Dubai Cares

The goal: One million books in two weeks. For each book read, Dubai Cares purchased a new book and donated it to children in need.

Launched during the 2008 Volunteer Campaign, Dubai Cares’ Million Book Challenge invited schoolchildren aged 3-14 to participate in a nation-wide read-a-thon.  The goal:  One million books in two weeks.  For each book read, Dubai Cares purchased a new book and donated it to children in need.  Written in the local languages of select countries, the books are being distributed in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal, Laos, Zambia, South Africa and Sri Lanka in partnership with “Room to Read”, an acclaimed institution that has built schools and libraries around the world.

In the end, UAE students read 1,323,218 books, exceeding the original goal by over 300,000 books.

The monumental Burj Khalifa building was used throughout the two-week campaign as a visual gauge to track the number of books read by the participating students on a daily basis. In support of the Million Book Challenge, prominent Emirati personalities visited unsuspecting primary schools throughout the UAE as Mystery Readers, encouraging students to read and reinforcing the importance of education in uncapping one’s potential. The Mystery Readers also spoke to the students of the suffering of children in needy communities; children who were as old as them, and the obstacles they faced in their daily struggle to go to school.