Youth seize opportunity of a lifetime

The Pangaea Project connects low-income youth with changemakers around the world

By Rebecca Robinson
The Portland Upside
July 2009

The Pangaea Project’s participants are riding high after learning about grassroots change in Chang Mai, Thailand. (Photo provided by The Pangaea Project)

Think globally, act locally.

For many, this oft-used phrase is easier said than done. But for Deb Delman and Stephanie Tolk, founders of the Portland-based nonprofit The Pangaea Project, it is the basis of their day-to-day work and the realization of Pangaea’s motto: “bringing the world back together.”

The duo met in the fall of 2002 at the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO), where Deb worked. Stephanie interned with IRCO while working toward her masters in social work at Portland State University. It wasn’t until April of the next year, however, that the two went from being casual acquaintances to collaborators.

“We were at the same nonprofit event,” Deb recalls, “and we got to talking … and realized we had a very similar vision.”

Their vision, a unique international project that engages low-income youth in leadership development and service, centers around social justice issues. During an eight-month program the young people forge bonds across countries and cultures while becoming powerful agents of change in their own communities.

They chose the name Pangaea—the supercontinent theorized to have existed billions of years ago before our continents separated—to inspire an image of a reunited world.

Thrilled to have discovered their shared purpose, Deb and Stephanie quickly began researching other programs with similar goals and approaches. As it turned out, their vision was unique.

“We realized, we’re not reinventing the wheel … we’re creating a new model,” said Deb.

Months of intensive networking ensued, leading to a meeting in Spring 2003 of nearly 40 interested people, including some future Pangaea board members. “It was the first time we got out of our heads and had to explain [our idea] to people,” says Stephanie. “It was legitimizing. We’ve told all these people about it; now we have to do it.”

The immense outpouring of support and guidance led Deb and Stephanie to see that, in Deb’s words, “we weren’t alone in this vision.”

They fully committed themselves to their shared goal and worked for the next year without funding to make The Pangaea Project a reality. They launched the organization in
October 2003 and obtained 501(c)(3) status in April 2004.

The greatest challenged faced by the two friends in the beginning, according to Deb, was “the fact that we had to take leaps of faith. We had to believe something into reality.”

Fortunately, the duo found fellow believers who helped provide a foundation for Pangaea’s success. From generous financial supporters to school teachers and administrators nominating their most promising students, there was enough participation to launch the organization’s pilot program in 2006.

What started out as a six-student, two-staff journey has today grown to an endeavor involving 50 students over four years.

The curriculum has three phases and involves local as well as overseas programs.

The first phase, World CLASS (Connect, Learn, Act, Serve, Solve) is an introduction to the program’s thematic focus, the destination country’s language and culture, and team-building activities.

Emphasis is placed on introducing students to “changemakers,” inspiring individuals who are making a difference on the grassroots level by working for positive social change in their communities and in the broader world.

World CLASS also gets students out of the classroom and onto the streets of Portland to gain a first-hand understanding of how the issues they’re studying apply to communities in the city they call home.

For this year’s focus on the global cost of production and consumption, students visited two local nonprofits, Tryon Life Community Farm and Foodworks. There they learned how sustainable solutions to feeding communities are being implemented right here in the Rose City.

Three months and numerous eye-opening lessons later, the students embark on phase two, International Inspiration. In this phase they travel with their trip leaders to either Ecuador or Thailand to become fully immersed in the country’s culture. They live with host families and participate in activities and service projects relating to the program theme.

These “learning journeys,” as the Pangaea staff calls them, take students far off the beaten path and introduce them to grassroots leaders solving problems outside the traditional spheres of power and influence.

This summer, the Thailand group will travel to Chang Mai, a traditional indigenous farming community which made the switch from conventional to organic agriculture after the pesticides they were using made some community members ill.

Those on the Ecuador trip will visit Yungilla, a 200-family cooperative led by a 21-year-old. The cooperative not only champions sustainable land use but is also recognized as a model for self-sufficiency.

For Deb, it’s most powerful to witness the students, many from difficult backgrounds, working alongside grassroots leaders they can relate to.

“These aren’t rock stars they’re meeting,” says Deb. “They’re people who are overcoming obstacles.”

And overcoming obstacles is something many of this year’s students know well. Some have recently exited gang life or the juvenile justice system; others grew up with drug-addicted parents or in poverty.

What they all have in common, Deb says, “is an incredible resilience, genuine curiosity, and a sense of drive to help people.”

Indeed, the students’ biographical statements reflect these qualities.

Saharla, a straight-A student at Rosemary Anderson High School, joined Pangaea to further explore herself while exploring the world around her. She hopes to pursue journalism in order to write about social justice issues and those around the world working for social change.

Tony is a recent graduate of the alternative school, Portland Youth Builders. His Cambodian mother survived the Khmer Rouge genocide in which her entire family perished. He made a fresh start for himself after a difficult childhood during which he stole to help feed his family and did time in the juvenile justice system as a result. Tony is now enrolled at Portland Community College, and is “glad to leave the lifestyle I was living.” He is discovering through Pangaea that his voice counts and that he can make it be heard.

“I have something to say,” says Tony with surprise. “People listen to me.”

The students complete the program with the third phase, Local Leadership, in which they work with their trip leaders to create a presentation aimed at educating the Portland community and inspiring people to take action. For many of the students, it is the first time they have ever spoken in front of a large audience. Whether presenting to 20 or 200 people, it represents an empowering opportunity to take the lead and make a difference. The experience gained and lessons learned from Pangaea’s intensive program stay with graduates long after they move on to other endeavors. Some graduates have gone on to serve on the Multnomah Youth Commission. Others have earned scholarships to continue their international travel and broaden their global awareness.

Chris Craig, a 2007 Pangaea graduate and junior at Portland State University, says of the program, “I have yet to encounter another program that instills so much in the minds and hearts of Portland’s youth. It is an opportunity of a lifetime, and one I am thankful for every day.”
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For more information about The Pangaea Project, or to get involved as a donor or volunteer, call 503-517-8999, email info@thepangaeaproject.org, or visit www.thepangaeaproject.org

Rebecca Robinson is an award-winning freelance writer and editor who lives, works and story-hunts in Portland. Have a story that needs telling? Contact her at rebecca.michelle.robinson@gmail.com