The mission of The Pencil Project is to assist underprivileged rural Guatemalan school children realize their educational goals through the donation and transport of essential school supplies.

 Its corollary focus is to support and encourage the character development of American students through service learning, civic involvement and global awareness as they participate in meeting these basic educational needs of their Guatemalan counterparts. 

The Chance To Go To School in Guatemala

The Pencil Project has it origins in the efforts of Douglas Rhodenbaugh to deliver school supplies to individual villages during the Christmas holidays just before the school year begins in January.  For many children, not having supplies on the first day means losing a year of school and working in the coffee fields with their parents.  Many farming families make less that $250 a year.

Service Learning in the Austin, Texas Community and Beyond

 In Austin, the excitement of donations coming into a school classroom creates a real sense of accomplishment and young workers begin to see an abstract idea actually take shape as each donation box is emptied.  Bags of useful school supplies  and necessities begin to accumulate in the classroom.  What had been a conversation has a life and weight of its own. 

The real magic of The Pencil Project is the experience that students have in a values-embedded curriculum.  The students take a virtual field trip through Doug's photo-documentary work.  Students not only get to see the excitement of Guatemalan children as the pencils are distributed, but also participate in community-building conversations about wants versus needs by seeing truly needy children ... some for the first time.  The process trains and transforms students into caring Citizens of the World. 

What we have been told about the latest generation of teenagers has been completely turned on its head.  Sharing, social justice, and empathy for others are no longer just words to these students.  The little notes they tuck into the bags, wishing the children in Guatemala friendship, urging them to stay in school and simply to say hello are evidence of the new awareness.

  "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world;  indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

                                                                                                                                                   Margaret Mead

The Pencil Project is an official non-profit and a 501c3 Tax-Exempt Status Organization registered in the State of Texas.