PathLight Archives - Junkyard Wisdom

Junkyard Road Trip

Well, not exactly a road trip, we fly not drive. But … anyone interested in Belize? I’ve just returned from a great trip with friends, and I’m already planning another trip for January. We will be full for this trip (no more than 15 people) so let me know soon if you are interested. It’s a blend of Junkyard reality, PathLight heart, and touristy fun.

The most recent trip was really short: we spent less than 72 hours in Belize. But it was packed. Here’s a list of the things we did:

Met with PathLight students and heard their stories.…

Warning! Warning! Warning!

Okay, full warning … you are about to be offered the opportunity to read even more of my miscellaneous ramblings!

If you read this blog regularly then you have heard about PathLight. Well, the team there has been brainstorming how to stay in touch with their supporters without boring them. Nobody needs useless updates, and we don’t want to act like PathLight’s work is the most important thing in the world. (Even though it kinda is).

Nonprofit updates often follow a familiar script. My snarky mind imagines something like, “Hello, we have fantastic news! The kids are fantastic! Our …

Conflict and Peace

This story is about conflict that ended with peace and friendship. It’s one of those (seemingly) few happy ending stories, so it stands out amidst all the doom & gloom we often hear.

It begins, naturally enough, as a disagreement about real estate. Down the street from a property I own is a vacant commercial lot. The owner — who also happened to live nearby — partnered with another company to propose a use that I considered a horrible addition to the neighborhood. It was, in my opinion, going to bring in crime, traffic, ugliness, etc. Worse, it did nothing …

Hurricane Lisa

Last week Belize was struck by Hurricane Lisa. The good news is that all of the PathLight students, staff, and partners are physically safe.

The challenging news, however, is that there’s been significant damage to homes and household items. The flooding harmed everything, from mattresses to digital devices to school uniforms. Even simple things like data cards were corrupted, making it difficult for people to stay connected.

As you know if you read this blog, I grew up working in a junkyard. We were all about figure-it-out and then get-er-done. It didn’t have to be pretty. It just had to …

Smart Brevity

Emails, snail mail, Slack messages, texts, books, tweets, posts, blogs, reports, articles, shared documents … we are awash in communications!

Shouldn’t we stop a moment and think about how we write all this stuff?

Back in 2020, when the world felt unprecedented, a friend suggested the news service Axios. Short, simple emails that cover the top news stories in 2-3 minutes arrive each day, with links to go deeper.

Just recently the founders of Axios have written Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More With Less.

The world needs this book.

At least I do. And many …

When Helping . . . Helps

I’ve held back on sharing this story because I didn’t want to embarrass anyone. But several years have passed and it seems okay to share now.

It began with a presentation I gave about the work PathLight is doing in Belize. An acquaintance listened and then quickly dismissed the work as cultural intrusion. Without using these exact words, the gist of her comments were, “You have no business imposing your cultural values on the people of Belize.” She continued with warnings about doing damage through our work because we do not understand all the cultural norms and thus were sure …

Books books books!

You’ve heard that I’m the new Interim CEO of PathLight International. One thing I’ve been pondering is how to integrate my writing with my role at PathLight, and I’ve come up with a plan. It’s a way to help PathLight, promote my writing, and give you something unique.

If you order a copy of my book Junkyard Wisdom Rebuilt directly from me, I’ll give 100% of the proceeds (up to five hundred books) to PathLight. I know, amazing right? You’re thinking, “Gosh he’s generous (and wow he has a lot of books in storage).”

Here’s how it’ll work:…

The Power of Friendships

For years our work at PathLight has assumed that friendships across geography, economics, race, and culture can create a better future for the students in the program.

A recent study — reported here by Axios — confirms this. It’s a simple concept really. Raise kids around other kids different from themselves and 1) the privileged kids build empathy, and 2) the less privileged kids build relationships that offer them a leg up.

Nice to know we were right all along!

If you are curious about the PathLight program then please check out our back to school campaign. Love to …