Keeping it Simple

The more I go to Africa, the more I realize you gotta keep it simple.

This year my mom and I want to take enough pencils for every student...(we're talking thousands. Simple just got complicated.)

So here's the deal, we need your help!

We are looking for brand new pencils, the fancier the better! (except mechanical)

I think all-a-dollar has them in large quantities for cheap.

And I bet if you look around your house you might find some!

Let me know, I'll pick them up from you.

We are also going to provide pencil sharpeners for each school, which run from $20-$50 a piece. If you'd like to donate specifically to this project, let me know.

Background info: children in Africa learn without the benefit of pencil or paper. If they are lucky enough to ever get a pencil, it is sharpened with a knife.

Last year, as my mom was sitting in her classroom,

having just done an Africa presentation for her students, one of those students walked back into her room.

He held in his hand a pencil box overflowing with pencils.

Sparkly pencils, smiley face pencils, birthday pencils, you name it, he had it!

He held the box out, and told my mom he wanted her to take it to Africa. Of course she was excited, but curious as to where he had come up with all of them, she asked. To which he replied,

"I have been collecting these since kindergarten. And I want you to have them."

Being the emotional person that she is, my mom started to cry and told him she couldn't take his collection. But he insisted.

So, off she went to Kenya with a box full of beautiful pencils. After arriving in Kenya, she took the pencils and walked to one of the schools Koins has built--

a very primitive two-room building.

Upon arriving, she asked the headmaster if there was anything they needed. Mind you, they have no water, no school lunch, no books, no desks. So, much to her surprise, the first word out of his mouth was "pencils."

Because of that generous boy, she was able to hand him the treasured box of beautiful pencils.

Once again, don't ever underestimate your ability to make a difference.