If you have heard of “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortenson (it may sound familiar to those of you who actually do the Trinity-assigned summer reading), then you will already be familiar with the concept of “Pencils of Promise”. The cool thing about this non-profit organization that seeks to create and expand global education is that it is run by young adults just out of college. The founder, Adam Braun, “was a college student backpacking across the globe when he asked a small boy begging on the streets of India what he wanted most in the world. The answer: A pencil.” (PoP). That’s how this youth-run, enthusaistic, and motivated organization began. As people in the same boat as we are- young adults with little sway in the “real world” we have just (or will soon be) entering- they decided to stick it to the theoretical man and do things backwards.
Unlike Mortenson, who created his non-profit organization after a full career in the military, a successful marriage, and multiple children, these guys are fresh of the college boat. Their CEO, Rahul “Hoolie” Tejwani, quotes Jay-Z in his “Quotes that define me” section of the PoP website while following it with the importance of meritocracy. While still young and fun, these guys mean business. Our group, sponsored through Greek Council, hopes to raise money to contribute to these young, ambitious leaders who have created a fun and hard-working organization, well-deserving of our donations and support.
They may use quotes from Bob Dylan and fun facts about Wii Golf attention, (see the bio page on the Director of Finance and Legal Affairs) but they truly believe in and support global education; so do we. Here is just one example of why, from Emily Gray, the Greek Council Service Chair and Sigma representative for our PoP initiative:
“This past summer I went to Collique, Peru on a mission trip with my hometown’s church. I worked in a community center called Operación San Andrés and taught 5th and 6th graders the importance of recycling and planting gardens in their hometown. During that time I found out how smart these children were; they were able to communicate with me in fragmented English and Spanish and already knew most of the ideas we were teaching them.
However, the most surprising thing on that trip was their reaction to a simple question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” The kids looked at us stunned, not knowing how to even respond to a personal question like that. You could tell that the majority of them had never been asked that. Some kids responded with a joke, saying that they would want to be a police officer or a taxi driver so they could steal from others but some kids told us that they wanted to be lawyers or doctors. After they got into the question their faces seemed to light up. Education is not always about teaching the academics; just taking interest in a child in need can inspire them to become something great.
Last summer I learned that although I was teaching these kids information that they needed to know to go on in schooling, it was more important for them to realize that we believed in them. That is why Pencils of Promise is such an important foundation for Trinity students to support. Pencils of Promise is a non-profit that focuses on providing education to third world countries so that kids all over the world can be inspired like the kids I taught in Peru.
This following week, a collective of Greek students lead by Spencer Lane are starting to fund-raise for Pencils of Promise by putting up posters, signs and a donation table at Coates on November 12th. We hope to donate over $5,000 by the end of the school year.”
