Interview with Mackenzie and Lucia

Today, Sunday, December 16, 2012, marks the day of the very first Pencils for Africa Annual Conference (PFA 2012) attended by the St. Hilary School in Tiburon, California’s 4th grade students and organized by their teacher, Chyah Weitzman. The conference venue was graciously donated by the owner of the Once Around arts and crafts store in Mill Valley, California, Julie Stanton.

Fourth graders Mackenzie and Lucia led the event, with Mackenzie serving as the keynote speaker and Lucia serving as the discussion moderator. Below is a photograph of Mackenzie (standing with jar of used pencils, wearing crimson sweater, far right) listening to responses by Lucia (seated, wearing off-white headband, far left) on Mackenzie’s presentation on Pencils for Africa‘s goals and objectives.

Mackenzie reported that her 4th grade classroom had thus far accumulated 356 used pencils which were ready to be dispatched to school communities in Africa. Moreover, she said that she had informed the 5th grade classroom that it was now their turn to both meet and match the challenge set by her 4th grade class by accumulating used pencils of their own for the Africa pencil drive.

The lead discussion points by Mackenzie were focused upon what she described as the “4 C’s” of Pencils for Africa while the lead discussion point by Lucia focused upon trees and ecology as it relates to pencil production. Below are the main discussion points by Mackenzie and Lucia followed by a wider discussion which included Isabella, Carly and others.

The 4 C’s of Pencils for Africa - discussion lead by Mackenzie

Mackenzie identified what she considers to be the 4 C’s of Pencils for Africa (PFA):

• Connection
• Communication
• Cultivation
• Compassion

These 4 components of Pencils for Africa were then discussed independently as follows:

Connection

The first and most important for step for Pencils for Africa is for Mackenzie and her classmates to connect with children in Africa. The sending of used pencils to children in Africa (such as the 356 used pencils that Mackenzie’s classroom has collected in 2012) is a means by which to establish this initial connection.

Communication

Once the connection has been made by delivering the used pencils, it is important to begin the process of communication. One effective way of doing this is by receiving and sending letters, drawings and poems that have been composed with these used pencils. Mackenzie, Lucia, Carly, Isabella and other attendees hope that children in Africa will communicate with them through letters, drawings and poems.

Cultivation

A great deal of the discussion focused around the need to carefully nurture and cultivate the relationships with the children in African with whom the 4th grade class is connecting and communicating. Lucia said:

“We need to connect with their culture but not to change their culture. There are too many people trying to change African culture because they think they know better than Africans. We do not feel that way at all. We want to connect with and learn from them and share what we know as well. We need to cultivate understanding and also show them how much we respect them.” — Lucia

Lucia continued:

“For example, right now in the Holiday Season here in Marin, people are just going to stores and buying and consuming so many of the resources of the planet for stuff they don’t really need. Meantime, in many places in Africa, the children are making sure they don’t waste any resources and that they respect the planet. So that is something we can learn from the children in Africa so we can be better world citizens.”

Compassion

Compassion was a big topic amongst the attendees as it relates to children in Africa who face challenges, such as those in conflict zones. Discussion revolved around today’s article in the Sunday Review section of the New York Times entitled: The World’s Worst War by Jeffrey Gettleman, who is the NY Times East Africa bureau chief. This article addresses the current situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and touches upon the plight of children the same age as Mackenzie and Lucia in Congolese dwellings in Goma and Kibumba.

“We must show compassion to the kids our age in the Congo. We will send them used pencils and show them that we care.” — Mackenzie

The 4th graders also commended the work of human rights researcher Olivier Bercault, recently interviewed by Pencils for Africa, and Sarah Dryden-Peterson‘s work entitled “Educating Children in Conflict Zones” which Archbishop Desmond Tutu says captures…

“…the voices of children and teachers in their craving for a better world.” - Desmond Tutu

Saving Trees - discussion lead by Lucia

Lucia led a discussion based on the ecological significance of sending used verses new pencils to Africa.

The students reviewed some of the research in the original Pencils for Africa article back in May, 2012, featuring Oxford University palaeoecologist (tree expert) Dr. Elinor Breman as follows:

“A single tree can make casings for somewhere between 172,000 and 300,000 pencils. With more than 14 billion pencils produced annually, that’s a total of 41-87,000 trees per year to meet our pencil demands – a demand that is growing year on year .” — Dr. Elinor Breman, Oxford University

“I am very concerned by the cutting down of trees to make more pencils,” lamented Lucia, “I just think we all need to be more aware of this. Here in America we need to make better use of our pencils and not just throw them away because the eraser got used up or because it is stubby and blunt. We need to just make an effort to sharpen the pencils and make better use of them. And if we are not willing to do that then at least we can recycle them by sending them to children in Africa who seem to show much more respect for the earth’s resources than we do. Some children in Africa share one pencil between 30 students in a classroom. They know what living with less means - we don’t. We’re pretty spoiled.”

Education - discussion lead by Mackenzie, Lucia, Carly and Isabella

The discussion on education as it relates to Africa was built around the childhood experiences of CNN hero Jackson Kaguri who was recently interviewed by Pencils for Africa. As Jackson says:

“We were five brothers and sisters. My childhood memories are about waking up in the morning and finding that my dad had gone and purchased a No. 2 pencil – which for us as a family, was a lot of money. That is why he could not afford 5 pencils – one for each of us children.

“However, the school rule was that you had to have a pencil – used or unused – it did not matter – to attend our school. We would be turned away if we did not arrive at school with a pencil. So dad broke this No. 2 pencil into 5 pieces and handed each of us 5 children one fifth of a pencil stub. With a fifth of pencil, I didn’t have to sneak into school and risk being kicked out.” — Jackson Kaguri, CNN Hero

The grim circumstances of the present day - as Jackson describes them - was a sobering thought to these 4th grade Pencil for Africa conference attendees:

“Today, Twenty Twelve (2012), there are many children in Africa who cannot attend school because their families cannot afford the price of admission which is one-fifth of a pencil. Let me repeat that: There are children in Africa today - today, who do not go to school because they do not have one-fifth of a pencil.” — Jackson Kaguri, CNN Hero

“We need to really think. We need to stop and we need to think!” insisted Isabella, “Just think - they cannot even afford one pencil. Think how their need to get education can change with just one pencil!”

“And we need to understand how fortunate we are and be very, very grateful,” suggested Carly.

“I agree,” concurred Isabella, “We need to start by being grateful for everything we have and then help others to have what they need. Helping people with education is the best gift we can give - it can start with a pencil. If that is all we can do then we should do it, right? It’s a small step but an important step.”

“And we need compassion,” concluded Mackenzie, “Compassion is very important.”