Mon Corpuz, Edwin Karganilla and Zer Cabatuan are helping the children

by Tara FT. Sering
Cebu Pacific Air’ Smile Magazine
Cause and Effect, December 2009 Issue

Filipino schoolchildren in remote areas suffer the lack of something many take for granted: school supplies. Black Pencil Project is a collective initiative committed to providing pencils, pens and paper to public schools for indigent communities in remote areas across the country.

It all started on June 2008 when hobbyist photographers Mon Corpuz, Edwin Karganilla and Zer Cabatuan went on a photo safari in the famous Batad’s Amphitheater Rice Terraces in Ifugao. Mon recalls, “It was the start of the schoolyear and so the three of us brought a bag of pencils for the kids.” Struck by the people’s gracious hospitality, they realized the value of social responsibility and pledged their commitment.

Since then, the grass-root level organization has made it their mission to reach out, teach and inspire early learners — kids in daycare up to grade three — to go to school, promoting education. Almost immediately, the small advocacy has grown, garnering support from private individuals, mountaineering groups, photography clubs, foreign tourists and Filipinos based overseas. From the initial beneficiary of Ifugao communities, Black Pencil Project now also serves the Babuyan Islands, Ilocos Norte, Mt Province, Tarlac and Davao Del Sur Norte. Black Pencil Project conducts immersion programs like art workshops and pencil treks. “Even private corporations are requesting exclusive Black Pencil Project treks.”

Big things start from small beginnings. Mon says, “We’re happy we’ve surpassed our set goals — from pencils to complete study kits.”