A pencil. It is wood. It is graphite. It’s a perfect cylinder that fits in the grasp of any hand.

It is art and literature, equations and inventions, movements and revolutions.

A pencil is creation. It sketches the images of the artist. It writes the first words of the author. It scratches the first notes of the scientist.

In the hand of a child, a pencil is freedom. It’s the freedom to validate thoughts and discover ideas, to release visions and begin exploring the vast potential of the mind.

A pencil is power. It’s there when you write your name for the first time; when you learn to express yourself and your ideas, when you announce to the world that you are you and that you have something to share.

A pencil drafts the first policies and ignites the first sparks of change. It is agency. It knows no limits and follows no boundaries. It writes in the characters, sentences and thoughts of every language and culture in the world.

A pencil is radically free.

It holds the power to release dreams from minds, to expand and change them into the realities of the future.

A pencil transforms.

In the words of Samuel Johnson, “Change is not made without inconvenience.” Speaking broadly, Pencils of Promise illustrates Johnson’s wise words through its daily progress; PoP’s movement strives to impact educational opportunities in the developing world, yet we’ve had some bumps along the way. We faced some bumps ourselves at Monday’s PoP in the Park event, an afternoon planned by PoP’s interns in order to gain support, to further fuel the movement. A last-minute change of plans was necessary, yet the accompanying inconvenience was miniscule compared to the experience at Bryant Park.

The plan was simple. Each Monday night throughout the summer, Bryant Park becomes an open cinema for the public, screening free films of all sorts. For years, thousands have enjoyed Hitchcock classics, 1950s musicals, Bond thrillers and a myriad of other types. This past Monday, July 19^th, it was The China Syndrome, a 1979 Fonda-Douglas classic that would be projected on the big screen.  We planned to give out bags of PoPcorn – given our title as well as the movie-snacking tradition – and collect email addresses from those who wanted to be in the know about PoP. The vision was to bring our friends and park-goers together to learn about PoP while munching on Popcorn, raising awareness and gaining supporters while remaining consistent with the film-festival theme.

But, as Johnson so keenly predicted, obstacles had to be overcome, and changes had to be made. On-and-off showers throughout that Monday threatened the sunny afternoon we envisioned, as well as Bryant Park regulations that inhibited our plan; we soon learned that collecting email addresses and handing out popcorn bordered on solicitation, prohibited in the park. Slightly disheartened, we found a spot on the lawn, deciding that we would simply “chill” and munch on the popcorn ourselves. Chill is what we did; after rounds of connectivity games and fits of laughter, our disheartenment transformed. Mid-“movie game”, my fellow intern Eva Gonzalez exclaimed that “this is the most bonding we’ve done all summer.” The time we thought we’d waste due to unexpected rules was spent in a tight circle – bonding, as Eva said, through our park picnic and intimate conversation. Yet the circle was drastically opened when the question of what to do with all the popcorn was addressed. We began quietly giving it away to surrounding neighbors who’d requested a bag, people much more receptive to unknown food distributions than we had expected! Soon enough, fellow viewers all around the lawn began to raise their arms, giving us a sign that they too wanted a popcorn bag, they too wanted what was being shared: a domino effect, spreading through the green. We grabbed as many bags as we could, running to those too far to reach, raising new curiosities as we passed. “What’s this for?” We’d hear from those who’d begun to snack. “We’re Pencils of Promise!”

Once we’d handed out all of the popcorn, we continued to “chill” with our friends, eating out of those same paper bags as our surrounding neighbors. Without bordering on solicitation, we’d managed to distribute our snacks and spread the word: PoP. They could munch it; they could see it on our matching t-shirts; they could hear it on the lawn. Plans had changed, inconvenience experienced, but our objective for the afternoon remained untouched: having fun and effectively spreading the word, the PoP Syndrome.

PoP in the park!

My main connection to community service was a school club I belong to called “Community Service Roundtable.” We raised money for a lot of good causes, like relief in Haiti, helping child soldiers in Uganda and GEMS. Though I loved what the Roundtable accomplishes and I started to feel a passion for helping these causes, I didn’t expect that when I went on Google and searched for “internships for teens” I’d land one at PoP and feel so passionate about the cause.

I have been helping to coordinate some of the details for PoP’s amazing annual summer fundraiser, the White Party. Planning a party sounded cool to me, especially since I have never helped coordinate something so big.

I have been contacting different companies trying to get donations for the White Party gift bags. This has been an interesting process for me because I got the opportunity to educate people about PoP’s mission. I recently contacted one major cupcake company and though I was pretty nervous about my outreach approach at first (maybe they’d think I was just a kid trying to score free cupcakes!) I quickly realized that with this really small act of placing a phone call I was actually doing something really important: creating a connection between cupcakes in New York and helping kids on the other side of the world get an education.

It’s the small acts that make all the difference!

involvement in Pencils of Promise!

Eva, one of the incredible Pencils of Promise interns for the summer, writes about the inspiring PoP Leadership Workshop last week.

