A cogent message
One of the things that I have learned over and over is that “PEPY is confusing to explain!” and we need to have a cogent message that conveys what we do. I can still work on being more concise, but here is how I have learned to describe the different areas in which we work:
PEPY’s overall philosophy is that if each member of our team is working to be the best person (s)he can be, achieving personal goals while committing to helping others reach theirs, only then can our organization reach its potential. It is not our job to solve problems for others, but instead to encourage and support others with the tools to solve their own problems. To do this, we support
Leadership: PEPY works to empower school, community, and youth leaders to take action to create quality learning environments in the areas in which they live. We do this through youth leadership clubs, school support committee development and training, and government school partnerships.
Literacy: PEPY empowers teachers and students with the tools to increase literacy rates, the use of printed material in the classroom, and a love of reading in government schools. We do this through school and classroom library programs, teacher training, resource creation, and summer literacy camps.
Supplemental Education: PEPY works with government schools to offer additional academic programing during students’ free time and school breaks. PEPY’s junior high school program focuses on creativity and critical thinking through a “Creative Learning Class,” which uses XO computers, science experiments, and (coming soon) robots as a medium for learning problem solving.
Educational Tourism: These education programs in rural Cambodia are supported in part through our tourism arm, PEPY Tours. PEPY Tours offers learning, adventure, and development-education experiences to students, teachers, families, and independent groups looking to travel through Cambodia responsibly. The tour fee supports the participants’ travel expenses, and the required fundraising or donation minimum goes directly to support the non-profit programs, which will continue on long after they leave.
What do you think about the information above? Does it describe what we do, from your previous experience and understanding about PEPY? What would you add, or remove, to make the message about our work more clear to those who are meeting us for the first time?