"While the government has promised for years that they'll supply textbooks, they've never done it." 

- Robin Mednick, Pencils for Kids

Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world. But visualizing such a stat can be difficult. 

So put it this way instead: In Libore, a rural commune of Niger, 30 students were literally sharing a single pencil - a story that led to the formation of Pencils for Kids.

Today, your $1 can buy a workbook for a student. $5 can buy a textbook. 

Pencils for Kids works with 6,000 students across 30 schools and 100 square kilometers of villages. Their goal? To supply educational materials.

"The teacher will write something on a chalkboard, and the child will write something on a slate board. But it's not like they can bring that home at night," explains Executive Director Robin Mednick. "There's no ability to have a constant book you can look at, memorize, learn and ask questions about. It's the simplest of things, and it doesn't cost much."   

Each student has full access to the books for a year. Then, when they move on to the next grade, books are repaired as necessary and handed out to the next class. Nothing is wasted. 

"They're passed down generation to generation, year to year, grade to grade," says Mednick. "Our goal has always been, get a school book per subject for every kid. Let's give them a fighting chance." 

As Pencils for Kids is a Canadian nonprofit, 100% of all donations today will pass through their US 501c3 partner group Eliminate Poverty Now.