Hear Ethiopia Reads founder and finalist for the CNN Hero 2008 Award Yohannes Gebregeorgis speak about his work in New York and New Jersey, This week.

New Jersey

Place: Maplewood Memorial Library
51 Baker Street
Maplewood, NJ 07040

Date: Saturday, December 13, 2008

Time: 7 – 8:30 PM

New York

Place: Cafe Addis
435 West 125 Street
New York, NY

Date: Saturday, December 13, 2008

Time: 2:00 PM

Ethiopia Reads (www.ethiopiareads.org) is a grassroots non-profit geared toward bringing literacy and literacy related resources to Ethiopia. Since Ethiopia Reads opened Ethiopia’s first free children’s library in 2003, thousands of children have experienced the joy of reading for the first time. Ethiopia is considered one of the three poorest countries in the world with a life expectancy of only 41 years.

Yohannes Gebregeorgis, a native of Ethiopia and children’s literacy advocate, has been named a Top 10 Hero of the Year by CNN. Mr. Gebregeorgis was selected from more than 3,000 individuals nominated by viewers throughout the year. Finalists were selected by a Blue Ribbon panel of judges that includes Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Jane Goodall and Deepak Chopra.