The teacher from Loire-Atlantique climbs mountains to collect notebooks

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4,167 meters. This is the altitude of Jebel Toubkal, the roof of Morocco which sits in the Atlas. This summit is the first that Karl Poinson is aiming for with his project called “Iolet and pencils”.

L’initiative combine the passion of the former alpine huntertoday a professor of history and geography, for the mountains and his commitment to access to education for disadvantaged children. The inhabitant of Pallet (Loire-Atlantique) has, on his counter, around twenty peaks over 3,000 meters.

“The ice ax is a tool that allows you to climb. Just like the pencil which is an instrument of emancipation and access to freedom of expression,” he compares.

1,650 notebooks and pencils already collected

The project for the operation was born at Notre-Dame de Tous Aides in Nantes, a Nantes establishment in which the Palletais teaches. A collection of pencils was set up for the benefit of the children of a village in the Moroccan Atlas, whose school was destroyed by the earthquake of September 2023.

Several collective actions were organized during the 2023-2024 school year with students. To date, the project led by the Les Solidaires du Muscadet association has made it possible to recover 1,650 new notebooks and pencils.

Climb a summit, carry notebooks

The donations come from schools, parents and the Leclerc hypermarket in Basse-Goulaine which he had requested. The goal is to collect 4,167 pencils and pens.

Each expedition has a dual objective: to climb a peak that makes me dream and to collect upstream as many pens and notebooks as there are meters of altitude from the summit. These school supplies will then be transported and distributed to children who do not have access to education and who lost everything in the earthquake.

To secure the destination of shipments, the Palletais has formed a partnership with a local association: Marrakech Entraide. It is she who will take care of the distribution of school supplies in the Atlas. Karl Poinson gives himself until spring 2025 to finalize the collection pencils and notebooks and the departure to Morocco, to undertake the climb to the summit.

The ascent will be done with a partner guide that the professor, who regularly trains in the mountains, is currently looking for.

A call to other schools

A call has been launched to educational establishments and businesses that would like to participate in the humanitarian collection. Le Palletais also works on organizing a charity concert. “The price of entry will be a notebook or pencils”, underlines the one who received the agreement of groups including Morbieben. “A date was set for December. But it was canceled due to work in the Pallet multipurpose room,” explains the professor who is looking for another location.

“Axe and pencils” in Morocco is not the highlight of the project. It's a first pass, a first step. Karl Poinson has already in his boxes, other summits in sight : Mont Blanc (4,810 meters), Kilimanjaro in Africa (5,895 meters) and Kanjeralwa in Tibet, 6,612 meters or… pencils.

To make donations of pencils and notebooks, contact Karl Poinson on 07 85 87 21 05 or [email protected]

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