World Vision India and Odyssey jointly conduct the Big Read

Chennai, April 21, 2009: World Vision India, a child-focused, Christian relief and development organization, in association with Odyssey, a premier leisure store chain, organized a book-reading session, as part of the Global Campaign for Education’s Big Read initiative.

The campaign is aimed at promoting education as a basic right for all children. As part of the Big Read, well-known theatre personality PC Ramakrishnan and storyteller Krishna Iyer read out stories to children supported by World Vision from the Big Read book. The book-reading session was held at Odyssey Book Store, Adyar.

Speaking about the Big Read initiative, Dr. Jayakumar Christian, National Director, World Vision India, said, “School is the only place for a child to be in, where they are protected  from various forms of abuse and are safe from a number of issues that children face today – be it child marriage, child trafficking or child labour.   Our attempt here is to highlight the need for children to remain in school, through the Global Campaign for Education and the Big Read.”

Further, speaking on the event, Harsh R. Grandhe, Vice President - Marketing, Odyssey said, "Being the neighborhood leisure store chain predominantly selling books, we understand the need and importance of education. As a responsible corporate, we believe that this activity, through which we pledge our support to promoting literacy, is a good example of how corporates and development organisations can work together to change the lives of our most vulnerable citizens - our children. We are extremely happy to be hosting Big Read initiative at our store."

Children from communities where World Vision works participated in Big Read event. Many people endorsed their support by signing for right to education. This would be sent to the President of India.