The invitation 'let's have coffee' has begun most of the friendships I'm honored to say I have.
I've long let go of mapping out what I expect to get out of conversations with the people I have it over coffee with.
The benefits can be assumed; they always exceed what I could even imagine to get out of any 30 minute discussion.
Least of which is conductivity.
I met the Black Pencil Project over a year ago after a friend at work, breathless with excitement, tried her best to convince me to get in touch with their champion who she had heard talk about Black Pencil's advocacy over the radio. She told me I had, borderline must, help them with funding for their cause.
Sufficiently egged on, I cold called a number from the Black Pencil Project website and asked them to 'take me to your leader' in corporate speak. Less than a week later, I met their leader, Mon Corpuz. Need I dish on how immense his energy and commitment to their goal of changing the world one pencil at a time was when we finally met for coffee? Their website tells that story better.
Turns out, as it often does with well managed advocacy, I didn't have anything I could help them with; not the corporation I was working for at least. We remained on each others phone books since then and we've exchanged the few boxes of pencils since that first cup of coffee.
Fast forward to yesterday when a another coffee friend asked for a blackboard for a small community school in a hill tribe they were helping out in central Mindanao. 'Blackboard and chalk lang, mi amiga' was how the request was phrased.
Hoping to cut on cost of logistics, I initially asked other Mindanao based friends. But those were few and too far between; geographically speaking. Then I remembered the wonderful cup of coffee I had with Mon those months ago. So I sent him the brief message above.
While I was thanking hill tribe deities that my phone didn't fail me as usual by sending his number to low end phone limbo, Mon responds in less than a minute.
His reply simply said "Hi! Surely! Send me the name and contact info."
The invitation 'let's have coffee' also inspires the work very briefly conducted through me; the change that happens around me.
I'm looking forward to a message that says blackboard sent while I hope someday to be more of the conducted than the conductor.
At the very least, to know what my coffee will taste like sitting on Mon's end of the conversation.
