The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change (29 page)

Dancing with these kids, I looked around and acknowledged that what you see around you is proof of what exists within you. There is a primal energy that spurs us to move, to shake, to transform. And once ignited, it is a feeling that takes on a life of its own. I remembered how special that first school opening was to me, the one dedicated to Ma, and realized that every one of the other ninety-nine felt that special to someone else. It meant that much to the donor who bought the cement, the mother and the father who laid the bricks, and the child who would now learn to read her first word from her first book.

I thought of Ma, and Joel Puac, and Lanoy, standing proudly with her Shark Book. But I was ready to move on from past stories, from past schools, from past achievements. I now saw it all as a continuum. I thought of the thousands of students who were in PoP schools at that very moment. I pictured our next hundred schools and the hundred schools after that, and the impact they would have around the world.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first female elected head of state in Africa, said, “If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.” We had reached a once unattainable goal, but now it was time to stretch our work further. True motivation is not found within reaching a goal, but rather getting to a place where you can confidently and audaciously move the finish line far off into the distance once again. It’s in the space between the known and the unknown, where you can craft a vision for the future that you hope to create and then chase it with relentless fervor. Though I didn’t know exactly how we’d navigate every turn ahead, I knew that we already had the roadmap to reach our greatest aspirations.

By giving people of all ages and backgrounds an organization through which they could leave their own mark, individuals that I didn’t yet know would bring each new school to life, making
our story their story too. Through Pencils of Promise they would change the lives of others in the same way that Chelsea Canada and Rich Lent and Kennedy Donnelly had. They would become the next Brad Haugen or Hope Taitz or Ray Chambers of the Pencils of Promise narrative. They would become the gatekeepers of that infectious energy that had propelled the organization forward from the start.

Because as long as somewhere in the world a child still stands with an outstretched hand asking for nothing more than a pencil, our mission will continue on.

A
s of the date of publication of this book, Pencils of Promise has broken ground on more than two hundred schools, delivered over 15 million educational hours, and is opening a new school every ninety hours. But we don’t just build four walls and move on; we are committed to the long-term support and sustainability of every project we undertake. Our comprehensive approach to educational attainment has led to recognition by the World Economic Forum, the Clinton Global Initiative, and most recently being awarded Education Organization of the Year at a showcase held at the United Nations. Going forward we are launching a series of innovations that will test new technologies and teaching methods we believe will be truly game-changing.

Please consider supporting our work by providing a scholarship,
training a teacher, or building the next Pencils of Promise school at
www.PencilsofPromise.org
. It costs only $25 to educate a child, $500 to train a teacher, and $10,000 to build a classroom. More than thirty thousand people have created unique fundraisers on our website to educate children. Perhaps your upcoming birthday will be next.

Lanoy is now the country director of PoP Laos, where she leads more than thirty local staff members. After nearly four years in Laos, Leslie moved to New York City, where she now leads all PoP International Programs globally. Brad was elected chairman of our board of directors, and Nick Onken continues to travel to each country where we work to shoot photography for the organization. It’s been years since Joel Puac took me into his home, but I went back to find him and tell him about everything that had occurred because of his initial hospitality. When I found him in the mountains and told him about what Pencils of Promise had become, he disappeared into his home momentarily. When he emerged from his bedroom, he was smiling ear to ear, holding that very same tape recorder I’d spoken into years earlier in his hand. The cassettes we recorded had worn down, but he explained that his children now spoke solid English.

Pencils of Promise currently employs more than sixty staff members in our countries of impact, over 90 percent of whom are locals. They work to keep the opportunity to learn alive for children like Nith and Nuth, who are now star third-graders. There are more than fifteen thousand children who learn in PoP schools every single day. This is no longer my story. This is now their story too.

*  *  *

When I think back to how this all began, one thing is incredibly clear: I was hopelessly idealistic from the start. I use the word
hope-less
purposely, as my belief in PoP has always been devoid of hope. I never thought,
I hope this works out
. I knew it would. From the moment that first bolt of electric energy hit me at the New York Philharmonic, I never once questioned whether the organization would succeed. That’s because it went beyond passion and felt like purpose. Purpose is found when you stop thinking about how you exist in the world and start trying to figure out why you are here. Once you solve that question, everything else will fall into place.

I was only twenty-four when I made that first $25 bank deposit. But while many perceive youth as a weakness, it’s actually an incredible strength. The single most powerful element of youth is that you don’t have the life experiences to know what can’t be done. While others highlight the value of wisdom, wisdom also remembers that achieving certain things was hard, if not impossible. Young people don’t carry that burden. They’re too naive to realize what can’t be accomplished, and in that fact lies their willingness to try.

