As Shaneka Thurman packs for her trip to Ghana this December, she’ll toss more than clothes, shoes and a camera into her suitcase.

Thurman, a junior in communication and international studies, created a charity called 5,000 Wo Siles — which translates to 5,000 smiles in the local language — and hopes to collect 5,000 pens before she travels to Africa.

She said she developed the idea while traveling in Ghana last summer with Study Abroad.

“When I was [in Ghana], the kids didn’t care about our shoes or clothes — they only wanted out pens,” Thurman said.

Mary Hayes, a sophomore in accounting, said she will donate at least 15 pens to Thurman’s cause.

“[The charity] is such a cool idea,” Hayes said. “It’s almost too easy to think I can help someone by donating a couple pens.”

Thurman said people have approached her with offers to donate other school supplies or monetary gifts, but she is only accepting pens.

“It’s obvious that I could send money, but I’m collecting pens because it doesn’t take much space [while traveling], and there are so many things you can do with a pen,” she said.

Antoinette Russell, a junior in communication, said while she is not sure how many pens she will donate, she admires the goal of 5,000 Wo Siles.

“It’s unbelievable the things we take for granted that can bring happiness to others around the world,” Russell said. “[5,000 Wo Siles] is a charity that everybody can participate in. I mean, who doesn’t have an extra pen lying around?”

Thurman said helping the Ghanaian children hits close to home.

“If it hadn’t been for the slave trade, it could have been me [in Ghana],” she said. “I just tried to think of what I could do to help, and collecting pens seemed to be something that could benefit the children.”

While Thurman said she has enjoyed the project, it will not be one she does again after the trip.

“I don’t see the project continuing [after December],” she said. “I will not do this every year. There are other needs.”

And Thurman said she won’t cap the pen donations.

“I can see possibly collecting 10,000 pens by the time I leave [for Ghana]. … There have been even people in Texas that are asking how they can help,” Thurman said.

To donate pens, students may turn them in to the Multicultural Student Affairs office in Pullen Hall; Toni Thorpe at the African-American Cultural Center in Witherspoon Student Center or the Wolf Village 24-hour desk.