Teachers notes

PENGUIN READERS
Teacher Support Programme

LEVEL 3

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World

John Wood

About the author

John Wood obtained a degree in Science from the
University of Colorado and then went on to get a
Masters in Business Administration from the Kellogg
Graduate School of Management at Northwestern
University in the United States. He started his professional
career in banking before joining Microsoft in 1991.
He got promoted quickly due to his hard work and
determination, eventually becoming Microsofts Director
of Business Development for the Greater China region.
One day in 1998, however, his life changed dramatically.
While on holiday in Nepal, he noticed that a school was
suffering from a severe lack of books and he decided he
wanted to help. He started by sending emails asking his
friends to donate books they no longer wanted. Before
long, this transformed into the widely successful nonprofit organization Room to Read, which promotes
literacy all over Asia and other parts of the world. The
charity now not only donates books, but builds schools,
sets up libraries, and funds students through a scholarship
system. It is estimated to have an impact on more than
three million students worldwide. Wood currently lives in
San Francisco, but spends much of his time traveling to
give talks and raise funds for the organization. For more
information, see www.roomtoread.org.

He is shocked to find that the school library has very

few books and that they are locked in a cupboard. The
head teacher, noticing his surprise, suggests that maybe
one day he will return with more books for the school.
Three weeks later, John sends an email from Kathmandu
to friends asking them to donate books or money to
help these students. He then returns to Australia and his
important job with Microsoft. One night, he receives
an email from his father in Colorado saying that he has
received over 3,000 donated books. John returns home
and discusses the project with his father, who belongs to
an international association called the Lions Club. Johns
father contacts the branch of this club in Kathmandu and
a member, Dinesh Shrestha, agrees to help them. Johns
dad wants to go to Nepal, and John, although reluctant
at first, eventually agrees. Some time later, the two men
arrive in Nepal and head for Bahundanda with eight yaks
carrying books for the school. They arrive and are deeply
moved by the gratitude of the children and their teachers.

Summary

Chapters 34: Two days later John is back in Kathmandu

thinking about how he can help other children in other
villages. He realizes that in order to follow his dreams his
life will have to change radically. He flies back to Beijing
and tells his girlfriend Sophie about his journey and his
future plans. She is shocked and wonders how they will
maintain their luxurious lifestyle without his salary from
Microsoft. Some time later he tells his boss Mike that he
is resigning from his job. Mike is also shocked and angry.
Six weeks later, John flies out of Beijing, leaving Sophie
and Microsoft behind forever. In December 1999, his
charity Books for Nepal is founded. John needs lots of
donations and it is not always easy as some people are not
interested in his project. He decides to approach DRF, a
fund belonging to a successful company and is interviewed
by the fund director Jenny, but it doesnt seem like they
are very interested. Two weeks later, however, he receives
a phone call telling him that they want to discuss his
business plan. He has an interview with Bill, the owner
of the company, and he agrees to give Johns charity
$100,000 a year.

Chapters 12: John Wood meets a man called Pasupathi

while on vacation in Nepal. Pasupathi tells him about
his difficult job of providing underequipped schools
with the things they need. Interested, John asks if he can
accompany him on a visit to a school in the remote village
of Bahundanda. The next day they set off on a difficult
three-hour walk and John is shown round the school.

Chapters 56: John wants to expand his project to

Vietnam, a poor country with many children in need
of an education. John had been there on vacation in
1996 and had been greatly impressed by a young man
called Vu, who despite being from a poor agricultural
background, worked very hard in a hotel in order to pay
for his computer lessons. John tried to help Vu by paying

c Pearson Education Limited 2011

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World - Teachers notes 1 of 3

Teachers notes

PENGUIN READERS
Teacher Support Programme

LEVEL 3

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World

for some classes and books for him but proud Vu refused
to accept his help. Eventually John managed to give Vu
some money by inventing a Microsoft scholarship that
would pay for part of his studies. In 2001 a woman called
Erin contacts John and says she wants to help him move
into Vietnam. She has experience in the country and
travels there to investigate the possibilities. A decision to
go ahead is made and John gives Erin four months to find
donors and get the project started. Erin is excellent at her
job and the organization is a success in Vietnam. Its time
to change the name from Books for Nepal to Room to
Read.
Chapters 79: In 2001, John is on vacation in France
when he hears the news about the terrorist attack on the
Twin Towers. He rushes home, worried that people will
no longer donate money to his charity. He is pleasantly
surprised, however, to find that many Americans still
want to help others less fortunate than themselves. By
2003, Room to Read is turning into a big international
organization, but as it doesnt have many full-time paid
organizers, John ends up working very long hours. He
has virtually no time for a personal life or to deal with
everyday practicalities. He is also suffering financially
as his savings from when he worked for Microsoft are
running out. He temporarily regrets this situation but
then realizes he must continue with his work. By 2003
Room to Read is helping children in Cambodia, a country
which has suffered terribly through years of wars. John
visits the country and opens the first new computer room
at a secondary school in the north-east of the country.
Teachers and children alike are very grateful.
Chapters 1011: In 2004, a big tsunami hits Asia.
Although John is on holiday, he rushes back to his office
to start raising money to rebuild the schools there. He
emails friends and does an interview on CNN news. He
then goes on a round-the-world trip doing interviews and
receiving donations. In Singapore, he is interviewed by a
reporter, Suba Sivakumaran, who offers to leave her job
and organize Room to Read in Sri Lanka. Erin joins her
there and, despite the devastation left by the tsunami, they
manage to rebuild numerous schools. By November 2005,
Room to Read is working in six different countries and
John returns to Kathmandu to celebrate the donation of
the one millionth book. John believes that the celebrations
will end with the opening of a library but Dinesh finally
reveals that 123 libraries are opening that day across

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Nepal. It is a happy day for John and Room to Read.