Martin Luther King Jr. was just twenty-six when he led the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Steve Jobs created Apple when he was twenty-one, Bill Gates founded Microsoft at twenty, and Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook when he was only nineteen. The most prominent voice in global education is sixteen-year-old Malala Yousafzai, who against all odds survived being shot in the head while on her way to school, and who still stands every day as a powerful voice for change in defiance of Taliban oppression. For any young person reading this book, my message is clear. Never let anyone tell you that your dream is impossible. No matter how big or small, you can make it real.

For anyone going through a restless period in life, looking to make a change but not sure how, start with an ambitious but attainable goal. I set out to build just one school. Only after I
realized that it was possible and how much of a difference it made in the life of others did I focus on enabling anyone else to have that same experience too. The key is to think big and then take small, incremental steps forward day by day.

Start by changing the subjects of your daily conversation from the life you are living to the life you aspire to create. By speaking the language of the person you seek to become, you will soon find yourself immersed in the conversations that make you most come alive. You’ll sense the energy you emit attracting similar energy from others. Your conversations will lead to opportunities, which will become actions, which will become footprints for good.

But you can’t keep saying, “I’ll get started tomorrow.” The world has far too many problems, and you are way too smart and capable to not help tackle them. Your time is now.

*  *  *

I used to send out lengthy email updates to my family and friends while backpacking, and people consistently said, “You should publish something.” I appreciated their responses, but I didn’t think the travel tales of a backpacker warranted a full book unless an impactful organization was born out of the things I learned on the road. But those comments got me thinking. As humans we are natural storytellers. We weave narrative into nearly every relationship we build and value. I realized that I needed to live a life that reflected the themes of the stories I wanted to one day tell, and when I veered off that path later on, it was time to make a change. Regardless of age or status, if you’re not satisfied with the path you’re on, it’s time to rewrite your future. Your life should be a story you are excited to tell.

A new chapter will begin in my life in the years ahead, one that includes building not just schools, but a family too. I’ll be sure to teach my children the value of my mother’s favorite word,
integrity
, the essence of Dad’s Rules, and each of the mantras that title the chapters of this book. I’ll tell them that the most direct route to happiness is through creating joy for someone else, and that change doesn’t happen through hard work alone. It requires strength of imagination. It relies on that ability we each possess to suspend belief in the restraints of today to enable the possibilities of tomorrow. Most of all, I’ll remind them each morning that we make a choice to bring positivity or negativity into the world, and that within every single person there lies an extraordinary story waiting to unfold.

A
lthough this book focuses heavily on the story of one of my grandmothers, Eva, I’d like to start by acknowledging my grandmother Dorothy. She was left to raise three children alone when my mother’s dad died, and has been my biggest supporter as a writer throughout my entire life. Thank you for your words of encouragement, your daily heroism, and your continued love, Grandma. This book would never have been written if not for you. Mom and Dad, thank you for your unending support, your willingness to listen to my rants at all hours, and for being the best role models I could imagine. Liza, Scott, Sam, and Cornelio, I’m so proud of each of you. You inspire me every single day, and I hope that one day my children will be surrounded by siblings as incredible as each of you. Ma, Apu, Grandpa Sam, Grandpa Irving, and the rest of the family, if I could hug all of you right now I would hold on for hours. And to my guardian angel, Tehillah, thank you
for your love, your patience, and your partnership. Now and forever.

To my writing partner, Carlye Adler, thank you for your heart, your wisdom, and your friendship. I value you more than I could ever put into words. To the dream team of Simon Green and Shannon Welch, without you two this book wouldn’t have existed. You both believed that this story needed to be told, and I am so grateful to you for making that happen.

Semester at Sea was the best and most transformational experience of my life, and I would be remiss not to state how thankful I am to have had the chance to board the MV
Explorer
. Without SAS, this would have been a very different story. I’d also like to thank everyone at Brown University, Bain & Company, GHS, 5 Euclid Avenue, and the 75 Second Avenue crew for bringing so much joy into my life. I love you all and wouldn’t change a single second of our time together.

There are far too many people in the Pencils of Promise family to thank, so to every person who has ever had an @pencilsofpromise.org email address, attended our events, worked in the field, sat on our board, joined a local leadership council, started a chapter at their school, created a PoP fundraiser, contributed toward our work, or shared our message in any capacity, I am eternally grateful to you. You’ve brought so much light into the lives of so many children, and I will be forever humbled by your commitment and generosity.

• Find free readers guides for each chapter

• Preview posters of your favorite mantras

• See photos and videos from the field

• Learn how to build the next PoP school

• Subscribe to learn more insider tips

• Ask any question directly to the author

• Bring the author to your event

© ELISABETH CAREN

ADAM BRAUN
is the founder of Pencils of Promise, an award-winning nonprofit organization that has built more than two hundred schools around the world. In 2012, he was named to the
Forbes
30 Under 30 list and
Wired
magazine’s 50 People Who Will Change the World. He is a graduate of Brown University and a frequent speaker at conferences, colleges, and Fortune 1000 companies. He currently resides in New York City. For more information visit
pencilsofpromise.org
and
adambraun.com
.