Last week at PoP we had our first ever PoP Leadership Workshop (PLW)!  For two days, the interns were led by PoP team members in exploring different issues in all things PoP. We started out with an introduction from backpacker/founder Adam Braun about the history of PoP, including personal anecdotes on how PoP developed from an inspired idea to a realized dream. The experience of hearing the actual story from Adam is just another example of how hands-on everything is at PoP.

All of the workshops were given by the amazing team who were clearly thrilled and knowledgeable about the ways they contribute to PoP. Jill and Hoolie gave us a valuable intro into how to manage a non-profit and how we to conduct research in the best possible way for PoP but also for our future careers. We also learned a lot more about the work of PoP on the ground when we video chatted with Noy and Leslie, who oversee our schools and programs in Laos. Their contagious excitement about being involved with PoP, both with the organization and on the ground shows how interconnected the organization is in all of its parts. Leslie and Noy talked animatedly about Laos to the rest of the team, as if we were all old friends. We were overcome with the warmth and friendliness which we have now come to expect from all those associated with PoP.

The workshop was also an opportunity for all of the interns to bond with the rest of the team. We had fun breaks planned, such as photo scavenger hunts and icebreakers with the incredible Mimi. We were lucky to receive a visit from Jen who provided inside information about start-ups and her involvement in the massive Chase Community Giving Campaign. After we were completely sold on PoP, we all brainstormed ideas with Jocelyn on how to spread the PoP fever to our own schools and communities.

It is truly so great to be working in a place so concerned with inspiring and motivating our generation. This workshop clearly represents that PoP is just as dedicated and passionate about the 49% creating a movement of passionate young people as it is about the 51% working on the ground. It was so great meeting everyone! I speak on behalf of all the interns when I say we all feel even more empowered about our continued involvement in Pencils of Promise!

Adam, Leslie, and Noy at the opening of our school in Bo He, Laos. (Photo Credit: Bryce Eriksen)

About a week ago I sent out an email to our internal team of 100+ members across the country to share all of the recent progress that PoP has gone through. Based on that response, I figured it would be best to share it with all of you as well. We’re new, but we’re growing quickly because you believe in us.

IMPACT

• We have 7 completed schools in less than 20 months of existence! (6 in Laos, 1 in Nicaragua)
• Our 8th school is underway, and we expect to complete 3 new schools in Nicaragua this summer

OFFICE & STAFF

• We have opened our first office thanks to an amazing donated space on 32nd and Madison in Manhattan (149 Madison Ave, 10th Floor). We have a 5-person staff along with 10 HS/college interns working out of the space all summer, feel free to stop by and say hi to meet the team.
• Our 2nd PoP Fellow starts will be placed on the ground in August to support our work in Nicaragua
• Country Director Leslie Engle and Coordinator Noy Keousuvan are now full-time staff in Laos, we’re hiring our own architect to lead independent projects there, and we’ve brought on four part-time local coordinators who work with each of our villages. We admit, we’re secretly obsessed with our Lao staff.

EVENTS

• 6 of 10 sections at Harvard Business School independently selected PoP as a recipient of their Charity Auction Night benefit! This support will collectively raise nearly $30K from the HBS community.
• Fundraisers have recently been held to support PoP in Las Vegas, NYC, Hong Kong and Taiwan
• The Pretty Lights, RJD2 and Chiddy Bang show at Terminal 5 raised more than $5K to benefit PoP
• The Boathouse in the Hamptons recently hosted an amazing night to benefit PoP
• Philanthro Productions has selected PoP for their first tri-city event (LA, SD, SF) later this year. This means we’ll coordinate a one-night event across 8+ major cities in Nov/Dec, stay tuned and let us know if you want to be a part of the planning in your city!

MEDIA & WEB

• We brought film-makers Philip Buiser and Michael Trainer with us to Laos and Haiti on recent trips to document and explore PoP’s work on the ground. Stay tuned for beautiful commercial shorts to be released this summer, as well as a documentary film about Laos to be released later this year.
• Our photographer Nick Onken’s book release party exclusively featured his work with PoP at the Calumet Gallery in Chelsea, NYC. To see some of his images click here
• THE BIGGEST NEWS YET! AgencyNet, one of the top digital firms globally, has agreed to take us on as a pro bono client and is allocating some of their top people across three different offices to head up our digital strategy and website development. Yes, we’re going to change how people give and empower others with the website we’ll release later this year.

This is an organization that was started 20 months ago with $25 and a dream. Thank you thank you thank you for making all of this possible.

-Adam

You are always on edge on the first day of any new experience. You are worried about the way you are dressed, concerned about your new co-workers and hoping that they’ll have a favorable opinion of you and vice-versa, and you are thinking about the new space and environment and hoping that it is something that aligns with what is necessary for you to be productive.

