[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 22980]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       TRIBUTE TO PORTABLE PRACTICAL EDUCATIONAL PREPARATION INC.

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. RAUL M. GRIJALVA

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 3, 2007

  Mr. GRIJALVA. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend Portable 
Practical Educational Preparation Inc., PPEP.
  For the past 40 years, PPEP has been working diligently for rural 
communities, improving the lives and futures of the people it serves. 
PPEP has been steadfast in its service to the rural poor, the 
disenfranchised, the developmentally disabled, at-risk youth, and the 
migrant and seasonal farm workers and their families.
  The founding philosophy of Project PPEP is to involve those who are 
less fortunate in carrying out meaningful programs to eliminate rural 
poverty--to help overcome the problems faced by rural people by 
mobilizing public and private resources in support of these programs. 
Armed with their first grant of $19,000 from the Office of Economic 
Opportunity, Project PPEP and La Tortuga became a reality.
  On August 24, 1967 John David Arnold, founder and current chief 
administrative officer, embarked on PPEP's first outreach trip to 
provide training by touring in a converted 1957 Chevrolet school bus 
named ``La Tortuga''--the Tortoise. This portable classroom allowed 
PPEP to teach English to migrant workers and taught many people the 
value of learning vocational and technical skills like driving a car, 
and improving sanitation and nutrition. La Tortuga was driven all over 
southern Arizona, taking PPEP's resources to the cotton and vegetable 
fields and providing educational preparation to African Americans and 
``Braceros'' and their families.
  In November 1967, the Arizona Daily Star summarized PPEP as, ``a 
practical education which is brought almost to the doorstep of 
unskilled and poverty-stricken people in Southern Arizona.'' As Project 
PPEP celebrates 40 years of success, these words still ring true.
  In the past 40 years, PPEP has touched over 4 million people, 
developed numerous programs that have become national self-help models, 
has established 42 field offices operating with 17 group homes 
servicing over 167 developmentally disabled adults, and has created 13 
charter high school campuses throughout Arizona, having graduated over 
2,400 students in the past 11 years.
  The staff of PPEP has encouraged and enabled many disadvantaged 
citizens to develop technical skills and computer literacy which has 
allowed many of them to move from welfare to more productive lives in 
the job market. PPEP provides a bridge for farm workers, the rural poor 
and many other disadvantaged individuals.
  Due to the support of PPEP, many migrant workers, low income families 
and the rural poor are building homes, building businesses and building 
communities of opportunity.
  I offer my thanks to the dedicated and committed staff of Project 
PPEP.

                          ____________________