You’ve heard the saying, ‘What a difference a day makes,’ but you might not know what a difference a watch makes.
Here are a few things that have happened because people have bought watches from WearPanda.
- It used to be that when it rains in Laos, the noise from the rain is so loud that the teachers can’t teach over the noise, so the kids didn’t come to school when it rained. But Pencils of Promise built a new school with a roof that isn’t so loud when it rains - and now school stays open. Kids are getting an education. Lives are changing.
- Children in Guatemala are learning why they should wash their hands with soap and water every time they use the bathroom, and they are doing it! Fewer kids are getting sick, they are living better lives. Their future is brighter than ever.
The numbers point to the story of what is happening through Pencils of Promise. In 10 years they have built 457 schools and impacted the lives of more than 86,000 students - not to mention their families.
But better than numbers are the stories where lives are clearly being impacted and changed for the better. Lives like little Juana Christina, who feared for her own safety while inside her village’s old, rickety school building. It was built generations ago by the village, but now it is dangerous. Every day the children worry that the roof will fall in on them. Or they did, until Pencils of Promise stepped in and helped the villagers build a new school. Now Juana Christina and can learn to read and write and do math without fear of the roof falling in on her and, she says, “For the first time I think my dreams are becoming real.”
For so many children, an education means their lives will be better than their parents lives are. Having an education means they will be able to provide for their children. It means their children will not be malnourished, they will know how to reduce the likelihood of infection and diseases caused by bacteria in the water. It means these children will still be smiling well into their adult years because they are able to live a more abundant life. All because you bought a watch.
(Photo by Nick Onken)
