Justin Bieber and PoP

No no, don't think of me as one of Belieber. Yeah maybe someday I would love to get my peaches from Georgia but no I am still not a Belieber. I am not here to discuss Justin Beiber's some pop genre music. I am talking about Promise of Pencil, also known as POP.

Adam Braun, a twenty-something went on a voyage around the world. His travel companions mostly were interested in collecting souvenirs for their friends and family. But Adam Braun had a different plan. He wanted to collect something which he could recall and cherish later. He wanted to connect with at least one child from each country. In order to do so, he came up with a question he could ask those children, “If you could have anything in the world, what would you want most?”. He expected that children will ask for candies, laptops, LED TVs, toys, etc but to his surprise, none of the kids wanted any of those. A kid from Beijing responded that he wanted a book. Another kid from Vietnam said that he wanted his mother to be healthy, a Hawaiin girl just wanted a dance. As Adam was searching for his answer in India, he met a child begging near the Taj Mahal and now was just sitting, When Adam asked that boy the same question he was asking around the world, the answer of that child amused Adam. He said that if he could have anything in this world, he would have a pencil. Adam pulled out a bunch of pencils from his bag and gave it to that boy. The boy had never been to a school and for him, the pencil was a symbol of creativity, curiosity, and possibility. Adam always used to think that he is too small and young to make a difference but this moment made him realize that even a pencil can change someone's life. He went on to continue with his trip.

Promise of Pencil, a mission founded by Adam Braun went on to build more than 500 schools around the world providing them with education, clothes, filtered water, and of course a lot of PENCILS. So, you might be thinking that why did I mention Justin Bieber at the starting of this article. Justin and Adam both were just starting out when they met each other. Justin just had some videos on youtube but really wanted to help PoP. But Adam wanted Justin to focus on his career as he was just 13. A fan's father asked Justin that what would it take Justin to meet his daughter once. Justin asked Adam that how much does it cost to build a classroom. $10,000 it was and that's how a fan got to meet Justin Bieber by helping in building a classroom in some African village. Did this story hook you? If you want to know more about how Justin Bieber helped Adam Braun and how Adam Braun helped with the education of more than 2 lakhs kids around the world, read The Promise Of a Pencil by Adam Braun.