THE ISSUE
Refugees are one of the most marginalised groups in Australia. More than 5000 refugee visas are awarded each year in Australia1, and at least 1 in 4 of those individuals have little-to-no literacy skills2.
The lack of literacy in a first or a second language, minimal understanding of the schooling system, and the psychological damage associated with being a refugee, means that refugee students are likely to experience many difficulties to learning in our schools,
which do not have the resources to effectively support refugee students3.
We have the opportunity to help refugee students make a successful transition into Australian society, to give them a fair go.
THE ReBOOKS SOLUTION
Social Entrepreneurship
At ReBOOKS, we want to utilize the power and value of the collective to create a self-sustainable social business that can provide existing, Australian NGOs with the necessary funds to improve refugee literacy.
ReBOOKS.com.au is an online e-book store, where 100% of profits from all e-book sales are used to support the literacy initiatives of established, Australian NGOs.
Literacy programs
Fundraising agreements have been made with the following organizations:
The Australian Literacy & Numeracy Foundation (ALNF) award-winning Refugee Action Support (RAS) program, recruits, trains and places pre-service teachers in schools, to provide face-to-face learning support for refugee students as they grapple with the language
and literacy demands of the classroom. For more information about the ALNF RAS program, visit: https://alnf.org/Pages/programs/refugee-action-support
Through the Asylum Seekers Centre (ASC) Education Service, free English classes are run twice daily by professionally trained and experienced ESL teachers, and free computer literacy classes are run weekly. For more information about the ASC Education Service,
visit: http://asylumseekerscentre.org.au/education/
Why e-books?
E-books are an environmental choice.
You can curl up in bed and read your favourite books without needing to further increase your carbon footprint. In fact, by buying an e-book rather than a print book, you would have averted 3 kg of carbon emissions from being released into the environment
(70% of those emissions are released when producing the paper on which a book is printed).
E-books are the future.
Indeed approximately 15% of Australia’s population have at least one e-reader at home, and 7% of Australians aged 14 + bought at least one e-book from September 2013 to September 2014. In response to this increased awareness of e-books and digital literacy,
schools across the country have been formatting their library databases to include e-books that can be accessed using students’ mobile devices.
GET INVOLVED
If you believe in the need for a sustainable model to fund refugee literacy programs then help us build the ReBOOKS online platform so that, together, we can provide new Australians with the literacy skills that are crucial for a brighter future.
Donate to our crowdfunding campaign by clicking the “Support Now” button at the top of this page and help spread the word about our campaign by tagging @rebooksau on Twitter and Facebook.
And let’s seek refuge in books together.
MEET THE ReBOOKS TEAM
Yasir Latif
ReBOOKS CEO and Cofounder
Yasirs’ love for coffee has led him to many adventures, but none more exciting than the day he was at a café with a group of friends and answered the call to start a social enterprise to improve literacy in Australia. Yasir has had 10 years’ experience holding
senior management roles within the Hedge Fund Investment industry. Over the past 3 years, however, his passion for helping other businesses led him to start his own and he is now the director of a Sydney based digital consulting agency. Having learnt first-hand
that true happiness comes from helping others, through ReBooks, Yasir aims to bring happiness to readers everywhere whilst at the same time helping improve literacy among those who need it most.
Heba Khamis
ReBOOKS Secretary and Cofounder
Heba is a lecturer and researcher in biomedical engineering. A geek at heart, she spends most of her days surrounded by robots and lasers. A lover of all things water-related, she never misses an opportunity to go for a swim or surf. In the little spare
time she has, you will find Heba with her nose in a book and she hopes that one day, all Australians will enjoy reading as much as she does, because the truth is, the book is always better than the movie.
Amar Latif,
Rebooks Treasurer, Finance Director and Cofounder
Amar is a Certified Practicing Accountant with extensive experience in financial reporting, not-for-profit accounting and budgeting. He currently works for one of Australia’s largest financial institutions and has been involved in several successful social
businesses in Australia. Amar is an advocate for social businesses as the most sustainable model for providing much needed support to those in need and has a passion for reading, particularly about topics that can help society including history, philosophy,
spirituality and social entrepreneurship. He would love to allow new Australians to have the same opportunity to be passionate readers and contribute to the betterment of Australian society.
Mariam Ali
ReBOOKS Marketing Director and Cofounder
Mariam has a degree in marketing from the University of Ottawa in Canada. She has previously worked in the Australian fashion industry, and although she loved it, she found she had an even bigger passion for social entrepreneurship. As a teenager, Mariam
was a habitual procrastinator. This never really caused any major issues, until one day, a box of books which she had procrastinated in dropping off to a charity, ended up being thrown away due to a work emergency. That day she promised herself that she would
one day give back and with ReBOOKS, she aims to fulfil that promise. As for the procrastination, well, old habits are hard to break.
Sara Saleh
ReBOOKS Media and Public Relations Director and Cofounder
Sara is a human rights advocate, student of law and creative artist. Her belief in the healing power of storytelling has taken her from a career working with refugees, to performing poetry around Sydney, Dubai and New York. Sara grew up in a bustling migrant
family household (she thinks My Big Fat Greek Wedding is actually based on them); she is certain that caffeine and a sense of humour are the answer to the world's problems (the morning can be better tolerated with both); and she loves the outdoors (but in
case of wet weather, carries a variety of board games everywhere she goes in hopes that one day, someone will play with her). Sara dreams of writing a generation-defining allegorical novel...and of not using so many parentheses in life (please see above).
Shahd Al-Janabi
ReBOOKS Cofounder
Shahd is a cognitive neuroscientist and co-editor of the Australian-Arab online magazine: Sajjeling. Notorious for dragging unsuspecting friends into ‘dangerous’ adventures, she lists amongst her numerous achievements the time she convinced a friend that
walking around Chicago in a blizzard, despite frostbite warnings, is a reasonable way to explore the city. Shahd is passionate about improving literacy amongst vulnerable communities, such as refugees and asylum seekers, as she believes that it is vital to
ensuring the mental health and well-being of those individuals, and the cohesion of Australian society.
What is your favourite book? What inspires you to make a difference? We want to learn all about you. Come and have a chat with us on our social media pages...and let's seek refuge in books together!
BE PART OF OUR DREAMS BY HELPING OTHERS ACHIEVE THEIRS.
1 Elibritt Karlsen. Refugee resettlement to Australia: what are the facts? Australian Parliamentary Library, Research Publications, 2011 (Reference
Link)
2 Jill Brown, Jenny Miller and Jane Mitchell. Interrupted schooling and the acquisition of literacy: Experiences of Sudanese refugees in Victorian secondary schools. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, Vol 29(2), 2006.
3 Julie Mathews. Schooling and settlement: refugee education in Australia. International Studies in Sociology of Education, Vol 18(1), 2008