Since that day, the organization has continued to expand,
promoting education in other Asian countries and Africa.

Background and themes

Education: Going to school and having access to books
is presented as what should be a basic human right from
which people are frequently deprived due to poverty.
Education is also seen as a means of escaping poverty and
finding a better way of life.
Materialism: At the beginning of this story John is
financially very successful and he and his girlfriend lead
a very luxurious life. He realizes however that this is not
spiritually fulfilling and decides to give it all up in order to
follow his dreams.
Charity: The story tells how people will give money to
others who are in need, even in difficult times such as after
September 11th. Some people are not only charitable with
their money but also with their time, working voluntarily
to help others.

Discussion activities
Before reading
1

Pair work: Ask students to discuss the following

questions in pairs and then get feedback from the
whole class: What do you know about Microsoft? Would
you like to work for a company like this? Why or why
not?
Discuss: Explain that the charity in this story tries
to help people that are very poor. Put students in
groups to talk about the differences between the ways
of life that very poor people have and their own. Get
feedback from the class.

Chapters 12
Before reading
3

Pair work: Explain that John Wood, the writer of this

book, is on vacation in Nepal. Put students in pairs to
discuss the following questions: Where do you usually
go on vacation? What kinds of things do you like to do
when you are on vacation? What has been your best and
worst vacation until now? Where would you like to go in
the future?

While reading (p. 8, after and I had a bad cough

from the unclean air.)
4 Pair work: Ask students to talk and make notes about
the advantages and disadvantages of living in a big
city like Beijing and in the country. Get feedback
from the whole class and have a debate/vote about
which place is the best.

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World - Teachers notes 2 of 3

Teachers notes

PENGUIN READERS
Teacher Support Programme

LEVEL 3

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World

After reading
5

Write: Remind students that Johns father sent an

email describing their project to the Lions Club in
Kathmandu. Get them to discuss with a partner what
that email would include and then ask them to write
it individually.

Chapters 34
While reading (p. 16, after I was interviewed by
Jenny, the fund director.
6 Role play: Put students in pairs to write six questions
they think that Jenny asked John. Now rearrange the
pairs so that everybody has a different partner and tell
one student to be Jenny and the other to be John.
Jenny interviews John using the questions that were
written previously. They can then switch roles.

After reading
7

Write, ask and answer: On the board, write Where

did Sophie want to spend her next vacation? Elicit the
answer (Thailand). Ask students to write another
question about something in Chapters 34. Check
their work as they do this. Now have students stand
up and walk around the classroom, asking and
answering each others questions.
Discuss: Put students in small groups to discuss the
following questions: How important is it for you to do
well in your job? Is it more important than other things
like family, friends or free time? How important is it to
have a lot of money? Would you leave everything like
John did to follow your dreams?

Chapters 79
Before reading
11 Discuss: Put students in small groups to talk about
what they know about the terrorist attack of
September 11th. Ask them also to discuss how the
world has changed since that date.

While reading (p. 29, after Americans still wanted

to help people who were halfway around the world.)
12 Guess: Tell students that John meets a man who
has a problem while traveling by plane. Get them
to brainstorm in pairs the different problems people
can have when traveling by plane and to guess what
problem this man has.
13 Guess: (after Chapter 7) Explain to students that
John starts to think his life is in a mess and ask them
to predict in pairs why this might be.

After reading
14 Discuss: Remind students that in Chapter 9 a female
teacher gives a speech about how education is not
always seen to be important for girls and then put
them in groups to answer the following questions:
What kind of lives do girls and women have in your
country? Do they have the same education as boys? Can
they do the same jobs? Do they do the same work at
home? Do you think things need to change?
15 Pair work: Write the following words on the board:
France, suitcase, girlfriends, policeman, house, bed.
Ask the students to talk and write in pairs to say how
these words were used in Chapters 79.

Chapters 56
While reading (after Chapter 5)

Chapters 1011
Before reading

16 Research: Write TSUNAMI on the board and elicit

the meaning, explaining that it is a natural disaster.
Ask students to make a list of other natural disasters
using a dictionary. Get feedback and then ask
students to do some research using the Internet or
books about another natural disaster that has
occurred. As follow up, students can tell each other
about what they found out in groups or they can
individually do a piece of writing about it.

Pair work: Remind students that Vu was a good

student and Professor Than was a good teacher and
then put them in pairs to make a list of qualities that
a good student and a good teacher should have. Get
feedback back from the whole class and then ask the
students in pairs to talk about how good they think
their own learning behaviour is and how they could
improve, particularly with regards to learning English.

After reading
10 Write and guess: On the board, write Vus parents
were teachers. Elicit which word is wrong from the
students (farmers not teachers). Now students choose
another sentence from Chapters 56 and rewrite it
changing one word. Students walk around the class,
reading out their sentences and the other students
have to identify and correct the mistake.

c Pearson Education Limited 2011

After reading
17 Discuss: Put students in small groups to discuss the
following questions: What do you think of John Wood?
Did he always make the right decisions?
18 Game: Put the students into small groups and ask
them to write ten questions about any part of the
book. When theyve finished, each group reads out
their questions and the other groups have to write
their answers on a piece of paper. The group with the
most correct answers wins.

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World - Teachers notes 3 of 3