The Story of PACE

"Today I'm finally giving back. The promise I made when I left India so long ago is being realized in a rural village outside of Kolkata. Here, a school now stands as a symbol of hope and opportunity. This school is my promise of assurance to children everywhere. But there is still work to do. Piyali Learning Center represents just the first bead in what I hope will become a necklace that winds itself around the world."

-Deepa Willingham, Founder and President of PACE Universal

We’d driven two hours on rutted roads. In most circumstances I wouldn’t have tolerated even ten minutes of the potholes and choking dust, but I was eager to see my girls.

We finally stopped, and before I even stepped foot outside the car they saw me. “Dida! Dida!” Their voices pierced the air as they ran toward me, their rail-thin arms and legs a blur, their skirts flying. “Dida!” “Dida!” As they enveloped me in one huge embrace, I bent down to greet them but no words came from my open mouth, instead, a river of laughter. Shrieks of surprise and delight joined in.

I paused. This was a moment to always remember. The long path of my life had led to this: to this day, this place, this simple, dusty schoolyard. These radiant faces that greeted me with hugs and shouts today were a stark contrast to those I remembered as once downcast and solemn. Those frightened, shy girls had looked away, not wanting to meet my eyes, but I’d seen in them my own hunger for acceptance and learning. And now, it was their courage to change their circumstances that filled me with renewed determination...

Throughout Deepa’s youth she was reminded by her mother to “finish the food on your plate—there are starving children outside the window.” In spite of her privileged upbringing, Deepa saw many families struggling to survive. She was particularly moved when she saw that children--especially girls--suffered most. Their lives lacked the most essential element of human life: hope. To exist without even the most basic of human needs is devastating, but, to Deepa, to live without hope is to live without dreams.

Deepa_with_kids._2007.jpg Deepa’s early childhood education began under the stewardship of the woman who later became known as Mother Teresa. Her father, an educator, and her mother, a humanitarian, risked their lives to harbor Muslim refugees in a Christian college when the conflict between the Hindus and Muslims broke out in Calcutta in 1946. Their examples engendered a resolve that would steady Deepa throughout her life. What’s more, these individuals instilled in Deepa the necessity to respect and value all human beings, regardless of caste, religion, or gender. They also taught her the value of education.

Deepa was fortunate to reap the benefits of schooling, and she discovered that with literacy comes freedom, and with freedom comes choice. She came to believe what studies would later show: education is the way out of poverty. So, when Deepa left India to attend graduate school in the United States she knew she was lucky. As she flew away from her homeland, she made a vow. She would return someday and make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate.

Today, Deepa Biswas Willingham's promise to herself, and to the helpless children she saw so long ago, is alive and tangible in the Pyali Junction school. It is here, in this school, a prototype for others to emulate, that she can stretch out her arms to receive the hugs of laughing girls who now have hope, dreams, and a real future.

HELP DEEPA FULFILL HER PROMISE. DONATE TODAY.