With all that in mind, I can honestly say that PoP has so far proven to be a great fit. The atmosphere is young, engaging, and the passion and dedication of everyone involved with PoP is inspiring. You can tell, just from the office space (below), that the atmosphere is not one of abundance or luxury, but one grounded in grassroots and the bottom-up approach to social change. The main focus is clearly on the communities we work with, the schools we build, and in-country coordinators we support. This is an extremely powerful model – the idea that the needs of those we work with are more important than our own and more importantly, that our goals are shared, linked with a common thread of empowerment and solidarity.

After my on-boarding orientation with Intern director, Jocelyn Kmet, I was already well on my way to supporting the work of the PoP team. In just my first day in the office, I have already started working on developing PoP’s new SHINE program, thinking about ways to support PoP’s social media initiatives, and researching other organizations that have been successful in activating youth for social good and seeing how they fit in with the PoP model. So I’ve hit the ground running on what is sure to be a productive summer.  What’s more exciting is that I can already see that my work here is having an impact on PoP – its not just busy work, its projects and initiatives that PoP will be utilizing and implementing at all levels of the organization. I am looking forward to learning more about social change and thinking about ways to ensure that education remains a fundamental human right. As Dr. King said, “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” It is this same spirit that drives me to take what I learn from and contribute to PoP and use it as a guide for me to continue doing good and immersing myself in opportunities like this that benefit all of humanity.

Follow Max’s experience interning for Pencils of Promise this summer via Twitter @maxclermont.

One of my favorite references when considering the PoP approach to development is a simple fact: The United States wasn’t created through NGO support.

What does this imply? It acknowledges that it takes self-initiated action to create a profound change in one’s quality of life. Giving single-sided handouts to poor populations only perpetuates a cycle of poverty and neediness. There are situations (i.e. natural disasters, refugee situations, emergency relief, etc.) where true aid is needed, but this is not the sphere Pencils of Promise plays within.

We ask local populations not to put a hand up, but to put a hand out that we can meet halfway.

Our model affirms this approach by requiring that:

1. Every single on-the-ground PoP Coordinator is a young woman of the local population.

2. The Education Ministry must agree to assign a local teacher once a school is completed.

3. We only work with local building companies using locally-produced but sustainable materials.

4. Each village must make up at least 10% of school funding. Since they rarely have this in cash, they make this up in raw materials and physical labor. The community itself ends up building and then maintaining their own school.

5. We coordinate, oversee and train key individuals at each step of the process from our staff to the builders, community and teachers. We want to help those we support to help themselves.

This entire process starts with a village visit to create a community profile. Sitting at the table is usually the village chief, elders, teachers, Education Ministry officials, local builders, our local coordinators and myself or Country Director Leslie Engle.

One of the first questions we ask is what they want most for their community. We won’t be giving it to them; we’ll be helping them to create it for themselves.

Photo credit: Bryce Eriksen

Adam, with Country Director Leslie Engle, in a planning meeting with the educators and elders of Xienglohm Village.

By Adam Braun

Founder, Executive Director

5 years ago I started backpacking across the globe, and the seeds for what would one day become Pencils of Promise were sown. They came in the form of questions, most specifically What do you want most? I’ve asked this question to hundreds of local people across six continents, and by far the most consistent answer has always been, Education for our children.

In the poorest of villages, this came with an additional caveat- Do not help us by giving money to the government. There is too much corruption, too many problems. Work with us directly in our community, we will make sure the support goes to our children.

This was a key principle in founding Pencils of Promise: We work at the local level, forming relationships with community leaders and Education Ministry officials that are directly tied to the well-being of the children their positions are intended to serve. They will be held accountable to us and, most importantly, to each other. There is no hiding behind bureaucratic titles for those tied closest to each village. These are the people we choose to work alongside.

PoP is not driven to achieve recognition of any kind in countries of impact. We don’t care about framed pictures hanging on the walls of government offices or ribbon-cutting ceremonies. We care about results, about providing children with opportunities to pursue a strong education and helping them flourish. Contrary to popular opinion, we believe that this starts not from the top-down, but from the bottom-up.

As we continue to grow our footprint, this just means that there will be more treks to meet with phenomenal local leaders who are deeply committed to empowering their local communities.

Give me a motorbike and a meeting with a village chief, that sounds like the start of something special.

Filmmaker Philip Buiser of Two Penguins Productions spent two weeks in Laos documenting the opening of PoP schools and profiling some remarkable people in Lao culture.

And finally:

5. Because 98% of the world population will never see this woman drag fallen tree trunks down a mountainside and burn down her rice fields so that she could replant.  I saw it.  And it changed my life.  And I was wearing a conical rice hat through the entire thing, which, if you know me, is both perfect and hilarious.

4. Because the kid I almost drowned in the river forgave me as soon as he was conscious.

3. Because baw pen nyang trumps hakuna matata any day of the week.

2. Because what we call poverty isn’t always poverty, and what we call wealth isn’t always wealth.

1. Because Laos made me feel like a very small part of a very big world, which is what all of us need to feel every once in a while.  I needed it very desperately.  And I will forever be grateful.

Honorable mention:  because of Daak Fai, Ai B, Ai Nim, Ai Sengtong and Noy.  Miss you guys tons.