Meet Alan

One of the best parts of my day job is that it affords me the opportunity to meet and get to know people from all over the world. The very best part of my job is when one of those people grows from "just" a co-worker to a real friend, a bespren, even. Alan is one of those people. Alan inspires me with his creativity, his smarts, his loyalty and most of all, his very big heart.

Alan lives in the Philippines, a nation made up of many small islands. Alan has had the opportunity to travel to many places most of us here in the U.S. have never heard of. When Alan noticed the poverty and the potential of a place called El Nido, he knew he had to do something to help. What a simple idea he came up with, and what a complex, long-lasting effect it had. Alan started a program this Spring called "Lapis, Please (A Pencil Revolution)." In Alan's own words:

I’ve been yearning to contribute the little that I have to make a world of difference to our less fortunate brothers in the provinces. I want to send a strong message that the youth is what this country really needs to treasure and nurture. It’s not about what school you come from or which social class you belong to; everyone has a substantial stake on the future of our beloved Philippines.

First off, why pencils? Well, my humble reply is, why NOT pencils? The pencil has always been the symbol of learning for kids and their first tool for expressing their own imaginations. Why just pencils? Well, let’s give a chance for them to get creative and find or improvise a sharpener or eraser. This program aims to be an enabler and not merely a dole-out.

This program will never claim to be the ultimate solution to our pressing problems in both education (or lack thereof) and the debilitating poverty. However, it is absolutely the BIG first step to reach that noble goal, a flicker of a light on an otherwise bleak(er) future. Realizing our own limitations, we turn to our dear friends (and friends of friends) who also believe in our advocacy. It is a simple idea but hey, it might be someone else’s ticket out of poverty and away from ignorance - perhaps even life-changing for some. Hopefully, in 10 years or more, someone will remember that this tiniest of ideas opened the biggest of opportunities for him. Talk about “paying it forward”.

You can read more about how the "Lapis Project" day went here, and see some pictures that Alan took. (He's a great photographer, by the way.) Who knows how these pencils will change the world in the future... one of those pencils might be used to sketch the world's next great masterpiece, write the next great novel, find the formula that cures cancer or perhaps, just bring a smile to a child's face. You never know. But sometimes, just bringing a smile to a child's face is more than enough, don't you think?

~*~*~ May you always remember to dance in the rain, and may you have plenty of ladybugs beside you! ~*~*~

Blessings,
Kat
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