Join The Big Read

As part of the Global Campaign for Education (GCE)’s Big Read campaign, ONE wants your submission to The Big Read book -- a collection of stories from people around the world supporting education for everyone. One submission from a ONE member will have the honor of inclusion in the book alongside the writings of Nelson Mandela, Queen Rania, Desmond Tutu, Natalie Portman and other notable figures.

After a judging panel of ONE staff chooses the winning story, we'll publish it on the ONE website and join GCE in presenting the book to President Obama on June 16, the Day of the African Child. This presentation will call on Obama to keep his promise to ensure that all children have access to a quality basic education by making a U.S. contribution of $2 billion to a Global Fund for Education.

Guidelines for Submissions

Your submission to The Big Read should be no more than 1,000 words, and should be about your education- and ONE-related advocacy work. Although many forms of stories appear in the book, we're looking for a personal narrative telling YOUR story: what does education mean to you? Why is it important to you that children in other countries receive a basic education?

Your story need not be heart-wrenching. ONE members are all heroes, using their voices on behalf of the world's poorest people. That’s why a ONE member is getting this special opportunity to have a story published in the book.

You must submit your story, using the form at right, no later than midnight on May 1, 2009 for it to be considered.

Read the Other Big Read Stories

Contributors to The Big Read include Nelson Mandela, Queen Rania, Natalie Portman, Desmond Tutu, Alice Walker, Paulo Coelho, Mary Robinson, Angelique Kidjo, Dakota Blue Richards, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Michael Morpurgo, Devli Kumari, Rowan Williams, Beverley Naidoo and Ishmael Beah. For the full list of authors and to download their stories, click here.

For more information on GCE's Big Read campaign, click here.

Submit Your Story

Please send us your Big Read story using the form below. You may want to draft your text in a word processor and then copy it into the form to make sure you don't lose your work if the page refreshes or your internet connection fails.