Category Archives: Progress Report

Keeping the Nkhanga Village Library Open

Just $7,300.00 per year or $20.00 per day to keep the Nkhanga Village library open.

• This is the cost of keeping the library open for ONE day:
  Cobra floor polish or wax = K1.00 ($0.20)
  2 Sweepers or cleaners or House Keepers @ K5.00 = K10.00 ($2.00)
  1 Guard @ K5.00 per day= K5.00 ($1.00)
  1 Clerk and Office orderly or messenger = K5.00 ($2.00)
  1 Cook @ K5.00 = K5.00 ($1.00)
  4 Library Assistants @ K5.00 = K20.00 ($4.00)
  1 Chief Administrator @ K8.00 = K8.00 ($1.50)
  1 Administrative Assistant @ K6.00 = K6.00 ($1.12)
  Lunch for 11 volunteers @ K4 each = K44.00 ($8.28)
  TOTAL = K104.00 ($20.00) Per Day

Thank You

On behalf of the entire Nkhanga Village Library, I would like to thank you sincerely for all your support for the last 6 years during the construction of the library. I have realized over the last few months that the Nkhanga Village library is like our brand new baby. It is experiencing growing pains. The library was not opened much from December 8, 2012 when it was officially opened up to about April 2013. This was because it was the rainy season and there wasn’t any money to even keep it open with the support of a few volunteers. But now the rainy season is over and the new Operations Committee tells me people are coming to use it. They are doing a lot of organizing and brain storming to find out if they can keep the library open with the use of volunteers only as the library has not yet established ways to raise funds to keep it open when requested. They cannot open to just keep it open. They do not have the money. Kindly spread the word about this new sponsorship campaign.

Digital Camera

The plan is to buy a digital camera and campaign to have individuals sponsor groups of people or individuals to use the library at a time. The donated funds will be used to keep the library open only for the day or days when they have people who have been sponsored to use it. These could all be students in Grade 3 at Nkhanga School, for example, or members of a women’s club, whole families, or may be a whole village. Below is the cost of keeping the library open from 9:00 am to 4:00 PM for one day. Say for example, you decide to donate money to have all students in Fifth Grade to use the Nkhanga library for 1 day, you just have to donate $20.00. The 25 Fifth Grade students at Nkhanga school then would use the library for that one day. If you decide to sponsor the women’s club, or all employees or staff of the Nkhanga clinic to use the library for a day, you pay $20.00 and they get to use the library for that one day. The plan is to take a photo of the sponsored individuals or group as they are using the library which would later be displayed on the library web page to show who sponsored what group to use the library for that month and for how many days.

Volunteers

All the volunteers have already been told that serving the public at the library is not a full time job where they would expect a salary. The money they are given is for them to buy soap and detergent so that they are clean when they come to volunteer. They would also be provided lunch at the library. The library committee is holding meetings for other major further plans for the immediate future. But this current plan may get enough funding to keep the library open for some users during some days as required or becomes necessary. If you wanted to sponsor to keep the library open for 365 days from 9:00 to 4:00 PM every day that would only require $7,300.00 only (Seven Thousand Three Hundred dollars only). You can do your own other calculations.

So if you can afford to sponsor for just a day for $20.00, please send the check to me immediately:
Write the check to: Nkhanga Village Library (ZANOBA)
Send to: Dr. Mwizenge Tembo 302 Sandstone Circle Bridgewater, VA 22812
You can also use the donate button on the left side of this web page to make your donation by Pay Pal.

As we all continue to find ways to keep the new library open, keep the image of this girl and the community surrounding her. Think of how using the library will improve her life and the lives of many girls and boys like her in the near future. It is a very inspiring and uplifting thought.
About the Author
The author obtained his B.A in Sociology and Psychology at University of Zambia in 1976, M.A , Ph. D. at Michigan State University in Sociology in 1987. He was a Lecturer and Research Fellow at the Institute of African Studies of the University of Zambia from 1977 to 1990.

The Nkhanga Village Library

October 2014

 

A new Peace Corps Volunteer met with the Nkhanga Village Library Volunteers, and will continue assistance with the training that began while former Peace Corps Volunteer Stephen Sverchek was there.  A large group of volunteers continues to show interest; difficulties in scheduling hamper keeping the library open as often as would be desired.  The community appreciates the use of the library for meetings!

