school was never built. The books, shipped from Pearson’s London warehouse, mysteriously went missing in transit. The CEO of Room to Read, John Woods, spoke about the troubling outside interference with the Chataika project.

Speculation has centered around British multinational BlackwellBriggs (www.BlackwellBriggs.com), which claims to have access rights to a narrow corridor of land that includes Chataika village, where an oil pipeline is to be constructed, thus necessitating the cancellation of the library project.

You are asked to join an underground group called the Conspiracy For Good to help Nadirah travel to London to assert the building rights of the library, and also to generate 10,000 new books for her cause. To help, Pearson Foundation CEO Mark Nieker has generously offered a program to “read a book, give a book” at WeGiveBooks.org., wherein reading one children’s book (takes about 3 minutes) online will in turn generate the donation of a real world book to Room to Read.

Mr. Nieker has proposed that the first 10,000 books generated will be securely held and then safely delivered to Room to Read’s Zambia headquarters. Any surplus books will be contributed to Room to Read’s general mission to build libraries around the world.

Nadirah needs 10,000 books to stock the library that she is determined to build. Please help her now!

Mission

The Conspiracy For Good’s mission is to use participatory drama to propel real change in the real world. The Conspiracy For Good is a story that an audience member can participate in—by following character developments online, receiving story-related text messages, decoding clues in songs and interacting with live actors on the street—all of which inspires the completion of a real world philanthropic mission. The Conspiracy For Good is the first of its kind: “social benefit participatory storytelling.” Enjoy!

Impact

The Conspiracy For Good is a global network that connects people with real world causes to conspire to do good. In our pilot program, “CFG 2010”, we’ve invited two of our favorite NGO’s to play along: Room to Read and the Pearson Foundation. Their statements follow:

“Room to Read and the Pearson Foundation believe that world change starts with educated children. We envision a world in which all children can pursue a quality education that enables them to reach their full potential and contribute to their community and the world.

Room to Read seeks to transform the lives of millions of children in developing countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. Working in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations and governments, we develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children, and support girls to complete secondary school with the relevant life skills to succeed in school and beyond.

The Pearson Foundation aims to make a difference by promoting literacy, learning, and great teaching, and does so by collaborating with leading businesses, not-for-profits, and education experts to share good practice, foster innovation, and find workable solutions to the educational disadvantages facing millions of young people and adults across the globe.”

Goal

Our goal is to generate 10,000 books by August 7, 2010.

If more than 10,000 books are generated, then they will be contributed to other Room to Read libraries worldwide.


To find out more about the Conspiracy For Good project, please Click here.