The Pencil Project

Our December shipment of school supplies to Guatemala is our biggest ever.

Thanks to all of you, we shipped over 2100 pounds in three containers.  They will arrive in time for distribution to children in the Guatemalan highlands so they can register for the new term beginning in January.  Remember, although school grades 1-6 are free, if a child cannot provide ALL of their own school supplies they cannot attend.  

Here is the whole process in pictures.

First, we collect all the items from the wonderful schools and other organizations that contribute. This is a donation from the students and facility at The Ann Richards School for Young Woman Leaders here in Austin.

We collect and store them for our two annual shipments to Guatemala, one in July and one in December, those are the breaks in the Guatemalan school year.

About a month before Douglas Rhodenbaugh, our executive director, sets off to the Guatemalan Highlands where he is known as “The Pencil Man” we start getting the shipment ready.

 

 

 

 

 

   We have to make the containers strong enough to withstand the trip. Part of the trip is by truck and then by ship to Puerto Barrios on the Caribbean coast of Guatemala. The container then travels by truck to Guatemala City. There Douglas and Guatemalan volunteers, who have worked with The Pencil Project before, will open the containers and sort the contents. Then, the pencils and supplies are divided up and carried by truck, bus, car or burro to the village schools in the highlands.

First the materials:

 

  

 

Construction gets started.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is Jorge Lopez, one of our volunteers, building one of the boxes. Jorge is originally from Guatemala. He had Douglas as a teacher more than 15 years ago at Travis High School in Austin. Jorge is quite a craftsman and is always pleased to give back to the community!

 

 

 

 

Another volunteer and board member Randy Williams helping with construction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just curious? How about a donation, just kidding, this is Lawrence and Cathy Mann who have helped out The Pencil Project in many many ways,  both financially and with great advice over the last two years.   

 

Then it's back to storage to start packing up.   

 

 

 

We try to fill them as full as possible, it takes fewer boxes and reduces damage.

 

 

 

 

 

Jorge finishes sealing up one of the boxes while it sits on The Capital-Area Food Bank freight dock awaiting pickup to be shipped. We couldn’t have done any of this without the help and cooperation of The Capital-Area Food Bank and especially Charlie Ward, the Vice President of Operations.

We needed a truck loading dock and a forklift and, as it turned out, a place to put these boxes for a day out of the rain. The Capital-Area Food Bank came through. The completed and sealed boxes weight over 600 pounds each so, once packed, they can't be moved by hand. Without the help from The Capital-Area Food Bank, we  would have been stuck .

 

 

 

 

Here is one of them, wrapped in plastic for waterproofing and  ready to go. We shipped three this size this year, over 2100 pounds, a record.

 

  

Another one of the three, wrapped and ready to go. The old guy is me, the man behind the camera, Dan Haymond.

 

 

 

And here is what it's all about. Volunteers in a village in the Highlands getting ready to distribute the school supplies. The kids are ready! The lady second from the left is one of the few teachers.