Brief History of the Construction of Nkhanga Library

Dr. Mwizenge Tembo of  Zibalwe Village a few kilometers from here was the first person to come up with the idea of building the library. He has been a lecturer or Professor at Bridgewater College in Virginia in the United States of America for the last 22 years. He was visiting his village in June 2006 when at 2 hours or 2:00a min the morning he went outside to use the toilet. He saw a candle light in his nephew Gasione Banda’s hut. The following morning he asked his nephew who was in grade 9 what he was doing at 2:00 hours. His nephew said he was reading his class notes from the teachers instead of reading a book. The nephew Gasione said there were no books anywhere. Dr. Tembo came up with the idea of building a library for the benefit of the community and talked to his younger brother Mr. Vincent Tembo about it. He asked his brother to organize people at Zibalwe and  in the villages. They held community meetings.
Headman Limba-Limba gave Dr. Tembo and Mr. Vincent Tembo the land on which to build the  Nkhanga library.
It was in August the same year 2006 that Dr. Mwizenge Tembo went back to the United States of America. He told the Bridgewater College community and his American wife Beth Zerweck-Tembo’s family about the library to be constructed at Nkhanga which has Nkhanga Basic  school,  a clinic, shops, and two churches.

The Americans accepted and were excited about the idea of the project. Mrs. Susan Zerweck, Dr. Tembo’s late mother-in-law made the first donation of K50 million ($10,000.00), Mrs. Sara Shorin, Dr. Tembo’s sister-in-law later donated K125 million ($25,000.00), all the students at Bridgewater College conducted a fundraiser and donated K22.9 million ($4,500.00), and Professor Larry Taylor of Bridgewater College and the Luray United Methodist Church donated K6,240,000.00 ($1200.00). Dozens of individuals and organizations in the United States including small children donated smaller amounts of money toward the library project. Honorable Chifumbu Bamba, Member of Parliament for Nkhanga region made a donation of K400,000.00.

From 2006 to 2012 when the construction of the library was completed, a total of K280 million ($56,000.00) was donated all directly in Dr. Mwizenge S. Tembo’s name because the people trusted he would use the money properly and honestly.

Many private bricklayers and roofers did the construction of the building. Hundreds of bags of cement were used to build the library including over 50 young men did the molding and kilning of over 125,000 bricks. Several tons of crushed stones were hauled from the hills for the foundation.

Library Rooms

There is an unfurnished guest room with the door at the back of the library that can accommodate up to 6 guests of the library overnight or for a few days. We need donations for 6 single beds, mattresses, bed sheets, blankets, and mosquito nets. Zambian and International volunteers, and other visitor of the library could stay here for a few nights and use their boarding fees as donations toward the operation of the library.

The library has a kitchen room where food is stored and cooked and refreshments are prepared for library volunteers, workers,  guests, seminar and workshop participants, club members, and any groups that will discuss books they have read from the library.
There is the seminar room where different community educational meetings and activities can be held by various groups. Women’s groups, clubs, seminars, workshops, poetry readings, and book discussion groups can meet in the room. The use of the room has to be properly reserved with the library administrative assistant. Some groups may be asked to make donations towards the operation of the library in exchange for use of the room.

There is an administrative office of the library. It may sometimes be used to sort out and catalog new books that have just been received. These positions will also depend on volunteers as the library does not have funding to pay any full time employees. Next to the entrance to the library his is the library foyer. This room will have frames of photos and maps on the wall. It  also have a notice board for any important news clippings of the Nkhanga Library.

The Library Books

The library has a total of 3,798 books. The first consignment of 700 books came in May 2007 and the last consignment of 3,098 came in December 2011. The cataloging officer of the library books was Ms. Agnes Manda who had ten local Grade 12 assistants. The simplest alphabetical order by author’s last name was used for cataloging the books in each section of classification. The most sophisticated numerical cataloging like the ones at University of Zambia Library in Lusaka or Library of Congress in the United States was not used. This would have been so difficult to do that Ms. Manda would have done it alone and it would have taken perhaps over a year to catalog the books. The library did not have the necessary resources. The types of books are general titles. The books reading levels cover the ages from 5 years preschool up to the level of grade 12 and diploma and degree holders.

 

 

 

About the Author

The author obtained his B.A in Sociology and Psychology at University of Zambia in 1976, M.A , Ph. D. at Michigan State University in Sociology in 1987. He was a Lecturer and Research Fellow at the Institute of African Studies of the University of Zambia from 1977 to 1990.

The Nkhanga Village Library

May 2013

Volunteers interested in helping staff the Nkhanga Village Library attended training sessions, assisted by Peace Corps Volunteer, Stephen Sverchek.  Training included lessons on management, shelving of books, organization, and sorting of books. Ten volunteers were considered after the training was completed.  It is difficult, however, to keep the library open staffed only with volunteers.

