Pencil Tree - Compassion in Action
Cabarita Beach based charity the Pencil Tree maybe small, but it is changing the lives of hundreds of underprivileged children in Northern India. What began with taking a few pencils to one school has grown to the support of 14 remote schools in the foothills of the Himalayas and targeted support of individual slum children, with education as a pathway out of poverty.
Last April at the start of the school year, Pencil Tree volunteers from Australia packaged up and delivered individualised student supply packs containing pencils, pens, exercise books, eraser, ruler, sharpener, balloons, and lollies to 772 children. All items were sourced from a local supplier. These basic educational resources will last for one year’s schooling for children whose families cannot afford to buy such simple things.
The scope of the charity expanded in 2016 when Pencil Tree Founder,
Stevie Bellamy met a Tibetan monk called Lobsang Jamyang, an inspirational man who has devoted his life to help families living in the slums in the Dharamsala area. His focus is the education of the children of the slum communities. His goal is to give these children a quality education so they can find well paid jobs and break the generational poverty cycle, bringing their families out of the slums.
The standard of education at the local schools has been high, however the stigma of being from the slums persisted. Jamyang had always dreamed of opening his own school where children could gain an academic and holistic education to prepare them for adulthood away from the slums. Pencil Tree took on the task of raising the funds to build a 4 storey, 10 classroom structure. This building was completed in November 2019 allowing more children from the slums to attend this special school. Now 286 slum children study there.
The program is having great impact and there is a lot of pride for the growing successful alumni who have gone onto further study at college and university and others following a trade. One young woman gained a degree in Media Studies and a young man has obtained a master’s degree in Fine Arts. Another former student from the local slum community is studying Medicine and in February 2024 is set to become a doctor! It is hoped she may be able to complete her internship in Australia.
Pencil Tree is committed to giving 100% of sponsorship donations to underprivileged children in India and the number of wonderful supporters is growing. “We are always looking for sponsors to place more slum children into a good education and at just $7.30 per week, it’s easy to change a child’s life!” says Stevie. “You can even come to visit the children and be a part of the projects on a Pencil Tree Trip every April and October!”.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
You can follow
@PencilTree on Facebook and Instagram.
Check out
www.penciltree.com.au
Contact via email:
thepenciltree@hotmail.com
Call Stevie directly on 0413 888 790
