Girls In Tech

Are you wondering how to help Haiti? It’s noble and good to open your wallet and send money. But can you send $100,000? I can’t. That’s why I’m supporting Pencils of Promise, a group competing on Chase’s Facebook-based Community Giving Competition. POP is trying to win $1,000,000 to support their mission of building schools in poor areas. If they win, they pledge to donate at least $100K to Haiti.

It only takes about a minute to vote for them. You can vote here: http://bit.ly/4DYKIV. Please feel free to Tweet about it, too.

From the POP blog, here’s how young girls reacted to plans to build a women’s dormitory and library in Champhet, Laos, to replace the makeshift huts they stay in during the school week, before they walk home on weekends:

“At the start of each school week, hundreds of girls from faraway villages have to choose between their personal safety and their education. For them, though, the choice is obvious. The only way to personal empowerment, agency, and ability is through this education. The safety they will have to forgo. We ask many girls if they would like a place of their own to live—a dormitory for only females. Smiles explode onto their meek faces with eager yeses. They say they want a place where they are safe, where they aren’t scared at night.”

Inspiring stuff, huh?  If POP wins the competition, they pledge to build 50 schools throughout the world, including safe facilities for communities where women traditionally have less access to education.  POP is run entirely by volunteers and support they receive goes wholly to their projects. As of today, they are only a few votes away from being a finalist. Voting ends Friday. Your vote can have an impact!

To make it simple, here’s that math again:

60 seconds of effort =

50 schools +

100K to Haiti.

In Sum :  Impressive.