Nkhanga Library Opened

December 8, 2012

Nkhanga Branch was officially opened on Saturday December 8, 2012 at about 3:00 PM Zambian time. The District Commissioner, Ms. Janet Mvula, who is the top government official who represents the Office of the President of Zambia was the guest of honor who gave the opening speech, cut ribbon, and took the guided tour of the library with other district officials. The location of the opening celebrations was under the shade of large mango trees between the grocery stores, the Nkhanga School and the Catholic church. The opening of the Nkhanga Village Library  may be the best heart-warming news of the holiday season, the New Year, and a positive end to a project which started  more than 6 years ago in June 2006. The library has 3,798 (Three Thousand Seven Hundred and ninety-eight). It had a capacity for another 6,000 books.

 

 

Some of the top officials included Senior Chief Magodi’s Induna or representative, Lundazi District Councilor, Zambia Information Services (ZIS) national newswire reporters, Radio Chikaya Lundazi district radio station reporters, and over 20 headmen from surrounding villages. An estimated three thousand people attended the opening celebrations. The festivities lasted most of the day into the evening.

We should all congratulate ourselves, feel proud and celebrate both in the communities in the United States and among the people of the Nkhanga community in Zambia for being patient, and for all our sacrifices in order to achieve what at times seemed impossible. Please share this good news with as many relatives, friends and people as you can.

 

 

 

Mission Accomplished: Books Delivered to Nkhanga Library Dec. 20, 2011

December 2011

All the publicly donated total of 3,092 used books packed in 65 carton boxes were successfully delivered to the new Nkhanga Village Library in Lundazi in Eastern Zambia in Southern Africa on December 20, 2011 at 5:15PM local time and 10:15AM Eastern American Standard time.  The book shipment faced numerous obstacles which many people helped resolve along the way from July to December 2011. The last leg of the book shipment from Lusaka to Lundazi was not without challenges.

Read more about the process and delivery:
http://issuu.com/bridgewatermagazine/docs/bm-winter12

http://issuu.com/bridgewatermagazine/docs/bridgewater_magazine_fall_2011

http://www.bridgewater.edu/AlumniAndFriends/AlumniProgramsAndServices/BridgewaterMagazine

 

On December 5 Maersk Inc. delivered the books free of charge from Beira to Lusaka the Capital City of Zambia. Mr. J. J. Mayovu successfully transported the books to safe custody at his farm home in Ibex Hill. After a week of investigative research we were to use two buses to transport the books. My 22 year-old niece, who is a Sophomore at Evelyn Hone College of Applied Arts and Commerce, was going to the village for Christmas. She volunteered to catch the Botswana Zambia bus to Lundazi with 32 boxes of books. I was to catch the Juldan bus also destined for Lundazi on the same night with  the other 33 boxes of books in bus’s undercarriage.  This arrangement had tremendous risks with the rainy season. We were to travel 412 miles or 664 Kms. on the night of December 18.

This was until Dr. Overs Banda on the same day came to lunch at Mr. J. J. Mayovu’s house as he was flying back from vacation in South Africa with his family. Dr. Banda owns a law practice in Lusaka and offered his 5 ton Canter truck, a tent, and a driver to transport the books to Lundazi. The last minute donation by Ms. Sara Shorin of Lake Tahoe for transporting the books was used to pay for gas or petrol, food, and accommodation along the way. When we arrived with the truck at the village, there were more than 40 enthusiastic men, women and children from the villages waiting to offload the books at the library premises.

What the shipment of the books and the entire Nkhanga library project has shown is that there are so many selfless people both in the United States and Zambia who are genuinely dedicated to the success of this very truly unique grassroots project. On behalf of the project I would like to thank everyone in the community here and in Zambia for their contribution.

Sincere thanks to Mr. J. Russell Bruner, Chairman & CEO of Maersk Inc., which shipped the container, in resolving the problems.  President Phil Stone, retired President of Bridgewater College, offered his assistance.

Ms. Mbumwae Suba-Smith happened to be shipping her personal possessions to Zambia. She had graciously offered to ship the books to Zambia for free in her 20 ft. container. Mr. J. J. Mayovu received and kept custody of the books in Lusaka in Zambia. Ms. Sara Shorin of Lake Tahoe made a timely donation to cover the costs of transporting the books on their last leg by road from Lusaka to the Nkhanga Village in Lundazi.  Please kindly spread this good news.

Photos of Progress

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

The author obtained his B.A in Sociology and Psychology at University of Zambia in 1976, M.A , Ph. D. at Michigan State University in Sociology in 1987. He was a Lecturer and Research Fellow at the Institute of African Studies of the University of Zambia from 1977 to 1990.

