Our Clubs and a Community’s First Library

A new library in Dete, Zimbabwe, organized by GSGC Mentors, will benefit the entire community.

Opened in late April, the new library in Dete, near Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, was the brainchild of Thembelihle Dhlamini, a Mentor with Tikobane Girls Club, and Ndlelende Ncube, a Mentor with Tikobane Boys Club. They came up with the idea while considering efforts that would improve club members’ English skills and school grades and expand their knowledge of the world.

Dete has three schools, but they lack goals for improving reading skills, Mentor Ndlelende said. So in accordance with GSGC’s principle of giving back, the library serves not only Tikobane club members, but their friends, too. That’s 1,000 youth, he said.

The Mentors aimed high — two children sharing two books each month. And now, 500 soft-cover books sit on shelves in the clubs’ safe space and go home with girls and boys to be enjoyed.

Books about animals. Biographies. Fiction stories. An encyclopedia. The library offerings target youth ages 8 to 15. The books are paperbacks, but the policy is to return the books with their covers protected.

Book Aid International, a London-based nonprofit that provides books and support to libraries in Africa and elsewhere, donated the volumes. Securing the donations was a competitive process, and the entire process took six months. Tikobane Trust, the clubs’ umbrella organization, paid $250 to have the books shipped from a Harare warehouse to Dete, a 500 mile trip. But it was boy power that transported them the final 1.2 miles to the club meeting space and girl power that put them on the shelves.

“There was so much joy and excitement when the 500 books arrived,” said Mentor Thembelihle.

“The books will help our girls and boys by promoting a culture of reading and learning in the Dete community.”

True to GSGC’s tenet of community buy-in, Tikobane Mentors earned it in abundance. Dete Superintendent Benjamin Dube formally opened the library, and school officials, teachers and parents attended in support of the young people. A volunteer librarian helps youth check books out and in, but she has no formal training. “She’s good with kids and organizing,” said Mentor Ndlelende. “Teamwork at its best.”

Book Aid International sends approximately 1 million books each year to people in 26 countries.

“Children who develop a love of reading early are more likely to succeed in education and throughout their lives,” the organization says.

Like GSGC, the group values collaboration. “Working in partnership ensures that our work is effective, responsive and meets (a) communities’ real needs,” its website states.”