Year of the Pencil Challenge: What You Made Possible
What started as a simple challenge turned into a powerful result.
Through the Year of the Pencil Challenge, supporters from different communities came together to collect school supplies for children in Sierra Leone. As a result of that effort, 100,000 pencils were distributed to 10,000 children in a single day.
In this video, Develop Africa founder and president Sylvester Renner recognizes the challenge winners:
An individual team that led with initiative
A school that mobilized students and families
An organization that organized at scale
Beyond the winners, dozens of supporters contributed by mailing supplies, sending items through Amazon, and delivering pencils in person. Every pencil mattered.
Access to basic learning tools shapes confidence, attendance, and classroom success. For many children, a pencil means participation, not exclusion.
This challenge showed what happens when people act together.
Thank you for helping children learn—and for proving that small tools can create real opportunity.
Watch the video. See the impact. Stay involved.