The Nkhanga Village Library Construction Report
 May 2011

The construction of the Nkhanga Village Library is very close to completion. The project is a brain child of the Zambia Knowledge Bank Libraries. Mr. Stanley Manzi, who is a Technical Assistant at the Nthandizani Internet Café in the nearby small town of Lundazi, kindly, traveled 30 miles by motor cycle to the library project site on April 27, 2011. He met the construction committee leaders and took some digital photos that show the progress.  Mr. Manzi reports that the finishing touches to the roof are completed; the 9 doors that the local carpenters had made from scratch have now been all fitted. Half of all the glass window panes have been installed in the building; the books have been transferred from the long term storage building where they had been kept since August 2007. They have now been brought to the library premises in readiness for cataloging. The smoothening cement flooring of the entire 3100 Sq. Ft. building is complete. During the rainy season which has just ended, weeds and tall shrubs grow around the building. These weeds have all been cleared. What are now needed  urgently  are book shelves,  200 chairs, twenty tables, a Librarian to help cataloging the books and to train local Volunteer Librarians who will run the library once it opens to the public soon. Donations are welcome to complete this very worthy cause.

The Nkhanga Village Library Roofing Completed
August 2009

I am very pleased to inform you that perhaps the most difficult and anticipated stage of the construction of the 3100 Sq. Ft. Nkhanga Village Library, the roofing, was finally completed on July 15, 2009. I had first hand reports of the many setbacks and adversities that had to be overcome even to get to the point where the roofing was completed a few days after I had arrived. The details will no doubt be in annals of the history of the building of the Nkhanga Village Library. The physical beauty of the building alone has already garnered fame and admiration in the entire Lundazi district. Some even say there is no building in the small provincial town that matches the beauty of the Nkhanga Library.

Even though the building is still incomplete, we held two meetings in it with men and women and movers and shakers in the area. During the second meeting, I addressed the audience conveying my greetings and best wishes from Bridgewater College, the community in the Shenandoah Valley, and other organization and individuals from the Virginia and rest of the country. During the same meeting, a women’s rag hooking club was formed including elections of office bearers. A group of people composed the Nkhanga Library anthem which the entire meeting sung at the end.

Hear the anthem on YouTube

 

It was a very moving experience and I feel very lucky and blessed to be part of this project as it is already having a positive impact on the people. One can just imagine and anticipate the better things that will come in the future. The people have tremendous appreciation of the library and the contributions you have all made, and continue to make.

 

 

 

 

The Nkhanga Library still needs only $5,000.00 (Five Thousand Dollars) to complete the construction. The following materials are needed. If this amount can be available within the next 6 weeks, the Nkhanga Village Library could be completed by this December. The community would at long last begin using the facility soon after that. I have attached a number of photos that show the progress and participants in the 2 meetings.

 

Expenses

See expenses list in pdf format

The Nkhanga Village Library

May 2009

The good news is that The Nkhanga Village Library Construction Committee finally sent me photo updates of the progress in the roofing of the Nkhanga Village Library. The US Dollar is strong and the Zambian Kwacha currency has depreciated. One US dollar is now equivalent to 5,680.00 Zambian Kwacha. This means materials and labor will be cheaper. This is the best time to complete the roofing, inside wall plaster, painting, and  installing window panes. Plans are underway to obtain shelves and tables.

The not so good news is in the last progress report in October 2008, the plan at the time was to finish the roofing of the library before November and December when the rain season starts in Zambia. That plan faced major obstacles because of 3 main reasons.

First, the cost estimate for the roofing initially was $2860.00. During last minute last October on the eve of the roof construction, there was an unexpected set back. It was discovered that the contractor who had built the wall during the whole of last summer, had stopped the wall height 16 inches (40 cms), just over a foot short of the required height. So the contractor and all the laborers had to be recalled and some money for the roofing had to be diverted to buy more cement and more bricks to finish the wall to the right height including the additional construction of brick pillars along the front corridor of the Library. This was a very substantial unexpected cost for a 3100 Sq. Ft. building.

Second, when the rain season starts labor is more expensive and scarce as people disperse to their fields to grow food. As a result the work was slow from December up to March.

Third, I had planned to go to Zambia for 4 weeks in December 2008 up to January 2009. During that period we had planned for me to campaign for more funding on the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) radio and TV. With my presence, intense supervision, and ability to make snap decisions, we had planned to work intensively on the roofing for the 4 weeks. That plan failed when my trip had to be suddenly canceled last minute at Dulles Airport on the day of departure due to a mix up of new travel Visa document requirements at Heathrow Airport in London.  This is too complicated to explain. However, all of this has now been fixed.

I have communicated with the Village Construction Committee and the total estimate tso complete the construction of the library; iron sheets for roofing, wall plaster, window frames and panes, and labor  is now only $4934.37. The breakdown of the cost of itemized materials and labor are in the chart below. If you or anyone can make donations to complete the construction of this very important project this summer, that will be extremely appreciated. Folks, we are that close in completing this very important project that so many people here and Zambia have already made sacrifices towards the construction.
Expenses

See expenses 2007 list in pdf format