English Translation:
Spreading Love and Compassion through Reading
Oct 2020, Vol. 062
"Read for All" was founded in 2016 with a mission to inspire the youth to unleash their own potential and to embrace the love and beauty of words through reading. The organization’s initiatives focus on sharing various educational resources to underserved communities including book donations and free academic enrichment courses and teaching materials. At the age of 13, founder Clara Lu, who is now 17 years old, created Read For All because she realized that many young people were unable to access reading materials due to the lack of internet and resources. She believes that creativity and the arts play an important role in youth development, and so decided to use her own abilities to enhance other students’ learning environment.
With Her Abilities, Untapping Students’ Potential
In the beginning, Read For All started as a one-person team with Clara donating books to those in need. Nowadays, the organization has expanded to include young volunteers from various backgrounds that contribute with their particular expertise. The organization has collaborated with the China Welfare Institute, the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals and various other charities and institutions to organize educational activities that promote the joy of reading. In 2018, Read For All collaborated with the “Light of Hope” Project to donate over 500 books to children from underserved communities, and this upcoming November, Clara will direct her own self-written play for children under the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals charitable organization.
Due to COVID-19 affecting education across the globe, Clara felt the urge to help those students in need have a chance to unleash their potential; with this in mind, she decided to create a free after school academic enrichment program with educational kits in literature and STEM that cover the subjects of English Writing, Scriptwriting, Film, Mathematics and Physics. Currently, over 2000 students have benefited from this initiative.“Through the 'Read for All' platform, I strive to help the undeserved communities in Hong Kong by providing them with free comprehensive educational materials to help every student discover his or her potential.” – Clara.
Reading – The Key to Opening the Gate to a New World
Clara, the founder of "Read For All", did not realize the beauty of reading at a young age, and instead focused on stimulating her brain through movies. It was not until later, when she encountered difficulties communicating with her peers, that books became her best friend; it was the fictional character and protagonist “Percy Jackson” who accompanied and comforted her during this time.
Clara was further inspired after reading “Harry Potter” and wanted to spread the magic of words to children from different backgrounds and encourage them to embrace the joy of reading. For Clara, reading opened the gate to exploring different worlds; she was not only attracted by the characters, but also the world inside the books. Later, she created a social media account to interact with other book lovers, which allowed her to rediscover happiness.
Currently studying at St. Paul’s School, New Hampshire, in the United States, Clara believes that although people have to socially distance themselves due to the pandemic, reading can help ease loneliness. Clara hopes that young people can be touched by the beauty of words, and through reading, discover greater parts of world and appreciate the power of words.
Read For All www.readforallhk.com
Link to Magazine: https://issuu.com/youths.p.o.t.magazine/docs/062_ysm/52